The Great Leap Backward 感恩节

Just another beautiful Beijing autumn afternoon (taken last weekend when more businesses were still open, and not today)

Today is our first Thanksgiving Day observation here in Beijing 北京, that cliched time of year when Americans (and Canadians, though they do it a month earlier) look back at the year that's elapsed, and feel gratitude over all the things they should be thankful for. In my case, I suppose I should be grateful most of my recent symptoms seem to have abated, probably the result of all those new medications I've been prescribed. And all the exams I've recently undergone have not (yet) revealed anything nasty lurking inside my body or my brain. Now if you'll excuse me for a moment while I locate some wood upon which to furiously knock...

Okay, now that I've taken care of the one superstition that rules over me, it should be noted that I've battling with bouts of depression, along with difficulty getting to sleep and all-around general lethargy. My daughter suggests some of these could be a side effect of one of the meds (she Googled it), but I suspect it has more to do with the COVID-19 situation here in China's capital city. For you see, while the rest of the world in 2022 has learned to live with the coronavirus, in China life has reverted back to the year 20 fucking 20. Thanks to a recent upswing in COVID cases, we now have to have our throats swabbed on a daily basis. Both my Chinese classes and Amber's high school courses have moved online. Restaurants have either closed up entirely, or are only open for delivery and takeaway orders. Some colleagues are presently quarantined in their residential compounds because of a small number of positive cases, and it's most likely an inevitability that we'll soon be in the same situation. And yet the Chinese government continues to stubbornly cling to its Zero-COVID policy, despite the fact that (as a friend puts it) you cannot attain zero COVID when the COVID in question is the omicron variant.

Why is this so? The nature of my work means it's better to limit the expression of any personal viewpoints (even on an insignificant blog such as this), so instead I suggest you click here, here and here to learn more (you can also go here to read how some Chinese are surprised to discover much of the rest of the world seems to moved on). Instead, I'll devote the remainder of this relatively short post to how I spent my Thanksgiving holiday (my daughter still had to attend her classes online). Which is to say I used one of the city's share bikes to go for a ride along some surprisingly deserted roads on an unsurprisingly smoggy day (today's AQI was 192). In China the fourth Thursday of November is just another school/work day, but with all the restrictions currently in place, it felt more like a Sunday this afternoon...except it was a Sunday where only essential businesses related to food (like convenience stores, restaurants and supermarkets) appeared to be open. Like being back in the year 20 fucking 20 again, in other words.

From a distance I thought this might have been a repurposed Orthodox church, but it turned out to be an indistinct building housing a traditional medicine clinic:

The explosion in personal wealth in recent decades has resulted in grandiose apartment buildings with tasteless examples of external décor:

The Phoenix International Media Center 凤凰国际传媒中心. Click on the link to see what it looks like on clearer, sunnier days:

The Chaoyang Park Plaza:

I have no idea what or who this is supposed to represent as I didn't see any sort of explanation (like a name or title) nearby, although a Google Images search suggests a possible ripoff source:

The infamous CCTV Headquarters. My cellphone weather app described the afternoon conditions as being "moderately polluted":

So "moderate" I couldn't see the top of the CITIC Tower 中国尊 across the road:

The People's Daily New Headquarters:

An up close look at the "big boxer shorts" 大裤衩:

I'm unable to identify this structure, but it reminded me of a scaled-down model of Taipei 101's Chinese takeaway container boxes design:

Google Images is identifying this as the Kerry Center, but Google Maps is placing it in a different location from where I took this photo:

Juxtaposition:

The Conrad Beijing hotel 北京康莱德酒店:

Another juxtaposition, this one of ersatz imperial walls in front of a dated-looking 1970's-style glass edifice (and both comprising the Great Wall Hotel Beijing 北京长城酒店 complex):

A selfie taken near the end of my tour of a few of the Chaoyang District's 朝阳区 architectural sights:

As we're only a family of three and Zero-COVID has put a screeching halt on dining out, we didn't a purchase a large turkey this year. Instead, my wife made a ground turkey meat casserole, and supplemented it with some ham, broccoli and youtiao 油条. It may not have been very traditional, but it's the spirit that counts. Eons ago, when I was single and living in Tōkyō 東京, I would "celebrate" the holiday by having a turkey sandwich for lunch at a café in my neighborhood:

All of this was washed down with a bottle of Tuhao Gold Pilsner 凸豪金, while Cameroon and Switzerland battled it out in Qatar:

And so as I look back on yet another Thanksgiving Day, I do really feel grateful...for not being dead yet. 

Happy Thanksgiving!