人山人海

  Before heading to China I read this saying in a book 人山人海 which directly translates to 'people mountain people sea.' Which literally means that there are a lot of people. Living where I am I do see a lot of people but it is nothing like what I witnessed during the National Holiday when I went to Nanjing. China has coded their laws to deal with the large population of 1.3 billion people that they have which, to put it into some sort of perspective, is one billion more people than currently live in the United States. Because of this the government has made it a law that any new building that is constructed must be a minimum of five stories. If it is not going to be then special permission must be granted. When you visit China you will still find buildings or homes that are under five stories but that usually means that they are older. In the case of my apartment building the first five floors are part of a shopping mall, the sixth floor is offices and floors 7 through 23 are apartments.
  During my week and even on the weekends I do not always notice that there really are so many people. Rush hours gets rather crowed but not too much for me to handle, I alway have my personal bubble of space around me. I have included a video to show how busy the streets are when I walk home around 6:00 pm.

  I have gotten use to the number of people, just passing it off as living in the city. However, during the National Holiday, I saw the most people I have ever seen in one place in my entire life. National Holiday is as you can guess a week long holiday that celebrates the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st. During this week teachers and students can have seven days off work. Others can get the entire week or at least three days off, this leads to many people travel to places all around China to visit family or to see important sites. Before I made plans I was told by several teachers that I may not want to travel far because of the many people that would be traveling as well. I decide that I was going to travel to a difference city during one of the seven days but I spent the rest of them in Changzhou. I was able to see several sites that are famous attractions within Changzhou as well as relax and sleep. The city that I decided to travel to was Nanjing. 

  A previous capital of China, Nanjing is a popular tourist destination, I wanted to visit it for its historic role in China's past. With the help of a teacher I booked a high speed train ticket to Nanjing for October 4th. That morning I awoke, headed to the train station, and boarded a train to Nanjing. I had decided to travel there by myself since the other Chinese teachers at my school were busy with their own plans and the foreign teachers that I came over with were busy as well. I also wanted to see how I could do by myself and also needed the day of feeling personally independence. One of the Chinese teachers had written out directions to all the places that I wanted to see with instructions, I also had my phone and could call her if I needed help since she grew up in Nanjing. 

  Once arrived at my destination I noticed the increase of people. They were everywhere. I headed from the train exit to the subway stations which was underneath the train station. I need to buy a ticket to the subway station that the teacher had mentioned. There were giant ticket machines which were similar to ATMs where you would select the subway line, then the stop that you would get off. After that the machine would show how much you were to pay, you would pay and then it would spit out your subway token and any change. I really had no idea how to buy the ticket so I got in a line in front of the seven ticket machines and watched what other people were doing. When it came my turn I was kinda staring blankly at the screen giving an 'I have no idea as to what I am doing look' which successfully gave the message to the young couple behind me that I needed help. They asked me where I needed to go in English and I was able to show them the paper. They pointed out the English language button and then how to choose what line and subway station that I needed. With their help I successfully purchased my token. Here is a picture of my token (I know my hand looks weird and creepy in this picture I really have no idea how I was even holding my hand like that, but yes I still have all my fingers!!)

  I used this token to get on the Subway, you swipe it just like you would a card and it opens the gate. 

 I then follow the signs (which had Chinese and English). The largest problem was making sure that I went the correct direction. When I got on the subway the accepted convention was to push yourself into the subway and then push yourself out of the subway. So that is what I did.

 I had to transfer trains to get to the stop that I needed.

 I was actually quite easy to ride the subway for in each car they had the train line shown with names and everything. The station line would be above the door with the names in Character and Pinyin (which used the Roman alphabet (A-Z) to write the sound of the character) I am able to read this easier than the character so it helps quite a bit. As each stop went by the little LED light that represented it would turn red to indicate that it has passed. When a stop was approaching it would blink yellow.

 My twenty minute or so subway ride ended and I existed near my location. I had made it to a completely different city and yet when I walked up out of the subway onto a path I was perhaps more lost than I had been all day. Luckily I found a map, unluckily it was all in Chinese Characters. I stood staring at the map (pictured below) for a few seconds when a young woman asked me in English if I knew where are present location was on the map.

  I told her that I really had no clue but I could try to help. We compared notes on what attractions we were headed to, found they were relatively exactly the same ones and decided that we would wonder around together. For the next eight hours we wondered around the Zhong Mountain Scenic Are visiting the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum, Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty, Open-Air Music Hall and  Mai-ling Palace finishing our journey off at the site of a Confucius Temple that appear to me like an large bazar complete with a temple as its focal point.
  So the picture directly below is me with Yinny, the Singaporean that I meet (mentioned above), she actually took this picture on her phone and sent it to me among the many others she took of the two of us. I was grateful since my iPhone camera's memory was all used up before the day was over. I choose this picture especially for it shows how crowded it was as well as the trial to get a good picture without getting random other people taking a photo on their electronic device in your picture with your electronic device that will probably be in someone else picture taken with their electronic device and . . . well . . . you get the point.

  The next several pictures that I have added are all about the people. Which was more interesting on some level than the actual sites that we admired. I also added a picture of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen since he was instrumental in the fall of the last Chinese Dynasty the Qing and the founding of the People Republic of China. He is the pale statue in the second to last picture. The last picture was taken at the Confucius Temple which had light beams on it I think. It was actually really hard to tell which building was the actual temple. Hope you enjoy the pictures, sorry if they are a little blur, that is accounted to my phone and the many people . . . never my lack of photographical abilities . . . haha. 

The Car with Wings!

  So, I was walking to my first ever English Corner last night and I saw something that just made me stop and take a picture. It was a smart car with wings attached to the back of it. I personally thought it was quite hilarious and wanted to share. (See below)
  Those wondering what English Corner is, no worries I will tell you. For Chinese individuals who want to improve their English but may be working or are out of school, they are still able to practice by attending English Corner. It included both Chinese individuals learning English and Native English speakers. We meet to the side of a bookstore/coffee shop (咖啡 this is coffee in Chinese by the way) in a small room. How it generally works here is that a person leads a discussion topic that everyone prepares some thoughts on and then they talk about the issue. This may be different from other English Corners but I would not know. They meet once a week at 7:00 Thursday evening until 8:30. At this one there were nine Chinese individuals, three Americans (including myself) and a British man. The topic that they were discussing about this week was homosexuality and it was very interesting to hear the Chinese view point on the issue. The discussion did turn towards the Chinese education system and ended up lasting past 9:00. I do not know what the topic will be next week but I think I will continue to go. It gives me something to do in the evening and I also can hear from Chinese citizens their thoughts on topics allowing me to learn more about the Chinese culture. Enjoy the picture of the car, it makes me happy just looking at it.

Frank, Fiona, and Sam . . . My New House Pets

  I wanted to introduce you to my new pets. Since this is my first time being moved out I have had to get use to living by myself. I have found this more difficult because nothing living shares my apartment. To make this better I decided to get a pet, and not just any pet, the perfect pet. It started when I was walking with the teacher that is responsible for my foreign papers and getting my permeant residence visa. I needed to have a photo taken and we happened to walk along a road that I had yet to go, it was on this trip that I noticed a small flower shop. I had a vase that I bought to put the flowers that the school gave me on my first day. Unfortunately, those flowers were at their end and I had an empty vase. So, I decided that I would revisit the shop at a later date to browse their selection.
  That next weekend, on the way back from a food run, I returned to the road and went into the shop. When I entered the owner was helping two young women find flowers for a bouquet. I glanced around the room that was rather small, it had potted plants on the left wall and individual flowers on the right. I just stood there until the two women left. Having decided on my purchases I proceeded to ask in my limited Chinese how much certain items were. I purchased a peach flower for my vase and made an unexpected purchase of a small plant that I felt I just had to have for my apartment, both of which are below.

   I was rather impressed with the fact that I was able to buy my items with just pointing and a little help from my phone. Before I left I tried to ask him how often I should water my potted plant, part of the reason was that I never had a plant quite like this one before. I looked up the words for plant and water and showed them to him. After a little bit of me pointing to my phone (which led to him first thinking I wanted to be WeChat buddies, which we did became), my plant, and trying but failing miserably to understand any of his Mandarin I recognized the hand gesture for ten, which is making a plus sign with your fingers and also the word for day. I finally understood that I should water the plant every ten days, at least that I what I hope he said. The plant has not died yet so I must be doing okay. When I returned home with my plant and flower, the flower I put into the now empty flower jar and the potted plant I sat near my bed, I decided that I was going to name my potted plant. After slight thought I had a house pet plant named Frank.
  I did not realize how much I enjoyed having something else living in the same apartment as me. I did not want to get a cat or a dog since I was gone all day and did not want to worry about the clean up issues. So, I invested in a small maintenance pet; you just have to water the plant every ten days. After about two weeks I liked Frank so much I decided to expand the population in my apartment and buy another plant pet. This past weekend I once again returned to the plant shop. After a few weeks of practicing Mandarin I was a little better than before however I still did not understand everything that he was saying to me. I did understand him enough to buy two new plant pets instead of one . . . I could not decide on which one to buy. Below you can see Fiona on the left with the pink flowers and Sam on the right. While my buying plants and giving them names my be a tad strange it has allowed me to make my apartment more homey (although I am by no means replacing my family with plants!). I am think about buying a small one for my desk at school, quite a few of the other teachers have a plant on their desk, I find it rather funny that quite a number of these teachers have a type of cactus as their desk plant. I hope my pets plants survive until June and I am already planning on what teachers will take the best care of them when I leave!!

A Chinese Wedding

   I was honored and touched to be invited to a co-worker's wedding. She had known me for all of two and a half weeks before she gave me an invitation, which she had kindly translated just for me into English. When I received the invitation I had no idea where it was or how I was going to get there but I should have known not to worry since the other teachers made sure to work out who would take me to the wedding in advance. The wedding was to take place at 12:08, since, in Chinese, the sound of the number eight ba is very close to the sound fa meaning fortune. Just as some believe that it is bad luck for a groom to see his wife in her wedding dress before the wedding there are certain things that are done at Chinese weddings. If you set the time of your wedding on the time of fortune hopefully it will carry over into your marriage. About one and a half hours before the set time I was picked up by a young teacher who took me to the wedding.
  We arrived at the building that was to hold the wedding, which is pictured above. Before I continue there are certain things that I need to clarify.
           1. Most Chinese couples have already been legally married and living together for several weeks or months before the actual wedding ceremony. In the United States we have the wedding and the signing of the certificate on the same day, since it is the completion of the ceremony where the couple is recognize as legally married by the United States Government. In China the legal part can only be completed in the offices of the Civil Affairs Bureau, where all the documentation and signing is done. So, the ceremony is not what legally marries a couple in China, it is just to inform the rest of society about their commitment. What then causes a couple to wait to have their wedding so long after they are legally wedded is that many hold their weddings on holidays so the entire family can attend. Since it is a holiday that means no one will be in the office to complete legal part, so after the ceremony the would not be legally married. Waiting has become a more common thing since they can get married, live as a married couple, and then have a ceremony when it is convenient. As I was looking up what exactly was involved in a Chinese marriage I found the marriage laws of China, which you can read if you go to this link (http://newyork.china-consulate.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm). I found it very interesting for it has put into law such things as a woman right to keep her own name, responsibility for any children resulting from the marriage and the child's duty to care for the parents. Check it out if interested.
           2. I also want to point out that my experience has been with one wedding, there are over one billion people in China so one wedding does not describe every other wedding experience. This was mine, as a guest, but I will try to point out variations that could occur.
  Back to my story, after arriving we sat at one of the round tables (pictured below). On each table was a Lazy Susan on which many different dishes would be served. As it is a traditional Chinese meal certain custom are present such as one does not dish a plate of food for oneself. If you eat at such a meal you would use your chopsticks to take just a bite size amount and eat that directly from your chopsticks then take another bite from that dish or a different dish. That would mean that you would be literally sharing all the food dishes with everyone else at the table (sorry to all the germaphobes out there). The only time that you would dish your place of food not using the same chopsticks would be if you are sick. The plate is then pretty much their for any bones that you might need to spit out. (Although I describe this as a traditional way to eat food it is how most family eat as well as when families go to restaurants . . . pretty much the only time they do not eat like this is when they go to a western restaurant or they are trying to make the westerner feel welcomed, if then).

  On the Lazy Susan, in the direct center were wines/juices and cigarettes for those at that table. It would be a rude sign to the guests to not provide complimentary boxes of cigarettes. You can see the stack of boxes in the picture below. It was not unseemly for a guest to open up the pack and smoke a cigarette right at the dinner table. I was given a pack and told to take it even though I do not smoke; it was the party gift.

  A Chinese wedding normally takes place indoors at a restaurant. Where an American wedding would have a wedding ceremony at a church, outdoors, or even in front of a judge then they would move to a different location to a wedding reception. This is not the general case for Chinese weddings. The wedding ceremony and the reception are at the same location, this is in part do the lack of space and cost to have two different venues. Some do have their weddings outside and create a more western style but if it rains then there better be a plan B. Guests at a Chinese wedding get to eat while watching the ceremony take place, which was rather strange for me to experience. Before the wedding started guests were able to look at wedding pictures on a giant screen at one end of the hall. The wedding pictures are no joke in China, the bride is truly made to look her most stunning and goes through several different dresses during the photo shoot. I call it a photo shoot for that is really what it seems to entail. The location of the shoot is chosen specifically for the scenery that it offers. The wedding pictures cost quite a lot and they appear to be worthy of the pricing for they make the couple look like models in a wedding magazine.

  When the wedding started we had already been given several food dishes to eat from so we turned from our food to watch the entrance of the bride and groom. This was announced by a gentleman who was the host of the wedding. (For a Chinese wedding a professional host is hired to introduce the couple, he announces when they are saying their vows, and let everyone know what is happening and when.) So, he announced the couple and the groom appeared at the stage. He then walked toward his bride, who was waiting with her father. The groom collected his bride and they both walked towards the stage. They then had their ceremony. It was very different in that there was no one officiating the wedding, only the host (he was not a minister but he also spoke in Chinese so I am not sure exactly what he said). The ceremony also did not appear to have any religious elements to it at all. The wedding was more western and took western traditions which can make it somewhat religious but these religious meanings were not implied or touched on. They read their vows to each other, in that the bride told the groom his vows and he repeated it after her, which means that they each took on the role of the minister/judge for the other. They then proceeded to light a single candle from two different ones and overflow one cup so it could spread it into the different cups on each side it if via a metal tube located on each side of the cup. The parents of the couple were invited onto the stage where both fathers gave a speech. Thus the ceremony ended and the couple walked down the isle.
  Yet, all was not done for the now ceremonially married couple. Instead of a more western wedding where the guest find the bride and groom to wish them luck the bride and groom go to each table, drink a toast and thank the guests for attending their wedding. The toasting is done in a tiny shot glass and I was told that the groom has to have actual wine in his cup for each toast, the bride can cheat and drink something else if she wants. So after about twenty tables I am sure that groom was feeling pretty good.

  Here (below) is the bride and groom having their glasses refill to toast the next table. I want to point out that during this entire time new dishes of food were still being brought to the table. Those at my table informed me that the more seafood served at a wedding the better the wedding is said to be and I would say that this wedding would be considered a good wedding.

  The rest of the wedding was more a reception where the bride and groom went from table to table then sat down and for their own meals. However, there was a large difference in that the host, that I mentioned above, had activities planned where the winner would receive a prize. They would play a song and have the guests guess what it was. They had one activity were they invited couples up to the stage and had them act out songs together, the winner got a very large teddy bear (see picture below, the host is to the far right in the picture holding the mic). Another activity was who could find a tie and a pair of heel from other guest at the wedding first. There were even activities especially for the children so they felt included and entertained.

  After going to a Chinese wedding I felt like it was more focused on the comfort of the guest, the bride and groom saw it as a great honor that you would come to their wedding and wanted to make it a fun and comfortable event. Which can be different from western weddings, at least some of the ones I have been to, where the guests are kept waiting, sometimes past the selected time and the focus is more on making the day super special for the bride and groom instead of the bride and groom making it as good an experience for the guests as they can. It presented a very different atmosphere than a western wedding, it also made it a rather louder affair. So I now end my tale for that was my experience of a Chinese wedding.