Beijing blows

Jingxing Studio, Beihai Park

What's this? Another long holiday weekend, so soon after last week's five-day break for China's National Day 国庆节? Thanks to the kinks of the American and Chinese public holiday calendars, today (Monday) is a federal government day off, still known by the politically incorrect moniker of Columbus Day. I'm more comfortable with calling it something along the lines of Indigenous Peoples Day. Due to further quirks in national calendars, October 10 this year also happens to be Canadian Thanksgiving, so I'm assuming my Canadian peers in Beijing 北京 are also enjoying a three-day weekend. I don't know if the students at the Canadian International School here have the day off today; I do know, however, my daughter has to go to classes at her school. 

Of course, October 10 is also Double Ten, aka the National Day of the Republic of China 國慶日, but seeing as we're living in the 中华人民共和国加 and not in the 中華民國, it's best to keep any celebrations/observances of this occasion to our ourselves. 

So how does one observe a most controversial American public holiday while in China? Why, by going to a Japanese-themed restaurant area, of course! At least that's what the three of us did on Saturday, riding bikes on a gloomy late morning/early afternoon with an AQI reading exceeding 160 to the Ichibangai First Avenue 一番街 Food Court, a strip of Japanese bars and restaurants: 

Most of the establishments inside the first building we entered were closed. The Japanese embellishments in the hallway included this mikoshi 神輿, the authenticity of which wasn't immediately clear:

Amber was in the mood for some oden おでん, but this stand wouldn't be open until the evening:

Normally, seeing the hiragana ゆ on a noren 暖簾 would indicate the entrance to a public bathhouse 銭湯; here, it was pointing out where to find the restrooms:

Back outside, and the incongruous sight of Japanese-looking buildings flying PRC flags:

Entering a different part of the Ichibangai complex:

Eventually we decided on having lunch at Teppanyaki Ebisu 鉄板焼恵比寿:

We've been to quite a few Japanese restaurants during our short time in Beijing, and Ebisu turned out to be one of the best. Our daughter ordered the Sirloin Set サーロインステーキセット; Shu-E went for the Filet steak set ヒレステーキセット; while I settled on the Seafood set シーフードセット, with the proviso that we would share amongst ourselves what we ordered. All the sets came with salad サラダ, egg custard 茶碗蒸し, assorted seasonal vegetables, garlic fried rice チャーハン, miso soup 味噌汁, pickles 漬け物 and some fruit for dessert. I'm loathe to use the word "authentic" to describe meals, but everything was very good and I wasn't surprised to learn as we were paying the bill that the assumed owner/head chef of Ebisu was Japanese:

Across the road from Ichibangai stands this Japanese-themed building 渋谷横丁, which appears to cater more to a 水商売-type clientele", at least judging by the dark-clothed middle-aged Chinese men standing in the entranceway:

U.S.A.! Chevrolet! Zippo! Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie...:

The highlight of this long weekend happened yesterday (Sunday) when we visited Beihai Park 北海公园, the former private gardens of the Emperor Qianlong 乾隆帝 located in the old imperial city, and a public park since 1925. A taxi deposited us outside the south gate, and the first thing that came into view as we went inside was the Tibetan-style White Dagoba 白塔, sitting atop Jade Islet, an artificial island created at the same time as the surrounding lake during the Jin dynasty 金朝:

Feeling fortified following a quick lunch, we proceeded to make our through the Yong'an Temple 永安寺 to the White Dagoba:

A shot taken in secret as photography was prohibited inside the temple buildings:

The girls make their way to the top:

Built in the Tibetan style, the White Dagoba stands 36 meters (118 feet) high. It was erected in 1651 by the Shunzhi Emperor 顺治帝 in honor of a visit by the Dalai Lama:

It isn't easy to tell from these photos, but gale force wind warnings were in place in Beijing throughout Sunday. It was extremely gusty at the top of the islet:

The waters would normally be filled with pleasure craft, but the winds kept all the boats tied up along the shore. At least the AQI was very low:

The view from indoors, where took a coffee break:

On the way down from the White Dagoba:

The music these folks were strutting their stuff to could be clearly heard while I made this short video. Did the wind blow the sounds away from the camera's microphone?:

Boat operators took a figurative bath this day thanks to the gusty conditions:

We strolled around the eastern half of the lake:

A friend I made along the way, one of several felines we encountered in the park. I named it "Mao Zedong", congratulating myself on my linguistic brilliance in substituting the character for "cat" 猫 in place of the character of the dictator's family name 毛, hence 猫泽东. That lasted until I got home later that day and learned that acquaintances of ours had a cat with the even cleverer name of "Miao Zedong"!:

Stopping at the Painted Boat Hall (1757):

Reaching the north entrance to the park, we visited the Jingxin Studio 静心斋, described as a "garden within a garden". The aforementioned Qianlong Emperor would go there to sip tea, listen to music being played on guqin 古琴 and enjoy the carp-filled ponds:

Competing selfies:

As it was getting late in the afternoon, we decided to call it a day, even though there was still a lot more to see in Baihei Park. My wife suggested returning next spring, when flowers should be in bloom. One thing of which I'm certain: there will be a lot more people there the next time we go! October 3rd, 4th and 5th (Monday-Wednesday) had been official public holidays, but although both Amber and I returned to our respective schools last Thursday, many in Beijing had the entire week off. Those extra two days came with a catch, however - Saturday and Sunday were make-up school/work days, which was why a tourist sight as well-known as Beihai Park was virtually bereft of visitors on a sunny (though windy) Sunday!

Of course, that also meant empty seats were scarce on the subway going home. Except for one enterprising young lad, who came prepared:

Today being Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples Day Canadian Thanksgiving ROC National Day Monday and with the girl back in school, things were pretty quiet at home. Shu-E and I did ride share bikes to the Sanlitun 三里屯 area to have some lunch (conditions were a lot calmer compared to yesterday):

That's right, we went to Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐, that Taiwanese favorite of wàiguórén 外国人 everywhere. Amazingly, neither Shu-E nor I had ever eaten at a branch, anywhere - the closest we'd ever come was at a Seattle Mariners baseball game back in August 2018 when my wife had bought a milk tea for me from the ballpark's Din Tai Fung outlet:

Taiwan Beer 台灣啤酒 and I have a less-than-friendly relationship stretching back several decades. To me it tastes like the Formosan equivalent of Budweiser or Heineken. Back when we living in Taiwan, I would often write of my distaste for the national brand, and of the beer situation in Taiwan in general, on earlier versions of this very blog. Unbelievably, these observations would generate abusive comments directed at your humble scribe, most often from fellow foreigners. I could only feel sympathy for these lost aliens, desperately trying to convince themselves the imaginatively-named Taiwan Beer actually tasted better than human urine, all in the delusion that by doing so they would better fit into Taiwanese society. The poor sods:

 

Oh, yes, Din Tai Fung. Shu-E wasn't too impressed with the their renowned dumplings. She claims most Taiwanese only started taking an interest in Din Tai Fung when they learned the restaurant was being prominently featured in Japanese guidebooks on Taiwan:

She also stated that many of her compatriots preferred the fried rice over the dumplings. So I ordered the Shrimp and Shredded Pork Fried Rice (With Egg) 虾仁肉丝蛋炒饭 / えび豚肉チャーハン and, damn, it turned out to be pretty 很好吃!:

After lunch we had a look at some of the stores, what the Chinese call 逛街. Our residence is already provided with a big-screen TV, but the picture quality on some of these models made me go "hmmm...":

On weekends people will line up to go inside the Apple Store. On weekdays...:

The afternoon concluded with a minor victory, of sorts. You may (though probably don't) remember from the last post my frustrations in trying to find a decent bookshop in Beijing that carries English-language titles. One store I couldn't find in Sanlitun was Page One Books. Well, as it turned out, the shop had recently moved from the ground to the second floors, but the map apps I was using (Apple and Baidu) hadn't been updated yet. It wasn't a complete triumph as the shop didn't carry any historical references or travel guidebooks in English, but it did have a good selection of art and architecture books. And these, which I was surprised to find in a society governed under an authoritarian political system (and, yes, a copy of Animal Farm was also on the same shelf):

Or, as a friend pointed out, they spelled "Guide to better living" wrong...