Picture of the Day: Firetruck chasing

I got a tip this evening about a building on fire near Sanyuanqiao. After a bit of internal deliberating, I decided to hop on my bike and check it out.

Alas, firefighters work quick in Beijing, as I saw these firetrucks departing the scene before I got there:


And not a trace of smoke. So I went to Lady's Street instead, for no particular reason:

Picture of the Day: Waiting at a stoplight

The return

My one-month vacation from this blog turned into two months, but so it goes sometimes that it takes longer than expected to sort out vagaries. A quick sum-up of the last 60 days: started full-time as a copyeditor at a news organization; won a beach tournament in Dalian a week after the oil rig explosion; cruised the Yangtze for a few days; got sick; bought ticket, just last night, to New York and Kansas City for National Day holiday.

I see myself speaking with friends at a Manhattan bar. In my time abroad, I've gained valuable insight into why I left in the first place. I loved drinking in New York after work, but I kept thinking there was something more. My antipathy for offices may be an expression of my restlessness, an inward rumbling that's the subconscious answer to the call of a world changing at frightening and exhilarating speeds. I didn't want to drink at my barstool and watch from my laptop as American got passed on the circular track of history.

And yet -- and yet! -- even if my motives for living abroad were accurate, what of the results? Have I merely chosen a different setting to defer adulthood -- instead of playing in Frisbee tournaments in Boston, playing in Singapore? Am I any closer to finding some great illuminating truth or, as ambition would have it, doing something greater?

There are more of these questions, and the answer to them all is maybe, or flat-out nos parading as maybes. I am a year, perhaps less, away from an existential crisis. By the day the questions creep up a bit more in my conscience, biding their time, waiting for audience.

A picture from the Yangtze -- notice the discoloration at the base of the mountain, and how that's a sign that summertime is low-water time:

Picture of the Day: This happened just now

CPU in shop. Blog vacation time

With eight days left in my three-year Apple Care, I took my computer into the Sanlitun Apple Store and asked them to replace a battery and fan. As a result, no CPU for the time being (but how am I writing this blog post? Conundrum).

In a week or two I'll post some backdated photos from Chengdu, etc., but I think I'm going to take the month of July off, for various reasons. I've already been mailing in my work at the Beijing Ultimate blog for the past month or two.

Will check in sporadically...

Trivia at Souk Lounge (Tuesdays are the new Friday, as we say...)

Following up on an earlier post, a few pictures to pass along:







And the music choices from these past two weeks:

Shanghai Open Ultimate Frisbee tournament

This sort of cross-linking may be frowned upon, but Shanghai Open is the most competitive Ultimate Frisbee tournament in China, and it was this past weekend, so... there. Hook and lined. China Ultimate blog / Beijing Ultimate blog.

Greetings from Shanghai Expo

I'm in Shanghai again, this time for a Frisbee tournament (speaking of Ultimate Frisbee...), but while in town I took time to check out the Expo. Below, some pictures:

Few backdated posts

Just had to get this picture on the blog one more time

• May 21: Trondheim Symphony Orchestra plays in Beijing
• May 25: A visit to Jingshan Park
• May 13: Introducing: Otherside blog
  

I should probably explain my absence of late...

Among the best explanations I've heard regarding why it's great for expats to live in Beijing is one I'll attribute to Associated Press reporter Anita Chang, who said that this city, unlike, say, New York, is full of people with diverse interests. Whereas in some places seem to breed cliques, the environment here, for whatever reason, engenders a type of well-rounded individual. Or you can say well-rounded individuals tend to thrive here. Opportunities abound.

Part of the reason I've been so busy as late is because I, along with my friend Jim, have been hosting trivia night at Souk Lounge on Tuesdays. I know, I can't believe it either. This would have happened in absolutely no other city, but here I am, one of a dozen or so hosts of trivia in Beijing. It's a fascinating subculture that I'd love to explore in greater detail in the future, but for now, many of my free hours (those that don't go to Ultimate Frisbee, etc.) are devoted to coming up with questions in the categories of Images, Current Events and Beijing Life, Music, Geography, History, Literature, Potpourri and Sports. Jim and I are about to embark on our third week as hosts, and it's going to be better than ever.

Anyway, please come check out trivia on Tuesday at Souk Lounge if you get a chance. Starts at 8 pm, but Jim and I will be there eating dinner and hanging out beforehand, so say hi if you can.

We've branded our quiz EVERYBODY GETS LAID* -- Tuesdays are the new Friday at Souk Lounge. Yeah, there's a reason for that...

Music Round, of course, is a staple in every trivia night. Here are our song choices for May 18 and May 25.

One heck of an expensive toilet

From The Economic Times (HT: Laura), a story about a $43,900 toilet:

Many citizens have blasted the expense as a waste of taxpayers' money, saying only cleanliness and tidiness are necessary for a toilet.

I play backgammon on the loo, myself.

And the last time we did toilet humor...

Jingshan Park

Entry backdated on June 1, 2:57 am; pictures taken on May 25, around noon

If you ever needed proof that Beijing has lovely parks, look no further than the local gems that foreigners and tourists tend to overlook: Jingshan Park, for instance, located across from the better-known Beihai Park (entrance prices: 5 kuai for the former, 20 for the latter). If one only had three or five days in Beijing, it's a no-brainer that you'd see the Forbidden City, Great Wall, maybe Temple of Heaven or Summer Palace, maybe Sanlitun or Nanluoguxiang if you were young, maybe one of the art districts... Jingshan Park, for many reasons, would not make it on the docket. But look at what you'd miss:


Entrance








No wonder the people above take so many pictures amid the flowers...




And more pictures:







And finally... this kid:

Something's wrong with this ad - the wonderful world of expat magazines

First, City Weekend redesigned its website. It was a long time coming, but it still looks like a cheap travel/tour website as opposed to a place for locals to get meaningful information. Not surprisingly, most of the listings under "events" are just glorified ads for travel companies advertising for "Tibet Travel Discount" and "Miao Lusheng Festival Tour."

Second, this ad on the Beijinger caught my eye:


Upon closer inspection...



Yes, that says pornSFW.com. Whether the images on that site are actually SFW -- safe for work -- depends entirely on where you work.

A great night at the 21st Century Theater

Backdated on June 1

The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Eivind Aadland, performed three really solid pieces last night at the Century Theater near Liangmaqiao. (You can read my interview with Aadland on the Beijinger here.) When it was all done, the audience gave the TSO a stirring ovation, so Aadland came back and had the orchestra play an encore of the famous Chinese folk song Mo Li Hua, which got the crowd to clap again.

They came out for a second encore, a song that I didn't recognize. All told, a great night.