City of noodles

Last week I went to Xi’An for the 中秋节 (zhong qiu jie) translated as Mid-Autumn festival but also known in English as the Moon Lantern Festival. We had a few days off of classes and I wanted to make the most of my free-time.

The train ride was 14 hours there, which sounds awful, but was actually a great chance to get a look at the countryside and to catch up on sleep. I was travelling with a friend from Nanjing Uni, Anja, but she had bought her tickets before me so we were not in the same cabin. I was sharing with two old Chinese men from rural China and another woman. The old men immediately bonded over stories of their childhood and a love of the same cheap cigarette brand. I didn’t have much to do with them other than to compliment one on his cap (leopard print, the words “Super Fresh” on it) and to ask the other one whether his wonderful waistcoat was handmade (it was, his wife knitted it for him 30 years ago.) The woman seemed more interested in consuming three bags of food, so I let her be.

I’ve been to Xi’An before, so I wasn’t really that blown away by it, other than to note the incredible amount of development since I was there in 2010 (apparently, it’s set to be the next boom city in China.) But it really is a nice city, the ancient city wall is worth going to and bike riding along so that you can see the dichotomy between the city inside of the wall (temples, winding streets, markets) and the sprawl of modern buildings and shopping centres as far as the eye can see on the outside.

People often say that Xi’An is worth visiting purely because of the 兵马俑 (bingmayong) terracotta warriors, however, I would beg to differ. Yeah, UNESCO world heritage site. Yeah, ancient. Yeah, 80 years to create. Yeah, individually crafted faces from an incredibly influential period of Chinese history.

But…let me know how the warriors compare when you’ve eaten the food in Xi’An. Think: Giant 包子(baozi), dough filled with tofu, vegetables or meat, handmade and available for 1yuan each in the mornings (equivalent: $0.05 AU.) For lunch, grab some handmade noodles in broth with a variety of ingredients for less than 8 yuan ($1.40 AU.) Don’t forget to try the Xi’An specialty noodle variety, 面 (biangbiangmian) which is indescribable and so amazing that it requires the most strokes of any Chinese character still in contemporary use (58 strokes.)

We also went to the Muslim quarter and browsed through overpriced knickknacks and incredible foods and spices which were being prepared using traditional methods.

You really only need a couple of days in Xi’An, maybe check out the Big Goose Pagoda if you have time (very touristy, but has wonderful Buddhist artwork inside.) The Small Goose pagoda isn’t worth the trip, and most of the shopping that you can do in Xi’An (other than food) is designer. The Shaanxi Museum is apparently worth a look-in but it has odd opening and closing times (which we got foiled by.)

Also, Xi’An is difficult to navigate and GPS doesn’t work too well in China generally. Buy a map! Or a lonely planet travel guide…

My favourite thing about Xi’An though, is walking aimlessly through the winding old alleys. I did this for only an hour or so and came across a beautiful functioning Taoist temple which wasn’t even on the map.

Back on a slightly faster train (250km per/hr) for an 8 hour trip back to Nanjing. 1 hour sleep. 8am class.

Vendor in the Muslim quarter
(Photo: Emccall 09/13)

Riding on the city wall, a dichotomy
(Photo: Emccall 09/13)

 

Magical fantasy land

There is a tale you might have heard, it is of a wonderful, faraway land where the sun is always sunny and the people are always smiling and even the lowliest street cleaner is merrily singing a tune.

Well, kiddies, this place exists.

It was early morning, and I heard a familiar tune drifiting from outside, Greensleeves tinkled through my window and put a warm smile on my face from thought of childhood memories. An icecream truck! What was it doing here? I had to catch a glimpse.

Rising from my slumber, I leaned out of the window expectantly. But….where were the groups of children begging their parents for one more yuan? Where was the happy icecream vendor handing out these frozen treats of joy?

Instead, all I could see was a man smoking as he drove a street cleaner past the building.

Confused, I shrugged and started my day.

Whilst in class, again I heard (at first, I thought I imagined) the tune of happy birthday from somewhere nearby. Maybe a musical card being opened repeatedly in the room adjacent?

The next lesson, I hear Greensleeves playing again. Standing up suddenly I stride to the window, “Where is that coming from?!”

After telling me to kindly return to my seat, the teacher explained that, for safety reasons, street cleaners, trucks and other machinery play music so that people know that they are there. Most trucks even have a woman merrily repeating “Going backwards, going backwards” as they reverse.

I dunno, the standard ‘beep beep’ might seem a bit dull, but at least it doesn’t get you confused about whether or not you can buy frozen confectionery from your local street cleaner. Actually….I wonder what tune Icecream trucks play here…

Platform Thongs

OK, so this is my first post related to fashion in China.

The sun is shining, the weather is delightfully warm, time to whip out the summer clothing!

For Chinese guys, this means forgoing the need to wear a t-shirt normally. Most men, as they walk around in the middle of the day, will flip their t-shirt up to expose their belly and chest. It’s the ultimate act of sunshine frivolity.

For Chinese girls, summer time gives you a couple of options. Either, you will be wearing ridiculously short-shorts, but if that’s not your thing, then go with jeans on this balmy 35 degree day with 90% humidity. Whatever you choose, the platform shoes are a definite must to give you that sneaky height advantage over the other girls…who are also wearing platform shoes. Since it’s summer, platform thongs are a fashion yes.

Once you notice the shoes, you can’t stop staring at girl’s feet, thinking “Platform thongs….whhhhhhyy is this a thing???

ED: 24/10/2013

Please help, the disease is spreading…

http://www.blueisinfashionthisyear.com/2013/10/in-fashion-stella-mccartney-aw-2013.html

Don’t Ask…

Can I whinge about something for a moment?

Ok, you all know quite well about my sustained fight to get my acceptance paperwork for Nanjing Uni, but can I just say that this is definitely a reoccurring pattern within China. It seems like whenever you wish to do anything, all information must be fought for, haggled for. Nothing is given freely, it must be earned.

Here’s an example.

The other day I decided that it was finally time to attempt something I had long dreaded, laundry.

Now, I still live with my doting mother so it is only on rare occasions that I actually need to use one of those darn-fangled washing machines.

My floor doesn’t have a laundry, but I had heard that there were washing machines on every second floor. So, I wandered down the stairs to search for one. Upon seeing a young man wearing a towel I realised I had just walked into the mens combined bathroom/laundry. Fleeing the scene in the most casual manner possible, I went back to my room and begged my roommate for help. She shrugged and directed me down to the lobby to talk to the receptionists.

“I wanted to use the washing machines…” I trailed off uncertainly as the receptionist pointed upwards and said “7th floor, 7th floor”

So I went back up. I discovered a single washing machine. I tried putting money in to the slot. Nothing happened. A cleaner walked past and I stopped her, “How do I use the washing machine….” She crossly pointed down “Ask the receptionist. Can’t use yuan here.” She then fetched a stick (placed suspiciously next to the washing machine, as though this were a regular occurrence) and fished out my coins for me.

I then went back down to the lobby and spoke to the same woman I had just talked to. Turns out I needed to buy a token from the receptionists to use in the washing machine.

So finally, after lugging a back of washing from floor 9, to floor 8, to ground floor, to floor 7, to ground floor and back to floor 7, I was able to wash my clothes successfully and then collapsed in bed afterwards for a well-deserved nap.

China. Just ask the right questions and you’ll get the right answer. Otherwise, don’t ask.

Chinglish

“Note down what you thought, what you felt. Return to the writing age. After many year, when you open the notebooks, you possible to find something different about yourself, you will find everything is on its way to somewhere.”

I found this inspiring Chinglish phrase printed jauntily onto my new stationary purchases. In a way, it is perfect. I have chosen to enjoy myself and fully embrace a myopic focus for the moment, concerning myself only with day-to-day concerns and pleasures. However, this trip does have a broader purpose. I hope that by the end of my exchange I will be able to answer a few questions about my ability/desire to live and study (possibly, work) in China or any foreign country, really. When I look back at this experience, I hope that I will find everything thing is on its way to somewhere.

Logistics for y’all

Ok, so this will be my final comprehensive post about getting to China. I want people to use this blog post as the ultimate resource for getting from Australia to China. (Be prepared for a fairly dry-yet-informative post…)

It has been a crazy time since last posting and I am only just getting round to this whilst hunched in my dormitory in China.

I’ve done it, now you can too!

So after deciding to live by the motto “If you want something done, do it yourself” and sending those emails to Nanjing directly, completely bypassing my own university, I was sent the electronic copies of my paperwork. It was then that I realised I did not have enough time to send in a visa application and wait the compulsory 10-14 days for my passport to be returned to me.

It was at this point I went into full logistics mode. An action plan was thus created.

It went something like this:

Option 1: Go in person to Canberra to get my Student visa, go to China

Option 2: Go in person to Canberra, rejected for Student visa, get tourist visa, go to Nanjing to get hardcopy paperwork and apply for student visa in China.

Option 3: Go in person to Canberra, rejected for Student visa, get tourist visa, go to Nanjing to get hardcopy paperwork, unable to apply for student visa in China, go to Hong Kong to get Student visa, return to China.

Option 4: Go in person to Canberra, rejected for Student visa, get tourist visa, go to Nanjing to get hardcopy paperwork, unable to apply for student visa in China, go to Hong Kong to get Student visa, get rejected for Student visa, buy lots of cats and live the rest of my life in some sort of asylum eating cheese and mumbling incoherently.

Details:

Chinese embassy in Canberra:- This website has specific details about visa application in Australia. Download the visa application form (2013) which is not on the official China visa form. Check which forms you will need to send/bring with you to apply for the visa. Your travel agent should be able to advise you on this.

http://au.china-embassy.org/eng/ls/bg/

For my less than 6 months study in China, my visa was type F… when I went to Canberra I brought with me my admissions notice (China Uni supplied), the JW202 (China Uni supplied), copy of drivers licence, copy of my old passport, copy of past visas to China, the Visa application form, my passport and around $200 AU to pay for the 24hour rush service (available options were 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 4 days… 4 days being the normal postal fee of $90 AU and getting more expensive from there.) I also ensured that I had made an appointment with the embassy (*NOTE* the visa processing does not actually happen in the Chinese embassy! It is in Canberra House instead)

FUN FACT~ Where you are able to have your visa processed from depends on which state you are from, South Australia is processed in Canberra. However, I heard from a reliable source that you can simply lie about you current residential address in order to go to another consulate for processing. Flights to Sydney are a lot cheaper than to Canberra (!)

I was worried that I would be rejected for my student visa because I did not have hard copies of my admissions notice and the JW202. This was a problem for my friend Amanda (see previous post) when she applied via mail. Luckily, they didn’t even blink when I handed over printouts. I had prepared a massive-teary-begging sequence and everything…

For my contingency plan to Hong Kong I had extracted the following information.

http://www.fmcoprc.gov.hk/eng/fwxx/wgrqz/

This is a very detailed website concerning the China visa process in Hong Kong.

I also found an ENTIRE FORUM dedicated to these poor, desperate souls who have resorted to going to Hong Kong to get their Visa.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/41414-the-hong-kong-visa-topic/

Discussion includes location, price and contingency plans (think: dodgy agents)

Concerning the Student Visa processing in China, it is definitely possible. Whilst I was doing my enrolling at Nanjing University there were a number of people going to the Visa officer trying to figure out their Visas (although many of them simply needed to register at the police station as permanent residents because they were staying for over 6 months.) I am confident that if I wished to alter my visa (say, an extension or applying for multiple entry) that this university would be able to assist me. However, this may not be the case with every university and it may be a logistical nightmare. More so if you do not speak Chinese (this officer could not speak English.)

Well, all this discussion of logistics has me beat. It was a crazy few weeks, but now I can really relax and enjoy my exchange experience. Once you get into China, everything else seems easy.

I have learned a lot about doing things for my self, and I can reflect on the challenge as a sort of test of endurance and commitment to my exchange.

Waver, and you will surely fail.