2009 Wishes!

De wishes

De wishes

Xmas in Beijing

We have celebrated Xmas together in family, cooking ourselves a magnificient duck (not Peking way thought), and Pauli graciously gave up his fishitarianism for this special occasion. Santa Claus was generous, bringing Noam several large gifts, namely a Noah's Ark and a red and blue kitchen.

De Xmas in Beijing

Pauli received a superb Beijing bike, a tall city cruiser, with large handle bars, no speed gear, basket in front and rack at the back. The most fun part of the evening was to see his face when I opened the door with it (in lieu of wrapping paper!). For my part, I guess I was a really good girl, since Santa drop me a NEW amazing MacBook, one of those shinny aluminum portable computers! What a treat, specially since my old Mac was really acting up. (It was the last stroke for my old Mac, who got so upset it decided to crash really bad the next day).

A pearl of a friend

My dear friend Kerstin came over this week. While in Washington, Kerstin and I bonded while watching our respective sons grow during their first year of life. She is one of those persons with whom I instantly found affinities beyond the mummy business.  

As Kerstin has been coming in Beijing for work several times a year, she was our informal guide when we came in June for our pre-assignment trip. To have her stay with us in Beijing was such a wonderful Xmas gift for me. 

Noam also enjoyed her company. Note that we unintentionally coordinated ourselves with stripes; sweater, socks and shirt. 

Kerstin was not only in town for a forestry conference, but also was mandated by her mom to find a pearl necklace for her aunt. Together we went on mission to find her aunt the perfect treasure. We went to the Silk Market, a huge battleground of a market, where even veteran hagglers like myself get tired. 

A friend had recommended Marie's shop, on the top floor of the market, so we headed straight up, avoiding the crowd and its hustle bustle. Once in the shop, we started looking at the pearls. After mentioning my friend's name, the price of a string of pearls went down by ... 95%! This steep drop in price made us feel that maybe there was something to be weary of. Or how much they really abuse the poor shoppers. Since Kerstin remembered how much she paid last year for a similar necklace, we estimated that the owner would be offering us a decent price. 

So as we were shown threads after threads of pearls, from hues of white to hues of pink, we inspected them, trying to find defects and imperfections. In the end we settled for a string of slightly pink ones, of a larger size. A lady prepared the necklace for us, her magical hands knotting 16 inches of pearls on a string in less than 15 minutes. 

Once back home we looked at them again, not sure if our deal was good, or if the pearls were like most things in the Silk Market, fakes. I guess the only way to know will be to bring them for an evaluation. And maybe I could also find out the store owner's value of her friendship.

That said, with my limited knowledge of pearls (I received a Mikimoto pearl last year from my mother in law), I feel somewhat confident that we bought something of a reasonably good quality for the price paid. 

Tea-ism

Not defeated in our failed attempt to see a dance show, we decide to see something else worth while. We walk across Tienanmen Square to reach LaoShe Tea House. I shall remind you that the square is the largest in the world, with a full kilometer long. And that the weather is (slightly) below 0 (not so bad for me with my nice long coat, but my Israeli Darling would still remind me of how much better 40 degree feels). 

We could not take a taxi because 1) there were no free taxi passing by and 2) even if there were any, we were not sure of the exact location of that place, and with our limited vocabulary we could not have directed the driver. So we walked. 

We reached the tea house to realize that it is a major (touristic) location. As we entered we were lead upstairs. I proudly was able to tell them in Chinese that we are here to drink tea(喝茶    "he cha"). Obviously.

We are lead upstairs, and walk in what is a replica of some old hutong gate, to an area filled with the sounds of water, music and crickets. 

We are led to a small room. Unfortunately, our view is not only to the courtyard, but also to several jars of crickets lined up. Their song might be lovely, but their sight is not so inspiring for tea tasting. We ask for a new room.  

We are led to a new little space furnished with a table and 4 straight back chair. The tea equipment is on the table. As we sit, a young lady brings us a menu, written on bamboo sticks. Paul leaves me glance at it and order. The prices are out of control, ranging from 2220 RMB (about 350$) to a meager 280 RMB (45$). I think it must be the price per pound, and choose the cheapest, a jasmine tea. Tea can't be that expensive. 

She returns with the tray, and shows to Pauli a few pellets of tea at the bottom of a jar. As she does so, she mentions the price. It is that expensive, at 280 per cup (plus the room 60, plus the cookies)! We prevaricate a bit, almost ready to go, ask to see the menu again. We spot a tea, the only one, at 86 per cup. Sounds like more reasonable. Our waitress can avoid showing a certain disappointment. We are so uncultured she must think!

Indeed one must be a real connoisseur to sip a weak tea sitting on a straight back wooden chair, in a cold little room lit by a florescent, with no carpet or cushions, with the sound of the one cord Chinese violin in the background. The repertory of the instrument sounds more like a constant tuning exercise. 

Our hostess returns with two tall glasses and a teapot of hot water. She pours the water in our glasses to warm them up, and discart it. She then puts in them a large fluffy ball. A flower opens as the water warms it. It is very interesting to see, the taste is slightly bitter. 

As we sit there sipping our tea, we browse the leaflets left on the table. It proudly boast about numerous foreign heads of state who greeted a visit to the teahouse. I munch on a few special cookies while we discuss the experiment. 

Unfortunate Lao She, we, novice tea drinkers, walk out of his house thinking that coffee is still a much nicer drink for this cold weather.  

A night expedition

We have asked our ayi (nanny) Lili to babysit, in a (failed) attempt to attend some "culture" , a dance show by Jennifer Muller at the CNCPA, aka the Egg. We are not sure of who she is, but the idea of going to the Egg is exciting. We hope for cheap tickets. (Our destination was a very last minute decision). 

The Egg is the new China National Center for the Performing Arts. It has been designed by Paul Andreu, a French Architect. The concept of the building is simple: an egg floating on water. Andreu took pleasure in juxtaposing the sleek and sexy lines of his building against the austere architecture of the public buildings surrounding Tienanmen Square. Some critics even go as far as saying that he mocked I.M. Pei (who did the Pyramid at the Louvre).

The taxi dropped us in front of the building. We suspiciously approached the entrance, not seeing many people there. A guard told us to go around the building. We walked and walked around the immense water pond (lake?) surrounding the building.

After a while (and in the cold that while might be a bit shorter), we wondered if we misunderstood what the guard said. There was no entrance in sight! Only a round facade, and water surrounding it... Then I remembered someones comment in a architecture lecture. Walking under water... We ask a guard (in our approximate Chinese) and he indicates the direction of the street, away from the building. There it is, like a warm red mouth, ready to welcome all the center's visitors!

As we walk down the stairs, a few men come to us, saying "piao". They are scalpers. We walk in, and go to the counter, to be told the show is sold out. Ah, disappointment! We walk back out and look for those piao guys. They want 180$ for a pair of good tickets! We wander a bit more, hoping for a price reduction as the show starts. All a sudden we see about 10 of them fleeing, and witness the arrest of a couple of them by two policemen. A few approach us again, but by that time, we are wondering if we might even get arrested for buying scalped tickets. So we slowly drift towards Tienanmen. 

Floating on water, the Egg appears as an enigma. Despite our attempt, it will remain as such tonight!

Awaiting the Major Snow 大雪

I received an email a few days ago from my favorite CCC. They announced that this last Sunday (December 7) was the seasonal marker of 大雪"da xue", or major snow, according to the Chinese agricultural calender. It will be the major snow season of snowstorm in full swing. What an exciting thing! I love snow storms!  I can imagine that Beijing winds, really strong around the area where we live, could make wonderful snow storms! Usually the "da xue" is followed by the following "jie qi" seasonal segments: 

December 22 "dong zhi" or winter solstice, the winter extreme (of sun's height);

January 6 "xiao han" or minor cold, the cold start to become unbearable;

January 20 "da han" or major cold, the coldest time of the year. 

So initially I looked at these seasonal markers as maybe futile. Are we sure about these dates? And then amazingly, yesterday morning, I drew my curtains to the wonderful sight of bright and fluffy flakes dancing mid air in front of our windows. I showed the flakes to Noam whom for a second, looked puzzled about this strange phenomenon. He then smiled as he saw that I was happy. Unfortunately by the time we had a diaper change and a highly requested breakfast, the flakes were gone, leaving the ground wet and the sky grey. Not even have a chance to take a picture!

Alternatively, I am posting for you a picture of one of the Beijing canals, near the Kempisky Hotel. It is beautifully frozen now. I was probably too late by 10 minutes to catch the wonderful light of the late afternoon sun setting down through the fog. 

De first day of snow

China World Yi Er San

I am posting here a few pictures of the complex where Paul is working. It is called China World, and has 2 office towers, an underground upscale shopping mall (including a skating ring), two hotels, some convention spaces, two Starbucks coffee shops, etc, etc. A third tower is under construction. It will be, when completed, the highest building in Beijing. Paul's office, on the 16th and 17th floor of Tower 2 (also known as Guo Mao Er or 国贸二), has a great view of the new CCTV tower.

De Guo Mao Yi Er San

You can see from left to right, Guo Mao Yi, Er and San (one, two and three).

De Guo Mao Yi Er San

The now famous CCTV tower, also renamed as the "trousers" by taxi drivers, designed by Rem Koolhas is standing across from the third ring road.

De Guo Mao Yi Er San

De Guo Mao Yi Er San

On clear skies days, there is quite an interesting view of the area. In the distance, you can notice a set of pink low rise buildings. These are the typical Beijing apartments. They are found all over the city. From this picture it is possible to see how they are outscaled now by the surrounding new constructions. A few more years and they probably will be replaced by new taller, more expensive and more sleek buildings (unless the economical crisis persists).  

De Guo Mao Yi Er San

Also a view of the Third Ring Road on a beautiful clear sky day. And below, same view, on a no-so-good day (last Monday, a week after the first photo!). With the cold season, coal heating is contributing a great deal to the pollution levels. 

De Guo Mao Yi Er San

A nailing moment

Just a few hours before Pauli's departure for Chongqing for the week, I escaped for moments to get some "me time". I also brought my Chinese homework, to free my evening. Multitasking at its best. 
After a walk to the next street large mall, the Place, I found what looks like a good spot. Several girls are waiting beside deep chairs. I look at the menu and decide on a simple pedicure (no frills or extras). As I am about to sit back and let the young lady take care of things, she tells me that maybe I should consider the "special" pedicure on the menu (80 RMB extra), with sterilized torture instruments (as opposed to shared ones for the regular treatment). Hum. Seems like an offer I don't want to miss. Interesting how they tapped into the foreigner's fears. 

De toes

While she get started, I pull my books from my bag and start my assignment. After a few moments, I lift my head to realise that about 4 other beauticians are standing around my chair, waiting to see what character I will draw next. Or I guess probably what mistake I will do next. Imagine watching a 6 year old writing a long sentence. Painfully slow. That's my speed. They seem to enjoy it tremendously, commenting among each other, I imagine, about the shape of my characters, the text we have to write or just about the way I hold my pen. Who knows, I am not (yet) able to understand what they are talking about.

De toes

It turns out to be a really good spot to do a Chinese language homework. I get instant help, correction and advises. The girls are happy to be of assistance and I imagine that they must find amusing my slow attempt at their language. And it seems that most of them are looking for something to do other than just drinking their tea while waiting for a customer.

De toes

(This photo gives you a glimpse of the tea drinking aesthetics here.) 

Meanwhile, my nails are getting done. Great! Just in time, as the whole exercise has taken longer and Pauli's departure time is approaching. But... my nails need to dry and without the help of some special blue lights (which they don't have), it takes much longer. In the end, in order to save the fresh polish, my young beautician staples a few paper sandals together and leaves me running home, in a zero degree weather, toes exposed. By a chance our house is just near by! 

De toes

208! (or 39792 to go. Humpf!)

I am slowly improving my Putoungua (Mandarin language). I have learned 208 characters so far. I counted. Sounds great, isn't it? Well, I still need to learn 3792 more to be able to read the newspapers. Or another 39 792 to really master the language. Put that way, it can be a bit demoralizing. I mostly try to avoid the idea, and I rather spend my time staring out the cab window, trying to recognized those scribbles I am supposed to know.

There are many things about this language that are puzzling me. First, its sounds and tones. For those who are not familiar with the language, Mandarin is a tonal language. It means that you can say exactly the same sound (for example, "ma") in 4 different manners, and you will get 4 different words and meanings. The first tone is like a stretched out "maaaa". The second one is more like a ascending question "Maa?" The third tone stretches the syllable on two notes, a descending and then ascending one, "maaa-aaa?" And the fourth one is a rather sharp, descending tone, like if saying in a short breath "ma". This tone is the easiest to recognize. Of course to simplify the exercise, those four tonal "ma" have each a different meaning and their respective character.

From the limited vocabulary that I have already acquired, there are already 10 versions of the sound "shi" (and their associated 10 characters), in various tones (with only 4 tones, at least a few are pronounced exactly the same way.) I find this really bizarre. Why would you keep on using the same sounds? Why would you not try to use your tongue and mouth in a different way?

I also am really puzzled by the fact that they only use mono-syllables. In fact each character is one word, one sound, and at least one meaning. Of course, for certain objects you can combine a few characters and you get a new meaning, related to the combination of characters. I find the exercise an interesting way to expand my understanding of their world. For example, television is 电视 (DianShi), a combination of Electric电 (Dian) and Vision 视 (Shi). 

Of course it is not always that simple. (C'est du chinois quand même!) When looking into this very useful Chinese-English online dictionary (to copy the characters in this blog), I realised that there are about 9 other completely different character combination for the same (approximate) pronunciation (if you are tone deaf like me). 9 different DianShi! Amazing!

Also yesterday, during my lesson, I came across a character that is pronounced in a completely different way, depending on its context. 乐 means Happy and is pronounced Le. But it is also meaning Music and is pronounced Yué. I can tell you how much I felt cheated. I really thought that once you know how it is said, at least you are sure of what you read, even if there are slight changes in meaning. Nope. Not really. 

Pfffff.

Of course I have not even yet tried to explain the complexity of the characters themselves! But I will leave this topic for another post, as I am afraid to bore you here...

A few moments later...

Dear all,

I did not mean to leave you alone for so long. I never intended to let this blog idle. But the fact is that I have been quite busy. Life here has taken over. I go on my little days one after the other without realizing that we now have been here for what? 2 months already!

However how busy I might feel, most days I am only able provide a very thin list of "accomplishments": 

1) been to my Chinese lessons and learned a couple more words; 

2) cleared up some boxes;

3) taught my ayi (nanny) some new tricks;

4) trekked the city and maybe found one of the needed but missing thing for our house (either be a special light bulb, an adaptor for the sink, a piece of furniture or a guy to repair things)... 

Sounds very exciting, right? Well. Maybe. I guess. I am trying to see the positive in all of that. I am getting to know the city better. I am practicing my Putungua (Mandarin) in taxis and at home. 

But I guess this is this special period called adjustment. Where one settles slowly into feeling more comfortable into a new environment. 

So meanwhile, as I am determined to give you a better idea of our life here, I have a few more posts coming. Hopefully you will be able to relate a bit better to our "Beijing moments"... And maybe by the time the New Year comes I will have cleared the boxes and learned enough Mandarin to ask the taxi driver to stop for a good photo... 

 

De varia

A walk around a hutong

Last Friday, I went on a tour. A friend of a friend sent me some information about the CCC (China Culture Center) and I found out about some of their numerous activities. (Beijing is not Monrovia, if you want to fill your time, an immense choice is in front of you here!) 

As an architect, since our arrival, I have been trying to know more about the hutongs. The CCC was promising an intimate type of tour. So I registered, and by a windy 6 degrees, went on to meet the guide. That's probably how I got the cold I still have today.

The hutongs are the small residential alleys of Beijing, in general 6 steps wide (or about a wee bit more than a car width).

De hutong walk

They are the most "endangered" areas of the city, specially since the Olympian construction (and demolition frenzy) that has been occurring over the last decade. When in architecture school, a few of my colleagues came to Beijing to study and research these areas, most of which have probably disappeared by now. We tend to use the term hutong 胡同 to refer to the houses found in the small alleys called hutongs, but in fact the houses have a specific name, a si-he-yuan, a name that makes reference to their layout; litterally it means a courtyard surrounded by four buildings. Originally the buildings would house a single extended family, with each of the building serving a specific function. The nobility's would paint their doors in red, some others in green or blue. Everything about the siheyuang is codified (you can read more about this here). But the courtyard layout is not only used by the nobility. 

We visited the Xuanwu district area, just sound to Tienanmen Place, a area still inhabited today by the common Beijinger, with most of the courtyards shared by several families. Today this area is protected and still maintained an authentic feel. The alleys are winding between the regular patterns of the houses, their dull grey walls of bricks punctuated by openings giving the passer-by a glimpse of the life occurring behind them. Once in a while, a shop or a small eatery brings life to the neighbourhood. 

De hutong walk

Hutong living means a quiet and private life with a comfortable private outdoor space. Only a few cars drive through the alleys, the hustle and bustle of the city is far away. The life of the hutong inhabitants resemble more the one of the villager, with the proximity of small services, and everybody knowing each other. The downside of hutong living (apart maybe from the fact that your neighbour knows about your whereabouts) is the lack of latrines. Even if they were electrified more than 50 years ago, and that all have tap water for decades, today most houses still are without toilets. This was used by the government as a reason to "erase" entire neighbourhoods, in an attempt to solve the sanitation and overcrowding problem. Most have been replaced by modern appartement buildings. Of 6000 hutongs 5 years ago, about 1000 are left today. It is unfortunate, specially since there are exemple in Beijing and other part of the world of upgradings of such areas to sanitary standards. 

De hutong walk

We took some pedicabs to get around the maze of lanes and stopped at a kindergarten, which was architecturally a good example of a siheyuang complex, with 3 courtyards. We also incidentally were able to witness the exemplary disciple of these toddlers. I can't imagine such disciplined play in a Canadian, American or Israeli kindergarten. 

De hutong walk

The buildings housing the kindergarten need a bit of maintenance, but we can easily imagine a wealthy family living there. The courtyards are connected by small exterior corridors, leaving each exterior space a certain privacy from the others, and each building is completely independant from each others, requiring a coat to go from one building to another. With its trees and weathered columns and walls, the exterior spaces express not only the marks of 400 years of history but also the rigidity of the social order that organized the Chinese family. In such complex, the unmarried daughters lived in the most secluded buildings of the siheyuang, behind the main building, away from the eye of the visitors. No worries, nowadays such practice is obsolete.

De hutong walk

De hutong walk

We visited then the house of a old lady, Minsi, who has been living in one building of a siheyuang for the last 50 years. She raised her two children in a house about 4 meters by 8. When given the opportunity to join them in their modern apartments, she refused, preferring the convivial life of the hutong, where she knows everybody and feels at home. She lived in a house provided by her former employer, the government, as well as her neighbours. She pays 300 Yuan (less than 50$) per month. The house is lined with large pipes, heated with a small coal heather.  The courtyard is lined with an aesthetic pile of lotus shaped coal bars.

De hutong walk

We ended our tour around the market of Liulichang street, where we were able to browse for some (real of fake) antiques before heading back by pedicab. 

De hutong walk

If you ever want to write us the old way (snail mail)...

They are moments when we feel email is not enough. 

For regular letters, books and magazines, you can use the pouch of the World Bank:

Isabelle Cyr

Att Paul Kriss

World Bank, MSN J 11-1105

PO Box 27839

Washington DC 20038-7839

USA

And if you feel like trying the local postal system, or if you are sending us anything else than just a letter/book/magazine:

Isabelle Cyr & Paul Kriss

T21-1803 Central Park

No 6 ChaoWai Street 

Chaoyang District Beijing 100020

PRC

and fun, if you want to try the Chinese way (but really I am not so sure if it is exactly right!):

Isabelle Cyr & Paul Kriss

北京 朝阳区朝外大街6号

邮编：100020

And best, if you prefer reaching us by phone (Currently 13 hours time difference from DC, 7 from Western Europe):

Paul: +(86) 138 1186 2156

Isabelle: +(86) 134 6632 4393

Home: +(86) 10 6597 9297

or the skype way:

Isabelle: isabellemariecyr

Paul: TBA

Ooops!! I am under surveillance!

In the mist of my (now less) frantic unpacking, I took a pause today and to update my blog (and you). But for some reasons, the web page was not opening. I tried again and again. I check my internet connection, as I need to manually turn it on. All was good. My emails were coming in. Google page was turning on. Facebook too. Not my blog. Again and again, I would just get an error page. 

De The Eye is watching

For a moment I did not want to believe it. I doubt. No it can't be, they would not be watching me so closely? But after trying successfully to open my blog using some web tunnels (or web bridges),  I realize that yes, my blog is now officially blocked. Wow... 

I am quite dismayed by the idea! 

Did I say anything offensive? The only  - but really the only - controversial element I can think of since I started publishing is dealing with the pollution levels in Nanjing. For a brief two lines, I am making references to the situation, and refer to a published report that most people here in China do not have access. I cannot imagine anything else that I have published that could be offensive to China.

It says a lot. 

It tells me extent to which the information is controlled here. Sensitive information is not necessarily information that you and I would find offensive. But it is information that probably can give power to people. Or can show China under a bad eye. 

It tells me that with 1.321 290 billion people, they still manage to watch us one by one. (But maybe they watch foreigners more closely).

It tells me that they spend a great deal of their energy and money in saving appearances, and in control measures. 

It tells me that it might be extremely difficult for those who simply want to know the truth, to access factual information, and to be sure of what they are reading. 

It tells me how strong China is. Even if it is not so pretty. 

So you probably wonder how come you can read this now; why I am still able to publish? In fact I spent the last couple hours trying various other web bridges and tunnels to try to publish again. In the end I have been able to work around the security controls with a complicated contraption, but unfortunately I am unable to share with you for obvious reasons. 

I am not an activist, a freedom fighter or an anarchist. I am just a woman hoping to share with you my experiences in this new place. And I am now under web surveillance!      ;-)   

It has arrived... finally!

Yes today was the day! Our container, our furniture, our stufffffff arrived! Fini le camping! Enfin!

The movers came in at 9h30 this morning, and very professionally covered our floors with cardboard, and every wall corner, to protect everything. Then the flow of boxes started to come in, one after another. My role was to direct traffic. After verifying the box number and identifying its content from a list, I would direct it to a potentially relevant destination. After a considerable amount of boxes, the movers started to unpack. That is when the real fun started. I had to run around the apartment, determining where the stuff should be stored. Of course, all the built-in shelves we had in Washington did not follow, so consequently, a number of our things now have no home. I let the movers go around 5h00PM, unable to see what I could do with a number of unopened boxes. Tomorrow I will have a better look!

But in essence, it feels good. It is all finally all here. 

At the same time, I will be scratching my head for a few days, wondering how and where to fit everything in here!

De Movers 09-nov-2008

Modern Art in Nanjing

A last glimpse of Nanjing.

While Pauli and Noam have a mid-day nap, me and Lili go visit the Museum that is just adjacent to our hotel. (Poor Pauli who is feeling sick.)

It is raining outside, the traffic of the city, and its scale are preventing us to attempt any visit to other venues. 

As we approach the building, the exterior, with its typical pagoda look, leaves me expecting some old Ming Dynasty artefact, at best some relics of a more recent era. Its roof is covered in moss, it is a bit sad looking under the wet and grey polluted sky of Nanjing.  This used to be known as the National Central Museum under the KMT (before the Communists), and now it is one of the leading museums of China.

De touristic nanjing

I am the first one surprised: it is an exhibition of Modern Art. A group of students from the University have taken over the whole building and set up their art installations. 

It is hilarious to see how much Lili is perplexed by some of these strange contraptions. She goes around them and keeps repeating: "I don't understand?!"... I really like her naive and fresh way of looking at things, not just art. She is not wearing the mask some other of her compatriots are wearing. This is why I like her so much.

De touristic nanjing

De touristic nanjing

So I try to explain to her Modern Art in a quick visit. Not sure she understood it all, but it was certainly fun to go around the installations and try to answer her questions! She was obviously not the only one to be puzzled by the exhibition. An old couple, from an other era, still wearing the cotton flat shoes, was bent over backward trying to understand what was making a immense black rubber bladder breathe! Too bad I was not fast enough with my camera!

These are the small moments of this adventure that I like the most. 

Touristic Nanjing - Ming Tomb

So that you don't think Nanjing was only a polluted experience for us, I am sharing a few images of our last day there. We visited the Ming Tomb, or Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, or 明孝陵, which are located at the bottom of a pleasantly green hill, the Purple Mountain. Several other important sites were also set on the hill, but we just did not have enough time.    

The Ming Dynasty was founded in 1368 by Zhu Yuanzhang, and Nanjing became the capital of China at that moment. During his reign, Zhu built the great city walls (today UNESCO World Heritage Site), the imperial palace and its future tomb, the Ming Tomb in Nanjing. 

We started our exploration on a first leg of a path, lined with various stone animals, elephants, lions, camels, unicorns. A second portion was lined by four pair of tall ministers and generals, who have accompanied the emperor to perpetuity. Then the winding "sacred path" opened up to three different buildings, first the Square City, then the Imperial Tablet Hall and finally the Sacrificial Palace. The last portion of the path lead up to the Ming Tower, but it was under restoration. It reminded me of some Italian saying: when it is a very important site, it is under scaffolding!

Here are a few photos, sparing you the scaffolded parts.

De touristic nanjing

De touristic nanjing

De touristic nanjing

De touristic nanjing

De touristic nanjing

De touristic nanjing

Nanjing Modern City

Nanjing is a large city in South Eastern China, the former capital of the country. You can see a view of the cityscape here (sorry I am unable to make the image appear directly). It also holds an important place in China's recent history, as it was the site of a important massacre by the Japanese. 

Nanjing is currently one of the fasted developing region of China in terms of construction and economy. It is growing exponentially and attempting its best to cope with the influx of workers, the rise of cars and all their related side effects. On the its main problem is the pollution. 

From the pre-Olympic media frenzy, you have all read about China's growing pollution problem. You have been kind enough to worry about us when we decided to move in Beijing. So to reassure you, you can be happy we are not living in Nanjing... 

Indeed, the city is struggling with heavy metal pollution from its industries, states the CRNS. The area is one of the two top polluter in the country, and of the world. If you are curious about the specifics of the air quality of any city in China, you can go here. 

De Nanjing modern city

This is a view from our 14th floor hotel room window. 

Interestingly, as I was trying to get information online to write about this (so that I am not stating wrongly anything), I used some web tunnels, to check how much is filtered by the Chinese Government. This was assuming that pollution levels are somewhat sensitive information, at least to the Chinese public (who suffers from it). And not so surprisingly, some scientific reports from my Google search did not come up while searching without the tunnels. This is another casual encounter with the eyes China has on me. 

So here are a few pictures of the cityscape as seen from the car, on our way to the WUF.

De Nanjing modern city

De Nanjing modern city

De Nanjing modern city

De Nanjing modern city

After landing back in Beijing, the city felt unpolluted to our lungs and eyes, and I was happy to see a blue sky when I opened my eyes this morning.

WUF 4

We took a flight  to Nanjing on Sunday afternoon, to attend the World Urban Forum 4 (WUF4). Luckily this biyearly event was held this time in China, and that I was able to tag along with Paul. We travelled in family, with Noam and Lili, our new ayi (nanny). I feel very privileged!

De WUF4 Nanjing

With about 6,000 participants from all over the world, the event is large. And Nanjing city hosted it in an equally important venue, its new Jinling International Convention Center, a 2 year old showcase of modern achitecture. By the end of the first day, my feet are quite impressed by its general grandiose scale, with its large exhibition halls, its several well equipped meeting room and conference halls, and its landscaped areas. 

De WUF4 Nanjing

De WUF4 Nanjing

The Forum is an opportunity for professionals and experts of the urban field, architects, planners, people from the development world, international organizations, donor countries and donor groups, non-governmental organizations to come together and discuss issues related to our urban environment. A great number of issues are discussed, around round tables events, meetings, networking events, presentations. I was able to hear about the experience of others on issues related to slum upgrading and third world housing projects, about ways of financing these projects, tools to help achieve results, community building, technical approaches, and several other issues. There was also many other interesting issues discussed, I could not help wanting to go to several seminars at the same time. It was interesting to hear other peoples share their experiences and concerns. 

The WUF4 was also an occasion for several Chinese cities to be showcased as well planned, green and sustainable (really?!!).  3 large exhibition halls were reserved just for that.

De WUF4 Nanjing

And it is also a unique place for the UN to display some of its usual dubious sense of partnership. For example, at the opening ceremony, a movie about the achievements of the Shaikh of Bahrain was presented. I was surprised to learn about his commitment to urban issues and good governance, but someone beside me noted the Shaikh's 20 million dollars donation to UN-Habitat, the lead organization of this forum. 

At other times, I was reminded that everywhere I go there are some official eyes watching.

De WUF4 Nanjing