Worshippers maintain social distancing at the Lama Temple
大胖 "Big Fatty". Some of our possessions arrived a couple of weeks ago, and among them was our electronic scale. Which is how the bad news was confirmed - I've put on a lot of weight since the last time I weighed myself, sometime back in late spring. I place the blame on our extended Home Leave driving trip during the summer. If you've been following this blog, you'll remember that we spent three weeks driving across the U.S., which meant spending around six hours a day or more sitting behind the wheel of our Honda Accord. More importantly, it meant eating out at restaurants every day, dining on large, calorie-laden American-sized portions. Spending ten days in quarantine in a Guangzhou 广州 hotel room, being fed greasy, oily Chinese biàndāng 便当 meal boxes during that time didn't help, either. Also, the search for excuses continued with the fact that while we were getting set up in Beijing 北京, we were ordering meals to be delivered to our home which further packed on the calories. But we've been here for more than a month now, so it's time to step up, take personal responsibility and do something to lose a few kilos or pounds. My wife says I should give up drinking Taiwanese-style milk teas 奶茶, but now isn't the time for radical steps, am I right? One day at a time, 一天一天…
And speaking of daily life, the following are some scenes since the last post, such as this car that has apparently been parked for quite a while on a tree-lined street:
On the 17th the embassy organized a daylong bus tour for newcomers to Beijing. It was a very expatriate-focused introduction, with our first stop Sam's Club, a Costco-like members-only retail warehouse owned by Walmart:
Our daughter's attention was quickly turned to this CD/USB player designed to look like a gramophone. Only RMB6000 ($860):
They may still officially boil with resentment over the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers during the Second Sino-Japanese War, but Chinese consumers crave made-in-Japan products, such as this rice cooker, a telling comment on the quality being offered by domestic manufacturers:
Amber was surprised to see an absence of shock labeling on Chinese cigarette packaging:
It's a little-known historical fact that Oskar Schindler, after saving the lives of over 1200 Jews during World War II, quietly immigrated to Beijing after Germany's surrender, and opened a butcher shop catering to the capital's carnivorous foreign population*:
"Healthy Laundry From Spain":
My daughter checks out some guitars at a charity shop called
Roundabout:
After Sam's Club and Roundabout, the next stop on the itinerary was IKEA. This was the only reason Amber gave up a Saturday to join her parents on the tour - the chance to eat some Swedish meatballs for lunch:
Despite the lunchtime crowds, we were able to quickly locate a small table:
Looking out IKEA's restaurant windows across to another shopping center nearby (which we would also visit soon once we were able to get out of IKEA):
As if she needed any more plushies...:
I was disappointed that I couldn't find any
people sleeping on the beds or sofas, but I did pass by this gentleman passed out in a chair (presumably while his girlfriend or wife was off somewhere shopping):
The crowds and narrow corridors inside IKEA wasn't helping my mild claustrophobia (unleashed a few years ago thanks to MRI machines), so it was with a great sense of relief when we eventually exited and walked over to the shopping mall seen in the photo above. Once there, the girls were drawn to Miniso. Miniso is a Chinese retail outlet that used to pass itself off as a Japanese company to unknowing Chinese consumers. Their logo was a blatant ripoff of that of the Japanese fashion chain Uniqlo ユニクロ, going so far as to render the name Miniso (mistakenly as メイソウ, or
meisō) in a similar katakana font against a red background. However, the company came clean earlier this year,
apologizing for pretending to be Japanese. Once inside, our daughter said she felt like she was browsing in a Daiso 100-yen shop ダイソー:
The final stops were at an imported foods grocery store and a more traditional wet market (the
same one we visited earlier). Inspired by a young woman nearby who was being photographed by her partner, yours truly also struck a pose outside the former, all the while promoting a Chinese orange soda:
Chicken tacos and Beijing craft wheat beer for lunch at a surprisingly decent Mexican restaurant:
As we live not for from the Liangma River and the SOLANA shopping mall, I've been trying to get into the habit of going for walks around that area after dinner. I'm not always successful, but I do occasionally persuade Amber to join me on my infrequent nocturnal journeys. While strolling through SOLANA on a quiet Tuesday evening, we ran into Japan's most popular superhero,
Ultraman ウルトラマン. I tried to coax my daughter into copying his stance, but the best I could get out of her was the Asian V-sign. シュワッチ!:
Toys "R" Us may have closed all its stores in the United States, but here in China it's still business as usual (backward character and all):
A faux European-style ceiling at the mall:
Pleasure boats cruise the Liangma after dark. One of these evenings...:
Following an appointment with a vascular surgeon at the favored international hospital, my wife and I retreated to a Korean restaurant for lunch. Feeling semi-invincible, I ordered the raw beef bibimbap...:
…while the two of us shared a skillet of fried cow intestine (the flavor of which was much better than it sounds). My digestive tract appeared to have emerged relatively unscathed from the experience:
Going out for dinner on a Friday night with a friend from Shenyang who is currently on a business trip to Beijing. With Shu-E and Amber along, the four of us went out to A-Gong A-Ma 阿公阿嬷, "A Bite of Taiwan" according to the sign over the door. A faux-retro eatery featuring typical Taiwanese dishes like grilled sausages, oyster omelets and braised pork on rice, I naturally neglected to take any snaps of the food that came to our table, nor of any of the dining party. For what it's worth, my wife declared the dishes to be dìdao 地道, or "authentic", to use the favored meaningless buzzword of twats foodies:
And now for something completely touristy. Yesterday (Saturday) we embarked on our first sightseeing excursion in Beijing, riding the metro to check out the
Lama Temple 雍和宫. Some
history: the site of the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in Beijing was first build in 1694 as the residence of
Emperor Yongzheng 雍正帝 prior to his succeeding to the throne. In 1725 the now-emperor Yongzheng upgraded the residence into a temporary dwelling palace named "Yonghe Gong" 雍和宫, meaning "Palace of Peace and Harmony". The palace was converted into a lama temple in 1744 by
Emperor Qianlong 乾隆帝. The Lama Temple was reopened to the public in 1981 (this historical summation was taken from the back of the admission ticket). Compared to Taiwan, northern China doesn't have many Buddhist/Taoist/folk sites of worship, so it's interesting to see the temples that do exist:
Shu-E (the woman in red) joined the worshippers beseeching the gods:
The temple is laid out on a north-south axis. The central halls grow in height and importance as you make your way through the complex:
The People's Republic of China is still officially a Communist (and therefore atheist) society, so it was surprising to see the extent of devotional fervor, especially among the younger visitors. Considering the
current economic situation, however, it was perhaps understandable:
The penultimate hall in terms of importance, the Hall of the Wheel of the Law houses a bronze statue of
Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school (aka the Yellow Hat sect) of Tibetan Buddhism:
The fifth hall is the Wanfu Pavilion:
Inside is an 18-meter (59 feet)-high statue of the
Maitreya Buddha, supposedly carved from a single trunk of Tibetan sandalwood. A gift from the
7th Dalai Lama to the Emperor Qianlong, it took three years to be transported from Lhasa to Beijing. There's an additional eight meters (26 feet) of the statue located beneath the ground. While I was inside the hall, I was gently chastised by an attendant for taking photos, so I was fortunate to get these shots. You're welcome:
My daughter takes a rest:
More worshippers behind the fifth hall:
We also took the time to visit a couple of side halls displaying various religious relics and treasures belonging to the temple. Signs appeared to forbade only flash photography, but I nevertheless erred on the surreptitious side:
The Roger Waters and Michael Grecos of this world would do well to remember that the PRC invaded Tibet in 1950 and 1959 (the latter attack driving the current Dalai Lama into exile in India). The Cultural Revolution (those "ten years of turmoil") then laid further waste to Tibet's culture. In all, China's drive to "liberate" Tibet from feudal serfdom resulted in the estimated
deaths of 1.2 million Tibetans:
Visiting the Lama Temple is probably the closest I'm ever going to experience Tibet and its culture during this tour. The nature of my occupation means that I'm in effect banned by the Chinese government from ever visiting the rooftop of the world. In theory I could experience traditional Tibetan culture in Qingbai 清白 and Sichuan 四川, but travel outside of Beijing is problematic at this time due to COVID-19 and the unyielding restrictions imposed by the authorities.
After our brief taste of Tibet, we wandered over to the
Wudaoyin hutong 五道营胡同. A
hutong is a traditional Beijing neighborhood of narrow alleys or streets. Many have been lost to construction projects and property developments in recent decades. Others, like Wudaoyin, have survived - much like the "old streets" dotted all over Taiwan, some hutongs have hung on by rebranding themselves as trendy tourist sights filled with cafes, restaurants and shops. We ended up having lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in the hutong:
The wife snaps a photo of a DIY pottery shop:
Amber shows off the
Gashapon ガシャポン capsule toy she bought at another shop. You can't see it, but it's a kitten atop a water heater. 可愛い! (or should that be 很可爱?):
Stopping to buy lotus seeds 莲子:
I have some ideas about what Santa can bring me for Christmas:
On the way back home, the girl and I detoured to a café near the embassy for some iced Vietnamese coffee and sweets:
This day Sunday was quieter than yesterday. Shu-E stayed home to work on a gardening project, while Amber and I rode over to
Chaoyang Park 朝阳公园, Beijing's largest:
According to my daughter, paddle boarding is one of the extracurricular activities available to students at her international school. Back in my day, when I had to walk six miles in the snow all year round to get to class on time...:
