Scorpions, Starfish and Snakes...Oh My!

On Wednesday following Tiananmen Square, Amy, Queen, Crystal and myself were joined by our friends (and colleagues) Tina and Maarten to venture into the infamous Night Market! Located directly across from the Olympic Flagship Store, the Night Market (opens at 6 pm daily) is a literal who's who of the "I did not know that was an actual edible animal" family! As such, the Night Market is a popular destination for tourists willing to pay for things people would not eat on Fear Factor, as well as for local Chinese who love to make fun of the tourists, and, as Queen and Crystal told us would never eat half the things offered at the Night Market in thier lives!

Entering the Night Market would be akin to finding platform and 3/4 and boarding the Hogwarts Express (I know, I am a geek). As soon as you step off the street of high end shops and modern convenience, you enter into a different world. It is similar to other markets (lots of smells, sounds, yelling, bartering) but it is basically all food and little restaurants. There are some alleys with more souvenir type items (please refer back to naieve tourist comment), but it really felt like the Ex's food pavillion on crack.

Maarten (from Holland) and I came specifically to try things that we had been hearing about for days - ie. scorpions on a stick, locusts, larvae.... We had to witness it for ourselves. The girls, as it turns out however, came to watch us and root us on. The adventure began with us weaving our way through the many stalls and even greater number of people sussing out the scene and deciding on which 'delicacies' we would indulge in. This is what we saw:

From Left to Right: Locusts, Sea Horses and Larvae (we chose not to try these - too many faces looking back at us)

Scorpions: Yes Please! But the most unnerving part is that they are still alive and squirming on the stick before they get fried up in spices!

After our inital tour of the snacks to be had, Maarten and I settled on Scorpions as our starter... We had to get it out of the way. Like I was saying, once they were fried up and immobile I was all right with the whole thing, it was just getting over the squirming while impailed on a sitck thing. I am actually making us sound braver than we really are. We did not just walk up and say one scorpion skewer please... there was much laughing, goading, screaming (not be my, but some of the girls) and attempted bargaining. We thought that 10 RMB (1.50) for a scorpion was too much as we thought that we would not like them. No dice. The prices for food in the market are pretty much set. We picked the skewer we wanted and the guy literally just picked it up and tossed it on the fryer. The second those poor little critters touched the grill the sizzle was unbelieveable. Thier squeals for help fell on deaf ears as I had already steeled myself for the task ahead.... They are not suirming anymore, they are like novelty candy... probably will taste like chicken???... at least if I get poisoned it will be an exciting (and hopefully quick end)... These were just some of the thoughts running through my head.

I don't look to sure of myself....Down the hatch!

Once I got over the inital cruch biting into the thing, I was surprised to discover that scorpions are tasty morsels! The spices were amazing, and I did not feel any gushy, oozy sensations when incountering the innards - so I was 100% please and satisfied. I was told by the vendour that I had to eat the tail (hanging out of my mouth in this pic), so I finished the sucker off! Armed with a new found confidence and and machismo, Maarten and I quickly downed some chicken hearts. Wanting a bigger, more exotic challenge we decided on starfish for dessert.


I am not going to sugar coat the starfish experience as they did not sugar coat the starfish for me...it would have helped!!!!...the starfish was not like scorpion at all. As you can see from the photo, as soon as I bit into the thing, sheer panic welled up inside me. I was not going to like this experience. You see, the starfish has an extremely hard and crunch outside...which is bad. But NOTHING could prepare me for what we discovered INDSIDE the starfish....(not even the legendary 'flipper pie' debaucle of 1985). The inside of the starfish was kind of hollow and filled with a pure black grainy sand-like substance. Even worse than that was the smell that came out of this thing once exposed to the world. Take the Toronto Garbage strike and intensify that by 1000 and then add decaying rotting fish that have been sitting out in 45 degree weather for a week to the top of that pile and you may start to understand what was penetrating my nostrils. It was the fishiest, dirtiest, foulest smelling thing I have ever smelt.




Thumbs down for starfish! What you can't tell in this picture is that it is still in my mouth... I swallowed only a portion, started dry heaving and just held it it my mouth trying to be brave. Both Maarten and I had to spit it out. The worst part was that the grainy sand like substance adhered itself to your gums, in the cracks in your teeth on your tongue - you could not get rid of it. The two of us went directly to the nearest vendour and bought 2 cokes to get rid of the taste.

It was definitely an experience. What did we learn today boys and girls? Scorpions good, Starfish bad! It was still a riot and I loved every minute of it. Maarten and I definitely enteratined the ladies too.


The gang celebrating a great day in the market - Tina, Crystal, Amy, Queen, Maarten. Triumphant, I then headed home to the Ritz.

80 of our staff was housed at the Ritz and it was our last night there. So once I got showered and cleaned up (I have never been so sticky in my life!), it was down to the lobby bar for one last hurrah with the gang... no, no pics on that! Some things are better left undocumented. Suffice it to say, a GREAT time was had by all and we even started up an impromptu band complete with upright bass, drums and piano. We celebrated until 3 in the morning.

Luckily, I was smart enough to have already packed, so I was up at 6am got my stuff together, blogged and then headed to the China People's Palace, my home for the next 30 days....it isn't the Ritz, but great people have moved over here with me. I think we are a group of 20-25 here now. I tried to check-in, but once again, they did not have my reservation... but I got it sorted, dropped my stuff and ran out to the Marriott to meet Queen and Crystal.

Today we toured the Olympic Green (where many of the high profile venues are housed). We actually got up close and personal with the buildings thanks to our accreditations. It was neat to see the calm before the storm - an empty national stadium that will house 100,000 people for example. Another highlight was that we toured the water cube (where aquatics is taking place) and got to see swimmers and divers practicing. The Canadian diving team was one of those practicing. It is so weird how so much pride wells up in me for these athletes. They have worked so hard and their concentration and excitement were palpable! I will do a separate post about our tour later. Got home today around 7:30pm and immediately crashed. Woke up at 1am which explains 2 posts in one day... now I am going to get another couple of hours of sleep because we have a full day of training tomorrow for over 900 of the staff starting at 8:00am.

Here comes the sun.....????

First, I need to start off by apologizing... It seems that some of you have incorporated my blog into your daily morning routine (which makes me happy), as a result, however, I received a few questioning emails as to why I had not posted yesterday. To this I say, once again, I am sorry, but I am working here people! The last two days have been VERY computer intensive and busy. Work, work, work. Things of note that happenend in the last two days are: 1. We finally met our local staff! We have two locals with us, Queen and Crystal. They are amazing! It is so nice to have a local with you when you are trying to navigate your way through the sea of bycicles, people and cars - or when simply trying to order lunch. 2. It finally rained! Well, for the love of Noah and his arc, it was torrential - for 10 minutes anyway.

The onslaught commences... But there is a silver lining.....The humidity broke (a little - for about 8 hours) and the sun "almost" came out! I have been a little depressed because I am seriously needing sunshine... and you won't believe how this brief reprise lifted the spirits of all....

It was still covered in haze, but that little sun did it's darndest to come out!

While visiting the command centre - the hub of the operation if you will - on official business, Amy and I had one hour between appointments... so what else was there for me to do but eat! I love eating here. At each restaurant I feel like I have entered a warholesque, pop culture paradise. The Chinese are not afraid of colour and each menu is like reading a comic book. It has done wonders in terms of me keeping an open mind... well, not an open mind really, more like - 'ignorance is bliss!' It is like point and eat and I love it. On this particular occasion, I chose an awesome bowl of noodles with vegetables - a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy - all good.

It is now Thursday morning here in Beijing - we met Queen and Crystal for the first time on Monday. This is the best part of the Olympics - meeting everyone from around the world. They are both (and all China is) - very excited about the upcoming games. They have been so keen and helpful. On Monday we just got to know eachother and I gave them a bunch of material to become acquainted with. Here is an example of how eager they are to help - I gave them a project Monday - They were to teach Amy and I about local customs and ettiquete as well as some helpful phrases in Chinese. Well these two girls typed up all of this, printed it out and then went and laminated it for us for easy work. If you had asked someone to do this in N America, you would have been lucky if you were told how to say hello!

Tuesday was official business galore... hence the no post. Just hard work and then a beverage or two with colleagues behind the hotel at the local T.G.I.Fridays after work... that's right, I am loathe to admit that Fridays was our local watering hole here at the Ritz... I will defend myself by saying that 1. it is close 2. it is not Ritz prices and 3. If that's where the gangs at, that's where you go. I have been really lucky and have started to really mesh with many of the staff and have made some great friends. Ps - Fridays is a TRIP in China. I love their concept of Americana...

Yesterday (Wednesday) was a great day and much needed. It started out with me meeting Queen and Crystal. While waiting for Queen, Crystal gave me a Chinese lesson and I learned how to do the olympic cheer (hand movements and everything)... It will be today's phrase of the day. It is as follows:

ao yun!
jia you!
zhong guo!
jia you!

It means go olympics! go china! But what is funny is that the Chinese word for 'go' in this sense is actually petrol (gasoline) - you literally have to gas up for the olympics! for China! Go petrol, go petrol!

Queen, Crystal and myself then had our daily meeting. As many of you know, I am a teacher and I fully believe in learning by doing... so after the meeting it was off to discover everything that we had been learning about! We went to our group hotel to familiarize ourselves which was great. We were then going to meet Amy at 3:30 - because she had been chained to her computer... but we had 40 minutes before that was to happen... what did that mean???? Let's eat!

Going for lunch with Crystal and Queen was amazing and such a differnt experience from when I try to muddle my way through. We went to a seczuan restaurant (mmmm mmm spicy!). There was no English menu and no pictures, so I was at the mercy of the girls. It was awesome. What we did was we went to the front and picked up a basket and then filled it with items that we wanted all cooked up together. I chose vegetables (most of which I did not really recognize) and some quail eggs (at least that is what I think they were). The girls also ordered me a delicious noodle dish. I was proud of myself because we all found it really spicy but I coped the best! And even better??? I bought lunch for all three of us to thank the girls and it was a whopping 25 RMB.... about $3.50 total!... For three people!

Queen (left) and Crystal (right) at lunch

Lunch

Following lunch, we met Amy as we were going to go to some of the places that our guest were going to visit so we could be properly prepared - namely, Tiananmen Square, the Legation Quarter and one of the restaurants we would be taking our guests to. The best part? We did it all by public transit. You have to try the subway if you come to China. It is only 2RMB to ride (free for us with our accreditations) and it is nuts but fun. You only have 18 seconds at each stop to get on and off and it is a free for all! We did great because we had our guides.

The Subway - 19 million people had just got off and it was not rush hour!

First stop: Tiananmen Square. It is a sight to behold for sure. The number of people is staggering. And the all seeing portrait of Chairman Mao dominates the scene. Interesting note I found out from the girls - the painting is replaced every year and a team of 10-12 artists work on it.

Queen and Crystal in the Square

The other strange part of our time there was that Amy and I were stopped on SEVERAL occasions. Every five feet it seemed, someone asked to take a photo with us, or be in thier home video... it is very good for the ego - if not a bit weird. The girls told us it was probably because we were wearing sunglasses and so they thought we were celebrities of some sort. Crystal was so funny, she said that I took a photo with every young girl in China! Her and Queen started acting like our body guards (and secretly, I think they got a kick out of it!)

stop. photo time!

Amy's turn.

Following this, it was off to the legation quarter and then to the Olympic Flagship store, capped off with my most interesting experience so far in China - a trip to the night market! I will save that for the next post as I am moving hotels today (sad to say, the Ritz dynasty has come to an end) and then I have to rush to meet the girls as today we are teaming up with another group and touring the Olympic Green (the main cluster of Olympic Venues where National Stadium is located).

Gotta Jet!

Tell me how you really feel....

Funny story.  The other day when i was out and about town with my friends Jason and Jen, a local woman approached us on the street.  She broke into our conversation by saying that Jen spoke very good English, to which I replied, "I hope so, she is from the United States."  Then I complimented the lady on her English - it was very good.   

Now, one thing that you have to realize for the purpose of this story is that Jason, Jen and I all have differing body types.  So our conversation is going on and I can see that this lady keeps staring at me.  She would look back and forth from Jen to Jason and then stare at me.  I was getting a little suspicious until finally she stopped the conversation and said to me... "You make no sense!".  I was taken aback a bit but then replied, "excuse me?".  She repeated "you make no sense!", then added, "Chinese body, round head!".  Jason and Jen could not help it and started to chuckle.  I guess she could not figure out my body type because supposedly I am slender and short like the Chinese but have a Western head... oh well, can't win them all.

That is what I love about Beijing and China (but what some people have trouble adjusting to) - they tell it like it is and will come right out and say anything.  One poor colleague of mine was told at a market by a vendor that "she must have been very pretty when she was younger...."

On a side note, I finally figured out how to change the time zone on my blog - until now, the times posted did not match the actual time in Beijing.  I should be right on time now!  Thanks again for all of the comments and emails.  Keep them coming!  I need news from home.

'Heavenly" experience

Following lunch yesterday, Amy and I ventured to Tiantan Gongyuan - the Temple of Heaven Park (Tiantan literally meaning 'alter or heaven').  Amy had never been there before and I had not been for 6 years or more.  I have to say that the Temple of Heaven may just be one of my favourite places in all of Beijing. 

Thank god the pic is from far away.... I was one sweaty mess!

There is so much to see in Temple of Heaven Park other than the Temple itself.  It really is something to experience (I seem to be repeating myself lately...).  You see, the Chinese are very much into family and community... and just hanging out really.  Many locals (generally elders) gather here to dance, play games and sing.  It is like attending a free show. Before you get to the Temple itself, you walk down "the long corridor" where all of these people assemble to meet, gossip, play and sing.

Ladies dancing in the long corridor - it was 'jazzercize' Chinese style - wish you could hear the music.

A Chinese game that is very popular.  I do not know the name or the rules.  It seems to be played here only by men.  No ladies were playing.....

This was a massive choir separated into males and females.  The acoustics in that hallway were amazing and the resounding voices filled the air.  It was beautiful to listen to.

Amy and I made our way through the corridor and into the temple complex.  Completed in 1420, the Temple of Heaven is the most perfect example of Ming dynasty architecture.  It was originally constructed for solemn rites performed by the son of heaven who would go there to pray for good harvests and other things.   Everything in the temple has a spiritual, astrological, numerical significance.  For example - the temple itself is round and the base is square - this is because round represents the heavens and square the earth - it is the meeting point of the two.

It really is a wonder to behold

Kids are kids anywhere in the world... it's awesome!

Elaborate door adornments

Workers transporting goods

Once again, Amy and I were oftentimes being stared at as much as we were staring.  Many people brought over their little children so they could look at us.   It was good fun.

I don't know who was cuter - him or her... they got a kick out of me showing them the photos my digital camera.

On a side note, I guess there are no handicapped washrooms at the Temple of Heaven Park.

Amy and I left dripping with sweat but with a song in our hearts (probably because the choir was still going!).  It was a great day.  I headed back to the hotel to shower (#3) then Amy came over and we had a meeting to prep ourselves for what was to come.  Then we had a drink with a friend and I ended up going out for dinner with some friends and then we wandered down a street in a cool district that I can't remember and stopped in at some bars... A good time was had by all.  Also of note is that you can buy a large bottle of Chinese beer (Tsing Tao) on the street for 3 yuan - or maybe 40 cents.... and the large bottle is bigger than a king can!  How can you go wrong???

mmm mmm good....

Working from home again today.  Taking a break from pouring over documents and planning our Hostesses first day tomorrow, (I am in charge of familiarizing our local staff with our program elements) to have lunch.  I thought this would be the perfect time to get a quick blog session in.  

Today may be work, work, work, but it is a fair trade off because yesterday, following our morning meetings, Amy and I were able to familiarize ourselves with a few of the sights around Beijing.  Our task is a bit different from other programs because we have all Chinese Nationals, so they probably won't frequent the more touristy areas.  As a result, Amy and I chose to visit panjiayuan - affectionately known as the 'antique' market or 'dirt market'.  

Markets in China are an experience.  The hustle and bustle, yelling, bartering, sights, sounds and smells weave an amazing tapestry for the senses.  It is hard not to just stand amidst the organized (and unorganized) chaos and let yourself be caught up in it wonderfully frenetic energy.

Amy and I got out of our cab and immediately it was obvious that we were no longer in the more westernized 5 star hotel section of Beijing.  Bikes abounded and people dodged cars, while interacting with street vendors peddling their wares.  Another thing of note was how hot it was!  I have been routinely having 2-3 showers a day here.  With the blanket of smog, one never sees the sun, so you do not realize how much sun you are getting. 

The Chinese equivalent of the US SUV... They are everywhere!

I don't read Chinese, but I am sure this says "Welcome to panjiayuan!"

The sea of vendors is staggering.  Rows upon rows of people displaying their goods.  This place goes on for miles... One could spend weeks in there!  Bartering is the system used in China.  As a foreigner especially, you will get quoted outlandishly expensive prices.  There are a couple rules of thumb.  1. Some say once you are given the vendors initial price, cut it down by 80% and go from there.  2. Take off a zero from what they quote you and start there (i.e. if they start at 200 RMB, you offer 20 RMB).  This may seem criminal to your western way of thinking, but things in China are cheap, and everyone barters and it is expected.  Half the fun for everyone involved is the delicate dance of the barter...I believe it is a sign of respect or a way to gain respect at least... Unless you go too far.... I once, 7 years ago, had a shop keeper shoo me out of her store screaming "Get out!  You are NOT WHITE!" - meaning, I was bartering a little too forcefully and was a little too good at it... I was, in effect bartering like a native and it unsettled her.

Now here are some helpful hints if entering a market in China.  DO NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT and DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING if you are not interested in getting into a bartering war.   They prey on Westerners.  Just wander up and down the aisles with no particular interest in your eyes and you should be fine. 

Shopkeepers do everything from harassing passersby, to sleeping, to playing games with each other (as depicted in the photo above) - do not let this fool you, the minute you touch something they will be right there to assist you with your potential purchase.  A trip to the dirt market is worth the visit simply to people watch.

Amy and I wandered about the market and did not end up buying anything, but I did get some ideas as to what I would go back for.  Here are some pics of what I saw:

Statues of deities and other protectors of the home and soul

I particularly liked this guy

"ancient" chess set.... yeah right.

Some local art

Amy and I lasted just over an hour, then we had to seek refuge in a restaurant close by for some local fare, and more importantly.... cold beer.

I apologize if the character for beer is upside down, I was never quite sure which way was up.  Just yet another display of my Western ignorance.  Amy and I went to the Dumpling house located a stones throw from the market.  It was great fun.  We walked in and there were no tables, so we were seated with a man that was sitting alone.  I love that they would do this.  We exchanged pleasantries and it turns out that this man was an electrical engineer doing quite important work.  He did speak some English, and my Italian background came in handy as arm movements and gestures did the rest.  He was very proud of Beijing and welcomed us and our countries (Amy is from the States) to the Games.  He left a little way into our meal but it was great meeting him and sharing lunch together.    

You can usually do just fine in restaurants as menus come with pictures!  It's a 'point and eat' system. Here is what we ordered:

Water spinach... a boy needs his greens.  Very tasty.

Hot and Sour Fern Root Noodles - we thought we would try something different.... they were SOOOO good.  A great consistency and nice and spicy!

Sauteed shredded pork in Sweet bean Sauce... delicious!

We each ordered a local beer of course.  Here is what we chose not to order:

"Stir-fry a kidney"

"Belly cooked to no sauce"

"Spiced Pig Head Meat"

"Stir-fry for a short time"

This last one was not strange... I just liked the name.  We were basically the only Westerners in the restaurant and, as a result we got stared at and waved at a lot by little children in the restaurant.  

One of our fans...

Sated and cooled off, Amy and I would then venture off to the Temple of Heaven which was a short cab ride away.... I will save this for my next post, however, as I must now return back to work... I am so dedicated.