My Boss' Big, Fa(s)t, Chinese Wedding

This past Sunday was my supervisor's Chinese wedding. After a wild weekend of birthday, booze, beats, Beijing, my roommate and I were not the most excited to spend what we thought would be a wild Sunday of wedding celebration. At any rate, we both got up fairly early to buy a gift and be a part of our supervisor's special day. Although I was a little tired, I was a was excited to see what a Chinese wedding was all about.

We arrived about 9am to the flower shop to buy a nice bouquet of flowers as a gift for our boss. We thought we had told the florist in Mandarin how much we wanted to spend, but there was a language miss-communication and she thought we meant our price as the amount of roses we wanted. (120). So but the time she finished the massive bouquet of roses she tells us 700 RMB ($125)....WHAT?!?! After running late, lighter pockets, and feeling like idiots for not understanding Mandarin as well as we thought, we headed off to the wedding.

Once we arrived at the wedding venue I felt a little better and was just ready to eat and celebrate. We sat next to our other Chinese and foreign teachers from our school. After a brief time of socializing, it was time for the ceremony to begin.

 Like most Chinese weddings, my supervisor's took took place indoors in a hotel/ restaurant venue. Overall, experience was like a big gypsy reception. The dress was incredibly casual, everyone was wearing jeans and sweaters. Because the Chinese people are generally not religious, there was no pastor to overseeing wedding ceremony, just the MC. The ceremony had the bride and groom singing a duet together.There were bubbles, throwing of Sponge Bob toys. They even gave away a giant teddy bear. There also was no kissing of the bride at the end, just a bow and a pouring of wine and lighting candles. Each father of the bridal party did give speeches, and there was a tossing of the bouquet, but that was the only thing that felt familiar.The food though was excellent. Plates on top of plates of food at each table for people to enjoy. Also cigarettes, alcohol, and candy. Choose your vice.

The weirdest thing about the entire experience had to be how fast it ended. A typical wedding reception last the whole day. My supervisor's entire wedding was about 2 hrs and then everyone started going home! I was ready to get my party on and then it was time to go. I decided to take one of the bottles of liquor as a token for ending so quickly.

Overall, it was definitely a unique experience I will never forget!

Birthday, Booze, Beats, & Beijing

So last week was my birthday. (If you forgot to wish me a happy birthday, you still can, I will only mildly hold it against you). I decided to have a couple days of celebration with some of the good friends I met here so far in China.

My birthday started off properly when I was awoken by my buddy Craig with a bottle of Johnny Walker Red. I headed off to work and was greeted by my boss with a new watch and an enormous birthday cake. While teaching, many kids gave me random stickers and treats that they had. Later that night, my girlfriend Lora and I went and had a nice grilled fish dinner and birthday cake for a night cap :)

That Friday, a large group of my friends and I went out to one of my favorite restaurants in Tangshan. This place has good local Chinese food, live music, and a great atmosphere. The owner of the restaurant even bought me a cake!. He also sang my favorite breakup song called "Shawbee", which means motherfucker in Chinese. it is a fun song to here them play because everyone is shouting "Shawbee!!!" at the top of their lungs. After a few Chivas Royal shots in, things were much a blur. I do remember getting on stage and I spoke Chinese to the crowd, who were all quite impressed. After a few bits of Chinese food we made our way to the club where we drank, danced and laughed the night away.

The next morning I had to nurse a major hangover, but I was excited for guys day in Beijing. NO, not camping and hunting, but shoe shopping at the Silk Market!!(No homo) We arrived at about noon, ate a bit of McDonald's  and headed off to shop. The Silk Market is a very famous tourist shopping attraction, complete with 7 levels of clothes, jewelry, toys, and electronics. One must use their bartering skills to get the desired price of the fake goods they chose. My fake brand of choice for the day was Timberland boots. I haggled for a very nice black pair to 340 RMB ($55) that would have coast me about $100-120 in the States. I probably could have got them for another 100 RMB cheaper, but I am not the best haggler, and the master of haggling (Craig) was occupied by his own shoe purchase at the time. It was a definitely a fun experience at the silk market, but it can get very tiring people trying to sell you any and everything. The couple tips I would recommend about going here is know the price you want to pay for something (Usually 15% of what they originally offer) and never buy electronics. My two friends learned the electronics bit the hard way by wasting 30 RMB on a fake pair of iPhone ear-buds that sounded like listening music through muffled megaphone.

One of the best highlights of the day was randomly running into one of college friends Kellie when we were leaving the silk market! I would have never expected to run into anyone I knew from home, but I was so happy I did. We caught up briefly and went on our way. Talk about small world!!

We ended the day having a very nice Indian food dinner, and hopped back on the midnight train back to Tangshan. As my friends were busy rapping to the Chinese passengers, I was thinking about what a excellent birthday celebration week I had with new friends in a country I was still getting familiar with. As much as I miss everyone back home at that moment I felt I was in the right place at the right time.

City Wok

As I stated before Chinese food here is nothing like Chinese food back in America. Besides fried rice, I have not recognized one dish from anything I have ordered at my local “City Wok”. However, for the most part I have enjoyed trying most of the unique tastes china has to offer.

One of the main differences when eating at Chinese restaurant in China is the etiquette. Smoking is not seen as disgusting in China. Pretty much everywhere in China allows it and the restaurants are no different. Be prepared to smell like an ashtray after eating at one of your favorite local establishments. However, a more disgusting habit than the smoking is definitely the spitting on the floor. Imagine eating your tasty dish and the table next to you has a guy spitting at your feet. It is a appalling habit one must get over quickly if you ever want to enjoy a night out at a restaurant other than McDonald's or KFC. There is a difference in server etiquette as well. It is perfectly fine to yell fuyan!! (waiter) across the restaurant. In fact, the server only comes by once to take your order and that is it. No "How is the food?” or water refills. If you need something else, you better yell. However the one good thing about China is no tipping!! My cheap ass firmly believes in no tipping, and in China tipping is considered disrespectful. Want to split the check? Not going to happen. Everyone better have cash handy.


Chinese restaurants are meant to be enjoyed with a group of people. The dishes are made so that the food is shared. There is no such thing as your own meal. Obviously the place settings are different, which means no fork or knife. Most restaurants have plastic wrapped individual sets of bowls, saucer (no full sized plate) tea cup, soup bowl, and small water glass. It is customary to order a main dish or two of meat and a few side dishes of vegetables. Having dessert with dinner is not customary unless you are eating at a western restaurant. Finally, make sure you if you order a beer make sure you ask for a cold beer. If you don’t, enjoy your room temperature beverage. 

My favorite restaurant in Tangshan is called  "Emma's. It is a family owned local restaurant here in Tangshan. That follows all the "etiquette" I have written about in this blog. The place is always busy and full of Tangshan locals. The food is so good and the family is very nice. Our favorite dishes to get there are the fried rice, with a side of beef like stew and potatoes. 

Next blog will be about Christmas and mall shopping in China. Happy thanksgiving to everyone! 

Tianjin weekend

Last weekend my roommate Craig and I decided to take an excursion to Tianjin, China's fifth largest city. I was not really sure what to expect out of this weekend trip as I really did not know much about Tianjin and I left all the trip planning up to my buddy Craig.

Unlike our trip to Beijing, Craig and I had no trouble getting a proper train to Tianjin. Upon leaving the train station, we were greeted with a spectacular city skyline from the Hai River. Tianjin has a long history of foreign influence and you can see from the buildings. Tianjin looks like a mixture of China and Western Europe. 

We arrived at our economy hotel called the IBIS. The hotel was actually very clean and comfortable, I preferred it to the hostel we had booked in Beijing that reminded me of a college dorm. The IBIS actually felt like a hotel. It also had a separated shower in the bathroom, which I had not experienced since I left for China. Although our window view was a depressing abandoned warehouse, which a family was using as a home... After taking pictures of the Tianjin skyline, Craig and I decided to stay in for the first night. We enjoyed a hilarious dubbed version of "Bad Girls Club" on Chinese TV, complete with a bitchy remake of their attitudes.

Unfortunately, I see contrasts in China like this everyday. Fancy, modern areas next to incredibly impoverished 

As we awoke the next morning, we decided to do some exploring of the city. Our first stop was to see the Tianjin eye. It is a Ferris wheel  replica of the famous London Eye that overlooks the Hai River. It was a very smoggy day in Tianjin so we decided to save the riding of the eye for another time where we could get some good pictures.

Tianjin Eye

Tianjin Fishing

Our second stop brought us to a basic Chinese market, complete with street food, vendors, and fake name brand items (I bought a fake Gucci belt. Holla!). We decided to be a little adventurous and ate at a whole in the wall restaurant with no pictures on the menu. We said the Mandarin words for beef and beer and hoped for the best. Luckily, we were pleasantly surprised when we received a hearty bowl of beef soup with potatoes! 

Lunch Roulette 

Our tasty meal had us energized and ready to do some more sight seeing. We wandered over to The Ancient Culture street market in Tianjin. The Ancient Culture Street is in fact a collection of streets offering traditional Qing-style architecture and décor of a typically Tianjin style. Shops on the streets feature delicately carved bricks and watercolor paintings. We tried some handcrafted lollipops designed after Chinese zodiac animals. They were unique and tasty, but the candy got stuck in my teeth!!

Ancient Culture Street Market

The Candy man making a rabbit

After a an hour or so of exploring the culture market and playing Chinese hacky sack with some locals, Craig's female friend and Tianjin resident "Ace" picked us up to show us some of the local flare of the city.

We first stopped at the 5 avenues of Tianjin. The “Five-Avenue Area”, which has become one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Tianjin, is a section of the city that had been once been dedicated to European style homes. An important reason for the reputation of the western buildings in Tianjin is that the people who once lived in the buildings were unusual. Two presidents of the Republic of China and seven Premiers or acting Prime Ministers once resided here in the 1920s and 1930s. In addition, a large number of celebrities of different fields left their historical mark in the “Five-Avenue Area” of Tianjin,

Chinese grandmas playing Chinese games by 5 avenues

Chinese wedding crashing

A few subway cars, quick stops, and a picture taking stroll down the Hai River, we went on our way to see Italian Style Town. This is a small area of Tianjin that contains several western restaurants and shops. Being here, I felt I was not in China, but in Europe. This is because all the buildings in this place were built based on Italian architecture. Italian Style Town was built in the early 1900s during foreign occupation of the city. There is a good selection of bars, restaurants, and picture worthy buildings .

Our night would conclude with a little pizza, drinking, and dancing at Helen's bar across town. Ace explained this was a popular place for expats because of its great pizza and beer. We devoured our pizza, guzzled our beer, puffed hookah, and sang Justin Bieber at the top of our lungs until the sun came up.

As you see I'm not a smoker.

Filling our bellies with donkey soup and sandwiches the next morning for breakfast, it was time to depart the hotel. I left Craig and Ace to "pack", while I did a little bit of sight seeing. My hour of time to kill led me to the Dabei Buddhist Temple.  It is a famous ancient Buddhist monastery which once held the holy ashes of Xuanzang, a monk of the Tang Dynasty. It was a busy Sunday morning at the temple, with plenty of people practicing ancient Buddhist customs. I was not sure if I was allowed to take pictures here, but I decided to anyway until someone told me to stop. The statues of Buddha gods here were colorful, large, and beautiful. This was a eye opening and unforgettable experience for me because it was the first time I had ever stepped foot in a religious building that was not a Christian church. I was really fascinated by it all and was so excited when I saw real life monks walking about!

The final stop in our Tianjin weekend tour led us to the Beining Park. The park was originally built in 1906 as a botanical garden and revamped a couple years ago. The coolest thing about the park was the huge pagoda tower in the middle of the park. Beining park also had a nice small lake and antique style Chinese buildings. One thing I have noticed about parks in China is that most are built to be impressive. I feel like the parks I been to have unique look and style to them that makes you want to go there. 

Our trip concluded with a rainy train ride back to Tangshan. As I tried to sleep and be in my own thoughts, our curious train passengers woke me up to talk. They were so curious about Craig and I. We chatted the rest of the ride and ended up having some interesting stories to laugh about later, but this was actually one of the few times I did not want my "celebrity" status drawing attention to me. I just wanted to sleep!! 

Until next time friends!! 

Ever Heard of Popeye's?!?!

Since being in China, everyone frequently asks me how the food is. So today's blog is all about food, mainly about the "Friendship Market" just outside my residence.

When I first arrived to my new apartment in China, was a little nervous about the market, unregulated, cheap food that comes from who knows what out of who knows where. However, after a few gambles on meal choices, the market has to be one of my favorite aspects about my life China.

Wearing PJs out in public. No big deal. 

The Friendship Market consists of an inexpensive eclectic array of meat, fruit, and vegetables. There are also vendors who sell clothes, alcohol, and various household goods. The best part about the market is that the food for the most part is ridiculously cheap. As stated in a previous blog entry, an average lunch for me costs about 5-15 RMB ($1-3 US). 

unrefrigerated slabs of meat just laying out in the open....

Chinese 'pizza' bread

Lately, my favorite lunch has been donkey. For about a week I had been eating these tasting sandwiches and dumplings, having no idea what I was eating until one day my roommate and I noticed the big donkey picture above the vendor stand! I was totally freaked out at first, but shortly I got over it and indulged myself in a couple donkey sandwiches! I guess am a fan of ass when it comes to women and food!!

Eating 'ass'

The other night, my roommate and I decided to try or first Chinese duck. We were able to get a whole duck with sauce, pancakes, veggies for 40 RMB ($6 US).

Not everything at the market is cheap however. Fruit at the market can range from a reasonable price to more than I would ever pay back home. For example, I can get plenty of random Chinese fruits for cheap, but try and buy 4 red apples, it will cost me 90 RMB ($14 US!). Also, 1 lemon at the market is 30 RMB ($5 US). Pineapples and watermelons are also on the expensive side.

Everyone is very friendly at the market. Every day I get the curiosity stares and "hello!" from vendors and patrons alike. After a few weeks, I have made relationships with some of the vendors I frequent.  However, our conversations are very minimal since my Chinese is still very limited.

Like Chris Tucker from Rush Hour 2, this is my daily experience at the market...

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Since returning from Beijing, my roommate Craig and I have had a string of good luck when it has come to restaurants around town.

One day we attempted to have a nice fancy fish at a restaurant that Craig had tried when he first arrived, but we arrived too late at to eat at the restaurant. Hungry and on a quest for something different, we stumbled into an interesting looking place called "Kabob Cafe". The restaurant was closed, and not officially opened for business yet, but the owner of the restaurant recognized me from around town and asked if we would like to join their taste test. We were hesitant at first, but it was one of the best decisions we have made since being in China. The group that invited us to sit told us the restaurant was going to be opening up in a week and would have an upscale western cuisine that would be unmatched in Tangshan. I was skeptical at first since the 'western' style food I had tried in China before that night was a mediocre attempt on the real thing, complete with an expensive bill. However, they quickly brought out a FREE complete meal for us to taste, fish, steak, pumpkin soup, appetizers, desserts, imported wine, and beer. The food was so good; if not better than 'western' dishes I have tasted back home. I was completely blown away. They showed us around the restaurant and made us feel really welcome. I cannot wait to go back!!

Pumpkin soup!

Tasty spinach and fish!

New friends sharing steak

While going to Wanda Plaza (blog entry about Wanda Plaza to come in the future) to see Looper, we investigated the 3rd floor restaurant portion of the mall. Now in the US, the food court is made up of cheap, fast, and chain restaurants for the shopper on the go. However, in China, the restaurants at the mall are a complete dining experience. We were able to finally find some sushi in China! The special rolls were similar, but not quite the same as back in the US. However, they were still quite tasty.

Can't go too long without sushi in your life!

There is also a Starbucks at Wanda, but their selection is completely limited! There are a few items you would get from a normal Starbucks coffee, mocha, cappuccinos, etc., but there are few specialty drinks. Also, most importantly, NO HOLIDAY DRINKS AKA NO PUMPKIN SPICE.

No pumpkin.....FAIL

Next weekend I am off to a large city in the Hebei province called Tianjin. I will blog about my adventures there. Until next time!! 

How Chinese fish for dinner at Wal-Mart

Beijing Pt. 4: Midnight Train from Hell

Waking up from our final night in Beijing, we were all very tired and worn out from the last two days of big tourist traveling. On our last day we decided to take it easy, get brunch, and find a nice little flea market to haggle for interesting items.

After finishing lunch we took a subway and a bus to a nearby flea market that was a popular site for tourists and locals. They were selling everything there from jewelry to random knick knacks. Everything can be haggled down to a reasonable price, and is expected. I am a terrible haggler, so I needed my roommate Craig’s assistance on buying the commie memorabilia I thought was interesting. Hopefully, I will get better as the year progresses.

Market Vendors

Market Entrance

Market Flags

Weird Lennon like glasses

More Market

I swear I am still a capitalist, but sometimes I like to buy communist things. 

After a few hours of haggling and dinner, we decided it was time to leave the vibrant city of Beijing, and go back to our sleepy town of 2 million people. Of course, not learning from our train ticket mistakes of getting to Beijing, we show up to the train station expecting to buy a reasonable ticket at a reasonable time. WRONG. The soonest train to Tangshan was another 2.5hr long "standing" train at 11pm. Not wanting to take another expensive cab ride back to Tangshan, we decided to weigh all our options. We booked a ticket for a sitting train at midnight that would get us to Tangshan within the hour. Perfect! We thought, nothing can go wrong now.... Little did we know, we wouldn't be resting in our beds that night until the sun came up 12 hours later.

Midnight finally arrived and we were ready to board the train. The queue for the train was crowded, but for the most part people were civilized once the gates opened. We boarded the train, which to my surprise was very nice. All the stories I heard from Craig was that Chinese trains were grungy, dirty, and old. This train had anything you would expect a train in the states would have. Somehow the comforts of the train let our guard down when the stop came. The train announced we were arriving at Tangshan.

The western way of thinking: Train stops, collect your bags, and get off the train.

Chinese way of thinking: Announcing train is stopping, get to the door now, and train stops for 1min and leaves.

Long story short, we missed our stop. Frustration and fatigue begin to show themselves in all of us as the train attendant explains to us in broken English that we must wait until the next stop (A hour and a half later) to get off, buy another train ticket and back track all the way to Tangshan. 

We finally arrive at the next train station, which is actually quite nice. The next train available to Tangshan was a "standing" train at 3:30am and arriving in Tangshan at 5:30am. After a 15 minute arrival delay, the "lovely" train arrives to take us to Tangshan. As soon as I step on the train, I feel like I am in an already never ending nightmare that I will never wake up from. Besides the entire train car of Chinese eyes staring at us, the train looked like it has hadn’t been used since the Cold War. The furnishings were old, ragged seats, but this didn't matter because everyone was sprawled out sleeping in all the rows. I finally arrived at my "assigned seat". Across from me was a haggard looking Chinese man and his wife. Next to me was a crouched up old woman. Luckily, she was nice enough to let me sit down. The table in the middle had old, smelly bits of dinner they had eaten from earlier before, and all I could do was lay my head in my lap hoping I would wake up in my bed. Finally, what seemed like the never ending train ride came to an end. We made sure this time to get off the train in a timely manner. We hopped in the first taxi we saw and headed back to our lovely apartment. Waiting for us was our lovely Chinese pancake lady and her husband with a big smile on her face ready to make us breakfast. We devoured our meals and crashed in our beds just as the sun came up.

Our forced 3:30am smiles just before getting on the last train to Tangshan

Waking up later that afternoon, I laughed and looked back at the entire experience I had in Beijing. From the fun to the frustrating, I was so happy to experience everything that had happened and the people that I shared it with. I look forward to my next adventure here in China and letting everyone be a part of that journey through my blog.