Beijing may not have bike sharing, but they sure sell bikes at very reasonable prices. At the beginning of the typical school year, September, I added 500RMB to my phone card at China Mobile and received a bike as a gift! A Phoenix bike, to be exact. I was told by my roommate at the time that the brand is supposedly rather well known, and retails at over 400RMB. Downside: advertisements on the bike.

Compare this plethora of bikes in Beijing with Copenhagen:

Already one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world, Copenhagen is used as the setting for an interesting conceptual bike sharing system. Termed “Bicyclus” by Italian designer Stefano Marchetto, the new eco-friendly plan would reuse some 8,000 bikes that are abandoned every year and further facilitate easier commutes for residents through the city. via PSFK

Other biking cities could probably learn a thing or two with collecting abandoned bikes. I’m sure things have changed, but when I was in the Wudaokou neighborhood of Beijing, there were certainly piles of bikes next to the subway station. Forgotten, lost, or abandoned.

很有意思啊，我写了英文张博客的时候是刚从青海省西宁市回香港的。我现在写这张，也在西宁了！太重合了！:)

对了，一年过了。我达一年了。也搬家到新的城市。一年里有很多发生。朋友去世了。久友谊继续成长，别的朋友没联系，也有新朋友们。等一下，看起来我在写一种俳句或什么。从小学没写过！

我想说得是我发生我常想到这个终点线，但现在用这短时间我常忘了，但也知道我应该享受的旅程。二月分是刚过了我开始这个博客的时一周年。这时候，我从美国搬家到北京。现在，过了一年，我也搬家了。搬到个有点儿熟悉的城市，但香港还是一个非常有意思的地方。 等不了后来怎么样！

三月份第一次来青海的时候是一个太独特的经验。我和一些朋友说了这样的经验我也相不了。我们去了一些农村的地方，环境和景观太没了。虽然是冬天，红和棕色的地没见过是这样的。不单是看风景和欣赏的景观，可以和农村的农民和游牧人打交互是一种机会。能看他们的家是用土和泥做的。也让我知道他们的生活是真正的有最小的生活。对了，对万死环境科技有限公司非常感谢，他们让我有太好的经验也可以帮他们一起合作做对我支持的项目，还可以旅游和做一些用户研究。

虽然，我呆了北京一年，我觉得我没有好象真正在北京住的人的机会，在北京学习当学生的时候一定是不一样的。虽然自是语言的学生海当学生有不一样的想法。觉得可能因为我在北京是个学生，我没做都可做的东西。到香港之前我很期待在北京当个真正的大人，但在写这张文章我也非常感兴趣在香港。我要说清楚在香港一定比在北京舒服。可能是我习惯的问题，还可能是我过这年的困难。我很想让自己过这写难受的问题，让我改善。在面上香港好象比较容易，所以我还需要继续面下的挖让我改善。 要对我朋友们和家庭非常感谢给我的支持和爱了！

Watch this 20 minute TEDtalk by Martin Jacques, which gives some wonderful insight into China and how Westerners can better understand China and its growth. Jacques identifies some key points of  Easterners being more knowledgable of the West because they have been forced to learn from these powerful, developed countries. In the time that I’ve been in China, I could not agree more. I’m often feeling ignorant about Chinese history. Whereas when talking to the Chinese, they are very aware and informed about the West. Here are some quick facts:

• The founding of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) was October 1, 1949
• The population of China is 1.3 Billion (The US is 300 Million)
• China has 55 ethnic minority groups, in addition to the ethnic majority, Han
• Shanghai (18 Million) and Beijing (20 Million) are 2 of the most populated cities in the world
• The Chinese language uses 4 tones for speaking has over 20,000 written characters

Jacques touches on many points, including cultural identity, where 90% of China’s population identifies themselves as the Han race. In addition, “China is shaped by its sense as a civilization-state not a nation-state” of Western countries. And as a result, citizens of China view their government as a guardian of their civilization with legitimacy and authority, as opposed to the challenged State power in the West. Of course we know about the Chinese government’s censorship of news and media, including websites, but it’s completely true that the average Chinese believe everything that the media reports and they just accept that certain websites are not accessible. Perhaps it has much to do with the Chinese’s resilience and adaptability. Or is it cultural ingrainment of avoiding problems? Where no one claims responsibility, therefore just avoids any situation all together. Or like many discussions about education lately, are many Chinese not taught to think for themselves and challenge ideas? Jacques points out that there are no serious rivals to the Chinese State power and that there is a different construction of power embedded in society resulting from the Patriarchal family structure.

As you can see, I’m personally struggling with understanding many of these issues as well, but I’m here to learn more!

We know that the Chinese invented a lot of things and that recently, this sense of innovation is more than encouraged. So really, the most important take away from this video is that ”China is going to change the world.” And “if you want to feel the future, if you want to taste the future–try China.”

What are your thoughts?

我鼓励你看看上面的TEDtalk。Martin Jacques让我们西方人了解中国和中国的发展。他提提东方人比西方人了解多知识因为东方人（中国人）需要从西方的国家强大也开发。是真的，我呆了中国快一年，我同意有多次我觉得对中国历史我什么也不知道但中国人对西方的历史有了解。

加上Jacques说说中国的人民民族，他也说中国是文明国家但西方是民族国家（？）。为了中国文明国家，中国人对中国政府有合法和权力，比西方的不一样。西方人常对政府反对。当然我们知道中国政府对新闻和媒体删减，但普通的中国人对新闻和媒体什么都相信。可能是因为中国人很有弹力和应变力。或是不是以种避免问题的文化？谁都不责任。或好象最近的教育话题，多中国人没学怎么想，问问题，和反对主意。Jacques说对中国权力没有别组反对，为了家长制中国人有不同的权力感觉文化。

你看到呢，我自己有挣扎但很想多了解。

我们知道中国人发明了很多东西，现在多鼓励这样的发明。但在着视频最重要的是“中国回改变设计”和“如果你想感到前途，如果你想尝尝前途－试试中国。”

你觉得呢？

It’s been a while since I posted! Apologies! And this one is going to be short… just a few photos that I’ve taken in the past couple months that I quite like

抱歉我最近没写。。这个post也很短，只让你看看我这几个月拍的几张照片儿。我相当喜欢！

Tianjin Snacks：天津小吃

Hutong Bikes near Lama Temple：胡同自行车在雍和宫附近

I previously wrote a small blurb on Beijing’s JianBing (煎饼), but there’s more to it! I’m happy to be working with VeggieWala, a great resource for you vegetarians out there, from recipes to restaurant reviews. With my love for food (although not always the vegetarian kind), I hope I can provide some useful and insightful information here from Beijing. Here’s a snip-it of my first post for VeggieWala, and head over there to read the whole post about “The Chinese Crepe”

One of Beijing’s famous street foods is the JianBing (煎饼). Jean who? No, no, JianBing. Many, myself included, consider it a Chinese crepe. In the dictionary it translates to a Chinese pancake and it literally translates into fried, round-flat cake. So, there can be many English interpretations, and don’t get the JianBing confused with the scallion pancake that you find at Dim Sum or other Chinese restaurants. Rest assured that all Beijingers will know what a JianBing is. And on your next visit to Beijing, you can find this wonderful, savory, vegetarian-friendly delight all over the city in street food stalls or grocery stores small and large. Originating in Tianjin, just 117km (72miles) southeast of Beijing, the JianBing is the perfect breakfast food, but it’s also an inexpensive snack and even perfect grub as you crawl out of the bar at 5am.

Where can you enjoy this vegetarian-friendly treat? You’ll most certainly find vendors next to Beijing subway stops, in permanent street stalls (like the one pictured) or moving vendors, as you would typically imagine. Often the local grocery store also sells them. I encourage you to explore the street vendors of Beijing (and China) to find who you think makes the perfect JianBing!

我以前写过比较短的post关于北京煎饼，但还有很多没说！我刚刚开始从北京帮VeggieWala，美国一个吃素的blog。它真有意思告诉这么做菜啊，在什么地方吃啊，也吃素的还可以吃什么啦。虽然我不是常吃素的，但我真很高兴兴奋我的食品爱好能从北京帮它写一点关于在北京吃素的能吃什么。看看我第一个post在VeggieWala吧！

To some Chinese huaqiao (华侨) and huaren (华人) have the same meaning and to some Chinese the two words have different meanings. I spoke with an older lady, the Ayi who helps clean our apartment. She understood that both huaqiao and huaren have the same meaning… a Chinese person who’s overseas. To those who understand two different meanings, one definition is “a person of Chinese decent who was born and raised overseas” (me) and the second definition being “a person of Chinese decent who was born in China and currently residing overseas” (my parents). I met someone else recently, who explained to me that every person of Chinese decent no matter which country they live or grow up is a “huaren”, but those who specifically claim a nationality other than Chinese are “huaqiao”.

Ok, so after all this discussion, I decided to  just look it up in the dictionary. It defines “huaren” as ethnically Chinese people. And “huaqiao” as a Chinese emigrant who still retains Chinese nationality. Now, to confuse things further, I recently heard one more term “HuaYi” (华裔), which refers to a person of Chinese decent with foreign citizenship. Phew. Glad to finally get that clarified. And now we all know. Huaren are all Chinese people versus Huaqiao who are Chinese emigrants with Chinese nationality and Huayi are foreign citizens of Chinese decent.

我刚来中国的时候，他们问“你是哪国人”？我就说“是美国的”。有的人不太明白，好像亚洲人怎么从美国来的呢？有时候他们问“华人啊”？他们问的时候用“华人”有时候他们用“华侨”。我没想过这两个词有不同的意思觉得是一样意思。

有的中国人觉得华侨和华人有一样的意思但有些中国人觉得这两个词有不同的意思。我问我的阿姨他说是一样意思，华人就是华侨是一个中国人住再外国。有些人觉得有两个意思：一个是好像我，一个中国人在外国出生江大，第二个意思好像我父母，是中国人再中国出生住在外国。我刚刚认识新朋友告诉我每个中国人不管住在什么地方都是‘华人’，但‘华侨’就是再中国出生的不过现在是别国家人。

后来我就看看词典。华人是每个中国人不管住在什么地方。华侨是中国人住在外国但也是中国国际人。然后我最近也听人用华裔，意思可能比较清楚是中国血统的蛙泳国人。我现在明白了！你们呢？明白了吗？你以前知道吗？

Design friend @ssshaona posted a link to information about the new “Happy Magic Water Park” in Beijing. The Water Cube of the Beijing Olympic park has undergone renovations to be transformed into an indoor water park. After reading the blurb, more than 1 friend here in Beijing has mentioned of hearing the same! Looks like it opened on August 8, just over a month ago. Can’t wait to see what this water park with slides, lazy river, and wave pool is like. Will it compare to Bostonians’ (or New Englander’s) childhood memory of WaterCountry? Has anyone already been to the Happy Magic Water Park? The renderings look absolutely delightful! And it’s perfect for this end of summer heat!

我设计师朋友在她的post介绍北京的新“Happy Magic Water Park”，他们装修北京奥运的水立方当这个‘水公园’。 让我记的我小的时候在水公园玩。北京的 “Happy Magic Water Park” 八月八号开门，你们去过吗？我很想去看看玩玩。最近的天气在水玩真会舒服。

ChinaTravel.net’s Water Cube Water Park information about admission, hours, and location:
Admission:Adults RMB 200, Children RMB 160. Lockers cost RMB 20, deposit RMB 100
Hours:10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily
How to get there: Located in the Water Cube, Olympic Park, No. 11 Tianchen Donglu, Chaoyang District
鏈濋槼濂ユ灄鍖瑰厠鍏洯澶╄景涓滆矾11鍙锋按绔嬫柟瀣夋按涔愬洯.
A taxi from central Beijing will set you back around RMB 30, alternatively, take metro line 8 to either the Olympic Park or Olympic Sports Center stops.