A beautiful photograph, taken in an obscure, ruined village in Hebei province by my guter Freund Emilie. (click on me)

(Me, courtesy of Chao)

Ariel on the subway

爱你帅哥 <3

顺路。

- Two recent photographs taken on the way to other places. -

BBQ night
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(Thanks for the picture, Alesh)

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Gulou street, which is right by my house, is a very popular walking street with lots of clothing shops, a rock club, Chinese style barbecue joints, and traditional courtyards converted into businesses. Walking further into the hutong, you'll reach nanluoguxiang, another shopping street with fashionable clothes and vintage toy shops. (My father called it "cute street.")

These two notable shopfronts were spotted walking from my house to the drum tower. "Let Love Be Your Energy" is a clothing boutique and the white sign on the second picture says "不营业," which means "not a business." (It must be unfortunate to live right on a popular shopping street.)

～＊＊ Last day in San Francisco ＊＊～

Our final day in America was spent walking around San Francisco with Silvia and her friend, Chelsea. We had pastry at Tartin, window shopped, ate tacos for dinner and visited Harris. There was a particularly upbeat, summery feeling in the air, like we were kids on our day off looking for diversions. It was such a syrupy sweet ending to a wonderful reunion. Good bye for now, America.

- America part two Miami & Hollywood -

Visiting family is just the best feeling on earth. Everyone wants to cook for you and give you hugs and you simply have to lay around and coast through the days.

Florida is pretty special. Highlights include drinking beer on the Jaramillo-Harris' porch, pansy tennis, chatting with Alesh at Hollywood Art and Culture, being spoiled by Illiana's generosity, Harumi and Ariel's birthday, biking through Hollywood with Chad, party favors, BBQs, gossiping with gram, homemade cocktails, meeting the wonderful Jennifer, lunch at a cool diner with Misael, late night chats with Catalina, hunting for cool stuff at mom's, cake with coffee, last minute hang-out with Isabel, beach trips... I miss everyone already.

Yard time.

The Hollywood-Miami commute.

Harumi and Tommy in front of the awesome World Market.

Pretend pouting.

It really looks like this.

Chad's proud garden.

Possibly the best pizza ever.

Catalina's gohonzon

Ariel's birthday strawberry cheesecake.

Makin' faces.

- America part one San Francisco -

Ariel and I visited Silvia for about a week, which was basically packed with shockingly great food and coffee, expensively cute shops, thrift stores, art on the streets, scanning through books, hours of walking, painted ladies and the unique feeling of being in a living, breathing city of like-minded people. Quite amazing.

Ariel's first meal in America. (Seriously!)

The aforementioned "painted ladies." They are as desirable as a box of chocolates on Valentine's.

Harris (with his obligatory cappuccino) and Silvy.

TACOS!

SilvySilvySilvy

Ariel being handsome in the rain

My favorite ladies.
(Miss you)
<3

TERRI

SILVIA

CATALINA

NANCY

Some photos from rush hour on the train. It looks not too bad, but trust that it was, and is, crowded during early evening. I'm using more camera more frequently again.

我高峰时间在地铁上拍了这两张照片。我最近几乎每天带着我的照相机。在想一会要开中文的fotoblog. 幸运的是我有中国朋友会把我的博客校对一下。

**__^^ SNOW DAY **--^^

It snowed endlessly this early this week. This is a rare occurrence in dry Beijing, so kids were out making snowmen and everyone was mostly marveling at it all.

Me throwing a snowball.

The target of said snowball.

Oops.

Me on a very cold Beijing morning.

My bed for four hours.

The town of Erlian during heavy rain.

Entering the Chinese gate to fill out exit forms. These people, all Mongolians, helped me cross the border in their jeep.

Said jeep. I was packed in with six other people.

A wonderful handpainted sign for camping supplies in cyrillic Mongolian.

/// Mongolian visa run ///

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Last week I had to get an exit stamp to get my new work visa, so I decided instead of a costly Hong Kong trip, I'd try Mongolia. Americans are one of the only groups that do not need a Mongolian visa, a rarity in most countries Euro-positive visa laws. Below is what I exactly did, especially useful to other Americans in a similar situation.

First, I booked a bus ticket from Beijing to 二连 (Erlian) leaving from 六里桥路途汽车站 (Liuliqiao long distance station) at 5pm. Buy in advance, as seats sell out quick. Apparently, there are trains that also leave at infrequent hours.

The ride is a mostly enjoyable 11 hours through factory landscapes that gradually melts away to endless grasslands and a fire red setting sun. Passengers were mostly Russian and Mongolian, so Chinese won't get you so far. You'll stop at randomly for bathroom breaks and dinner. Bring snacks and water.

Once you reach the city at about 3 in the morning, you'll be hassled for a room. I'd recommend just getting a ride into the small town or walking yourself. Rain is frequent in late summer. The Mongolian locals will try to rip you off in a far more slick and intelligent way than Chinese usually do, so be smart.

In the morning, you'll need to look for someone to take you across the border. They will most likely come to you rather than the other way around, especially if you are not Asian. You need to find a car (almost all Soviet era Jeep copies) that has a Mongolian license plate. Another idea is simply head to the border (国门) and find someone willing to take you across. (I crossed for 60 yuan, far too expensive, because from Mongolia I returned for only 18 yuan.) Don't wait until too late, because after three everything shuts down and you'll need to wait another day. Regardless, it was fun and I met a Mongolian woman who lived in Washington for six years before being deported for overstaying her green card. Sort of sad and interesting.

If you need to wait in the town for any period of time, make the most of it. There are lots of interesting markets, 羊肉馅饼 (lamb pancakes) and Russian restaurants. I found a market with no Chinese on any of the signs, selling things from blenders for butter tea to henna to Mongolian language books for children to Indian snuff.

Crossing the border is easy and you'll be prompted when you need what and at what time. The whole procedure will take about two hours. Russian language skills are useful in Mongolia, but some working at the gate will know basic English and Chinese. Once you enter Mongolia, you really just need to turn around and head back out. The Mongolian side is incredibly strange, with abandoned train and construction materials, hand painted signs and flat land stretching endlessly. You cannot cross any part of the border by food, so it's another tedious search for a ride back. Even though I couldn't really communicate with the Mongolians at the border, they were gruffly helpful, literally dragging me along to different officers.

Anyway, once you get back to Erlian, you just need to head to the bus station and buy a sleeper bus ticket leaving for Beijing. If you're tall, specifically ask for seating near the front of the bus. It's very easy to head back, and if tickets are sold out, there are other private operators outside of the station. Trains are less predictable.

Good luck!

Me at Emei Shan, Sichuan.

Possibly the best noodle shop in Chengdu.

Snouts for sale at an open market.


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微微拍的照
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Veronica posted a series of photos from her China trip. (I miss you， V.)

The trio by an ancient water urn used to fight fires, Forbidden City.

Veronica amazed at a overstocked market, Sichuan province.

Strange pastry and coffee at our questionable, but pleasant hotel, in Shanghai.

Smart dressed, nervous ladies on a street in Xintiandi, Shanghai.

Dad taking a picture in a Shikumen house museum, Shanghai.

Handsome Ariel in a cafe near the old drum tower, Beijing.

Mountain temple at Emei, Sichuan

North Korean restaurant karaoke madness at the DPRK Embassy. Lots of glaring, brusqueness and static ceremony.

Dad at the Simatai section of the Great Wall.

Smiling through crushing crowds.

Kitty at Grandma's Kitchen, a great lil' restaurant and guesthouse in Beijing.

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旅游啊

I've been busy. Veronica and my father visited me recently, with a few days overlapping. Both were memorable and packed with sightseeing. Let's review:

VERONICA

Vero and I went to Sichuan and ate incredibly good food, lesuirely climbed a sacred Buddhist mountain, breathed in factory pollution in and around Chengdu and I struggled with the thickest accented Mandarin in the country. We saw a very traditional Tibetan neighborhood in Chengdu and had several moments of being stared at in random villages. The most wonderful moment was on Emei shan, a beautiful Buddhist mountain with several ancient temples scattered throughout the area. We spend the night in a haunting nunnery with traditionally dressed incredibly friendly nuns, the strong smell of incense and loud droning bells.

DAD

When my father came and I bid Veronica fairwell, the two of us went to Shanghai. It was a far more upscale trip, so our bathroom had a tub and I wasn't drinking packets of Nescafe out of enamel cups anymore. Lots of incredibly fancy pastry breakfasts, shopping, museums, obsure temples, strolling and long conversations. He bought a lot of antiques from a seller with a charming kind of English, who proclaimed him to be "big customer." Generous dad even bought me nice new clothes. Shanghai is a great city to wander, and we saw lots of decaying old art deco buildings, some seemingly abandoned and ghostly. Pretty.