Archive for April, 2009
Sunday, April 26th, 2009
The deserted city
In the run up to the Olympics, the Beijing government did a whole lot of “restoration” of historic tourist sites. In the case of Qianmen (前门), this meant razing a large swath of historic hutong, building a large, historic-looking shopping street, and raking in large sums of tourist money.
Except that the money never rolled in.
Saturday [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Beijing, Disorganization, FAIL, Shopping, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Saturday, April 25th, 2009
The best museum in Beijing
I’m aware that Beijing is famous for its history, and yes, I know that most people would list one of Beijing’s art museums, 798 or perhaps the Forbidden City as the best museum in Beijing.
But they’re wrong.
Against all expectation and probability, the best museum in Beijing is the Exhibition Center for Urban Planning.
And here’s why:
1. [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Beijing, Culture!, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Saturday, April 25th, 2009
Jingshan Park
One of the up-sides to having a slow-down in freelance work is that I’ve had a bit more time to tourist around, so Thursday I went to Jingshan Park. Also know as Coal Hill Park, it is located directly behind the Forbidden City. On the four separate times that I’ve visited the Forbidden City, I’ve [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Beijing, Culture!, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
Beijing’s Yuan Da Du Park
Beijing has finally shed its winter coat, and it looks gorgeous. The long, sooty winter had almost entirely erased from my memory how pretty it can be even in the heart of the city. Needless to say, I’m ecstatic about spring.
On Monday, which was Tomb Sweeping Day, a national holiday, Jeff and I went to [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Beijing, Life, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Monday, April 6th, 2009
Literacy!
I think most people who know me would describe me as a fairly literary person, but it wasn’t always so. Up until about fourth grade, I couldn’t even read Green Eggs and Ham. I was literally the kid that got pulled out of class to do remedial exercises and learn ABCs, because I was eight [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Engrish, n00b by Caitlin
Monday, April 6th, 2009
The cab shyster
Today Jeff and I decided to go to the park after work, so I met him at his office and we took a cab uptown. It was a lovely, hot day, the first real day of spring, and a national holiday.
As we were riding, I noticed that the driver was taking a slightly inefficient route [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Beijing, Culture!, Making big bucks by Caitlin
Friday, April 3rd, 2009
Jiangxi, Day 3
On the last day of our trip, we went to Jingdezhen, the capital of Chinese porcelain. The weather was beautiful, and we mostly went to museums.
One of the coolest things we saw was a porcelain workshop where they make porcelain the old-fashioned way. Unlike most “workshops” and “factory tours,” this was not just an elaborate [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Culture!, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Jiangxi, Day 2
After spending a night in the village, we hopped on the bus early the second day and headed three hours out to Sanqing Mountain.
Sanqing Mountain is one of the important Taoist mountains in China, although today it’s more of a non-religious tourist spot and nature preserve.
In the interest of time, we rode a tram up [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Mysteriousness, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Jiangxi, Day 1
This weekend I took a trip to Jiangxi province in southern China. It was wonderfully humid and green, but also a bit too cold for spring.
After we got in, we drove three hours out to a small, ancient village that was known for its porcelain. Porcelain is the main cultural export from Jiangxi, so many [...]
