Carpets Galore

Beijing has all kinds of stores. Markets where floor upon floor consist of small stalls filled with "dongxi", a catchword for "things" you may want to buy. Dong meaning east...-xi meaning west. And these markets literally sell anything under the sky from east to west. Then there are really upscale malls where prices far surpass even what you would pay at a mall in the US. In between you find hole-in-the wall places: small stores often specializing in one item and with good prices.
With winter approaching, suddenly our wooden floors looked awfully bare. So as I walked by a hole-in the-wall carpet store one day, I decided to go in to have a look. The owner, Aileen, a young woman around 30 was very pleasant and pulled down carpet after carpet for me to look at. She also volunteered to bring half the store to our apartment should I so desire. As I was only hoping to buy one, I declined that offer, thanked her for the chat and left.

A week later Philip and I had another day of biking, and suddenly found ourselves in front of the same store. We needed a little break, and decided that he may want a look as well. Since we bought a silk carpet in India some years ago, we have both been very partial to silk rugs. China is a prime location for silk, so it did not take long before the offer of bringing some rugs to the house was accepted. But we are only planning to buy one, we said over and over, and this presented no problems.

Two days later I went down to help guide the truck to our basement. Our address is easy to find, but for deliveries it s easier if cars drive directly to our underground parking garage where they can take an elevator right to the apartment. Looking over the carpets with Aileen, suddenly we were surrounded by 11 possibilities. "No problem"- nothing here ever is!!. Her delivery truck was in for repairs, so we stepped out on the street, hailed a taxi, threw the carpets in the trunk and were on our way. What a difference it made, suddenly 9 silk carpets and 2 wool woven carpets were making our abode very cozy indeed. Aileen and her helper left, telling me to call when we had made a decision.

Now we were in the negotiation phase. Philip has become very adept at bargaining, but these are really nice rugs. Taking just one suddenly seemed out of the question as our eyes feasted on the luscious colors and designs. We asked for a 30% discount and ended up with 15% off and Ailleen telling us she had no more room to bargain and still make a profit. Her initial price, in fact, did appear to be 20% less than what we had seen in another carpet store. The final price was agreeable to both as long as we tell all our friends to go to Aileen”s shop. Meanwhile, our floors look inviting and the entire apartment suddenly feels several degrees warmer. As you probably guess, even though the majority of rugs went back with Aileen, we could not stop at one.
Astri

November Snow in Beijing

Having previously lived in places with ample rainfall, the sunny nature of Beijing has been a surprise. Well, include an occasional smoggy day, but certainly not as bad as we had anticipated. Visible smog is more the exception than the rule, and we have yet to see it thick and yellow so you need a knife to slice it. Plus Beijing has offered plenty of days with bright, blue skies. Rain is the one kind of weather that is rare. So sometimes the government just has to step in. However, it appeared that the night of Oct. 31 somebody did not do their homework. Yes, the air had moisture but what was missed was the incoming cold front. During the night the clouds were seeded to bring down moisture to drought-ridden fields. However, as we woke up the morning of November 1, a white world waited outside, and thousands of white flakes filled the air. The many trees still clothed in leaves did not enjoy the heavy burden as exhibited by many broken branches, but as a rule both children and adults alike poured out to enjoy the early snow that cloaked the earth, and many a snowman was born, see photos.

Strangely enough, since then we have had 2 more snowfalls, and it is not even Thanksgiving. It appears we may have moved east, but not south!!!.

Biking in Beijing

These days there seems to be an obsession with anti-aging medicine. While in Bangkok, we visited a huge hospital with an elegant clinic dedicated to this field of medicine, concentrating on nutrition, exercise, medical and surgical intervention. Last week I read in The New York Times that even Harvard had dedicated a conference to this topic. As for me, biking is one source to the fountain of youth. The joy of jumping on our bikes, and heading for unexpected adventures feels like a reenactment of the joy of childhood.

Last Saturday we woke up to a beautiful late summer day. No agenda and blue sky thanks to the government actively chasing the clouds far away to insure no rain on the 60th anniversary parade. So the decision of an agenda was easy, an exploratory day on our bikes toward the center of the city.

Of course, I would not send a child into Beijing traffic. The rules are pretty much the same as Darwin's law, The survival of the fittest or: The strongest vehicle always has the right of way. That said, we do have traffic lights, and for traffic going straight , the rules are obeyed. But when it comes to intersections, turning vehicles turn both right and left on red without looking. So, the buses beat the cars, the cars beat the bikes and we bikes beat the pedestrians. So the only rule becomes to look, look and carefully look again if you want to get across in one piece. Also, remember to stay in your "lane". If you ride 30" from the edge of the pavement, that is where you are expected to stay. A motorized bike will speed by you 3'' from your shoulder at a high speed, and you better not venture into his "lane".

Philip is always in charge of nourishment's: that is he loves to look up new and exiting eateries. His favorite book these days:" Beijing Eateries"

Not that he is alone in this passion. If you talk with a Beijinger, it never takes long before the conversation turns to food. Most people are really interested in food, as can be seen by the multitude of restaurants everywhere. It sometimes feels as if food has become the substitute for religion for many as it is talked about very reverently. Chinese chef claim that theirs is the most tasty cuisine in the world, and the most varied as shown in all the regional kitchens: hot fare from Sichuan, hotter fare from Yunnan, sweet food from the Shanghai area with lots of seafood and delicious lamb dishes from the Muslim areas etc, etc,etc

Anyway, today Philip had decided that since we had not had a hot dog since January, our itinerary would include a stop at the Workers Stadium to see if we could find "Stadium Dog". After 30 minutes in busy Beijing traffic, the Workers Stadium looms ahead. And yes, on the ground level is a small stall selling "all beef hot dogs", and yes, they were good. Slowly a vast smile spreads across Philip's face, the taste from home and the mission of finding the stand was accomplished.

Soon after the restart of our bike trip we find ourselves on "Ghost Street". Hundreds of red lanterns line both sides of the street to signal the masses of restaurants in this area. Traditionally restaurants are recognized by hanging of red lanterns, the more lanterns, the better the food. If this idea had been followed, this street is filled with amazing places. In this case, I think there is great food here, however the lanterns also signal the multitude of choice, and also the fact that the eateries are open 24 hours a day. Beijing is normally a city that closes down early in the evening, but this street is different.

Our next goal was to reach Hou Hai area. This is the lake area in the center of town, inside the 2nd ring road. It is North of the Forbidden City, and from here the royals could take their boats that would carry them via canals to the Summer Palace. Now-a-days this area is becoming very popular, and is very beautiful indeed. The lakes are filled with little boats where you can peddle or just relax on a hot day to escape some of the heat. In winter the lakes are frozen, and Beijingers can go ice skating or gliding on chairs with runners. Around the lakes there are a multitude of restaurants and bars, but also open areas for karaoke, swing dancing, flying kites, kicking “birdies” around, biking or being biked in pedicabs, and of course shopping. But if you walk only a block or two away, you find old hutong houses where people live as they did 200 years ago, and you really feel the pulse of ancient China.

We really love to walk or bike around in this area, so when we reach it 3 hours later after multiple stops, it is with joy and a sense of accomplishment. We walk around, discovering alleys with great stalls for food, clothing, leather and anything you may desire. After a while we find a park, and sit down to play cards. The parks are often filled with people playing all kinds of games, but as Westerners we always arouse interest when we play, and gather a crowd around us to see what rules we follow.

But now the ride takes on a more specific goal: Philip wants to find Liu Zhai Shifu, a small hutong restaurant he has heard is great, and where you normally need to make reservations, not so common here. The hot dog was appetizer, but now it is time for lunch. We soon find the place, and as few people eat lunch at 3 PM, we park our bikes outside, and get a seat right away. The food is very tasty, and after a leisurely meal we head out again, get our bikes, and start on our way home. At this time of the year it gets dark around 6 PM, and it would be nice to be home before dark. That said, Beijing drivers are very alert. Since driving here is somewhat unconventional like u-turns on major streets, a drive on the sidewalk if it is helpful, drivers seem to react very fast if they see a bike. However, as we return home dusk seeps in, I am happy to be home after a great Beijing Day.

PS. I am a little late with this posting as our trip happened Oct3. However, when our niece Åse with boyfriend Helge visited the last 2 weeks, we repeated a similar bike trip. The four of us had a great time, and Åse exclaimed afterwards that it was even more fun and insightful than the Summer Palace" A great way to see Beijing!!!

Wedding of Wang Ao and Xuan

Astri and I were fortunate to have been included on the invitation list for the wedding of Wang Ao and Xuan. Wang is a wonderful young man who works in development for United Family Healthcare. Traditional weddings disappeared with the cultural revolution but it appears that the young people recognize the need to retain their culture. The wedding started a 9AM with the arrival of the "Palanquin" at the South gate of Ritan Park. Groom and bride were in full regalia. With great ceremony and music there was a procession to the restaurant. Upon arrival there was "shooting of the arrows". With "accuracy, steadiness, heaven and earth" their married life was started. The bride and groom did kiss as they do at Western weddings but the program specifically noted that this is definitely not part of a traditional Chinese wedding. Wang's father took us aside and confided that this ceremony and customs were as foreign to him as to us as his marriage was at a time when only a trip to town hall to register the wedding was all that was permitted.

I will let the pictures tell the story of a wonderful event. It was fascinating and quite a privilege to be part of Wang and Xuan's wedding day.

Thailand Trip

Dear Friends and Family,

We finally bought a reliable VPN that appears to get us past the Chinese firewall so hopefully we are back on our blog without interruptions.

Ingrid Solomon left a week a ago after a really nice visit with us.

We are now on a 6 day holiday for National Day and Moon Festival and are taking it easy in Beijing. The government with their cloud seeding has provided spectacular weather, mid 70s and blue skies. Friday Astri and I spent a day biking into the heart of Beijing with a restaurant we had read about as our destination. It was a small Chinese restaurant in a Hutong with very good food. Yesterday we spent the day at China Open tennis tournament and today Astri's sister, Martha, and our niece, Marit arrive.

Work remains an adventure doing many different things including completing designs on our out-patient cancer center. Quite a few changes in the hospital with the Chief Medical Officer leaving, an interim CMO, and a new CMO from Ohio that just signed on to arrive in January. Looking for new Ob and Pediatric chiefs. 16 physicians coming in next 3 weeks to take their exams and hopefully join the staff in the next few months.

We had a great week in Thailand in early September. I attended a two day 3rd East Asian Lung Cancer Conference in Bangkok and we had a few days to see Bangkok but the best was a 3 day bike ride. We were met at 7AM and after a 2 1/2 hour drive got a tour of the Bridge over the River Kwai and the museum of the famous battle. We also biked up to "hellfire pass" where 90,000 lives of slave laborors, many who were POWs were lost building the railway to Burma. We took a train for an hour and then started our ride. First day over roads and very muddy track and arrived at a beautiful resort on the river. Then biked most of the 2nd day with beautiful scenery on quiet roads and arrived at another very nice resort hotel. That night we had a well-deserved Thai massage. We then biked a good part of the 3rd day before driving back and arriving in Bangkok at 7PM. Great local food, beautiful waterfall, stopped at the sounds of schoolchildren singing. We had a wonderful guide,Noom, an assistant who was learning the route, driver with van and one other rider, a 30 yo Belgian working in Hong Kong as CFO for oil company. Let us know who you think he looks like. We had a great time. We then hired Noom for a tour of Bangkok the next day.

Thailand is a lovely country. Bangkok is very busy and noisy but very interesting and easy to get around by subway and skytrain but the traffic is awful and makes Beijing look quiet. The food is excellent but very spicy. Their love of the King is overwhelming as are the number of pictures of him. Everyone knows of the 3000 wonderful projects he is responsible for but no one can say anything bad about him. Hmmmm! Buddhism also seems to have many inconsistencies but then what religion doesn't? There certainly are a lot of temples and Buddhas such as the reclining one in the slide show.

Hope you are all well and look forward to hearing from many of you.

Philip

You can click on the slideshow to go to the gallery.

Moon festival

One of the joys of living in a foreign country is the new and somewhat unknown festivals and holidays you are exposed to. Whoever thought Philip would stay home from work to celebrate the Moon Festival!! Only in China, and here we are. While Ingrid was here, we even took a class on the origins of the festival, and how to choose the best mooncakes- the present day symbol of celebration.

An abundance of legends creates a mystic feeling around the holiday, from the beautiful moon princess who fell in love with an earhtly archer while banished to earth (She is now back) to messages of armed uprising baked into mooncakes by Han Chinese while they were ruled by Mongols and so on.

It is widely believed that the moon plays a role in a bountiful harvest, and the festival is set during harvest time, on the 15th day of the 8 lunar month. In earlier times mooncakes were offered by female members of the family to the moon goddess. Nowadays it is a time when families get together, exchange mooncakes and perhaps gaze at the moon together. Giving of mooncakes has also spread to include friends and even those you may want influence or want to feel indepted to you (The dark side of mooncakes) Due to this, the government has had to step in to regulate the cost of mooncake-boxes. I believe the value of the mooncake must be at least 40% of the gift box. And yes, I have seen moon cake gift sets that include expensive wine, tobacco, stuffed animals etc.

The last week Philip has been coming home from work with boxes of- you guessed it- mooncakes. Luckily it has been only moon cakes, and I believe from co-workers who truly want us to taste a special treat to celebrate this day. Even Starbucks got into the business, and I have to admit, their cakes are pretty tasty. According to some friends, the best untraditional ones are made by Hagen-Daz, but I can not attest to that.

However, on Oct 3 you will find us gazing at the moon while reciting this beautiful mid autumn festival poem by Li Bai

Quiet Night Thoughts

The moonlight glistens in front of my bed.
I thought it was the frost on the ground.
I lift my gaze to view the shimmering moon,
Then lower my head, and miss my homeland.

Back on the Blog

Dear Friends,
We have been unable to use our blog for the past few months as the Chinese government decided to close down blog spot. We found a way around it with a VPN site but they closed that down but I heard it was working again and it really is. We have been well and had a good summer. Although Beijing is hot I didn't find it too bad and last week the government turned a switch on and we have lovely fall weather now. I have been very busy at work and plans are underway to build the first outpatient cancer treatment center in China. If all goes well we will start seeing patients there in January or February but many hoops to get through. My Oncology Executive Administrator started working this past week and that will be a big help.

Today Astri and I leave for Bangkok and on Monday will go on a 3 day bike trip. At the end of the week I am attending the 3rd Annual All Asia Lung Cancer Conference there. We will hope to post some information about the trip when we return.

We had a wonderful time with Sharon Hastings this summer and visited Shanghai and Suzhou with her. A few weeks ago Astri and I flew to Qingdao and had a lovely weekend with some time on the beach. Last weekend we took a day trip to Hebei Province and went to the Sino-French Vineyard. Riesling was good but the Cabernet bu hao.

We miss you all and hope you are all well.
Love, Philip and Astri