A new graduate!

If his mom hadn't been such a slacker, you would have found out weeks ago: Simon is a new "Western Academy of Beijing Fifth Grade Graduate"! Woohoo. The blue t-shirt (and some academic credit) is proof: Next year Simon is going to Middle School.

 

As parents, we were treated to a nice assembly, where we reviewed the fifth grade accomplishments this year (camp...some school work...personal project, and.. oh another camp). Afterwards we had a good lunch in the gym (now, that is a reason to go to the gym!), at which we as parents all congratulated ourselves with getting the kids this far without us getting any older. :)

 

 

The Fifth Grade Graduation Assembly at WAB, one of Beijing's many international schools.
(Hhm, not the best picture quality, is it?)

 

Simon and his friends--some other successful graduates, woohoo!

 

Never to old for balloons!

 

 

Family selfie.

 

 

In het Nederlands: Simon heeft onlangs z'n Fifth Grade afgemaakt en rond daarmee de Elementary School (basisschool) hier af. Volgend jaar gaat hij dan naar Middle School (en over drie jaar naar High School). Felicitaties!

 

The bus stop challenge

When you think about China, you might think of ancient mysteries, about temples shrouded in clouds and kongfu masters in praying mantis position. However, the daily mystery boils down to this: Where is the bus going and at what time? Four years in China, and I still don't have a better idea then just to ask the folks at the bus stop and hope for the best.



Pray tell, when is the bus leaving today?


In het Nederlands: Het bordje bij de bushalte: het daaglijks mysterie is hier soms erg groot!

Revival!

Sometimes a blog dies a silent death...and sometimes your family (hi mom!) reminds you that it would be nice if there was another post.

 

Today my mom actually called me to tell me she received my post card from Shanghai, which goes to show that China's regular mail service is done by snail since I visited Shanghai already in early May. In addition to the paper post cards, here are two quick images of the city of rain.

 

 

The Pearl Tower in Dutch weather.

 

Hanging out at "the Bund." Only the Dutch would consider a biking tour in these conditions.

 

 

 

"Happy" in Beijing

Friends - the usual mid-year lapse in blog posts is underway, but we're still very "happy" in Beijing.

The people and street life in the clip below are just so incredibly Beijing! Everything is even in a haze of smog!

Home Sweet Home: Baidu Map Shows Chinese Lunar New Year Migration in Real Time

China's annual migration is well-underway. Four years ago, when Paul and I first visited China to check out our new 'hood', we managed to find ourselves at the Beijing Railway Station just a week before Chinese New Year. What we saw? An ocean of people hoping to buy a train ticket or already 'hop'on the train and occupy their 'standing seat' for the eight or more hour train ride home to their 'laojia', the family home. (And this of course only when the ticket you just bought doesn't turn out to be fake.)

Well, our laojia now is Beijing, so Paul and I are not going anywhere and I am just going to observe the migration from my desk with this very cool map that the Chinese search engine Baidu has set up:

  

  

The Baidu map shows people on the move on January 16 (top left) and today
(January 29, top right). The photos on the bottom show today's movements into
and out of Beijing (left) and Shanghai (right). 

Baidu Map of the Chinese Lunar New Year Migration in Real Time

The map is based on the number and location of people using the Baidu search app on their cell phones and shows destinations, cities of origin, and routes (on the Website, use the three big blue buttons on the right to toggle between the three). Beijing is a big departure and a big destination city, so--as can be expected--the whole thing is just a giant reshuffling of people.

Not everyone is going home though - this year I read a couple articles about the immense pressure and stress a lot of young people experience when they go home. Why are you not married? Why don't you make more money? Apparently these are some of the more gentle questions that might be shared over the Chinese New Year, along with the dumplings and fire crackers. This article in particular has gotten a lot of coverage:

Newspaper front page: Mom: "Please come home for Chinese New Year,
we won't ask you about marriage ever again!"

In het Nederlands: In China is op dit moment bijna iedereen op reis. Vrijdag begint hier het Chinese nieuwjaar en dan moet je thuis bij je pa en ma aan de dumplings zitten. Het is een hoop gestress natuurlijk, die volksverhuizing. En dan moet je eventueel ook nog jezelf bij pa en ma verantwoorden waarom je nog niet getrouwd bent of waarom je niet al een betere baan hebt. Sommige mensen ontduiken tegenwoordig deze stress en blijven lekker thuis. Zelf gaan we morgenavond even Nederlandse oliebollen bakken en een fles champagne opentrekken!

You wouldn't believe it...

You wouldn't believe it...until you saw it with your own eyes.

Yesterday was another one of those crazy Beijing pollution days. I spend a lot of time (or at least some time!) on this blog telling you so much about all that there is to like about China and Beijing. But the pollution remains the one thing that makes you question your own sanity for living here. 

Here's what my Air Quality app said yesterday:

On an index of 0-500, we were once again "Beyond Index." I had originally been planning to go for a run, but decided to scratch that plan when I stepped outside in a cloud of smoke. At an index of 500, the world looks drab, it smells, my eyes itch, and I don't know if I cough from a cold or the pollution.

Visibility is much reduced.

This is on the way home from work (sadly I am contributing to the pollution).

Of course, it would be better to show you pictures of the same spot with and without pollution, but it seems that as soon as Beijingers see a blue sky, we immediately forget all the pollution days that came before it. Worse, we say crazy things like: "Oh, today is not so bad. The pollution index is only 173." (I am serious, we say this kind of thing! )

On the positive side: Never in my life will I take clean air for granted again. I wish you all a clean blue-sky kind of day!

In het Nederlands: We wonen graag en goed in Beijing, maar die vervuiling...die is toch wel het lastigste om mee om te gaan. Hier zijn wat foto's van gisteren toen de vervuilingsindex letterlijk van de kaart was. 

Architectural 'Selfie' - A Visit to Beijing's Museum of Ancient Architecture

Recently, with a cold wind outside and our boys happily playing at a neighbor's house (thank you!), Paul and I went on a mini-adventure to the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum. The museum is located on the grounds of a renovated Ming Dynasty temple and--as we discovered after paying a hefty 15 Yuan entry fee (about US$2.50 or Euro 1.80)--includes lots of interesting information about the construction of the many temples, palaces, and pagoda's in China.

Museum entrance: 15 Yuan. Temple value: Millions. Taking your first selfie?  Priceless!


This might have been our first selfie...


Old (though re-painted) grain storage sheds on the grounds of the museum.

 
This particular exhibit showed how the temples can be constructed without the use of nails. Everything just neatly comes together to create the corner-structures for the building.


A typical building corner using the pieces shown in the pictures above. (I suppose there is a more technical term for 'building corner'?)

I can't even think of putting this together.


China's temples also usually have the most beautiful colors. Much more than I have seen in Europe, older buildings here are typically restored and repainted with original (?) colors.



After leaving the museum, we walk through the other ancient architecture: Beijing's nice hutongs and small streets.

In het Nederlands: Nog net voor kerst waren Paul en ik een middagje in het museum. Na drie jaar tempels bezoeken was het leuk meer te leren over hoe ze gebouwd zijn.