Leaving Nanjing

I really wish I wasn't in such a bad mood while writing this, since I really loved Nanjing and wanted to devote a long post to all of the great things about Nanjing. Right now I am on the train to Suzhou; there was a mix up with my ticket, so I ended up having to switch, and now have a standing ticket, after having spent about two hours in the train station. The train station is actually pretty fun so that isn't necessarily so bad, but now on the train there is a super noisy family. I think everyone knows that crying children are really disturbing, but parents don't seem to realize that squealing and laughing children are also really disturbing. High pitched squeals of joy, which is great for parents since they like seeing their kids happy, are still annoying for fellow passengers who are tired and just want a bit of silence, or lower volume surrounding noise. I managed to find a seat, but who knows when I will be ejected from it, since presumably someone is coming, since I was told there were no seats left when I changed tickets.

I am feeling a bit better now though, since I've finally sat down and had a chance to relax a bit. 

Nanjing is such a beautiful city, by far, and without contest, my favorite city in China thus far--I've probably said that already. I've had a lot of beautiful moment in Nanjing, walking around the river, seeing the lanterns lit up along the water. Two days ago, after leaving the Nanjing Memorial, I went to the Nanjing Museum and made a random new friend. I'm always excited to meet new people, but then when I realize that comes with restrictions I am less excited. We went to the museum together, which was nice but not spectacular. Then, we had to wait for her friend, who was late. We waited an hour and a half (this is what I mean by restrictions). Then we went back to my area, for food, when I made the excuse that I was tired and was going home to sleep, when I really just wanted to shop around and eat wherever without having to have a democratic discussion with two other people. I went to a restaurant and wanted to order cold cucumbers with garlic. "Just write your order down," said the waitress.

"I can't read or write," I said.

"Oh...but...you look so educated."

I explained again that I was American (I guess she thought I was a country girl or something who never went to school), and she was really sweet and walked around with me and helped me write down what I wanted to order.

The next day (yesterday), I went to a Buddhist Temple, Jiming Temple, which has an access point to the old city walls that used to surround and defend Nanjing. This was truly magnificent. The Temple itself was very pretty--this has been quite a pious trip so far, since I have visited and said prayers at temples in every city. When I walked in, they have me three thick, yellow incense. I wish I knew what the various gods were, but since I can't read, I just prayed at the ones that most resembled the buddha that I know, and paid respects at the other ones. At the top, there is an area where the incense are to be burned. Here, the smoke was so thick that as I walked up, I coughed and had to close my eyes because they stung. This temple is the most popularly used in the city supposedly, so even though it was 8:00 am, there were still many people. It was cute to see a little girl, maybe 3 years old, praying with her mother. She watched as her mother held the incense and bowed, and she tried her best to imitate, legs standing apart, bowing deeply.

I walked towards the back, where you buy a separate ticket to walk along the old city walls, a large part of which has grown grass over it. From here, you can overlook Xuanwu Lake Park. It reminds me a bit of central park actually, except that the water appears more green. Along the wall are cannons, catapults, and other long range weaponry. It's really cool to see this. In many other cities, such walls have either been torn down, or have dilapidated. According to my guidebook, Nanjing's walls, built during the Ming Dynasty, is the longest city wall ever built in the world, and two thirds still stand today. It was built by over a million laborers, with bricks from five different cities--the bricks have which city they came from stamped on it. During WWII, various points of these walls were overrun by, and occupied by the Japanese. Since it was early, I pretty much had the entire wall to myself. As I walked down, the sun shone hard and there was no shade. I looked up in the sky, to find flashes of silver--dragonflies! Many, many dragonflies. It made me think of the scene in Harry Potter when he walks into a room with flying keys, and they glitter. The dragonflies darted up and down in the sky, occasionally joined by a bird or a butterfly. 

I walked for quite some distance, but the sun beating down made me tired and thirsty, so I turned back, not wanting to overdo it. I am so grateful to my aunt, who insisted that I take an umbrella with me when I left Qingdao. "No no," I had said, "I won't need it." She insisted and put it in my bag because she was worried about the rain, but this umbrella has really saved me from the sun! As I walked with my umbrella, curious butterflies flew under my shade, and posed for me as I took their photo along the wall. It was like I had stepped through a time machine, walking along this wall by myself. At the same time, I was cautious that if I ran out of water under the hot sun at this point, there would probably be no one else coming for quite some time. 

I went back to the temple for lunch in the temple's vegetarian restaurant, then back to my hotel for a brief rest and a bubble tea.

In the afternoon, I went to the Ming Tomb Gardens, which were a series of beautiful aquatic gardens surrounding a palace like structure. This tomb is where the last of the Ming Emperors were buried (or maybe the first one, I forgot). I liked it more for the gardens though, and the sacred walkway with a variety of stone animals guarding the path. 

At night, I returned to the area around Fuzi Temple and took a night time boat ride to see the lights. The boat ride was like a scene out of the Twilight book series--blood sucking monsters (Mosquitos) greeted me left and right, leaving me itchy and more than ready to get away from the water. I had dinner, this time their duck soup with cellophane noodles, which was really good. It had some duck parts, including duck liver. As I ate it I thought to myself, I don't know if I will like duck liver. But then as I took a bite, I realized it tasted very similar to fois gras, of course! It was really good. I ended up having it again for breakfast the next day. 

On my last morning in Nanjing, I finally went inside Fuzi Temple, which is dedicated to Confucius. It was just okay--pretty much exhibits of really old scrolls from 500 BC, which I couldn't read. They had some cool items though, like medals awarded to good students, and cap and belts and uniforms that students wore. There was also a beautiful set of stone carvings about Confucius's life. They wrote that he advocated "teaching without discrimination," which is obviously a lie because he excluded women. Apparently when he was born, a Kirin brought a scroll to his mom to signify that a great person would be born; he also predicted his own death through a dream, supposedly. The English translation of these artworks was not very good, so I couldn't quite understand all of it. There was even a line about "a diaper from the sky," or something like that.

To me, Nanjing really exemplifies what I think of China, as an American who is not so familiar with China. In this one city, there is a long and very proud history, having served as China's capital during various other ruling powers, including the Nationalists. There is also the dark tragedy of the horrors of World War II, and no doubt also the struggle through the Chinese civil war, which is not mentioned as much. Yet even through it all, the city is still so heartbreakingly beautiful, with its green canals, red lanterns, lattice work windows, curving temples, and it's mighty city walls. It is strong and resilient, and at the same time, beautiful is such a fragile way--like a thin vase that looks like it is made of porcelain or glass, but is actually made of titanium. If I were to live in China, I would definitely choose Nanjing.

Weaponry along the city wall

View of Xanwu Lake

Ming Garden Tomb Palace

Along the sacred walkway

Dragons guarding the gardens

Temple in the city

Rape of Nanjing

Having been an international relations major, I studied World War II extensively, since so much of the current world order is founded based on its aftermath, including the creation of the United Nations. As a result, Berlin was my favorite city in Europe, because it was such a key site for historical events from the end of WWII and the Cold War that followed. Similarly, Nanjing is my favorite city in China. I've always liked history books, because they tell a story. Imagine being able to visit the place where Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones takes place. To me, that is visiting Nanjing.

I read Iris Chang's Rape of Nanking when I was 11 or 12, and it made a strong impression on me then and still does today. The horrors of WWII strike us so profoundly, not only because it is fairly recent, but also because of the technology that finally enabled us to document atrocities. Photographs were published in newspapers and magazines, and at that point the world had grown interconnected enough that there were foreign missions in many countries around the world. War crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are terms coined in the last century, but they are by no means new phenomena. They have been perpetuated long before WWII, but hopefully will no longer continue. 

When I wrote my personal essay for law school, I had said that I wanted to go to law school because I wanted to combat impunity, and help prevent and punish the worst expressions of racism, including the three crimes mentioned above. In particular, so much of my extracurricular activities had been devoted to promoting cultural harmony exchange because I grew up as a minority, and definitely experienced racism, but not to such an extreme extent. The idea that people could hate each other so much that they could not only kill, but take delight in torturing, other human beings, is something that I have devoted a lot of academic study to. As a result, I pursued an LLM in international criminal law, and took classes on the law of genocide as well as the work of the tribunals and the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals are a precedence for international criminal law, as it is the first time international military tribunals were established to judge the actions of soldiers and officers during times of war. There had already been laws concerning behavior during wartime, as enshrined in the four Geneva conventions, which were completely violated across the globe during WWII. Rwanda, Former Yugoslavia, the Holocaust, the wars against the Native Americans and other aboriginal peoples, are other examples in recent history. The International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia, are modeled after the WWII Tribunals, and they also set examples for the Courts for Sierra Leone and Cambodia, as well as the International Criminal Court. I visited the holocaust museum in Washington DC and several holocaust memorials while in Germany, and the memorial dedicated to the Rwandan genocide in Kigali, but the Nanking museum is probably the most extensive and large one that I have been to. 

I spent about seven hours total at this memorial, letting the IR, history, and law geek in me go wild over all of the exhibits. This will be a very long post. When you walk into the memorial, there is an enormous statue of a mother in anguish, holding the broken body of her dead child. What I thought was incredibly weird was that people stood smiling to take photos with this statue, that honestly just makes you feel wretched right away when you look at it. Walking towards the entrance, there are numerous other morbid statues, with captions that refer to the "devil" invaders. Notably, the entire memorial strongly promotes peace and forgiveness, though that message comes later on. Right away though, as with all of the other museums dedicated to the victims of international crimes, you feel a heaviness in the air.

A huge monument outside says, in several languages, "300,000 victims." The memorial itself is actually built on top of a mass grave of 10,000 victims. As you walk in, you go through security check, and they make you drink or throw away any liquids that you have. The security guard is rather gruff. Entrance to the memorial is free, so they get a lot of visitors. The guard barks something at me. I can't understand so I say, to verify, "water is not allowed?" 

He barks back, "don't you see all these bottles??? We have RULES here." He gets distracted by people taking photos and forgets to keep yelling at me and barks, "stop holding up the line!! No photos in this room!!"

The first room is dimly lit, with only the sound of a Buddhist gong in the background. There are several places in the memorial with lists of victims' names and faces. It does get really crowded in the afternoon, so luckily I had gone in the morning the first time around. I hadn't expected it to be so big, so I had to split up my visit. I had been in there for four hours and was starving. Since entrance was free I had expected to be able to leave for lunch and come back, but found a crazy line to enter when I had returned, so decided to just come back the next day. 

The exhibits go into great detail, starting with the beginning of Japan's plans to invade China, and the detailed description of the Marco Polo bridge incident that served as an excuse to launch a full scale invasion of China, and the fall of various Chinese cities before the Japanese had surrounded Nanjing on three sides. There are so many photographs that I had never seen before, and carefully preserved historical items, like the badges on Chinese and Japanese uniforms, careens and cooking ware, munitions and arms, and propaganda fliers for the war. Parts of the exhibits include the capture of various parts of the city wall around Nanjing, and biographies of soldiers on both sides who participated, as well as witnesses to what happened.

There was an enormous civilian population within Nanjing. After the fall of Nanjing and the retreat of the Chinese army, Nanjing became a complete blood bath of slaughter, rape and torture. Under the excuse that soldiers may be hiding among civilians, hordes of men were rounded up and systematically executed. It may have started with the men, but soon it was just everyone. Towards the end of the exhibit, they had something called the 12 second wall, in which every twelve seconds, there was the sounds of a drop of water and a crash, and a different victim's face would light up on a screen, to signify that the rate of killed during that time period was essentially one person every 12 seconds.

In my law of genocide class, we talked about how the first step in genocide is to create "us" versus "them." The more the "other" is degraded, the less human they become, until killing them becomes nothing more than slaughtering a chicken or a pig. The photos are very graphic, and I'm surprised that so many small children were brought in to look at that. Women with swords or other items shoved up their vaginas, lying naked waist down and dead, severed heads lined up, bodies piled up, dead children, injured victims, and people being executed. The museum has many items that were donated to them, many by families of people who were in the war. They have the scissors and other medical items that were used in the Japanese human experimentation program. One of the most upsetting things about this program, aside from the obvious atrocities of humans being experimented on, is that the head of the program was given amnesty in exchange for letting the US have access to all of the data that he gained. He was never punished, though I suppose the data might have helped save lives later...or used in some biochemical warfare program...

They had several exhibits relating to the comfort women. In Nanjing, thousands of women and girls were violently raped, from the ages of 11 to 80. In order to cut down on rape, the Japanese government established "comfort houses," which Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese women were captured as sex slaves for the Japanese soldiers. An average looked woman would be raped about 10 times a day, while a pretty one would be raped about 40. They had talcum powder produced by the Japanese that said things like "glory to the army," etc etc, and coins that comfort woman had to wear, like a badge. There were photographs of these comfort houses, and a model of one, as well as pictures of pregnant comfort women and some of their stories. There was also a sample of the paper that men used--they looked at photographs, and checked the box of which girl they wanted to rape. 

Another large section was devoted to foreigners in Nanjing who not only saved many civilians, but also testified later when the Tokyo Tribunals were established. John Rabe kept a diary during his time in Nanjing, which I also read. He is credited for saving 200,000 civilians in a safety zone that he established, under the Nazi banner, since Japan then had been allied with Germany. He was later de-nazified because he did not obey Germany's orders to stop interfering with Japan, and was given the highest honor from the Chinese government (medal or Jade, I forget the name). Many photographs, as well as written and oral testimony from these foreigners, became essential for documenting what happened in Nanjing. They also had a collection of medical flags from the war, including the Red Cross, red swastika, and a flag with the Nationalist Sun on it. They had gauze masks used by volunteers who buried bodies back then. There were so many that they couldn't even burn them all.

One of the most interesting sections for me, having studied international criminal law, was the section on the Tokyo Tribunals. There were many photos of the Tribunal in progress, and they had the original spectacles, brush, and ink pad used by one of the Chinese judges. They also had a replica (I think) of the pen that was used to sign the Japanese surrender in Nanjing--the original is supposedly kept at Nanjing Museum but I wasn't able to find it there. They also had the robe that one of the attorneys wore in a defamation suit of a Chinese witness again people who claimed that she was lying about her testimony. There was also a very morbid, though interesting chain of events. Earlier they had shown two men who participated in a gruesome contest to see who could kill 100 chinese first. One reached 105, the other 106, and it was uncertain who had gotten to 100 first, so they decided to keep going to see who could get to 150 first. They were put on trial, and there were photos of them on trial, and later photos of them having their sentence carried out, which was death by firing squad. There were many photos of various war criminals on trial, as well as interesting information on trials for Chinese traitors. 

After this section, they have an area where you can write down the names of any victims of the Nanjing Massacre that you might know, and who might not be in the system. 

After this section was an entire floor devoted to general history of Japan's war in China, including the puppet regime in Manchuria, and the initial carving away of Chinese property, including Korea, Port Arthur and Taiwan. They have replicas of many of the treaties, including the Potsdam Declaration. This museum really was history come to life--there was the original table and chair used to sign one of the surrender documents. Some of the photographs included Japan's victory of several Chinese cities, photos of Japanese soldiers celebrating. Later, they had the same collection of photographs of the liberation of China, and the photographs of Chinese celebrating and welcoming in the Chinese army. I really like the one of Nanjing, in contrast to so many of the horrible photos of what happened here. 

The identity of the city really is tied to what it experienced during the war, maybe more so than any other Chinese city. Towards the end of the exhibit, were sections devoted to showing efforts to preserve the memory of what happened in Nanjing and promote peace, including peace between China and Japan, though tensions still exist today. 

Outside, you can also see excavated sections of the mass grave, human bones. 

Behind the memorial is a peace park, with a large statue of a women holding a child and a dove. A large section here is devoted to members of the Japanese community that have helped to ensure that Nanjing is not forgotten. There are a series of chains of a thousand paper cranes donated from Japanese groups. Unfortunately I can't read, so I'm not entirely sure what they say (actually I have no idea at all what they say). I first heard about the 1000 cranes from a book called Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes, about a young girl with leukemia from the atomic bomb who tried to fold these cranes, hoping that if she makes 1000 of them her wish will be granted and she will live. She dies before she can finish folding them. I think, though I am not sure, that now the cranes are, in general, a symbol of peace, and remembrance of the suffering of everyone in WWII. 

It is crucial to remember, but for future peace, it is just as crucial to forgive. I think that this is, very much so, why international tribunals exist, and why such work is important, whether in Nuremberg, Nanjing, Rwanda, Former Yugoslavia, or other places. I will end the post with a quote that I liked from one of the Chinese judges of the Tribunal. "I'm no revanchist. I have no intention of settling the blood debt committed by the Japanese militarists with the Japanese people. However, I believe that forgetting the suffering of the past may cause calamity in the future."

Photos: peace statue, one of the photos of the violence, and lastly children welcoming the chinese army into Nanjing after Japan's surrender.

Peace Memorial Statue

Civilians massacred in Nanjing

Civilians celebrating the end of WWII

Statue outside the memorial

Statue outside the memorial

1000 Paper Cranes

Instruments used by one of the judges during the Tokyo Tribunals

Nanjing

I started my morning with the perfect bubble tea. A lot of Americans talk about an excellent cup of coffee, which I wish I could appreciate but really can't--this bubble tea would be my equivalent. Bubble tea has a lot of components to it--the right tea, amount of milk, sugar, and the boba. Many places screw up the boba, it's either too hard, not thoroughly cooked, or maybe overly cooked. That right balance of soft and chewy requires that the boba be fresh--good bubble tea places make sure their boba were cooked in the last hour or so. The other common is bubble tea that is overly sweet. This isn't as much of an issue in Asia. 

My bubble tea this morning was perfect in every way. I was originally going to drink it on my way to the train station, but it was so good that I had to sit down and really savor it. So here I am, enjoying my bubble tea in the common area of my hostel.

So far, Nanjing may be my favorite city. This could however, be because I'm staying at a really excellent location, near Fuzu Temple, which has a night market and a beautiful river. Unlike Beijing, it's not crowded. The river is gorgeous and jade green, with older style houses with red lanterns hung outside. I thought it was already pretty during the day, but at night it was magic. The lanterns glowed red, and lights by the river had been turned on. Golden boats sailed slowly down the canals. Nanjing is breathtaking by night. 

I have mixed feelings about traveling alone. There is certainly a sense of peace to it. For sure I like the flexibility, and when I come across a particularly beautiful place, it almost feels like a secret that only I (and a bunch of other tourists I guess) have discovered. It seems special and private. At the same time, I wish I could capture that moment and share it with people. Best thing so far is a camera, but that doesn't do these places Justice. It can't capture smells or sounds, temperature or breezes, for example.

Yesterday, I went to the Zhijin Mountain area. My cousins had been worried that I wouldn't find my hotel, but I asked for directions and found it quite easily. Zhijin literally means purple gold, and I can see why the mountain has that name. My first stop was the Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum. He is one of the political figures that both Communists and Nationalists alike respect. There are 392 steps and a long walkway up to his tomb, which overlooks the city of Nanjing. I hadn't been expecting the view, I was just plodding up the stairs to the blue temple like building. When I turned around, I saw a mountain that glittered. It really did look like it was made of gold, it shone and sparkled in the sun. The city lay sprawled out. I forgot to mention that Nanjing was finally where I saw the sky in China. On the train into Nanjing from rainy Qingdao, the sky had cleared up, and the clouds hung so low that it seemed like you could reach up and grab a handful. Misty Qingdao was pretty in its own way, with wooden ships drifting on the sea, almost like a scene out of Pirates of the Caribbean. A bit ghostly, but beautiful. Nanjing's blue sky though--it put me in a good mood right away.

Supposedly a lot of Taiwanese go to Nanjing because it was the capital under the Nationalists. I ate something funny at some point, so I had already been feeling sick on the train, and was sick yesterday. I went to a temple in that area, and would have explored more, but had a bad stomach ache. I ended up just going to the hostel to rest. My hostel is nice, not super clean, and I did see a roach, but it's not bad for the price. At least I have air conditioning, and I overlook the river.

Nanjing is hot compared to the North, but not so bad compared to New York. In the evening, I walked through the night market. I was going to eat light because of my stomach ache, but oh my God the food! Stinky tofu, bean thread noodles, crab dumplings, and smoked duck. Smoked duck is supposedly the specialty in Nanjing. Desserts were made in the shape of cute ducks, pigs, cartoon characters, flowers, etc. Dessert is not something that needs extra garnishing to get people to eat it, but they went that extra mile. I caved an had some bean thread noodles in a curry soup, and red bean soup with chewy dumpling things. So thus my stomach still has not recovered. The bubble tea probably isn't going to help either, but oh well. I did resist getting stinky tofu, duck and dumplings, which I know would have had a bad effect. Also, I forgot to mention in my last post, Qingdao's specialty is a squid dumpling, and the skin of the dumpling is made with dough mixed with squid ink. Very good. Dumplings in China are fantastic, absolutely nothing like them in the States. In America we just have pork usually. Bleh. My favorites dumplings are filled with turnip and carrots, or zucchini, or the squid ones.

I plan to visit the Nanjing Massacre Memorial today, and take a night time boat ride through the canals. What a beautiful city. 

Along the river by Fuzi Temple

Dragons by the center of Fuzi Temple Area

Rickshaw men taking a break

Sun Yat Sen Memorial and view of the city

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Gates

Desserts at the night market

Qingdao

Last night, a dog and a bird had a noisy argument right outside my window. Qingdao has been very nice, and it has been really interesting meeting my relatives from my mom's side. There are cultural differences throughout China, since it is such a big country, and you can definitely notice how differently people behave from one part and another. Beijing is more like New York, where people are in a rush and everything is more hectic. In comparison, Qingdao is slower and more relaxed, and I think that is reflected in people's lifestyle. 

The day before yesterday, I went with my cousin to climb a small hill where there is a beautiful temple and pagodas near the top. I don't really know what these points are called. Along the trail, people write wishes or blessings on red strips of ribbon and tie them to trees, balconies, and rails. It's really pretty actually. I can't read, but my cousin read one out loud that said, "wishing that you can find love."

I mentioned a small shrine by the sea, and she said, "that's really nothing, they just turned it into something for tourists. Let's go to the aquarium instead." So we went to what is, essentially, a small Seaworld, with dolphins, whales, and seals, among other things.

My relatives here have all been very kind to me, and I have had amazing, home cooked food. Sadly, I think I may be developing s shellfish allergy of some sort. It really sucks because the seafood here is so good, and there is so much variety. They use clams and small shrimp like Italians use garlic and onions--it's thrown into everything, just to help season dishes. 

Yesterday, I went to Lao Mountain, a sacred mountain by Qingdao. It is Taoist, so there are lots of Taoist deities there. Buddhist monks usually wear orange and have their head shaved. Taoists grow their hair out, and wear trousers, usually in cooler colors. There was a free tour, which was a bit harder for me to understand since the Qingdao accent is different from the Taiwanese one that I am used to. When spoken slowly I can usually understand fine, since my grandparents spoke with that accent, but when it's fast I miss a lot. He explained that there are different ways men and women should worship, and that how they bow should be different. Many of the carvings are very intricate--in one area, every gate post has a lion, and the lions are all different--different facial expressions and hair styles. The panels are carved as well, depicting values, the zodiac, or types of flowers and mythical beasts. Supposedly the Taoists liked to live in caves to be free from material attachments and live off nature, so we also saw some caves that had been converted to dwellings. At each pavilion, there were incense provided, and you are supposed to burn three at a time only. 

I would really like to come back to Qingdao, hopefully when the weather is more clear. The sea is pretty, but there was a lot of fog. Shandong province also has a lot of mountains, rugged and jagged like teeth. 

Now I am on my way to Nanjing.

Note that each lion is different!

Entrance to Lao Shan

Main temple at Lao Shan

Exit area of Lao Shan

Tsingtao

On my first day in Qingdao, my mom's cousins daughter, I'll just call her my cousin since I'm not sure what that is called in English, and her husband took my around the city. 

First we went to the Tsingtao Beer Factory, to meet my uncle who works there, and take a tour of the museum. This was really interesting to me, since I studied World War II history pretty extensively. During the era when the Western powers started carving out colonies in China, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Germans claimed Qingdao. The first thing they did was open a brewery. For a few decades, they ran Tsingtao Brewery, until the Japanese invaded China in the 1930s. The Japanese took over the beer factory, and from then on instead of using German animals like lions and Eagles on the label, the Japanese used a Kirin. From there, Japanese trademarks for Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo beers were derived from Tsingtao's formula. After China was liberated from Japan, the Nationalists took Tsingtao, and reestablished it as Tsingtao Brewery. It then passed to Communist control in the end of the 1940s. So interesting that this beer company's history is so tied to the ruling powers in Qingdao. 

Ships in the mist

In the museum, they show you the beer production process, as well as the history of making beer. Apparently it used to be made in temples, predominantly by women. Then it passed to monks. In Qingdao now, you can buy beer in plastic bags--five liters! It's very cheap, about 2 USD for five liters in a bag. At the factory, we got free samples of unfiltered beer, which is a lot stronger and a bit sour, filtered beer, and honey roasted peanuts. Outside the beer factory is a busy street, where people drink and eat sausages, a remnant of Qingdao's German time. 

After being a bit woozy from the samples, we went to the beach. You can tell that the coast of Qingdao, which literally is named for beautiful water, must have been gorgeous once. Apparently, since the Olympics in 2008, when the boat races were held in Qingdao, there is now green algal blooms in the sea. What was once calm, clear water is now covered in patches of smelly green algae. They have even hired several boats to clean it up, but more and more comes. "Is this the ugliest beach you have seen?" Asked me cousin. It definitely is not, but it's sad that pollution and global warming have changed this place so much. She said that during the winter, the algae doesn't grow and it's a lot prettier, but then you get the icy wind from the north. I hope they manage to clean it up better. 

The beach was full of brides. Apparently this area is popular for bridal photo shoots. All over the beach are couples, dressed in matching clothes, posing with horses, jumping back and forth into the waves, running hand and hand along the beach, and holding cute signs, while the photographer barks out directions. "It's really tiring," my cousin told me. 

"Run again!" A photographer yells, while a bride to be lifts a long veil up so that is trails over her head and runs across the sand. Women hike up their gowns and walk in flip flops from destination to destination. 

We sat at a cafe overlooking the water, and I had hot chocolate and watched the various couples immortalize their wedding moments. 

Afterwards, we went to the old Olympic stadium, and walked along the docks, and went to a mall for lunch. It was a small, western fusion restaurant, with a really good tuna Niçoise salad with seaweed and szechuan peppercorn oil. I was pretty tired by then, and when they took me to a boat, I fell asleep with my face on a table. There was a lighthouse too.

That evening, I had raw crab, marinated in spicy vinegar. It was really good. In general, the seafood here is really fresh. At dinner yesterday, everyone had assured me that every animal on the table had been alive when purchased, some up to the second they were thrown into the pan.

Kites along the city line

Tsingtao advertising throughout history

Drunken crab

It says, "from heaven comes beer."

Train to Qingdao

I've always loved taking the train. So, I was actually pretty excited for the five hour train ride from Beijing to Qingdao. I have some relatives from my mother's side in Qingdao, so I had decided to visit. My grandfather's younger sister and her descendants are living there now. It's really sad how the war against Japan and the civil war separated families. My grandfather had been a student, and when the Japanese armies came, the Nationalists moved towards Taiwan, bringing a bunch of students with him. His mother and sister had gone to pick him up from his class trip, but he was gone. Both siblings had assumed the other had died during the wars, but one day my grandfather spoke to someone and found they were from Qingdao, and he asked about his sister. They reconnected that way, but for a long time it was forbidden for Taiwanese to visit China, and vice versa--my grandfather had become a Taiwanese citizen, having fled to Taiwan with the Nationalists. When flights to Hong Kong opened up, my grandfather was on the first flight--since he worked for the government, he was able to get that spot through connections. He met his sister there. Before his death, he was only able to go to Qingdao once. It's really sad that now that it's much easier to travel between PRC and ROC, he is no longer here. 

The train was clean and fast, but some people smelled pretty bad. My friends had warned me that the bathroom was horrendous, so I drank nothing all day to avoid having to go. I had been excited because I had gotten a window seat, but found a little girl had taken my spot. It turns out her mom was in the seat beside it, so they requested I switch with her, though she had an aisle seat. I couldn't really say no to a little kid with her mom, so I gave my seat up. Later however, a nice gentleman with a window was willing to switch with me.

My mom's cousin, who I had never met, was supposed to pick me up at the train station. He coordinated with my Chinese friend and said that he would have a sign with my name on it. My Chinese friend said, "you know, she can't read Chinese so you'll have to write her name in a English."

"What??" I had said to my friend. "Of course I can read my own name in Chinese!!"

Anyhow, my uncle prepared a cute sign, even writing my name in traditional Chinese and in English.

There are stewards selling beverages, snacks, and hot meals on the train. Luckily I did not eat, because my family had prepared an enormous meal for my arrival. I identified my uncle easily with the sign, and they took me to see my grandpa's sister. She is in her late eighties now, and has a bit of dementia. When she saw me, she started to cry a bit, because it was overwhelming for her. She was able to understand that I was her brother's grand daughter, and was very happy, and would smile at me from time to time. "So small," she said, "and traveled so far by herself." She had seen photos of me as a child, but it was my first time meeting her. 

My relatives prepared a feast. One of my uncles is an amazing chef, who happens to work for Tsingtao Beer company, a brewery based in Qingdao that the locals are incredibly proud of. He had brought a keg of beer with him, proclaiming that it was the best because it was freshly bottled that day. They had made crabs, shrimp, fish, clams, small whole scallops in the shell, huge sea snails, eggplant with salted egg yolk, cucumber and dried shrimp, and a vegetable mix. They also made their own hot sauce, which is amazing. I wasn't planning to drink beer, but they were so proud of their beer that I felt like it would have been an insult not to. Here, they clink glasses before taking each sip. 

An amazing home cooked meal

Jingsan Park and Hutongs

I wrote an entry yesterday, but I forgot to upload it. I'm on the train now, so I'll just write it again. Yesterday, I slept in, and didn't wake up until 10:30. As a result, I lost most of the morning. My friend and I went to her cafeteria for lunch, and I ordered these hot and sour potato noodles. We also had an array of small dishes. In the US, Korean restaurants always serve small dishes with your food, and Chinese ones usually don't. I wish they did--Chinese small dishes are awesome! We had a mix of wood ear, and something else that I don't remember now. My sesame balls were sold out. According to my friend, that is a breakfast food and not served during lunch. How disappointing.

I went back to Tiananmen Square, but it was not that great. It's just a large expanse of concrete, which Mao had built to symbolize the greatness of the Communist party. On a hot day though, it feels like you are being baked from all directions, since the concrete reflects the sun's rays. 

I walked around the Forbidden City, to the North, and went to Jingsan Park. This was also a sacred place once, for a Emperors to pray. One of the Emperors hung himself in this Park, because invaders had broken through the Forbidden City and he did not want to fall to the hands of the enemy. In those days though, would the enemy even recognize the emperor? It's not like there were photos. Couldn't he put on some servants clothes and escape? I guess perhaps at least one of the invaders had met him before? Anyhow, my friend said that she thinks the Forbidden City is full of ghosts, because many people there died suddenly, and likely with unfinished business. From the tallest point in the park, you can see the entire Forbidden City, a beautiful view. This point also has a shrine, with a golden Buddha inside. There are temples on the hills in the park, and many gardens. I like Chinese gardens a lot. In the afternoon, it is not so crowded, and a nice sanctuary from the craziness of the city. 

View of Forbidden City from Jingsan Park

Gardens at hutongs

Random alley

Random alley cat

After leaving Jingsan Park, I was going to go to the drum tower, so I walked back to Nanluoguxiang. There are some old alleys in that area, which are beautiful. I walked through them, and almost took a rickshaw tour. I made my way back to Nanluoguxiang and bought a bubble tea. Since I was tired from walking, I decided to sit down on a bench to enjoy it. I had about 5 really nice minutes, until the garbage man pulled up and parked his cart full of rotting garbage in front of me. I left, and walked through the street, but it was so crowded that I took a turn down one of the alleys. There are many dogs in this area. One fluffy Pomeranian bounced past me and I pointed and said to the owner, "so cute!" This ball of fluff suddenly flipped out and started barking at me like crazy. I yelled at him to stop, expecting to scare him, but it only enraged him further and he charged at me!

"Don't worry," said the owner, "he won't really bite." He looked like a biter. Small dogs tend to overestimate themselves. The motto at Boston University was "small dogs bite," since their mascot is a Boston Terrier, and I know plenty of little dogs that bite. 

The alleys are a nice remnant of an older Beijing, but apparently a lot of these alleys are being torn down for big construction projects. As I turned back, I passed a small store with a lizard in the window, and a large zodiac wheel. I was not planning to go in, since I typically worry about being pressured into buying services, and the place looked like it was closed. There was a sign on the door, in Chinese, which I can't read.

I decided to go in. I was immediately greeted by a little brown dog, who was so happy to see me you would have thought I was her long lost friend. "Sorry," I apologized, "I can't read Chinese. Are you open?"

The owner invited me in, and offered to put the dog in a cage, but I said it wasn't necessary. 

"What do you sell here?" I asked.

"Alcohol," she answered. There was a small bar, with hard liquor, and two tanks with tarantulas. There was also a table with a variety of tarot cards. 

As it turns out, the owner is also a tarot card reader, with four stores in Beijing, and a store in Taiwan and France. She learned tarot in France. While I was there, a customer called her, with a question. I have never seen anyone do tarot over the phone. The customer had a question about a boy, so the owner told her to picture him while she shuffled the cards. When the cards were drawn, the owner said that they do not have romantic compatibility or chemistry, but he will help her achieve something in her career. Chinese fortune tellers are more blunt, I think. It's a good thing. 

As it turns out, the store, which is actually a bar, is close during the day. She has a list of clients already and she doesn't like strangers; she's a scorpio. I said I was an aquarius, and she said I don't seem like one, and she had thought I was a scorpio too. Definitely not the case. She invited me to tea, and we had a lot of interesting conversations. She said that she had a dream where an old lady told her to buy gold, and wear it on her fingers. "I pay careful attention to dream," she said, "so I obeyed right away." Shortly after, she got hit by a car and then by a motorbike.

"So the lady was wrong," I said, "the gold brought you bad luck."

"No no," said the owner. "I think it protected me. I got into two accidents, and escaped with no harm, except a small bruise. I was knocked to the floor, but even my clothes weren't dirty."

She later said that due to something in her birth chart, I couldn't quite understand in Chinese, her destiny is to have a hard and sad life. Her english name is a man's name, which she had to pick to balance out something else in her chart. She has two children already, though she is only two years older than I am. 

It was a very nice afternoon. It's always nice to make new friends in new cities.