New Photo Gallery: Ditan Park Temple Fair

By Joel ~
| Beijing | Chinese festivals | Culture fun | Photo posts | Places | Running wild in the streets | Spring Festival (春节) |

My folks came to see us during Spring Festival and we spent a couple days in Beijing. Ditan Park has Beijing’s biggest Spring Festival Temple Fair and it barely contains an unbelievable amount of people, noise and colour. We had a blast, though I wouldn’t recommend it for those who easily suffer from sensory overload! Click the link or the photos below to go to the photo gallery.

Beijing’s Ditan Park Temple Fair 地坛庙会 – 2010 Feb. 20



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New Photo Gallery: Ditan Park Temple Fair

By Joel ~
| Beijing | Chinese festivals | Culture fun | Photo posts | Places | Running wild in the streets | Spring Festival (春节) |

My folks came to see us during Spring Festival and we spent a couple days in Beijing. Ditan Park has Beijing’s biggest Spring Festival Temple Fair and it barely contains an unbelievable amount of people, noise and colour. We had a blast, though I wouldn’t recommend it for those who easily suffer from sensory overload! Click the link or the photos below to go to the photo gallery.

Beijing’s Ditan Park Temple Fair 地坛庙会 – 2010 Feb. 20



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Oh. Canada.

By Joel ~
| China web debris | Olympics | Places | Vancouver | oh. Canada |

“No Celine Dion. No Nickelback. True north, strong and awesome.”

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Oh. Canada.

By Joel ~
| China web debris | Olympics | Places | Vancouver | oh. Canada |

“No Celine Dion. No Nickelback. True north, strong and awesome.”

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Dear Tianjin subway driver

By Joel ~
| Places | Tianjin | Traffic |

To: the subway car driver who saw me sprint through the station at 8:39am only to be mere seconds too late and have the subway car doors almost take big foreign nose off when they closed right in front of me, who sensed my despair as I looked at the monitor and saw nine minutes until the next train, who must have guessed that there was no way I could wait nine minutes and still clock in at work on time, and who instead of pulling away like normal opened the doors back up and let me on,

哥们儿,你是在历史上最棒的地铁司机!感谢你啊!

- Joel

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Dear Tianjin subway driver

By Joel ~
| Places | Tianjin | Traffic |

To: the subway car driver who saw me sprint through the station at 8:39am only to be mere seconds too late and have the subway car doors almost take big foreign nose off when they closed right in front of me, who sensed my despair as I looked at the monitor and saw nine minutes until the next train, who must have guessed that there was no way I could wait nine minutes and still clock in at work on time, and who instead of pulling away like normal opened the doors back up and let me on,

哥们儿,你是在历史上最棒的地铁司机!感谢你啊!

- Joel

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Camilla delivery

By Joel ~
| Culture fun | Places | Tianjin | Underappreciated genius |

After all the whining about the pollution and fear-mongering about the bathrooms, I should mention that in some ways Tianjin is far superior to, say, Vancouver (host city 2010 Olympic Winter Games).

For example, in Tianjin, a massive city of 8 million people, you can get a live chicken delivered straight to your door for 8/! Ordered online! That’s like $1.25 per pound! Behold (click the image to go to the site):

The part I circled is the end of a list of special instructions you can choose from, in this case: “…slaughtered, alive, etc.” (宰过,活的等)。

(P.S. — Camilla)

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Camilla delivery

By Joel ~
| Culture fun | Places | Tianjin | Underappreciated genius |

After all the whining about the pollution and fear-mongering about the bathrooms, I should mention that in some ways Tianjin is far superior to, say, Vancouver (host city 2010 Olympic Winter Games).

For example, in Tianjin, a massive city of 8 million people, you can get a live chicken delivered straight to your door for 8/! Ordered online! That’s like $1.25 per pound! Behold (click the image to go to the site):

The part I circled is the end of a list of special instructions you can choose from, in this case: “…slaughtered, alive, etc.” (宰过,活的等)。

(P.S. — Camilla)

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Tianjin: where jogging is bad for your health

By Joel ~
| Beijing | China: life & times | Places | Pollution | Tianjin |

Last night, 7:23, according to the monitoring equipment installed in the U.S. embassy in Beijing:

What “500″ means:

150+ = “Unhealthy”, 200+ = “Very Unhealthy”, 300+ = “Hazardous”. So what are we supposed to call it when it maxes out the scale?

Of course, you might be wondering what the Ministry of Environmental Protection was reporting at the same time:

The Chinese version site had the same:

As we couldn’t see down the street today, I don’t wonder who’s numbers are more accurate. However, three things you need to know about comparing pollution numbers:

  1. Part of the reason for the discrepancy is that China doesn’t monitor the smaller, more harmful forms of air pollution.
  2. It also helps that they shifted the location of their monitoring equipment to get better averages and record more “blue sky days”.
  3. Measurement scales vary from country to country. You can see how China’s pollution scale compares to those of Honk Kong and the U.S. here: API and PM10 – health and here: Using the Beijing Air Quality Index (AQI) – Part I. These are also helpful (Wikipedia): Air Quality Index and Air Pollution Index. This site has a convenient widget that lets you compare China’s interpretation of its current pollution levels with that of other countries.

On days like this you can smell it as soon as you open the front door and see it just by looking across the street.

We first found these sites via MyHealth Beijing. Click the screen shots to view the source pages. See the links below for some pollution photos.

Related:

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Tianjin: where jogging is bad for your health

By Joel ~
| Beijing | China: life & times | Places | Pollution | Tianjin |

Last night, 7:23, according to the monitoring equipment installed in the U.S. embassy in Beijing:

What “500″ means:

150+ = “Unhealthy”, 200+ = “Very Unhealthy”, 300+ = “Hazardous”. So what are we supposed to call it when it maxes out the scale?

Of course, you might be wondering what the Ministry of Environmental Protection was reporting at the same time:

The Chinese version site had the same:

As we couldn’t see down the street today, I don’t wonder who’s numbers are more accurate. However, three things you need to know about comparing pollution numbers:

  1. Part of the reason for the discrepancy is that China doesn’t monitor the smaller, more harmful forms of air pollution.
  2. It also helps that they shifted the location of their monitoring equipment to get better averages and record more “blue sky days”.
  3. Measurement scales vary from country to country. You can see how China’s pollution scale compares to those of Honk Kong and the U.S. here: API and PM10 – health and here: Using the Beijing Air Quality Index (AQI) – Part I. These are also helpful (Wikipedia): Air Quality Index and Air Pollution Index. This site has a convenient widget that lets you compare China’s interpretation of its current pollution levels with that of other countries.

On days like this you can smell it as soon as you open the front door and see it just by looking across the street.

We first found these sites via MyHealth Beijing. Click the screen shots to view the source pages. See the links below for some pollution photos.

Related:

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    2010 Galleries:
    ~ Beijing & Henan
    2008 Galleries:
    ~ Tianjin & Beijing
    2007 Galleries:
    ~ Tianjin, Beijing, Chiangmai & Taipei
    2006 Galleries:
    ~ Taipei, Hong Kong & Vancouver

    Click the "[+/-]" to show/hide the gallery list for each year.

    Conversations

    A “foreigner” in my own country, “yellow” people, and other funny Chinese racial talk (33)
     Hei Gui (BLACK Devil!) Shuai Rang: "What is racism? I am still..."

    Foreign baby in China essentials: FACEBOOK SUBSTITUTE (or VPN) & SKYPE (8)
     Joel: "hey people here, don’t forget you give your e-mail..."
     hans stam: "hey people here, i have a free vpn set up by a..."

    A Foreign Baby in Tianjin Pt. 1 – is this our future? (6)
     Joel: "Glenn – ha, now that we’ve had an infant..."

    Beijing’s Ditan Park Temple Fair 地坛庙会 – 2010 Feb. 20 (4)
     Joel: "It’s a fun place to take pictures."
     Eastwood: "Great photos! I enjoyed every single one. This is..."

    In today’s urban China, “yuppie”/”petty bourgeoisie” is not necessarily a bad thing (2)
     Joel: "This is about how Mainlanders themselves define and use..."
     RichFromTampa: "C’mon, people, let’s acknowledge..."

    Sharing Chinese New Year’s with the neighbours (12)
     Joel: "Well, they are that generation in the movie. Mrs. Li was..."
     Lori: "Now that we have visited Mr. Song and Mrs. Li in person..."

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    Chinese take-out

    Have Chinese word you learn!

    丑闻

    Pronounced: chǒu wén
    Literally: shameful/ugly/disgraceful news
    Means: scandal

    - 2010/03/03

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    InterWǎng Debris

    Recent China internet debris.

    The contents of the greatest tomb in archeological history

    From What's Inside Qin Shi Huang's Tomb?

    "Qin Shi Huang ... ruled the largest unified kingdom the Far East had ever witnessed to that date – the very basis of Imperial China. In military power, economic strength and technical innovation, the Qin ... were all powerful.
    [...]
    "Possessing a grossly swollen ego to match his achievements and status, Shi Huang ordered the construction of a staggeringly large and ornate tomb for himself outside the Qin capital of Xi’an, one that is said to have required hundreds of thousands of labourers to build.

    "The tomb ... has not yet been explored – and perhaps may never be. If legend about what’s inside is true – and, incredibly, all evidence to date suggests it is – then the First Emperor’s mausoleum contains a wealth of treasures and adornments perhaps greater than any other in ancient history."

    - 2010/03/09

    “They hate you. But you are useful to them.”

    In What Do They Really Think of Us Laowai?, a delegation member from a foreign NGO that has a longstanding good relationship with the Chinese gov. gets a staight answer.

    - 2010/03/05

    Happy Leifeng Day!

    - 2010/03/05

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