Beijing: City or Municipality?

Ask anyone about the size of Beijing and you’ll get several different responses.  Do you mean the city, the metro area, or the municipality?  The common misconception in the west is that the municipality and the city are the same thing.  I remember, back before I moved here, my father telling me about some speaking he saw at some conference.  The dude said Beijing was a city of 20 million surrounded by seven ring roads.  This dude’s assessment wasn’t entirely correct, but it says a great deal about American perceptions of China and Chinese cities in general. 

Trying to apply the standard state/province model of political geography to China doesn’t work.  China consists of provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions, and special administrative regions.  Beijing falls under the municipality category, being controlled directly by the central government.  Beijing municipality is roughly the size of the state of Connecticut and has a population of around 20 to 21 million people.  But don’t confuse this with an urbanized population of 21 million.  There are parts of the municipality that are as devoid of human life as Wyoming.  Take Line 1 of the Beijing metro to its western terminus and you wind up in the mountains.  Much of the land is still farmland, and looking at a map of the region will show you that Beijing city is only a small portion of the overall area. 

While the urban core of the city makes up the vast majority of the municipality’s population, it can be deceiving at first glance.  Many Chinese likewise find the structure of American cities to be hard to follow.  As a city grows in China, the central government can simply add the surrounding area to the city without much trouble.  US federalism prevents this.  It is very difficult to explain to my Chinese colleagues that I grew up on the Indiana side of Louisville, KY. 

Coworker: “If you grew up so close to Louisville, why isn’t your area part of the city?” 

The concept of city-county merger is also very difficult to explain. 

Coworker: “Why are some cities and counties merged and others are not?” 

Me: “Because the people have to vote for it.”

Coworker: “So many of the people in the suburbs work in the core of the city, use its services, but don’t have to pay taxes there?” 

Some great arguments exist on either side.  While city-county mergers go a long way to combat the problems of shrinking tax bases resulting from middle-class flight, they also can skew crime rate and poverty statistics, making cities look safer and wealthier than they really are.  Despite their success at reversing the declining fortunes of some rustbelt cities, most notably Indianapolis, mergers are by no means a panacea.    

The whole experience has made me realize how rigid the US system is compared to other nations.  Even in the United Kingdom, the boundaries of counties’ can be adjusted to account for population growth.  For an interesting read, check out the 1965 Act that created present-day metro London in England. 

In short, there is no standard way to measure the size of a city.  The city of Chicago might only have 2.6 million people, but its metro area is much larger than that (somewhere in the neighborhood of 9.7 million people).  I know many residents of Hammond, Aurora, and Naperville that say they’re from Chicago for a number of geographic, political, and professional reasons.  However, many of these same people would fight annexation by the city tooth and nail.  It sort of embodies the American dream of “choosing” your identity.    

"English" Names

Foreigners quickly learn that everyone in China has an “English name”.  People often introduce themselves by their Chinese name, quickly followed by their conveniently easy to remember English name.  This can sometimes led to some really awkward questions.  What should I call you then?  Do you prefer your English name or your Chinese name?  And sometimes their English name is ridiculous.  My neighbor across the hall wants me to call him Christ.  That is right, Christ.  Not Chris, Jesus (Hey-Zeus), or Christian, but Christ.  I avoid him for several reasons, his name being just one of them.  It made Christmas time very awkward as well.  I fear that Easter will be a nightmare. 

There are some other classic English names out there as well.  Some of the highlights: Zero, Cool, and Seamen.  The reasoning behind the unusual names is also priceless.  It usually makes sense in theory, but do to cultural and linguistic issues, something gets lost in translation.  For this reason, I remain hesitant to adopt a Chinese name, fearing some coincidental double-entendre.  Poor Seamen doesn’t even realize his English name “blows” despite efforts to educate him about the double meaning.       

I usually try to learn people’s Chinese name and use it instead of their English name.  How would you feel if some foreigner said, “Hey, your real name is hard to pronounce and remember, so your new name is Zhou.”  I, for one, would be royally pissed.  However, my roommate pointed out that there is a monumental flaw in my logic here. 

Most people are absolutely delighted when I use their “English name”, rather than their Chinese one.  My roommate pointed this out for me a few months ago, and it put things into perspective.  He said that it isn’t about what makes me uncomfortable or comfortable.  People have many motivations for using their English names, and I should follow their wishes and refer to them by their chosen name, instead of the one I prefer.  He said that at his old job, many of the Chinese staff didn’t even know each other’s Chinese names, preferring to exclusively employ English names in the office.  The phenomenon resembles the reinvention that many of us experience through adolescence.  Everyone had that one friend growing up who decided to arbitrarily change their name.  The phenomenon even extends into romantic relationships with the number of non-Chinese friends a woman has dictating her name preference.  And really, who am I to go against their wishes.  

Yeah, not knowing people’s Chinese names might make the email directory at my job next to impossible to navigate, but it’s just one of the unique aspects of working in the Middle Kingdom.  I am not the same idealistic office worker that I was when I arrived in China, and long gone are my dreams of preaching cultural self-acceptance to my Chinese friends.  If you want to be called Jeff or Stacy, whatever floats your slow boat.     

I Am Almost Fluent in English

Tutoring English as a part-time teacher stands out as one of my most rewarding experiences in China.  I currently teaching three classes a week and my students vary in age from 6 to 36.  The age difference between the students keeps things fresh, and one of the three classes is a group class of four working professionals.

 I am really enjoying reliving my youth through Dr. Seuss books with the six year old student.  I launched into a rant about how the Cat in the Hat Returns is derivative of its predecessor and not up to the good doctor’s usually high standards of originality. Eventually, I caught myself and came to the realization that this 6 year old kid in front of me couldn’t understand anything that I was saying, and he just wanted to hear/see how the fun cat in his funny hat made a mess of things.  Though my literary criticism was lost on my student, his mother in the other room laughed, so at least someone agrees with me.  Truly, Green Eggs and Ham remains the Godfather of children’s’ stories.

Teaching English also gives me a chance to learn about contemporary Chinese culture and Chinese views about US culture.  A few weeks ago, I spent 20 minutes trying to explain to my student that we make fun of our leaders in the west on a fairly regular basis.  This simple concept perplexed her, and she kept asking why we made fun of them.  I told her that it keeps them accountable for their actions and prevents idolization.  She finished by laughing and saying, “The media doesn’t make fun of leaders in China.”      

Other concepts are laughable as well.  Take the weather for example.  It is the “go to” topic for small talk, and I make sure that all of my more fluent students receive instruction in this much nuanced conversational topic.

Me – Been really hot lately

Student – Yes, yes it has.  But I think it is supposed to cool down later in the week.

Me – Really, that is good to hear.

Every American has had countless conversations along these lines.  However, do to cultural differences, the idea of passing the time or staving off awkwardness with a conversation about the weather is laughable to most Chinese.  This explains the funny looks I get when trying to break awkward silences in China.    

Occasionally a student will throw out some piece of party line history from a bygone era.  After all, China was a very different place 20 years ago you know.  A former student once told me that the Soviets SOLD East Germany to West Germany because they were running out of money.  I let it slide.  Who am I to miss with the guys perceptions of the past?  Besides, the last part holds some truth.  Truly communist states really frown on budget deficits and debt.   

They say teaching is the noblest profession, and after my experiences as a part-time English tutor, I am starting to agree.  The experiences challenges and rewards me each week, and seeing the progress of my students gives me a feeling of pride.  Also, teaching English, whether fulltime or part-time, is on everyone’s expat bucket list over here.              

News of the World in the Middle Kingdom

I feel guilty saying this, but Chinese news broadcasts are hilarious.  I mean one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life.  There is a certain formula to the broadcast that gives the news a sense of consistency, making it less like the news and more like watching the same episode of a sitcom over and over.  Every broadcast features these important “stories”

Japan – Every Chinese news broadcast must feature at least a half an hour of coverage about the rise of the Japanese war machine, and its attempts to prevent the Middle Kingdom from protecting its islands in the South China Sea.  All stories about Japan directly relate back to this central theme.  Some in the west call Japan “the Tiger without Teeth”, but no one will ever accuse CCTV of such a thing.   

Three Magic Words – “Reform”, “Leaders”, and “Development” are the three most used words in any Chinese news broadcast.  So much so, that my roommates have created a drinking game around these three magic words.  The Holy Grail of Chinese journalism is finding a way to work all three words into one sentence.  It usually happens about once a week.  The Chinese media have sort of twisted the definitions of the words to make them broader.

·       Reform – Making any changes to any system.  Used to imply that the changes are for their benefit of the people and an all-around good thing.

·       Leaders – Any Party member.

·       Development – Building anything, anywhere, at any time.

Chinese Aircraft Carrier – News broadcasts love to feature footage of the PLA Navy’s aircraft carrier.  However, they always fail to mention that the carrier will not be battle ready for quite some time.  They will pretty much find any reason to show it.  Often, it appears during the Japanese segment.  Make sure not to get it confused with the footage of Japan’s aircraft carrier. 

The formulaic nature of Chinese news has helped me understand Chinese society a little bit better.  So the next time you need help understanding the Middle Kingdom, tune into CCTV and watch a female reporter with short, cropped hair give you the same news she did yesterday.  It might not be the best source of news, but I promise it will make you smile.  

Go Global, Drink Local

Go to any local convenience store in Beijing, and you will find at least two baskets outside.  One contains Yanjing beer and the other holds Artic Ocean soft drink bottles.  These two staples of the Beijing diet are found everywhere in the city and are a must for any visitor trying to sample the “local” cuisine.  I am going to be very blunt; there isn’t anything special about the taste of these two drinks.  Yanjing tastes like every other mass-produced Chinese beer.  If you gave me a blind taste test of Harbin, Snow, Yanjing, and Qingdao, I honestly could not tell the difference between any of them.  Arctic Ocean tastes like Fanta…..In fact, I am pretty sure the Chinese company that makes it stole the Fanta recipe and now bottles the formula under the label, Arctic Ocean. 

Despite the homogeneity and unoriginality of these drinks, they are cornerstones of Chinese culture in the capital.  A trip to any Chinese restaurant in the hutongs would be incomplete without seeing someone’s table littered with a graveyard of Yanjing and/or Arctic Ocean bottles.  I once saw two people put down seven Arctic Oceans in one sitting.  Chinese people that I hang out with usually always have the same response when I walk into a store and buy an Arctic Ocean.  “How do you know what that is?”  I usually have to hold my smart-ass comments to myself at this point; especially considering almost every store in Beijing carries them.  They usually always add, “That is so Beijing,” after I explain that everywhere carries Arctic Ocean, and I would have to be completely oblivious not to notice it.

This semi-scripted discussion really embodies one of the interesting things about China.  It expects to hide its secrets in the open.  I think many foreigners like living here because of this, including myself.  Locals expect foreigners to overlook local items for established, global brands, and this says much more about the foreigners than the locals.  So the next time you are in Beijing, kickback with a Yanjing.  You’ll cringe when you take that first sip, but remember that it gets easier the more you drink.       

Stealing Home.....and Taking It Abroad

I cannot wait until baseball season starts this spring.  Baseball has the honor of being the first sport my parents let me quit, which means I hold the least amount of resentment toward the sport.  As a result, my friends in college experienced far more success attracting me to baseball than other professional sport.  I also lacked any nominal geographic allegiances like I hold for the Pacers and the Colts.  How about those Pacers by the way?  They are kicking ass right now. 

I created a fantasy team last season with some friends from college, but only one friend and I actually played.  The sad thing is I finished 3rd and he won the league.  However, both of us had a ton of fun doing it.  We’re both joining a more serious league this upcoming season with some fraternity brothers of ours that are still in college.  This is the big leagues people.  They don’t allow you to auto draft here.  If you know of any underrated players that I should pick up, please let me know.

Great season last year overall, I must say.  Tigers (my team of choice) finished well, and there were some really exciting last-to-first division titles.  I remember giving a friend from college shit back when the Dodgers were in last place in April.  He is originally from LA, and man was he excited at their impressive playoff run.  And how about the impressive NL central?  Man those wildcard races are exciting.  I have a cousin who is a Reds fan and I saw a Facebook post about his disappointment at their wildcard loss to Pittsburgh.  That is the magic of the game.  You win, you lose, but there is always next year (see Cubs fans for advice on this phenomenon).  But let’s be honest the wildcard playoff is a gimmick, though one I whole heartedly support.  On any other day, the Reds might have pulled it out, but that is part of the magic of baseball.  Can a one game playoff tell us anything besides who is better that day?  No, not really.  But the Reds played a good season, and I look for the NL Central to be the most exciting division in baseball again this year.

The Chicago and New York baseball slump is quite funny, though I consider the Mets my backup (or in some cases NL) team.  Let’s be honest, no one wants to see the Cubs win the World Series because the space/time continuum would collapse.  Seriously though, most of my close friends are Cubs fans and sometimes I feel that I share their pain.  It is tough to keep supporting something that is doomed to fail.  The Cubs struggle is clearly the baseball equivalent of my love life, and for that, I hold out hope, however small, for the team from Chicago’s north side.  I think that the 1st and 2nd city slump is also good for smaller market teams, but that is my pragmatic side talking.

Speaking of the Cubs though, I took my mom to see a Reds/Cubs game last year when I went to Chicago to get my Chinese visa.  She was ready to go by the 3rd inning, and she bought merchandize for a team neither of us support, but I think she had an okay time.  I hope they never put the three remaining classic stadiums to the bulldozer.  I include Dodgers’ stadium because I have mad respect for it.  When it was built, people shit themselves because they thought it was too modern, now it is considered an old-school classic.  It’s pretty amazing what time can do to our perceptions, especially in a game as timeless as baseball.      

Despite my open-mindedness and progressive nature, I think we all can agree that interleague play is an abomination unto God that should be done away with.  I like it to a certain extent, but it is destroying some of the magic of the game.  I don’t really know how to effectively get rid of it while keeping the divisions balance though.  Maybe add some expansion teams.  If the Yankees and the Mets play every year, what is really so special about a subway series?

The idea of shuffling teams around brings up another good point.  There are some teams in the league that ought to move.  Look at the Rays for example.  Their recent success has made the community of Tampa Bay look like a pretty lethargic bunch.  For God’s sake, they play in a dome in Florida.  I’ll say this again.  They play ……in a DOME……in Florida.  Who the Hell thought that was a good idea?  And the A’s, one of baseball’s most historic and successful franchises, are still sharing a terrible stadium that is haunted by the ghost of Al Davis.  Why not move them to better markets that will embrace the team?  Maybe baseball ought to look at expanding the big leagues into Latin America.  Again, I am pretty open-minded, but for some reason I have a much easier time with the idea of a Latin American team winning the World Series than one from Canada……..Don’t judge me though.

So this opening day, I’ll be in the local hutong sports bar checking out the games on a 12-hour time difference.  Just please don’t rob my apartment.  

Passport to Asia

Beijing has a great location that makes it easy to travel to other destinations in Asia.  I am currently in the process of choosing some travel destinations for spring and summer.  I hope to visit one domestic and one international destination.  Also, I am currently looking for someone to travel with.  Those interested, please submit a notarized resume with a least one letter of recommendation.  I will contact you if I desire an interview with you.  After the success of my trip to Korea (I stress the relativity of this term), I have high hopes for more travels around Asia.     

Japan – Just a short flight away, Japan offers all the comforts of home but with an Asian twist. 

            Pros – Japanese baseball, food, awesome cultural and historic sites, and no visa required

            Cons – Japan is very, very expensive and the weather isn’t any better.   

 Vietnam – Common misconception, US/Vietnamese relations have been quite good since the Chinese invasion of Vietnam.  Why not travel there then?  The country has some great beaches, and Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) is supposed to be a great and exciting place. 

Pros – Cheap, warm, and sprinkled of French and American influences.  It is supposed to be like the less commercial Thailand.  Cool Vietnam War stuff to visit. 

Cons – I need to obtain a visa to travel to Vietnam, and I heard that not many people speak English.   

India – I have always wanted to visit the Indian subcontinent.  From Bombay to Calcutta (Mumbai to Kolkata) it would truly be a dream vacation.

Pros – Food, great history, great weather (unless it is monsoon season).  I am really into British colonial history, so visiting India is a must before I die. 

Cons – The subcontinent is simply too big to do in less than a month.  I’d only get to see a fraction of the country.    

Xinjiang – Chinese westernmost autonomous region (province) offers its own distinct culture and is only a simple rail journey from Beijing

Pros – Great “Muslim” food (that is what they call food from the region in Beijing), fresh air.  The rail journey would be really fun with a group of friends.   

Cons – That simple rail journey mentioned earlier is also 48 hours.  Due to civil unrest in the region, it might be closed to foreigners come vacation time.   

Tibet – Oh course, you knew it was going to make the list.  Truly one of the brightest, though reluctant, jewels in the Chinese cultural crown. 

Pros – The pinnacle of traveling with amazing scenery.  Also, another potentially memorable train journey if I go with the right group. 

Cons – It is really hard to get to…..both geographically and politically.  Also, it will likely be cold no matter what time of year I visit. 

I’ll make sure to post more information as I narrow down the choices.  Also, be on the lookout for “South Korea has got Soul: Part II”

"ChExit" Strategy

One of the wonderful things about living in Beijing is the interesting people you meet.  People from all over the world come here, and the international enclave tends to be a diverse mix of people from all four corners of the globe.  The Chinese attitude towards foreigners goes a long way in reinforcing the vibrant expatriate scene here in Beijing.  Natives don’t usually make distinctions between foreigners based on their country of origin.  A foreigner is just a foreigner whether they are from Europe, America, Africa, or Asia, and in some cases this includes Hong Kong and Taiwan.  As a result, I have quite a few friends from other Asian countries, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, but only a small number from mainland China.  Since the vast majority of my friends are other foreigners, my circle of friends has a transitory nature.  People move here, stay a little while, then they move on with their lives. 

Having a friend, and in this case also a roommate, move away isn’t necessarily a sad event.  You’ll miss them, but you know they are off to bigger and better things.  Also, the second they get on the plane out of Beijing, their chances of getting lung cancer drop by 85% (this is not a real statistic, but it is completely believable).  It usually hits you that someday you’re going to be the one getting on the plane and leaving Beijing……although likely two to four hours after your scheduled departure time (Beijing Capital is the world’s most delayed airport).  Over the past few months, I became good friends with a few of my roommates.  Our mutual hatred of our shady landlord brought us together, but I know that I lucked into a pretty good situation here, especially considering all the horror stories out there about “roommates from Hell”.  So even though you’ll miss your friend, you know they are going on to better things and that makes them leaving sort of a happy event. 

Last night, my roommate David and I took Elye out for dinner at a badass Korean restaurant for a farewell meal.  Did I mention that celebrities frequent this restaurant?  “The One”, Keanu Reeves once ate there, and his photo is prominently displayed outside.  Below is my version of a creepy farewell montage.        

Keanu once ate here 

Classic Asian girl pose

Awesome reflection of the waitress in the window

Elye hides in the shadows

And it was at this moment that we all realized we are terrible at pool

  

15 Minutes of Fame

Everyone dies famous in a small town, or so Sugarland tells us.  But every lao wei (foreign devil) makes it big in Beijing…..at least to a certain extent.  Just this month, one of my roommates got a full page photo in the Beijinger.  For the uninitiated, the Beijinger is one of the local magazines geared toward expatriates in Beijing.  As mentioned in earlier posts, locals tend to stick all foreigners into the category of “other”, so pretty much every foreigner in the capital reads the Beijinger.  Even I, your humble blogger, occasionally make it into the photos on the Beijinger website. 

My roommate’s success led to an obvious celebration amount our apartment.  All lao wei experience a brushes with fame here.  I myself enjoyed a short Chollywood acting career.  Let me tell you, Chollywood is a tough town.  My experiences now make for great conversation.  For example, I am pretty sure that I inadvertently started in a Chinese Viagra add.  I should have left the set when they pulled out the side-by-side bathtubs.  I kid, this didn’t happen.  The commercial was for credit card pin machines…..or at least I hope.

 I always use the topic to flirt with women.  The joke that I am now the third most recognizable person in Cambodia serves as a litmus test.  If they laugh, they are intelligent, can take a joke, and are potential dating material.  If they give a response, such as, “wow, really?”  They aren’t dating material, but they now think that I am the third most recognizable person in Cambodia.  So at least I have that going for me.  The topic also became a running joke in my family.  My “Chollywood Actor of the Year” award from my mom and dad remains the best Christmas gift I have ever received.    

One of the key takeaways from this post should be that these experiences, and the excitement they bring, keep an otherwise stagnant city fresh and vibrant.  I’d never have gotten to have a Chollywood career, however brief, in Indiana.  So remember folks, every lao wei leaves Red China’s capital as at least a D list celebrity.  And that is pretty cool.          

Terrific Tianjin Travels

I took the high-speed train to Tianjin on Tuesday for a daytrip.  A round-trip ticket only costs around $16, and the train ride lasts about a half an hour one way.  I let my roommates plan the itinerary for the trip, and we saw some of the famous cites Tianjin offers.  That took approximately 2 hours, and we had the rest of the day free to explore Beijing’s twin city.  We visited the Italian concession first because of its proximity to the Tianjin train station.  Warning: This area is not a “Little Italy”.  I went with high hopes of pizza and spaghetti, and these hopes were quickly dashed.  Most of the historical, European-style buildings seemed dilapidated and unoccupied, but the architecture provides a welcome change from the homogenous structures of Northeastern China.

We also checked out the city’s “traditional” antique market nearby.  This is little more than an outdoor shopping mall designed to look old.  It is thronged with Chinese tourists, making the whole thing feel like Line 10 during rush hour.  Truthfully, it is filled with the same stuff that other souvenirs shops in China sell.  There isn’t much special about the district, and it is overhyped.  I recommend skipping it and exploring other parts of the city.        

However, if you go a few blocks over, you’ll find empty streets.  Here the city takes on the aura of a ghost town.  Tianjin features a huge amount of unoccupied real estate.  There are a few prominent examples of the phenomenon in Beijing, but Tianjin has it in spades.  Large, recently completed shops and office blocks sit eerily empty.  Parts of the city make you feel like you’re on a Hollywood set.  Also, watch out for Chinese tourists that will snap photos of you.  Below is a photo of a Chinese tourist attempting to photograph me eating chicken wings.  He didn’t ask, he just stuck the lens in my face and clicked away.  The good news is that as a result, I am the third most recognizable foreigner in western China (I joke). 

Still oblivious

At first I thought he wanted my chicken leg

Now I am pissed

Walking across the frozen river was a highlight of the trip.  Below are some photos.  A small section of the river was frozen, and you could rent sleds for the ice.  I decided not to fulfill my dreams of becoming a member of the Jamaican bobsled team because of the 40 Yuan price tag.  We witnessed a few brave souls setting off New Year’s fireworks on the ice.  The whole thing made for an interesting exercise in Chinese safety regulations. 

Tianjin made for a great “mini” vacation, and its proximity to Beijing means you only need an afternoon to experience the city.  

Super Bowl: An American Holiday

Living abroad means celebrating important cultural events in unorthodox ways.  My Super Bowl experience this year truly embodies this practice.  It started with a 6:00am wake up call, followed by a cab ride to one of my favorite Beijing bars, The Local.  That is right folks, the game started at 7:30am Beijing time, bright and early.  Of course we had to leave even earlier to get good seats, and to be fair, we got some badass couch seats right in front of the tv.  It was a difficult struggle to find the motivation to wake up early during my Chinese New Year vacation, but the thought of chicken wings and beer propelled me forward like a pass from Peyton Manning into the hands of the other team.  Probably shouldn’t be so hard on Peyton, but I just couldn’t pass….and neither could Manning.

The top floor of The Local in Beijing

I went with my two roommates, a Seattleite and an Austrian expatriate, to watch the game.  There are some obvious differences between watching the game back in the US and watching it here in Beijing.  For starters, we HAD to go to a bar……at 6am to watch the game.  We really didn’t have the option of going to someone’s house or apartment to watch the game.  This does take away from some of the magic of Super Bowl Sunday, but considering the circumstances it was the best option.  The Chinese New Year fireworks in our neighborhood made our apartment sound like Damascus, so we thought it was best to get out of there before the 8am lightshow started again. 

Watching at a bar also meant we were forced to pay for food.  I know…I know; one of my favorite parts of the Super Bowl is mooching off of all the great food and drinks people bring to parties.  However, I have to compliment The Local, they managed to replicate this atmosphere to a certain extent.  They had multiple screens, including a giant projector, and the owner came up with a way to play the Super Bowl commercials instead of the ones on ASN (ASN stands for American Sports Networking and the entire channel has like three commercials).  Watching with a few Broncos and Seahawks fans also did a lot for the atmosphere.  Especially considering that as a Colts fan, I didn’t really care who won the game.      

Explaining the rules to foreigners is an important part of watching sporting events abroad, and doing a terrible job explaining the rules is an even more important part of watching sporting events abroad.  It all seems so simple and logical in your head, but when you are forced to explain “intentional grounding” to someone, it becomes borderline rocket science.  I am sure my Austrian roommate got frustrated during my feeble attempt to explain the difference between a forward and a lateral pass.  In this case, it wasn’t the rule that was the issue, but the effect the rule had on whether the ball was a fumble or an incomplete pass.  It definitely highlights how we take sports knowledge for granted.  I can’t wait to confuse the Hell out of all my foreign friends when baseball season starts.  Why are strikeouts denoted with the letter “K”?……I don’t know.  They just are man.     

American game, Austrian enthusiasm

All in all, it was good to celebrate my cultural heritage.  All jokes aside, I consider the Super Bowl and the World Series to be important American cultural events, maybe even holidays.  Sort of like the American version of Oktoberfest or Mid-Autumn Festival, and I was glad to get to celebrate it with some friends.

As for the game itself, I did not see that one coming.  I lost a 20 Yuan bet as a result.  Oh well though, that is what I get for gambling.  Also everyone, including myself, is being too hard on Peyton.  Let’s see you take a hit from a 400 pound defensive lineman and break NFL records when you’re 37 years old.    

Great seats on the couch

Mastering Xiangqi (Chinese Chess)

Games play a big role in any culture.  My efforts to master Chinese chess, or xiangqi, should best be called a “work in progress”.  Then again, so should my efforts at normal chess.  The game features nearly identical rules to international chess, except for the addition of two “cannons” and movement restrictions for some of the pieces.  Generals (Kings) cannot leave the palace (squares sections at either end of the board).  Likewise, elephants (bishops) cannot cross the river (a sort of no man’s land in the center of the board).  The cannons are the most interesting pieces and do not have counterparts in international chess.  The ability of the cannons to capture pieces over great distances and move quickly around the board make them some of the most valuable pieces in the game.  For more information on the rules of xiangqi make sure to check out the link below.  Yes, I know this is a link for Wikipedia, but it can be a good source of basic information.  It’s how I learned the Germans actually bombed Pearl Harbor during World War I, and Captain Crunch triumphed at Trafalgar with his fleet of Crunch Berries. 

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangqi

But I am not here to teach you how to play Chinese chess.  I am here to give you valuable, though skewed, insights into Chinese culture from the perspective of a foreigner.  You constantly see old people playing the game in parks and on street corners, holding wads of cash plastered with Chairman Mao’s likeness.  Often times, a crowd of elderly men stand watching the game, some standing on boxes and curbs to get a better view of the game.  Though gambling is illegal in mainland China, people will pretty much bet on anything, and Xiangqi and Mahjong present a wonderful opportunity for gamblers to strike it rich.    

My roommate and I, an Austrian expat, often go to the local café to play xiangqi and drink coffee.  The café, which has three different names, is primarily frequented by young Chinese looking for an alternative to the bland corporate identity sold by Starbucks to newly affluent Chinese consumers (be on the lookout for a post about this subject).  The responses of the café’s clientele to our efforts have been mixed.  Many young Chinese simply laugh when they see two young white people playing such a traditional Chinese game.  The snickering and pointing of young Chinese couples is as much a part of the game to us as the old spectators watching the street corner matches outside.  It sort of embodies the younger generation’s rejection of many aspects of traditional Chinese culture.  Many of the Chinese my age that I know don’t even know how to play xiangqi and consider it a game best relegated to history. 

However, older Chinese tend to give us the “nod”.  The “nod” is sort of their way of saying I have a begrudging respect for these lao wei trying to learn our game.  Though adapting to China isn’t easy, the “nod” of approval from older Chinese chess players gives me a feeling of accomplishment and acceptance that bridges any language gap.