Beijing Wildlife Park: Zoo, Circus AND Safari! (Most memorable birthday EVER:)

Been a long time. Sorry.

So, this year my birthday conveniently fell on the Chinese Holiday, Tomb Sweeping Day (yes, they go and clean off the tombs of dead relatives). Which means that Lars, and the rest of China, didn't have to go in to work. Yay!

Lars has some AMAZING Chinese friends who invited us to go with them to the Beijing Wildlife Park in one of the southern suburbs of Beijing. Thank you Nora, Widen and Tori!

"Jurassic Park" like entrance

We really had no idea what to expect so we prepared to be underwhelmed. (We'd heard some disturbing things about the Beijing Zoo and were not looking forward to that likelihood.)

Um, okay. Pretty scenery...

So, we first come upon a pigeon feeding area. You go in, feed the pigeons, stomp on the pigeons, scare the pigeons to death. The usual.

...Or are they doves...?

Very underwhelming to say the least so onto the next adventure. Which is the Monkey cages.

Thanks for the reminder:)

This was pretty neat. There's a glass tunnel through the monkey cage and let me tell you these monkeys are way more energetic than I remember them being in American zoos. Swinging, frolicking, jumping all over! I was quite captured by all the baby monkeys. So cute hanging on to their mothers:) So I start to take a video...

VIDEO

...I had forgotten what the other thing monkeys are known for, and it wasn't flinging poo. (How embarrassing.)

This guy's just chillin'

This guy was my favorite! 

This chimp had so much spunk and character! When we first came upon him he was beating the crap out of the yellow playground equipment. I'm surprised it's still in one piece. But it's a love/hate relationship because he seemed to enjoy swinging around and around and around...

 VIDEO

But the best part was when he noticed some girl leaning on his enclosure. He ran full speed at her and jumped off the wall right where she had been leaning! And since she had gotten away safely out of distance he then picked up some dirt and threw it at her:) She wasn't laughing now with dirt in her eyes and mouth! I like him:)

More BABIES!

Lars REALLY liked what happened with this little hungry fellow:) So, we've been ignoring the signs that say, "Don't Feed Animals". Actually it was right after I had given an emu some rice puffs when I saw the first sign. Oops! But you must know that nobody in China obeys signs...any kind of sign...seriously. 

So, when our friend, Widen, saw this cutie eyeing his rice puff he thought, "Why not?" But as Widen was reaching up to place the rice puff into this guy's tiny out-stretched fingers we hear, "Bu wei dong wu!/Don't feed the animals!" from the security guard which has been watching the whole time. So here is Widen on his tippy toes, reaching as high as he can with the rice puff in his hand and the monkey's fingers just inches away from it. But in one swift motion Widen swoops the rice puff down and into his son's mouth all while saying, "Of course we would never feed the animals. This is for my son." Smooth.

We next decided to go to the "Animal Performance" exhibit. Which we come to find out means Circus. Unfortunately, I didn't happen to take any pictures because I was too busy taking videos, which won't load on here:( so I'll just have to tell you all the 'interesting' things we saw. 

Well, before the actual show began they had four or five emus running around in the inclosure. One of them had a stuffed monkey on it's back. We had no idea why. But we were very grossed out when one of the emus defecated and the other emus rushed in like they hadn't eaten all week...yuck! Anyway enough of that. Once the show actually begins  we were quite delighted. We saw bears walking on their hind legs. They'd jump hurdles, swing on swings and balance on balls. Thank goodness for those little snacks the workers used as incentive. 

Next were the monkeys. They came out riding on bicycles, donkeys and emus (hence the stuffed monkey on the emu's back from earlier). SO CUTE! The best though was when three monkeys came out riding a triple tandem bicycle. Unfortunately, there was only one monkey pedaling while the other two just jumped around the handle bars. So they came out all cool but ran into the wall! 

They then brought out a couple of lions and had them jump through hoola hoops.

The next and by far the best part had to be the safari. Take a look at this:

...I think we need a closer look.

Okay, so people get inside the mobile enclosure but what is that pink thing with it's own cage on the outside...? Yep, you guessed it. MEAT! So the idea is that we travel through live lions, tigers and bears (OH MY!) with the meat as a temptation for them to attack the cage that we are inside...!

Luckily we didn't have any ravenous carnivores hanging on the outside of our transport or I might have had an accident of my own. 

This guy snapped at us but quickly became fascinated with the DEAD meat:) 

Oh yeah, we also could buy vegetables to feed to the herbivores like these thankfully harmless zebras. 

The wallabies and kangaroos were Lars' favorite. He says if he could turn into any animal it would have to be one of those. He thinks they are just too funny.

Oh yeah. I guess you could call this the carnival section. I don't know about you but nothing says "Carnival" like riding a Yak...

Just a shout out to my buddy Kelly:P They're gonna getcha!

We saw so many raccoons in the nocturnal area...SO MANY! I guess they're rare in China...? Lars had to take a picture:)

Poor guy's hump deflated.

So, it started out like any normal zoo. (Although it has been quite some time since I have been to a normal zoo...and I mean "normal" in the sense of closely regulated safety precautions) but this place was awesome! I highly recommend it, if you ever come to Beijing, China of course:) Happy Birthday to me!

-Spring

A Quick Note on Pollution

Living in Beijing, people often ask me about the pollution.  I'd like to present you with a visual guide to Pollution in Beijing.

This is the view from the office where I work.  You can easily see the difference between a clear day and polluted day.  

In my estimation, there are definitely more clear days than polluted days, but the levels of pollution do have quite the range.  These pictures merely illustrate the extremes.  Sometimes the reality is removed from what it looks like out the window, so I like to stay updated via http://twitter.com/beijingair#

In closing, the Beijing air is like the little girl who had a little curl right on the middle of her forehead.  When she was good, she was very good, but when she was bad, she was horrid.

Beijing!

Well, these updates aren't the most frequent and there are plenty in the backlog but I had a few mintues and thought I'd do an update of the first few days in Beijing.  Also, I want to add that despite our bags being a cumulative 8 Kg over our limit, we were not charged extra.  Hooray!  Also, also, I want to give a shout out to the Millers, who were absolutely enchanting "roommates" for the last semester.  You guys rock, straight up 石头.  Thanks so much for putting up with us!  Come visit soon!

Anyways, the first day, we got in to our hotel, they gave us grief about trying to put three people into a 2-bed room (despite my rather convincing argument that Spring and I became one post-marriage).  Then it turned out the internet was down, so we had to go to a local internet cafe.  The rest of the evening was fun, though.  We just strolled around the block, which was all traditional Hutong architecture.  All along the way, people were lighting fireworks.  They had all shapes and sizes, and Spring might add a post dedicated to this later, but their favorites were definitely the loud ones, and the louder the better.  I thought it was a lot of fireworks, but then midnight came.  It must have been at least 30 minute cacophony of booms!  I think everyone in Beijing lit as many fireworks as the could within that half-hour.  Simply amazing.

The next day we tried, and failed, to meet with my new employer.  However, we were already near Tiananmen, so we took a brief glimpse.  Here is a pic.

It started to get really crowded, really fast, so we got out of there.

Friday, I made a goal, a determination, if you will, to find Batman: Arkham Asylum for PS3.  After some research, we found a number of shops just south of the Drum tower (which looked pretty impressive itself and will make a wonderful trip later).  We did find a Korean copy of Batman, so the whole day was a success!  But then we wandered for a bit and found a street with a Mao Live House, where bands play, a bunch of guitar shops, and a sweet CD store with lots of cool, underground Chinese music.  We bought a Hedgehog CD and a Joyside CD.  And they both rock!  Then we went to a cafe for smoothies and caught a bit of the Spring Festival television program.  There was a bit in particular that I found interesting with a girl who could "grab" and manipulate lasers.  Then we explored the NanLuoGuXiang area.  It was a cool market/old architecture area.  In fact, Beijing just has cool architecture in general.  Afterwards, we had a nice dinner (where we noticed that Beijing really likes stronger flavors) and made our way home.

Saturday, we were finally able to meet with my enthusiastic employers.  They treated us to a Chinese DimSum breakfast, then gave us a tour and "brief" history of the Center, "brief" being 3 hours.  If you want to learn about them, check out the website www.centeracp.com .  Afterwards, we tried to go to the Silk Market to look for anything Packers related for the Big Game, but it was closed for the holiday.  So, we took a trip up to see Beijing University's campus, which was quite pretty.  We walked around a frozen lake and took picture in front of an ancient tower.  Then we had pizza at Kro's pizza.  Hand's down the best pizza in China!  It was handmade pizza, and it was real!  We ordered four 9'' pizzas: an Old Beijing (duck, green onion, cucumber, etc), a Philly (green peppers, onions, steak, lotsa cheese), a Classic (pepperoni), and finally a Hawaiian (ham, pineapple, and onions).  The Old Beijing was a bit odd, but the rest were fantastic.  Definitely a place we will return to and take guests to.  Then we came home and played a bunch of Batman.

Today we went to Church.  Took us a little effort to find, but find it we did.  Seems very nice.  There were more people here than Nanjing ever had, despite the holiday.  So, a much bigger ward with a much more traditional feel.  When we got home, I was delightedly surprised to find an Aaron Rodgers jersey hanging up.  My Bro Montana, J-Ray, had taken a special trip to get it for me, such a sweet heart!  Tomorrow morning, we're going to get up bright and early and travel to either an Irish pub or a Texan bar and grill for sweet breakfast buffets and Super Bowl festivities!  Oh boy!!  Go Packers!!!

Also, because some of you might be curious, I was successful in my fish transportation endeavor!  I put my fish in a small, water-filled, air-tight Sprite bottle and carefully packed both it and my plant in my check-in luggage.  The plant was disheveled, but still alive, and the fish was extremely pale, but also still alive!  I'm somewhat proud of this accomplishment and glad that my little friends could join me in Beijing!!

Also, sorry about the lack of pictures, the external hard drive is elsewhere at the moment.

-Lars

A Chinese Love Connection...?

My husband, Lars, and I went on a walk a couple months ago. Nanjing is so big and we’ve never taken the opportunity to just meander. Usually we are on scheduled outings to specific places. So we don’t get to see…everything else.

As we walked it was mostly the number of parks or just scenic sections that caught my eye. I’m a sucker for beauty and when I see it I usually reach for my camera, knowing full well that a camera never really captures the true loveliness.

As I admired these moments we came upon a sidewalk that was just lined, both sides, with hundreds of these 8 ½ x 11 inch boards/cards. On the right side these cards were colored pink with flowers 

and on the left the cards were blue with butterflies. 

I’ve seen something similar before and it turned out that it would just represent a butterfly or flower that you could buy, but these seem different. For one thing, they have a lot more Chinese written on them…

Once Lars takes a moment to look them over he hesitantly says that he thinks they are date cards. I was confused. I ask him what he means by “date cards”. So he tells me what’s written on them: A person's name, birthday, height, education, family background, hobbies, interests, accomplishments, number of times they’ve been married, if they have any children and what they are looking for in a spouse.  REALLY? Oh and don't forget, at the bottom is the phone number to call if you "interested" in this person.  

Now you may think, "That's not a big deal. Seems similar to our Internet dating sites", (you must understand that even with how fast China is excelling I still see people sweeping the sidewalks with homemade brooms of reeds and bamboo.)

But if you take a look at these pictures, these aren't children looking for dates and potential mates. These are parent's looking for potential daughter- or son-in-laws!

When I asked a Chinese friend about it they said, as naturally as if I asked her why she wears a coat in the winter, that Chinese men and women in their 20's are so busy with their education and/or career that they just don’t have the time to look for “the one” so they let their parents help...

It’s like an optional arranged marriage…? 

I had to laugh to myself because most people I know of marriageable age in America would just DIE if their parents ever tried to "set them up" on a date. 

But really? Would it be that bad? You pick a "candidate" from the Packet 'O' Potentials that your parents have already approved...Seems like everyone's happy... :)

Spring

A Chinese Christmas Miracle

Wow, Christmas has come and gone. I was actually surprised to see so many Christmas decorations…but that’s where the surprises stopped.  Other than those decorations the holiday was completely hollow. Don’t get me wrong we attended many activities that claimed to be Christmas celebrations, but they just didn’t deliver that feeling…that “reason for the season” sentiment.

I went in search of such holiday cheer when I attended a gig LCD was playing Christmas music at: a pretty “hoity-toity” venue should know how to convey the Christmas spirit, right? Wrong. Some of the worst “Christmas” trees I have ever seen! Maybe they were “trying” to go the Charlie Brown Christmas tree route which I could have easily forgiven but then throw in six scantily clad Chinese teenage girls jumping all over one guy dressed as “Santa” all while playing “Santa Claus is coming to town”…I just wasn’t “feeling” it.

The closer Christmas Day came the more concerned I grew! Where were the extra love, happiness and joy found only during this time of year? My frustrations hit their climax on Christmas Eve. A group of us had another opportunity to attend what the Chinese feel was a Christmas celebration. Again with the inappropriate dancing; belly dancers this time. This is supposed to be a Christmas show for the family!?! I don’t know about you but nothing says Happy Birthday Jesus like boobs and butt shaking. I’d seen enough. I sat playing games on Lars’ Ipod the rest of the night.

I was resigned to utter despair. All that was left until Christmas day was a crowded bus ride home and a lumpy mattress. Nothing could save me now. That was until someone started singing…I think it started as a joke but turned into exactly what I needed.  We began with such jolly, upbeat songs as “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” but became quiet and reverent with songs of “Silent Night” and “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”. It was AMAZING! We sang every verse and were even able to sing harmony thanks to our iPod Hymn applications:) Buddy the Elf was right when he said, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” I had found what I was looking for. It was where it always is…even in China.

We love and miss our beloved family and friends! We think about you often and wish the best for you at the beginning of this New Year.

Love,
Spring & Lars Shurilla

Burrrr!

Warning: Saggy Tights

WARNING

DISTURBING IMAGES BELOW

Let me just tell you that I have seen more saggy tights in the last 4 months than my entire lifetime!!!

I understand that Chinese woman are so teeny tiny that they cannot find tights that fit correctly without having to go to the little girl section but golly. Then again, maybe they don't think/know to go to a place that sells tights in multiple sizes, like Walmart. (Yes, they have Walmart in China:) and just make their purchase at one of the many street vendors that have a limited selection...? 

You must understand that the saggy tights faux pas are not only found on the obvious fashion illiterate but even on the fashion "experts". Everyone is susceptible!

Okay, this one is a bit extreme and I personally have never seen one quite THAT bad but you get the idea. Anyone have any similar experiences? What do you say to them?

Just thought I'd share my pain:)

Merry Christmas!

Spring

Award...WHY?!?

UPDATE: New videos!

Chinese Rap?

 

AND

Dramatic Chinese Singer doing Cartwheels?

AND

The Chinese Magician (Sorry about the poor quality)

Where'd all the doves come from???

So, I was sitting in our bedroom when Lars came home from school. He was talking on the phone but suddenly handed it to me. I said "Hi" hesitantly...and the voice on the other end asked, "Do you want to accept an award?" I thought it was a joke so I say sure:) The voice (our good friend Jonathan) said okay and to meet him on Monday at such and such a time and to bring a passport photo. Weird.

So due to the lack of details I figured this wasn't a big deal and didn't worry too much about it. But when we got "there" that's when the fun began. We weren't receiving the "award" that day but just registering to receive the award...

I'm in this room with two Chinese guys and Jonathan and they are all talking Chinese. And the big head hauncho Chinese guy is always trying to talk to me. Don't you get it? I no speak chinese. They're asking what my chinese name is and what characters they are....? And that this IS a big deal. The mayor of Nanjing will be there and cameras and news reporters. Oh, and they want you to give a speech...in Chinese. (!)

I'm sure you're thinking what I thought: What kind of award would Spring deserve? 

Supposedly it is a Service Award. A group of Flagship participants go to an elementary school every Wednesday to teach english for 45 minutes. I usually go and do the easy stuff like holding up a pen and saying, "Pen." That's it. Because the kids we teach are in 3rd grade and don't know very much english yet they need lots of Chinese to help them along. Not my forte.

So what am I left to think except that they don't really care about the service rendered as long as they can show-off a foreigner. (Stupid blond hair.) 

Oh well, so we went:

The MC's

Dance #1

This guy seriously read straight from a packet of papers for 20 minutes, in Chinese. 

Singer

Bet you can't pick out the foreigners...

Haha, I thought this pic looked cool all old-like.

and you can see my speech in my hand...

even though I didn't have to give it:)

Listen to the music in the background...

... It's SO Chinese:)

The award up close.

Other awards distributed that night...

I'm just glad we got the smallest ones:) How the heck would I get a flag back to America?

This guy was awesome! So serious:)

Dance #4, you may wonder what happened to dances 2 and 3...until we figure out if we want to pay to be able to load more photos on this blog you'll just have to imagine them - Oh and the magician!!! Hehehe:)

Overall it was a very enjoyable experience.

(Then there was the cold dead fish handshake I received with my award...ugh:)

-Spring