Beijing - Tumblr Posts
So proud of them.
Beijing, 2011
- Xinagqi / chinese chess in a hutong
Moo Shu Beef Steak Bowl
Many people need to return to their jobs and schools. Stick to one-pan (or one-pot) dinners to give yourself a break when it comes to dinner. This classic Mandarin Chinese recipe is one that can be made with either ground beef or pork. I prefer utilizing thinly sliced beef steak. This dish which I commonly referred to as the Chinese version of a burrito The filling is encased in a thin pancake made of water and flour, or you may buy one of those Mexican flour tortillas, but for today's meal, I'm having this with steamed Japanese white rice.
“Cooking is at once child's play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love.” ― Craig Claiborne
Beijing Day One: 南锣鼓巷
1. Wandered around some historical back alley neighborhoods sipping watermelon juice
2. Watched Alice get run over by a bike
3. Located cats
4. Succumbed to jetlag
Beijing Day Five: 三里屯
So Beijing gives me a lot of hope for the future of China. Unlike Shanghai, which is mainly a city of crooks, Beijingers are civilized. There's no public spitting, blatant littering or rampant pick-pocketing. People will apologize if they accidentally bump into you. Subway passengers will allow others to disembark prior to squeezing onto the train. So what if there's so much pollution you can stare directly at the sun without feeling a thing? At least the elderly don't encourage their grandbabies to poop in the street.
Nevertheless, northerners have a painfully stunted cuisine compared to that of Shanghai. Yet compared to the US there's really no comparison at all, and frankly there's just no way around the simple fact that life is pretty good right now.
Beijing Day Six
1. Conducted a second round of interviews with mental health patients at a community clinic
2. Wandered around a neighborhood slated for demolition within the next three years
3. Purchased and consumed miscellaneous street food
4. Attempted to fondle a variety of dogs, then remembered rabies has a 100 percent mortality rate
Beijing Day Seven: 潘家园
1. Wandered around a flea market broken-hearted
2. Ate my feelings
3. A guy around my age or older called me "big sister" in an attempt to sell something. Should I kill myself?
Couples get to hold each other. We get to hold our equipment.
Alice Li, on getting crammed like a human sardine into a compartment full of strangers on the Beijing subway during rush hour with our cameras and tripod.
Beijing Days 8 and 9:
1. Walked down the street chugging a 600 mL bottle of 燕京.
2. Witnessed firsthand the long-term effects of female infanticide on mosh pit demographics. Also took my first shot of absinthe.
3. Jogged in circles in Olympic Park.
4. Took a day trip to a mental hospital to film the treatment of committed patients. Got censored so hard.
5. Watched Archer season three.
6. Made dumplings.
Beijing Day 11: 森林公园
So my impression of China this visit has been unexpectantly positive. It's been the result of not only living more or less on my own but also speaking to medical professionals and social workers about issues currently facing the country.
For once, I'm seeking my own facts on the state of a society about which I'd previously only been informed through hearsay and speculations and international media analysis. It's a difference of consciously analyzing social infrastructure rather than passively experiencing.
On a semi-related note, I've found the more human interest stories I work on as a journalist, the more I'm truly convinced that my documentary adviser was right when he told my class "There's no such thing as 'bad guys.'"
There's a lot to complain about in China but at least the people are complaining. And they're taking social change into their own hands and thinking with open minds, or rather those who know better are trying to educate the rest.
Change is happening. It's slow in the making but it's inevitable.
Beijing Day 22: 前门 and 王府井
1. Ate everything
2. Got stalked by a crazy man who slowly pedaled after us on his bike for half a block while repeating a salacious verse
3. Watched Alice step in poop
4. Wandered aimlessly around high end malls, soaking up the free air conditioning
5. Spent precious millimeters of personal space playing Dragon Fly on the subway at rush hour
Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 4, 1989, was the stage of a massive government crackdown on pro-democracy student protesters. The worst thing is, a quarter of a century later people are still afraid to talk about it. Chinese textbooks don't mention it. You can't Google it. The newest generation of children growing up in the PRC have no idea. Members of the diaspora demonstrating in commemoration of the Tiananmen Square massacre get blacklisted, and so it goes.
To Make a Home
Alice Li and I spent the summer of 2013 in China to create a documentary exploring the difficult process of social reintegration for those formerly hospitalized for mental illness in Beijing. Told from the perspective of three people -- a patient, his doctor and a social worker -- the film takes a deep look at the role community plays in an individual's struggle to overcome stigma, establish a sense of identity and ultimately find a home. Made with support from the Eric Lund Global Reporting Fund and Northwestern University's Undergraduate Research Grant.
The view at dawn from the imperial Jingshan Park in Beijing, where the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty hung himself.