Outside In

200 kph Uphill

That's what I found myself doing yesterday morning.  I wasn't driving, and I obviously wasn't on a bicycle.  I was on one of China's new 'bullet' trains on my way from Beijing to Taiyuan, which makes the 409 km (254 mile) journey in 3 hours and 25 minutes!  Beijing sits on a plain and Taiyuan sits in a 3000 foot basin surrounded by mountains, so there is a lot of 'up' between here and there. I've taken the old train to Taiyuan before (10+ hours overnight) and remember slowly winding our way up the mountains, so I was curious to see how they were going to get this thing up and over the mountains at the speed required to get there in 3 hours. 

Mountain range, meet Chinese ingenuity.  The tracks run in pretty much a straight line right through the mountain range.  Literally.   Several times we found ourselves in tunnels traveling uphill at 200 kph for 20 minutes.  You do the math (I can't).  It was amazing.

I got in about 11, had lunch and spent the afternoon with some friends, then hopped the 7:40pm train back to Beijing. 

I will now freely confess that I am a convert to high speed rail.  If I were president (of the US, not China), I would allow for only two spending items in my budget:  defense and high speed rail. 

Two MRIs Please. To Go.

My knees are a mess, and next week I have an appointment with a knee specialist from Hong Kong to see if there is anything that can be done to stop the grinding and scraping and near constant pain.

At lunch on Monday I was chatting about this with some colleagues, and I mentioned that I was afraid that the doctor next week was going to tell me to get an MRI, at which point I'd then have to schedule one, get it done, then schedule another visit with him.  "Well, why not go to a local hospital and get one done before next week," a colleague suggested.  Hmm. Never thought of that....just walk into a hospital and say "I'd like an MRI please."  Another colleague who is having some knee pain said "hey I'll go with you," and the plans were set in motion.

I contacted the western clinic where I will meet the specialist and asked where they recommend getting MRIs done.  "The Number 304 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army," she replied, which happens to be in my neighborhood. 

My colleague, Mr. BW, and I met at the 304 PLA Hospital at 8Am to guahao, that is 'register.' This is always the first step upon entering a hospital.  Think of it as an entrance ticket.  Without it, all you can do is wander around.  We found the MRI department in the basement and walked up to the desk.  "We'd like to have an MRI."  Of course her first question was "which department is sending you down for this?", to which we replied, "None.  We're here on our own.  We want MRI's done on our knees."  She gave us a funny look, but also gave us the forms to fill out.  We took them upstairs to the cashier and paid our money.  I had to make a quick stop at the ATM machine in the lobby since I was getting 2 knees done and had only brought enough money for 1.  Receipts in hand, we returned to the basement and were told to return at 430.

Which we did. An hour later we were done, and by the next morning I had picked up our films.  It was all quite pleasant and shunli (smooth).

Next stop, the specialist.

But...Who Made the Windows?

One of the big stories in China last week was about a 13 story, almost-finished apartment building that suddenly fell onto it's side early one morning, killing one worker who happened to be inside.  By the end of the week, the authorities had figured out what went wrong.  Workers were digging a hole on one side of the building for an underground parking lot, and were piling the dirt (mud, really) next to the building on the other side.  That caused the ground under the building to shift, and she fell right over, completely intact. 

Now, what I want to know is this:  who made the windows?  Many of them didn't even break!!!

Listen Up

When learning another language, no one is a visual learner. 

There isn't a toddler on the planet who's thinking, "when are they going to give me a textbook." 

And by the time they get the textbook, they've already pretty much learned the language--by listening!

If you're trying to learn another language, put down the textbook for awhile and LISTEN.

Dance, Dance, Wherever You May Be...

A few weeks back a visiting friend and I ended up joining a group of dancers at the Temple of Heaven.  The paparazzi were out in full force.  The video ended up on HER blog. 

I'm glad I have my comments section turned off!

I Want to Eat! I Want to Eat!

No, that's not a declaration of my permanent state; rather it is the new advertising slogan here in Beijing for MacDonalds new 24 hour delivery service.  I recently spotted this ad hanging on the back of a taxi seat.

It's really quite clever.  There are two lines of characters:  我要吃！我要吃!  In Pinyin, they would be written wo yao chi, wo yao chi (roughly pronounced 'wo yao cher, wo yao cher'). Below the characters is the number to call for MacDonalds delivery service, 4800-517-517. 

Here's the fun part.  The pronunciation of 517 is wu yao qi, which sounds a lot like wo yao chi. So, if you're feeling like wo yao chi wo yao chi, then you need to call wu yao qi wu yao qi.

This also reminded me a very funny story from back in the day when I was director of a program for Americans studying Chinese at a university in Northeast China.  As you can imagine, in language learning, there is no end to the funny stories of botched attempts at communication.  One of our students was riding a train somewhere, and was chatting with little children.  Her intention was to tell the kids that she had seven children herself, which would have been wo you qi ge haizi (I have 7 children).  Unfortunately, that's not what came out of her mouth.  Instead she said, with a loud voice and arms waving to make her point, wo yao chi haizi (I want--or like--to eat children), whereupon the kids ran away from her screaming.  

Anyway, it's nice to know that if I have a Big Mac Attack in the middle of the night, all I need to do is dial that number and a guy in a ghostbusters getup will be here lickety-split!

A Great Wall Graduation

Yesterday, while hiking  the Great Wall with some visitors from Minnesota, we encountered a large group of climbers, all wearing graduation caps and gown. It turns out they were all PhD and MA graduates from Beijing Agricultural University.  Great Wall graduation pictures.  What a great idea!!

The Three Ambiguities

I have been playing host/tour guide to a group of visitors for the past week, and in keeping with the spirit of Chinese socio-political discourse, I decided that the week's activities would be conducted according to the principle of "The Three Ambiguities."

Namely....

1. Nothing is as it seems (my all time favorite mantra)

2. Plans can't keep up with changes (my translation of a common Chinese saying)

3. If you're not confused, you're not paying attention (inspired by a conversation between Rob Gifford and a fellow bus passenger recorded in Rob's book China Road)

Nothing like a few good slogans to keep the masses in order.

What's Wrong With this Picture?

So, where do you suppose this coffee shop outside the Pearl Market got the idea for their logo?

Here Comes the Desert

Given the toxic soup that has parked itself over Beijing the past few days, it's easy to forget that there's giant desert just on the other side of the mountains, and that it is steadily marching towards the city.

The photographs in this online slide show are a stark reminder.