BEIJING - My time here in Beijing has been well spent. Even though I only met with one person for my documentary while staying here, she was pretty awesome. Dai Qing is pretty famous as a Chinese environmentalist, at least outside China. Within China her books have been banned and even though she makes a living as a journalist, few Chinese have access to her work. She was arrested and put in prison shortly after the Tianenmen Square incident back in 1989 for supposedly encouraging students to take to the streets. As you can imagine, she is quite a controversial character around here. I'd put a link to her Wikipedia profile here, but the Chinese government won't let me - or anyone else in China - access the site. If you're interested, look her up.
It's been fun catching up with my friend Anton who I haven't seen since spending Christmas and New Years Eve with him in Prague and Berlin, respectively, back in 2005. We've probably spent a bit too much time consuming horribly hangover-inducing Chinese beer, but at least I've been able to sleep in. He's working as a tour guide for Swedish tourists who come to China on package tours so he's had some pretty early mornings; needless to say, I don't envy him at 6am. Anton's girlfriend Zoe is Chinese and it's been pretty awesome having her around. She knows of all sorts of dirt cheap and delicious places to eat at around the city and we've certainly made the most of it.
Eating is one of my most favourite things to do in China. The food is so awesome and so diverse, every day can be a culinary adventure. Chinese food back in Canada is a pretty sad state of affairs - particularly when you see what it could be like. Most Chinese would surely turn their nose up at the deep fried battered meat covered in super-sweet schlock that passes for sino-cuisine back home. There must be a market for real Chinese food...
Tomorrow I'm off to Chongqing City. I've never been there before. All I really know about it is that it's on the Yangtze River and that the province of Chongqing has a population roughly the size of Canada (32 million people). Many people outside China still recognize it by it's former spelling, "Chungking." I'm looking forward to seeing somewhere new, but I'm a bit concerned that my plans to meet with an environmental organization there may be foiled by the week-long May Day holiday, which starts tomorrow.
A.
It's been fun catching up with my friend Anton who I haven't seen since spending Christmas and New Years Eve with him in Prague and Berlin, respectively, back in 2005. We've probably spent a bit too much time consuming horribly hangover-inducing Chinese beer, but at least I've been able to sleep in. He's working as a tour guide for Swedish tourists who come to China on package tours so he's had some pretty early mornings; needless to say, I don't envy him at 6am. Anton's girlfriend Zoe is Chinese and it's been pretty awesome having her around. She knows of all sorts of dirt cheap and delicious places to eat at around the city and we've certainly made the most of it.
Eating is one of my most favourite things to do in China. The food is so awesome and so diverse, every day can be a culinary adventure. Chinese food back in Canada is a pretty sad state of affairs - particularly when you see what it could be like. Most Chinese would surely turn their nose up at the deep fried battered meat covered in super-sweet schlock that passes for sino-cuisine back home. There must be a market for real Chinese food...
Tomorrow I'm off to Chongqing City. I've never been there before. All I really know about it is that it's on the Yangtze River and that the province of Chongqing has a population roughly the size of Canada (32 million people). Many people outside China still recognize it by it's former spelling, "Chungking." I'm looking forward to seeing somewhere new, but I'm a bit concerned that my plans to meet with an environmental organization there may be foiled by the week-long May Day holiday, which starts tomorrow.
A.
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