there's dangerous levels of hip here.

Beijing, China. One month remains and I feel like I have just scratched the surface of all there is to learn and explore in this vast city. This weekend made me more excited for this city that ever before. I went to two events that revealed a legitimate underground cultural scene in full force.

Friday night me and a few friends attended a local concert at a venue called Yugong Yishan. The venue was awesome, and on par if not exceeding the quality and hipness of venues in Chicago. Slightly larger than the Metro, this venue was set in one of the few remaining 'old' areas of Beijing and the site was a former imperial government. The space was packed (a rarity for any event in Beijing) and an interesting mix of ex-pats and Chinese. The band was Pet Conspiracy, an electronic band from Beijing, with one member from italy. They literally blew my mind. It was one of the best shows I have ever seen. Imagine CSS mixed with the Yeahs Yeahs Yeahs mixed with Justice. Their stage presence was unbelievable--they used flashlights as props, sang on members shoulders, made out with each-other on stage, and gave the crowd megaphones to sing with. I felt like I was witnessing a revolution on the stage. Yes, China is 'open' and modern now, but I never thought I'd see something like this. Everyone in the was singing, dancing, and smoking. Check out the band on myspace, but note they sound 1000 times better live:http://www.myspace.com/thepetconspiracy

The next night, I went to a gallery exhibition closing as research for my Ricci Scholarship. The exhibition focused on artist Ai Wei Wei and his photographs from his time living in NYC during the 1980s. The closing event was the showing of two documentaries about the artist. The gallery was in the Caochangdi distict, an alternative artist enclave that is formed in the backlash of 798. After a long and confusing taxi ride, I got out in what looked like the middle of the woods. This district is the most remote part of Beijing I have ever been to, I actually felt like I was in nature, not a cement block jail. The gallery, three shadows photography center, is aesthetically stunning. When I enter its gates, at least 200 people were gathered in the courtyard watching the documentary, drinking beer and tea, and enjoying the cool Beijing spring. It seemed a world away from the Beijing I was used to. Like the concert, the gallery was a nice balance of ex-pats and Chinese, even more of the latter. While looking through the exhibition, I was struck by how interested the Chinese seemed in the photographs. They did not all look like pretentious arty types either, they seemed rather ordinary, taking pictures of their own, quietly contemplating the works, and writing down notes. 

It took me months, but I have found the Beijing I was searching for.

zaogao.

'Spring Break' 2009: Sichuan Province, China.

I have just returned from what I hope will be the worst spring break I will ever have to endure. It was not all terrible, and both the good and bad aspects I am grateful for, but overall, I wish I had been lounging on a beach in Thailand instead (as some of my fellow classmates did). 

The trip was 'paid for' (aka we pay for it in our tuition) so it did not really make sense for me not to go on it. I also thought it sounded fun; Sichuan is one of the few regions outside of the big coastal cities I had heard of in China--a place described as having one of China's most laid back cities (Chengdu), most beautiful scenery (mountains filled with Pandas, among other wildlife) and most mouthwatering cuisines. I was disappointed by all three of these in Sichuan. 

We started our journey with a 25 hour train ride from Beijing to Chengdu. It was surprisingly pleasant. Everyone played cards, read, and snacked while the train meandered through China's diverse scenery: flat plains, wildflower filled mountains, and tropical hills. 

The good times continued the first night in Chengdu. We all went out for a meal of Sichuan's famous hot pot: basically raw meat and veggies you throw into a pot on your table filled with spices and let it cook for a minute before eating it. It was my third time having hot pot, but this one was by far the spiciest thing I have ever put in my mouth, ever. Sichuan is known for a second degree of spicy unfamiliar to the western world. It is a spiciness that numbs your whole mouth and gives your body this tingling sensation. It feels like a drug, and like most drugs, it has consequences (I'll get to that later). After dinner me and my two friends met some local Chengdoers and joined their table to have a few drinks. An hour later we were in a taxi with them to a Platform 9 3/4 (no joke) themed club where we had bottle service and danced all night. 

The trip was off to a great start. Then, in the middle of the night my stomach felt unnaturally full and in pain. Next thing I know I am throwing up my hot pot dinner (which was burning my throat as it came out) all night and morning. I spent the entire next day in bed and missed all the activities. I later found out that about 80% of my group also got food poisoning, some worse than me. 

Needless to say that put a damper on the trip. I could not eat, or even smell Chinese food for the rest of the trip and constantly wanted to sleep. Plus, the weather was awful--hazy, polluted, rainy and cold. We did go to two very cool sites later on in the trip, however: Leshan's Giant Buddha, the tallest Buddha in the world, and the Dazu Grottoes, a collection of Buddhist cave carvings miraculously spared from the cultural revolution. Check facebook to see photos later.

I am most grateful for this trip because it allowed me to see a different side to China. Our bus rides to the various sites passed through the most impoverished places I have ever seen. Trash ran rampant, shacks were falling apart while gleaming skyscrapers were constructed in the city of Chongqing, and pollution was so thick you could not see across the street. The most disheartening experience was one night in a stopover city, whose name I can't remember. The 'city' was straight out of a third world country. Yet the hotel we stayed at, right in the middle of the poverty, was nearly a five star. It was huge, having the capacity of thousands, and immaculate. Apparently this phenomenon is common in China: the government builds this grand hotels to distract visitors from seeing and experiencing the misery of what is around them. 

Anyways, this is a little longer than I had anticipated. I am glad to be back in Beijing. The weather is 82 degrees and sunny.