Exploring Beijing Solo Style

I've got nothing going on in Beijing now that the Flag Football World Championships have ended. A couple of friends will be coming to town in the next few days and then my parents fly in next week and the we head to Shanghai for a few days before flying back to LA. In the meantime, I have less than two weeks left here in one of the greatest cities in the world so I'm gonna try to make the most of it and do as much exploration as possible.

Yesterday, I went to the National Art Museum of China to check out the French exhibit that's on loan from the Louvre and the Centre Pompidou. The exhibit was neat though there were no Impressionist paintings. When I think French art, Impressionism pops into my head. Oh well. The museum itself is beautiful and would be a great place to check out art if it had any! The French exhibit was all that was on display. Other than that, it was blank gallery after blank gallery. I even walked into a few areas with art on the walls but was promptly kicked out. The overall experience was somewhat disappointing because I had hoped to see some Chinese art. Oh well.

After that, I walked through Tiananmen Square on my way to the Liulichang cultural street (have to check out anything with LIU in it) and saw this huge crowd gathered around the flag pole (across from the Forbidden City) holding the flag of China. As I too stood there out of curiosity, I asked around and found out that there's some big hoopla-ish ceremony for taking the flag down. While waiting about half an hour, I ended up chatting with 3 entymologists or etymologists (the onese that study insects) and two of them happened to be Cal alums (so you know you can trust them). Well the ceremony started with a procession of soldiers marching from the Forbidden City with bayonets at full display. Once the flag came down, the soldier in charge of folding basically abused and smacked the flag flat and then tied it to the small pole that it was attached to. I guess they don't quite fold it the same way the US soldiers do. The soldiers then escorted the flag back to the Forbidden City. I wonder if people line up early in the morning to see it raised.

I never made it to Liulichang. I walked down through Dazhalan, which is an alleyway (hutong) with a ton of shops and food stands. I just kept walking and walking and walking and it just never ended. When I finally got out of the hutong, I was basically lost but eventually found my way back to the subway.

Today, my mission was to explore the Wadaokou area in the Hainian District, which is where alot of the universities are located, including Beijing University, Tsinghua University, and Beijing Language and Culture University. This means there's alot of western students who hang out there and when I got off the subway, they were everywhere. I felt like I was back in the US for a sec. Anyways, I started walking around Tsinghua and I was amazed by the size of the grounds, the modern-ness of the buildings as well as the beauty of the campus. It is so much nicer than UIBE, where I spent 4 weeks. I guess that's what one of the top schools in the China looks like. It actually reminded me alot of Stanfurd. I was pretty tired afterwards so I never made it to Beijing University. It'll have to wait another day.

We'll see what I do tomorrow. I think I'm having dinner with Lei (Oregon MBA '05) afterI saw her at the football event on Saturday. She's a Beijing-er so hopefully she'll share some tips on places to see in my last few days.

And the Flag Football World Championship Team is . . .

THAILAND!!!!! In a down to the wire finish, the flag football team from Thailand (Siri & Sup should be proud) narrowly defeated the US team by a score of (hmm I forget). It was a great game by the two teams that really set themselves apart from the rest of the 10 team field. In the end, Thailand's team speed and athleticism was too much for the Miami-based USA team. The highlight of the game was a one handed catch for a touchdown by one of the Thailand as he streaked down the sideline for the opening score of the game. It should've been on Sportcenter's top plays! It was that good. However, congratulations to all teams for a great tournament!

Overall the Flag Football World Championships was an outstanding event. Chad Lewis, most recently of the Philadelphia Eagles, came out to the event as a special liaison from the NFL. Chad is fluent in Mandarin after having completed his Mormon mission in Taiwan many years ago. NFL representatives from throughout the world also accompanied their teams to the event and it was great meeting them.


Heading into last Thursday, I had never seen the NFL's flag football league so I didn't know what to expect from the boys & girls ages 11-14 who came to Beijing from ten countries (China, USA, Canada, Thailand, South Korea, France, Mexico, Spain, Germany, Italy). In the end, it was a great event that truly showed how special sports is in its ability to bring people together. I know that sounds a bit cliche, but it's true because these kids showed so much passion, intensity, and courage while simultaneously displaying the highest levels of sportsmanship imaginable. Time and again kids would receive bumps and bruises and they all shook off the pain and bounced right back up. They really impressed me throughout the tournament.

Of the ten teams, Germany was my favorite to watch. Although they weren't the best team on the field, the antics of their coaches (three 16 year old teenagers) and players were very amusing. The continually yelled and screamed really loud (sometimes good, sometimes bad) but always came together as a team. They also had the tallest and shortest players in the tournament. The shortest was a great blitzer and I really felt for him whenever he would go down due to injury. But, like others, he bounced right back up.

Random Thoughts about China

Here are some random thoughts about China and Chinese people that I've observed since arriving:

- Clear and sunny days are rare! It's usually very smoggy and difficult to see clear sunlight. Yesterday was the first truly spectacular day in my 5 and a half weeks here in China, in either Beijing or Shanghai. It reminded me of the Bay Area and Eugene.

- Personal space does not exist! Chinese people crowd around you everywhere, get on the subways and elevators before you exit, and cut in front of you in any type of line imaginable. Sometimes you just gotta make a scene and say "NO! I was here first."

- 70% of Chinese men smoke. However, it seems like that figure should be about 90%

- Nothing beats a cup of fresh soy milk in the morning.

- The Chinese often confuse the sidewalk for a trash can. People regularly just throw trash on the ground even if a trash can is within reach. (Still trying to figure out the reason behind this).

- A very clear divide exists between ex-patriates who live here and the native Beijing-ers in almost all aspects of society.

- The Pekinese breed of dog needs to modernize it's name to Beijingnese since there are so many around.

-I thought traffic in LA was bad. Traffic here in Beijing is about 20 times worse.

- Pedestrian right of way does not exist since drivers are insane! Gotta look both ways constantly while crossing the street. In addition, driving laws do not exist. Drivers can pretty much do anything, anytime, anywhere (except hit someone else).

- Many toilets are just a hole in the ground/floor lined. The older bathrooms are just like outhouses and the newer flat toilets have the porcelain placed into the floor (hard to describe so see photo). However, traditional toilets are steadily being incorporated into the modern buildings.

- Cab drivers know very little english so it's best to bring a business card with you.

Current Events

Now the my 4 week school program is over, I've been living in the same apartment complex as Allison's family company. I was living with her friend and now former co-worker Jumi (in the vacant room in Jumi's apartment) until Jumi suddenly decided to go back to the US within a matter of 24 hours. The drama was pretty crazy but Jumi did what was best for her. So, that means I have a 2 BD luxury apartment all to myself. There's even a dryer here, which is rare for China.

A few moments of note from the last few days:

- Randomly bumped into Cheng Pei Pei and her oldest daughter Eugenia Yuan at Starbucks in the Sanlitun area of Beijing. Cheng Pei Pei played the villain, Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Eugenia is an up and coming actress. Very Very Random. I talked to them for a few minutes and just caught up on some family stuff. She's a family friend and her two other daughters used to beat up on me when we were kids.

- Bought a couple more ties (I think that's 15 now for the trip) an Arcteryx soft shell jacket, A&F cargo pants, Columbia shirt (You'll have to tell me when you see them how fake they are).

- Went to the Chinese Military Museum. Now that's is a museum worth going to! (Don't go to the National Museum, not worth it). It's a mix of modern and historic military history, art, Chinese history all rolled into one.









- Bought a bike to cruise around Beijing with. Hope I survive!

- Tomorrow's the first day of the Flag Football World Championships so I'm pretty excited to see how it goes.

C'est Fini!

To pay my respects to the REIMS School of Management who co-sponsored my 4 week summer school program, I'd like to say "C'est Fini!" (Who knew 3 years of French back in high school would actually pay off someday) Today was my last day and I'm glad to get it over with and get 2 classes out of the way for next year. It was 4 weeks of often boring lectures (one of the professors was great, the other 3 were BORING). However, it was very valuable information and I think I gained alot of perspective into Chinese business practices. I'm also looking forward to moving out of the cramped hotel room I have to share with my slob of a roommate who can never seem to find the trash can in the room.

Next week, it's onto the Flag Football World Championship as I help out Zou Marketing. It should be fun!

The Great Wall plus some other stuff

Went to the Mutanyiu portion of the Great Wall on Saturday and seeing that part of the Wall was breathtaking. After about a half hour hike up the hill, we finally reached the Wall and the sheer size is amazing. It's hard to believe that it was built hundreds of years ago with primitive means of construction. It's definitely a site that everybody should see in their lifetimes. Once we got up to the top, we had a picnic that our program coordinators organized. It was really nice, especially since we were really hungry after the hike.

This is my last week of the summer school program and I'm excited to get it over with cuz it's pretty boring just sitting there for 6 hours a day and hearing lecture lecture lecture. Thankfully the deliverables have not been very difficult. I've officially started my China shopping adventure in Beijing at the "fake" markets. I've bought a couple of pairs of Nike shoes and a bunch of really nice ties (10 Yuan each). The shoes look pretty good and I hope they don't fall apart and the ties are great. I also bought the DVD box set of The Office seasons 1 &2 plus the christmas specials for only 40 Yuan. What a deal!

Also, a special congratulations to Dennis and Jacqui on the newest addition to their family, James Adams.

LeBron visits Beijing

LeBron James visited Beijing as part of his 3 city Asia Tour (Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong) for Nike a couple members of the Nike Basketball Sports Marketing China staff allowed me to tag along with the Nike entourage on Thursday and Friday. It was an amazing personal and professional experience!

Thursday morning started off with a press conference at the Grand Hyatt Wanfuging to introduce LeBron to the Chinese media. LeBron talked to the host David Wu (Asian entertainment personality) about why he was on the tour, what he hoped to do for Nike and basketball in China, and also plugged his shoes. He also sat down with a couple of fans and answered questions from the media.

After the press conference, the caravan of cars were police escorted to the Forbidden City and drove right past the huge crowd of people right up to the entrance. From there, it was chaos as a 20 person team of security escorted LeBron and his crew through the Forbidden City. Just about every Chinese person came up to take a photo of LeBron (not sure if they like the NBA or if it was the first time they'd seen a 6'7" black person) either out of curiosity or because they're fans. It was crazy especially since the Forbidden City is so huge. After that it was off to the Central Business District, where LeBron had a private workout in the gym of one of the hotels. It was cool seeing LeBron go through his shoot around.

Thursday night was the Battleground event, where LeBron witnessed the finals of the 3 on 3 Battleground streetball tournament, a slam dunk contest, 3 point shooting contest, and one on one contest with Chinese National Basketball Team member Yi Jianlian (look for him in the NBA soon).

Friday morning, LeBron went to a court dedication at the Olympic Park (different than the one for 2008), where he showed some kids a couple of basketball basics and then he took part in another Q&A about the court that will be opened in his honor.

It was an amazing two days for me. I got a behind the scenes look at how Nike puts on an event for one its top stars and met a bunch of Nike employees who I hope to keep in touch with in the future. Driving through Beijing with a police escort was also great because the traffic here is horrendous! I seriously felt like I was part of some presidential cavalcade. I'd like to thank Jenny Yu of FUON and David, Tony, Kevin, Apollo, and Kenneth for making my involvement possible.

A Day in the Life

First of all, I can't access my blog page in China, which really sucks. I can only update it and go from there. So, I have no idea if anybody leaves comments. Here's an article in Businessweek talking about blogging in China. I did set up a xanga page that I might use later when I get back to the US since I can view Xanga pages (for now at least).

I figured in this entry that I'd describe how I'm living in China during my 4 weeks of school. I'm staying at 3 star (should probably be 2 stars in my opinion) place called the Hui Qiao Hotel near UIBE. The room's kind of small and it's really loud outside from the construction but luckily my room has not had any water leakage or insect problems, like some of my classmates. There's also a KTV in the hotel. For those who don't know, KTV is a type of karaoke club here in China, but it's more known for having hookers who come out and "entertain" the men who frequent the clubs.


Like I said, the room's a little small, especially the doorway and the shower. My roommate, Marek, is also a slob and leaves his stuff everywhere and he accumulates more and more knockoff namebrand socks, shoes, underwear, and shirts on an almost daily basis. Only another week and a half left and then we'll see where I end up for the rest of stay here in Beijing.

Anyways, met some people from Loyola Law School this week, who are in town for 2 weeks for their own summer program. It turns out that a bunch of them know Khurram and some are even fellow Cal alums. Go Bears!

Another Busy Weekend in Beijing

Friday night I decided to go to the Stankovic Cup (FIBA men's basketball tournament) to watch China play Puerto Rico and then Angola vs. Australia. Watching China was a priority since I'm very interested in basketball sports marketing here in China. Student tickets to the game were only 20 Yuan ($2.50), which was a bargain for two games, considering the cheapest regular priced ticket available was for 200 Yuan. I was pretty happy about that, especially since the arena was about one-fifth full and I was free to move to better seats. The game was very competitive and I was impressed by the level of play of both teams. Unfortunately, Yao Ming injured his ankle so he was in plain clothes on the bench. I must comment on the cheerleaders also, who I found very amusing. They have a ways to go before they can "stick it in, stick it in ughhh" like the Oregon Cheerleaders.

China ended up winning the game but it didn't quite end the way everybody had planned. With about a minute to go a huge brawl between the players broke out and a couple of injured Chinese players ran across the court to start fighting the Puerto Rican players. More mayhem broke out as fans started hurling water bottles on the court and the security at the arena basically sat back and did nothing. From my experience in sports marketing, the whole event management side was a joke. I was also very disappointed by the fan behavior. Instead of a basketball game, I felt like it was a hockey game (fighting) attended by soccer fan (houligan behavior).

Saturday started off with a field trip to the Summer Palace, which I found breathtaking. The grounds are beautiful with a huge lake and the buildings are exquisite. Unfortunately the main temple was closed so I'll have to go back in the future after renovations.

On Sunday, we went to Prince Gong's Palace (small, boring and not recommended) and then to the Yonghegong Lama Temple, which I found very spiritual and relaxing. Going there and burning incense and hearing the chants reminded me of my grandmother's visits to my house in LA when I was a kid and she would burn incense, pray, and chant every morning.

My uncle was in Beijing on Sunday night and inited me to a business meeting over dinner. It was my first experience in a Chinese business dinner atmosphere. I found it to be an amusing and hilarious experience with about a hundred chain smoking, biz-casual dressed Chinese/Taiwanese businessmen (three women and the rest were men) sitting around and toasting each other left and right while trying to squeeze in time to eat a few bites of dinner. I just sat back and absorbed it all. It was good to see people building Guanxi (relationships).