Marco

Finally told my dad he was a vacuum. He turned to me and said 'I was just a leafblower, rustling leaves that have died many times before.'

Last night, went to have some beers with friends Laura made at the nearby Kaiyue Hostel. There were a couple Irish gents who had biked here from our shared 'motherland,' after that it was a clusterfuck of Euro-trash, Koreans and Chinese. One Swede was a riot and later a taxi caravan took us to 617 (pseudo-gay club ((probably only place in QD you will see transvestites )) with a bouncing dancefloor, a urinal/trough with a picture of a 3x life-size breast you pee on before the golden shower runs down into gold-fish laden water, or you can try and hit the fish directly) where he and Laura stole the floor with a Leprechaun-esque dance from the Chinese pole-dancers above. Think I am going to begin moving back to the East-side tomorrow, really will miss this area though. Its really easy to stay lost in the shadows here, with all cobble-stone alleys running up, down and around the hills. Its been an enriched few months living over here and I will always cherish the days spent in and around Guan Xiang Hill (观象山). My Mandarin has definitely progressed more than ever, even though I have not been studying as much as I hope to. Instead I feel the hours spent sitting on small stools in rustic restaurants intently listening and making friends was the main contributor to my near perfect 青岛话
-Marco Polo

Jonathan Spence

Really good series of lectures by J.S. Yesterday I finished up at RSP and am now just sitting on the computer in the middle of the afternoon, with a stomach full of baozi (包字) Think I am really going to enjoy these working hours. Hopefully I will not waste these precious extra hours, but instead will really bear down on developing my studies and Qingdao 山水 Adventures (www.qingdaossadventures.com).

忍

Since I am cutting my back on work hours and hopefully increasing study hours, it seems I may have more time to work on a blog. Will also try and use this as a study tool. Lots of craziness has happened as of late, including witnessing a beating involving blades and crowbars, some good climbing on Fushan, as well as my first requests for a www.qingdaossadventures.com trip.

help

Dont you Shanghai my Heart

Last Friday I was off of work for a national holiday in which Chinese people will think of their ancestors and possibly visit their tombs. As I havent seen family in a few months, I found it quite fitting that I had plans to shoot up to Beijing on a train and meet my Aunt Beth and Bill (B+B). This was my second trip to Beijing in less than a month, the first was with some friends from here in Qingdao who were playing a couple shows in the very underground but burgeoning rock (yao gun 摇滚) scene of Beijing. When I arrived in the Middle Kingdom, it was around 2:00 in the afternoon. Lots of cherry trees were blossoming about town and I was met at the train stop by a ritzy attendant from the Raffles Hotel. Checked into the hotel and found a room that was fit for Nixon (think he actually stayed here in 72 when China began "opening up"). Could see Tiananmen Square from my window. Since B+B werent arriving for sometime I decided to walk around, grab a Big-Mac and get ripped off by a very cordial young-girl and man who posed as her uncle. They walked with me and we just happened to pass a tea store where they invited me to share some tea with them. The teahouse was found in a strip of hutongs and basically the prices were ridiculous. I still payed an embarrasing price, because I was duped in to thinking the folks were sincere at first and by the end I realized I was a fool for not being on my toes, but it was a good preparation for the rest of my stay in a city of 10 million, where everyone is looking to capitalize on the Olympic fervor.
So got a ring from Bill, walked back to the hotel and met up with B+B in their Song Dynasty Suite. Pretty rocking room! After talking for a bit we took a walk to see Tiananmen and the new Opera/Theatre House. Beth had her Gen-X bound feet ( and she definitely snagged some looks. Random folks were wanting their picture taken with her in front of Mao. We had dinner in the hotel's French restaurant accompanied with Krug bubbly, which became an everynight affair. The only wine I tasted in China was wretched so it was nice to savor the flavor of some grapes. Take that back three penis wine, is also pretty rocking. Its the traditional fermented rice liquor in China, baijiu, but they throw in a couple dog penises to the mix.
After dinner I had plans to check out some yao gun, but instead came across a posting for DJ Tiesto spinning that night. So scurriedd off to Gt. Banana and watched this world famous DJ pump some bass for a few hours. Really neat experience, little crowded, but my first techno/house/trance (whatever the hell you want to call it) show and enjoyed moving with the crowd of at least 2,000. Even though the ratio at these types of events lean a little more to the expat side, its still great to see Chinese people enjoying the rapturous releases of music. Returning to the hotel after 2:00 I was offered a few me-sawgees, but kindly refused.
Saturday the 5th, we didnt have anything on the itinerary organized by Imperial Tours, however, B+B still felt up to a walk even with the jetlagging and we headed East along ___. Tried to make it out to the new CCTV building but turned back to have lunch at the hotel. After lunch we decided to walk the full perimeter of the Forbidden City. Nice walk but by then Beth had several blisters and before dinner at The Peninsula, we sought out some designer sneakers, but with a price of 3,000 rmb/$500, we had to wait another day. Dinner was again deelish, but my stomach actually reacted unkindly to the Western food. After dinner, I again had plans to catch some yao gun. Guaili a band that had played in Qingdao only a couple weeks earlier, was playing at 2 Kolegas, a venue the Qingdao Dama Llama possee wrecked when playing with Gala Ziyo and Playmaker a few weeks earlier. The bar resembles a dank basement where many rock bands would have commenced in the U.S. Upon arrival a band with a female bassist was playing short Strokesesque tunes, need to get the name. Up next was Guaili, who have the indie undertones with a chain-smoking rail-thin female lead singer that hits a lot of notes, two guitarists a bassist and a tattoed drummer. I enjoyed this showing much more than in the large Creative 100 building in Qingdao, buch more intimate and approapriate reverb. The babe can wail. Much enjoyable and I am sure they could find a following on the college circuit back home. Next was a pleasant surprise. I was sitting on a couch in the back of the venue , resting my legs when a new band drew a large crowd to the floor. Couldnt see the band, but honestly the main reason I stood up was to check out who was belting out the beats with the sticks. It was a another female. Had to move up for the rest of this show, and have to figure out their name. Would love to check them out again. Didnt stay for the last band after watching their overempthatic expat bassist in the first jam. Again, really great to catch such a new movement that most of China lacks.
Sunday, we started off in the Temple of Heaven with our guides, Laura (Chinese) and Andy (Brit expat from England) from Imperial Tours. Some good people watching, crowds of thirty playing harmonicas, cymbals, drums, accordions etc. singing and dancing, also the most talented jianzi players I have seen yet. Jianzi resembles a badmitton ball or whatever, but they kick it around like a hacky-sack. Saw some west coast-style kicks behind the back and what not. Then we went to a nice cultural market. Found some Mao-era revolution posters, which I find quite interesting. Bought one about evil American invaders. Had lunch at a very empty but "shee-shee" restaurant carved out of an old hutong. After lunch we got a tour of some near extinct hutongs, by both foot and rick-shaw. Even visited a very popular calligrapher/painter in his 90's and watched him paint the evolution of the character for longevity (shou/夀）. Dinner was at the heady "Green Tea House."
Next day was spent with with an expert on the Great Wall.

Passion?

Yesterday, was an eventful day. Have taken on a heavier work load lately. After work, I taught a class about rock-climbing etc. and introduced some related vocabulary. The group was very small and we conversed more than in most of my classes, which I like. At the end of class I asked everyone to tell me what they were passionate about before they left. They thought for a while, one girl said "You, you climb mountains, that cost lots of money, we dont have money, we dont have passions." I tried to explain to them that family, friends, ping-pong etc. could be you passion, but they werent following.

After the class went out to eat with the HR department. Chicken neck, lungs and cartilage on a stick. Word. Went over to sing some karaoke at a seedy looking KTV. The videos were awesome! 80's blondies walking around Disneyworld in pumpup Reeboks and going down waterslides. Seemed pretty irrellevant to the ripped off Beatles and Villi Manilli.

Tonight I will go play billiards with coworkers after worker, then hit up a Dama Llama show, tomorrow hang with Bossfish, Sunday climb LaoShan. I dont have just one passion.

First Day in Qingdao

After a rather smooth 24 hours of flying and sitting in airports, I arrived in Qingdao and was welcomed by two colleagues from ResourcePro. The taxi ride was nuts, and I am not so sure I will be buying a bike to get around town. Surprisingly have seen more Benzes than bicycles, far removed from Shanghai two and half years ago. Could be all the hills, could be unbridled economic development, but either way, this town has its own flavor and I look forward to checking it out whether on two feet or two wheels. We had lunch at a hole-in-the-wall diner, barely enough room for me and my two bags, but the dumplings were delicious, its been a while. I was then dropped off at the apartment to rest, although I am not very jet-lagged, but decided to take a walk. Oh yah, the apartment is very nice, plywoodesque mattress about half an inch thick and a slight view of the Yellow Sea from my bedroom window. Here are some pics from my walk around the town.