A Canadian in Beijing: Exposed Bellies For The Fellies

by Ember Swift on

I’m writing this from Canada. I suppose I’m no longer technically a “Canadian in Beijing.” Still, there are a few things I haven’t yet had a chance to tell you about from my trip and so the next couple of posts will be slightly anachronistic. And then, I’ll give you the full low-down on my reverse culture shock that I’m currently experiencing!

Now, something I haven’t yet talked about falls on the heels of my post entitled “Umbrellas Not For Fellas” (hence the wacky title above!) This was a post about how women use umbrellas to block the sun in Beijing, but that men rarely do so. I often wondered what men do to keep cool and then I quickly discovered their technique:

Exposed bellies.

Yes, it seems that men in Beijing feel quite comfortable rolling up their shirts and exposing their bellies to cool off. I have not yet seen a woman doing the same thing. To top that off, there is no requirement for abs of steel to take part in this tradition. Any sized belly can be exposed as long as it’s hot enough outside to warrant the half-roll-up “look.” It’s perfectly acceptable and certainly replaces the North American way, which is for men to remove their shirts altogether.

I have been noticing this phenomenon since late May when the weather got warm enough to warrant the need to cool off. The problem has been in the photography. I haven’t felt comfortable just plainly photographing one of these men in order so that I had blog material. In fact, I felt more like a paparazzi than ever in this pursuit and I tried to stealthily take pictures, which you can tell was not always successful.

This gentleman caught me right in the act of photographing him. In fact, he wanted me to buy a tourism book in exchange for the photo I snapped. I almost did just that. I feel pretty guilty about my interest in his innocent stomach exposed to the misty mountain air, but not guilty enough to fork over the inflated price he wanted for his souvenirs. I left as stealthily as I had approached, apologizing quietly and self-conscious about having been “caught.”

My one consolation is that he probably doesn’t actually realize that my interest was in his belly. He probably thought I was just an obnoxious white tourist wanting a picture of a Chinese man selling souvenirs. Hardly a real consolation, but enough to quell the embarrassment at least!

I suppose I bring with me the North American notion that exposing one’s midriff is a rather vulnerable and private act. Well, alright, maybe that’s just my own notion considering the number of exposed bellies I have seen in videos on MTV or Much Music! But of course those are women I see on television and the men in China are not doing it for style or for sex appeal. It’s a practical act.

It’s ventilation.

Even so, there’s just something more intimate about these exposed bellies of Chinese men, to be honest, and despite how “everyday” it appeared to be to these men, young and old, it was something I dared not be too obvious about wanting to further expose.

But, now that I’m back in Canada, I feel okay about it somehow. Have I escaped my shyness via distance? Perhaps I’m far enough away to no longer feel self-conscious about looking and being interested in this phenomenon.

Well, regardless of the psychological self-assessment that I’m currently applying to this very blog, here you go… the bellies of Beijing-area Chinese men cooling off throughout the month of June. Sent to you directly from Canada and in answer to your burning, post-umbrella-post question as to “what do men do to keep cool in Beijing?”

They show their belly buttons.

Without removing their shirts.

Can you imagine that sunburn?

Would they call that a Beijing belly tan?

Hhhmmm….

A Canadian in Beijing: Peking Duck

by Ember Swift on

Well, my trip is rounding to a close and there have been several things on my “to do before I leave” list. Eating Peking Duck is not one of them, however, but here I am poised to write about it. No, I didn’t eat any. Yes, I watched it get eaten. I heard the exclamations. I partook in the pancake portion. It was fun.

Even vegetarians can eat at a Peking Duck restaurant, I found.

My sister and (nearly) brother-in-law came to Beijing to visit a few days ago. We have been going strong with activities since they arrived, many of which were on their “Beijing-in-four-days” wish list. Since I also had my list, there were several things to check off and we’re still chipping away at the items. One of their “must-dos” was to eat Peking Duck.

I am told this is a requirement of all non-vegetarian Beijing visitors. (And all the ducks in China thank the vegetarians for their graceful exemption!)

The experience was really interesting, however, and being a witness to an age-old tradition was worth the photos and the social joy. As a bit of a farewell dinner with some of my dearest friends here, it was also filled with a lot of laughter and stories. I was so happy to be able to introduce people from my China life to people from my Canada life. I couldn’t stop smiling.

We went to a very famous Peking Duck courtyard-style restaurant called Hua Jia Yi Yuan . It was gorgeous.

The front entrance was decadant and it opened into a long corridor into a lobby with a smiling hostess that greeted us in both English and Chinese. The main courtyard was open and full of lattice work and decorative beams painted in the traditional Chinese style. Everything was made to look classic and old but it was also filled with modern furniture and beautiful woodwork that was obviously new in its polished glory.

They led us upstairs to plush red velvet, cushioned chairs and a full dining area. In fact, the place was sprawling and appeared to be nearly full on this weekend night. Everyone looked happy, I noticed, and so I knew the food would be good. Faces were multinational, which is another good sign. Places filled with only non-Chinese faces have proven (in my opinion) to be overpriced and often lacking in taste. Places with both non-Chinese and Chinese customers tend to be excellent on all counts — not too pricey and tasty.

Both proved true. The whole meal cost us each about 65 kuai or approximately $10 Canadian.

We all sat and I offered introductions all around. The connections at the table were formed instantly and the stories, food and beer flowed effortlessly.

What a pleasure it is to watch people you know and love form clear lines with people you also know and love. I have found that my friends here are not always friends with each other. In other words, I have met several different people from different backgrounds and through different scenes while here in Beijing over these three months. Putting them together at a table is not something I’ve had much chance to do. Well, at least not when I could witness the results (my gigs have been collective experiences, but I’m always on stage and not able to see or hear how things go!) and so, I sat back and watched these wonderful people engage each other and just smiled.

I felt incredibly fortunate to know them all.

Soon the food arrived. It was definitely an experience in eating! Peking Duck comes with these thin round pancakes and several cold vegetables in small piles like cucumbers, radish, lettuce (etc) as well as two different sauces, a sweet and savory option. My sister’s finance had everyone laughing when he described his “duck roll-up” as a “Chinese Fajita。” My friend Traci laughed the hardest when she followed that up by explaining that every time her boyfriend eats her Mexican cooking, he describes fajitas as “Mexican Peking Duck.” (Her boyfriend is Chinese and she is American.) We all burst into more laughter. Perspective really does depend on where you’re standing, eh?! Both descriptions are right.

Basically, you put slices of the duck meat into the pancake along with the other ingredients of your choice and then you roll it up and eat it in your hands like a little sandwich pocket. I found it fascinating. I ate a vegetarian version of that as well as several other dishes that were ordered off the menu. I was not lacking in food!

By the time we were done eating and had talked ourselves into a dull roar, I looked around and noticed that we were the only table still occupied. It was about 10:30 at night and the place was deserted. I marvelled at how insular our table had felt for me to have not even noticed a single other table depart from a once packed dining room. It made me smile all the larger. The people I was with were absorbing, to say the least. It was a great night.

When we left, we posed for photos in the lobby and chatted for awhile about the “wall of fame” and the separate room off the corridor for the live fish to swim their final rounds of fish tanks before heading for the kitchen. This is very common in China where the restaurants want to give the customers a view of the freshness of their product. I silently reminded the fish that not everyone comes there to eat them and then turned to go.

We walked out to the sidewalk still chatting and laughing, seemingly not without energy for more stories and anecdotes about China and culture and the travelling bug. This halting goodbye outside became another ten minutes before we finally filed into different taxis and waved farewell.

Duck was apparently delicious. For me, the whole night was delicious. The company, the food, the atmosphere, the vibe. I felt filled with good fortune to have met such wonderful people here and to have such a wonderful family.

Life is full.

And so were our stomachs.

[Pictured from left to right: Stuart, Traci, Me, Rui, Temple (my sis) and Steve (her finance)]

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of June 24

by Adrienne Wilson on

Some of these are still pretty recent posts that you SHOULD NOT have missed if you’ve been a good little Gadling reader checking in everyday. In the event you somehow slipped and missed a day or two here are five worthy of review.

5. Only in OZ: Irwin’s Whale Watching Boat:
Still feeling melancholy over the death of Steve Irwin? Don’t! Chances are he wouldn’t want you to be and if you find yourself heading to OZ soon this featured activity may be your chance to remember Steve and learn a lot about whales which he loved just as much as the famed crocs.

4. A Canadian in Beijing: Vegan Mandarin Language Survival Guide:
After reading this little language survival guide Ember whipped up, my head is full of useful new words to help out at the dinner table in China. I’m not vegan, but it never hurts to know.

3. Swimming with Manatees: Life in the Slow Zone:
When my friend invited me to swim with manatees the first time I laughed not really knowing what they were or thinking she was serious. After hearing how fun her trip was and this tale by Gadling guest blogger, Dolores Parker, I wish I were closer to Crystal River, FL to swim with them myself. If you’re searching for fun ways to hang with the family in Florida this one is sure to please all.

2. Traveling Tips from a Backpacking Geek:
No matter how prepared you think you are for your big trip ahead looking over some one else’s tips never hurts. Here are a few ideas from a backpacking geek on how to save digital photos and important documents from being lost forever.

1. Hilarious Hand-Written Airline Complaint:
In need of a good laugh? This has to be one of the funniest complaints I’ve ever seen in regards to that horrible seat next to the lavatory that some ‘poor soul’ gets stuck with on a completely packed flight. In this situation the poor individual decided to share the experience with the airlines in a laugh-out-loud hand-written complaint with pictures. A MUST READ.

A Canadian in Beijing: Accessibility? If You Roll When You Stroll, 麻

by Ember Swift on

[???? ? Troublesome, Inconvenient, Bother!]

I’ve been here for almost three months now (well, eleven weeks to be precise!) and I’ve been collecting images and information about accessibility in Beijing throughout my time. By this, I mean I’ve been looking around at the wheelchair access or lack thereof here.

I shouldn’t suggest that there’s no access here in Beijing. There are a few noticeable efforts that have been made. But, overall, I’d say that there’s lots more to be done to make this city more open to chairs and the people who occupy them.

If you walk on wheels, Beijing will be a tough place for you.

The sidewalks are bevelled. These kinds of designs in the sidewalk are for the blind, I am told. It enables blind people to feel the sidewalk’s center and to follow the subway corridors or the outdoor sidewalks more easily. For someone in a chair, however, these kinds of raised parts of the walkways would get tiring fast. Tiring and annoying, I’m sure.

What’s more, the steps in all the subways have a raised lip on each individual stair. Not that you’d enjoy going down sometimes more than fifty steps at one time (not all entrances and exits have escalators but most do), but if you had to descend even a few stairs in your chair, you’ll be met with a speed bump each time. I’m imagining that this would also become annoying.

But, once you get into main part of the subway, each car has a wheelchair section where there are no seats. I have never seen a chair here, just people standing. I’m wondering if this is because it’s so treacherous and steep to get down the steps and many winding corridors into the subway itself. Still, at least it exists.

Should we credit partial solutions for being part-way to complete, at least? Or, is “partial solution” an oxymoron?

Otherwise, I have seen the occasional ramp, especially at more tourist-friendly places. Here at the Summer Palace, there’s a ramp into most of the courtyards. Traditional Chinese courtyards generally have the kind of doorways that require one to step over a threshold. Sometimes these thresholds are more than a foot high! That doesn’t work too well for wheels and so these ramps enable all visitors to enter.

At the Summer Palace, I also noticed this sign before entering one of the park areas. It wasn’t clear which way was really ideal for the rolling stroll, but when I followed one of those arrows, it led to this steep climb that included occasional steps as well. So, if you were in a chair, your arms wil be mighty tired here and you’ll have only climbed half-way up the hill!

I have also seen a few ramps recently on sidewalks or outside of restaurants. This one appeared outside the Beijing Art Gallery near the parking lot.

This one is a new addition to a local restaurant in the Gu Lou area near Hou Hai.

Finally, there is almost no option for chairs on sidewalks, especially when there’s any construction going on, which, as you may recall in this post, seems to be happening at every turn. The obstruction of sidewalks in that process is rarely a concern here, forcing pedestrians onto the roadways quite reguilarly. As a result, I have seen several wheelchairs being pushed along the street, which becomes the only option. This series of images shows a woman pushing a chair in the same zone as the bikes and taxis. All have wheels, of course, but I think I’d prefer not to compete for space with a cab driver looking for side-of-the-road fares!

Here is a bike swerving around them:

Here they are being passed by a taxi.

Here they are about to swerve around a parked car. Yikes!

Anyway, the best wheelchairs that I’ve seen here are the motorbike chairs. I mean, if you’ve been forced into the same travel spaces as the motorized vehicles, why not motorize your chair, right? If you can’t beat ’em, join em! These are really cool looking with seating in front (the main driver) and then room for someone to sit comfortably behind as well. When I saw one, I thought it would be cool to ride on it. (Pictured at the top of the blog and here is a view of its backside.)

I think it’s rather sexy, myself.

All in all, I’m hoping they’re building in more accessibility into this city as a result of the coming Olympics and resulting increased tourism. As it stands, the city could use it. The attitude towards disability issues or, more appropriately, differently abled issues is rather slack and/or absentee. Some of my Chinese friends just shrugged when I mentioned it, like it was really something they hadn’t thought of before and/or didn’t feel the need to spend much time thinking about.

I have heard that traditional China kept those with disabilities separated from those without. I don’t know much more than that, but this was said in passing once and it stuck with me. Maybe in North America, we have become more accustomed to integrating everyone, regardless of what their walking legs look like, into a full society. I think China is coming along on these points recently, but it needs a push from behind.

It needs a little nudging around the parked attitudes of the past and into the diverse traffic of the future.

And hopefully this future will include sidewalks that will accommodate wheels and feet at the same time!

Smooth surfaces whether you stroll or roll.

Play with the Pandas: Hugs and Kisses for Everyone!

by Neil Woodburn on

Okay, I fell for it. On the cover of the newest Budget Travel (July/August), a sticker promises “the cutest story we’ve ever run.” And it’s about hugging pandas.

So, I turned to page 24 expecting to gag over the cuteness and you know what? I was won over and succumbed to that rarely seen soft side which we men like to keep hidden away.

The story is about the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda that is located in the Wolong Nature Reserve near Chengdu in China. According to Joshuah Bearman, all one needs to do is pay $130 and the staff opens up a gate and lets tourists come in to play with the pandas. Apparently the cubs are like puppy dogs and the pleasure derived is a land version of swimming with the dolphins.

Tourists can also pay $33 a day to volunteer at the center and interact with the Pandas for longer periods of time. And even hug one, if they really want. Just don’t come between a cub and its mother. Then it won’t be such a cute story after all.