Category Archives: Art

Day 338 in Beijing: 798 Art District, Part 1.

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The 798 entrance.

The 798 entrance.

Jill and I decided to head out the 798 Art District a few weeks ago.

It was an utterly gorgeous day and we felt incredibly lucky to be living in Beijing and to have this type of experience.

Some days are incredibly difficult, being an expatriate in China, since we don’t speak much of the language, we don’t live near downtown Beijing (which will be changing in a few weeks) and we are still relatively new here as we’ve only been her just over 11 months.

Jill and I are incredibly outgoing, and social, but it takes time to start a new life.

Many of the other expats, that are our age, aren’t going out as often as we do, they have kids, and they have a different priority so it can be difficult that way.

It does seem we end up hanging out with 20-30 year olds even though we have friends our age also.

It is a nice balance and it keeps us “young at heart” as the saying goes.

We ventured out to the 798 and fell in love with it instantly.

It used to be an industrial part of town, and in the past 10 years or so, has become an art enclave and it has loads of galleries and shops to look at art and art materials.

 

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Day 337 in Beijing: Dog Socks.

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Cutie with bells on.

Cutie with bells on.

Jill and I continued our way to the art festival and noticed this cute little doggie walking with its owner.

The owner, not surprisingly in China, matched the doggie socks with her own sweats.

As she walks away.

As she walks away.

People seem to take a lot of time and effort to make sure their dogs are incredibly well groomed, dressed, and hopefully, treated.

From what we’ve seen, dogs in Beijing are definitely well treated and we hope this is true for the rest of China but we don’t have any proof either way.

This dog also had little bells on its socks and the owner could make sure it stayed close to her and was safe as they walked around near the street.

There are so many cute and tiny little dogs here it is a treat to walk around and just smile at them, lean over and pet them, and see the owner’s responses as they often seem very happy to let them interact with us each time.

 

 

Day 336 in Beijing: Cup O’ Coffee.

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To give the proper perspective, Jill stood inside the cup.

To give the proper perspective, Jill stood inside the cup.

Jill and I were walking to an art fair and came across this cup.

Or maybe it is more honest to say this cup came across us.

I don’t know.

All I know is it is in a state of repair/disrepair and quite amazing.

The size of this cup is huge.

It is a cool idea and immediately eye catching.

We are hoping they build a coffee bar inside it, as that would make sense, but this is China so they might as likely have a bank there.

One can never tell when form doesn’t meet function.

And form rarely meets function in China.

That being said, the forms are cool, neat and, quite often, the newest thing out there.

It is almost as they are building things to impress while not really planning on the use first.

I guess, with this much money and power, it doesn’t really matter as long as it is impressive and big.

This happens in many countries, in the USA, and it can be wasteful and silly.

However, sometimes that wasteful and silly building is also quite fun and cool to stand next to and take a picture inside of it.

 

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Day 334 in Beijing: Key Hanging From Tree.

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The key hanging from the tree.

The key hanging from the tree.

I left work and walked towards my usual taxi cab area.

It is actually just the driveway to my office and taxis can pull in easily.

A more minimalist portrait of the key.

A more minimalist portrait of the key.

There isn’t an actual taxi stand or anything specific.

As I walked over, I noticed this key hanging from a tree.

Someone must have lost the key and someone else decided this might be an easy way for the person to find it if they came looking for it.

I have to agree as I noticed it immediately.

I also found it to be quite beautiful in its simplicity and singularity.

It is almost like a ornament or a piece of art.

Day 325 in Beijing: Vroom, Vroom!

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I love the juxtaposition of the old bicycle beside this brand new motorcycle.

I love the juxtaposition of the old bicycle beside this brand new motorcycle.

I have posted a lot of pictures of cars on my blog so far.

There have been tiny ones.

There have been large ones.

There have been electric ones.

There have been ones that are driven by the biggest engines around.

However, I don’t think I’ve posted any motorcycles.

This has to stop!

So, here is my first motorcycle blog post.

Jill and I went to a photo exhibition in the 798 a week or so ago and it was a gorgeous day out.

The weather was nice, the sun was shining, and we were enjoying the art.

The 798, by the way, is a major art district that used to be old factories.

It is now quite hip and quite cool.

My friend, Jonathan Kos-Reed, was putting on an exhibition and we decided to check it out.

I know Jonathan because I am friends with his brother, Isaac, from back  in the San Francisco Bay Area as we used to hang out and both have a great love of Cuban salsa music and dancing.  Both Isaac and his wife, Mary, are wonderful people and a lot of fun.

Isaac introduced me to Jonathan a few years back, when Jonathan was visiting, and we’ve kept in touch and he’s a great guy.  He’s living in China for many years and is a pretty famous actor here in China.

So, we enjoyed the photography exhibition and started to head home.

We noticed this gorgeous motorcycle outside the gallery and decided to take a few pictures as we were blown away with the artistry and style of this bike.

 

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Day 323 in Beijing: Erlian, Mongolia Visa Run: Hours 32-32.1

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Jill and I truly loved the dinosaur displays and wanted to take some videos.

These three are rather short but I find them utterly hilarious and absurd.

It is insane discoveries, like these, that make all the hardships of travel, very worthwhile.

How else would we have ever even though that something like this would be in the middle of the Gobi Desert and be real?

We wouldn’t have.

But we do now.

And so do you.

 

Day 322 in Beijing: Erlian, Mongolia Visa Run: Hours 32-34

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The famous "Kissing Apatosauri" of Erlian. Seriously, why the heck are they making out?

The famous “Kissing Apatosauri” of Erlian. Seriously, why the heck are they making out?

We are getting close to the end now.

Our cabbie picked us up and we headed towards the Erlian Airport since we decided to spend a few more bucks and fly back home.

We had heard about this massive dinosaur sculpture area but knew we weren’t taking the bus back and would not be able to see them.

Jimmy and Adam actually were able to catch a car back for about the same price as they would have paid for the bus and so they were well on their way and were safe and sound.

We realized that we were actually heading right for it and that we had a great chance to get some hilarious pictures and videos.

Thanks to Sienna for making sure the dinosaurs were correctly identified and not called a brontosaurus when they are not.

We had no idea there would be so many crazy dinosaur sculptures and displays.  It seriously blew our minds.

Simply said, our exit from Erlian could note have ended on a better note!

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Day 321 in Beijing: Erlian, Mongolia Visa Run: Hours 28-32

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The butcher and her shop.

The butcher and her shop.

After we picked up the rice, the Mongolian ladies wanted to buy some beef.

Mongolian beef, from what I’ve heard, is amazing.

I’m a vegetarian so I don’t know if that is true but it sells for a lot on the black market in Beijing.

Now, you may ask, how does one get Mongolian beef across the border since it is illegal to take meat, or other perishable products, across them.

This is where a really good driver, and connections, seem to come in handy.

We drove up to a butcher and stopped.

Actually, we drove up to a house, in which a butcher shop seemed to open, and the ladies went in to buy some beef.

Jill stayed outside and rested while I went in to see what was going on.

There was a guy cutting the ribs and a woman selling it.

This obviously was a well known place and the lady knew Diana and these women.

They come here a lot obviously.

After I left the butcher house, I looked around and noticed one of the strangest advertisemnts I’ve seen in a long time.

A huge black guy, and a tall white women, all pumped up and rippling with muscles.

This was on the side of one of the buildings near the butcher house and one of the ladies pointed to it and said, “Gym!”

I’m not sure why a black man, and a white woman, who are seemingly pretty steroided up would help in advertisements, but I guess it does.  Strange.

We hopped back in the SUV and started our return voyage to Erlian, China.

We had to do the reserve trip being that we left Mongolia first, and then headed into China.

It took a bit longer because the Mongolian government really seemed to be searching cars that went back to China and we though the beef, which was hidden under the seats, was going to be found.

Luckily, it wasn’t and we jumped back in the SUV and headed for China.

By the way, after the pictures, I posted a video of Diana and the other women speaking Mongolian.  It is a beautiful language and well worth listening/watching as we drive through, “No Man’s Land.”

When we went through Chinese immigration, it got a bit dicey.

The guards there saw I had a “Z Visa” which is a work visa.  I sincerely doubt ANY person on a Z visa comes to Erlian for a visa run because the company that hired you sponsors you and you don’t have to do these stupid visa runs.

The guards really took along time and were very officious and called over their boss and he kept looking at the Passport and then back at me as if I was some kind of criminal.

They finally let me through and then gave the same treatment to Jill.

After about 15 minutes we were done and waited for Diana and her car by the Rainbow Statue.

After that she dropped us back at our hotel and we hung out until the next taxi driver, which our buddy, Moeava, set us up with, came to pick us up.

 

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Day 293 in Beijing: NAILED!

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Tracy's beautiful nails.

Tracy’s beautiful nails.

Let me state this:  Beijing has some very crazy, and very cool, fashion choices from what I’ve seen.

I was talking with a expatriate friend who had lived here for about 25 years.

He told me about the changes since he has been here.

When he arrived, most males and females were wearing the same exact bowl cut and many still wore the classic green Chinese military outfits.

As the years passed, women, in particular, started having longer hair and becoming more stylish with their clothing choices.

He said that he noticed them wearing more greys and some actually would wear lingerie outside of the clothes because it showed a new style and a freedom from the limitations of the past.

Then they started to wear more colors and be more outgoing in their fashions as media from around the world started giving them new looks and new ideas.

Now, in places like Shanghai, it is almost impossible to tell the difference between that city and San Francisco, New York or Paris.

Beijing, however, is a bit of a different story.

This place is a bit crazy.

The men tend to wear very classic suit and ties, or worker clothes like jump suits, and are pretty simple.

The women, though, have some amazing outfits that combine everything from everywhere worn by everyone at any time.

I really enjoy walking around and seeing how people make a statement about who they are by their clothes.

Also, there are the ethnic people, like the Tibetans, Mongonlians and the Uighurs, who live around Beijing and wear their clothes to state who they are in their own way.

It is a wonderful always changing scenery of life.

Here is just a bit of it.

My co-worker, Tracy, and her husband are enjoying their 10 year anniversary this week.

She decided, for the occasion, to get her nails done in a wonderfully special way.

She said that it took about 2.5 hours and cost 420RMB.

That equates to about 70 dollars to get them done and she was very excited when I asked if I could take a picture and write a blog on them.

She is a wonderful person, and like all my coworkers, incredibly kind, thoughtful and hard working.

I’m honored, and consider myself very lucky, to be working with the people I work with and be here in Beijing.

Happy 10th anniversary to Tracy!

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Day 278 in Beijing: Life Is What You Make It.

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The papercut we bought from Zhang Yonghong.

The papercut we bought from Zhang Yonghong.

I’ve been expounding on my belief is that life is what we make it for the last week or so.

I’d like to give an example of that ideal right here in Beijing.

It has nothing to do with me other than I happened to meet this person.

He didn’t use behavioral therapy, at least not that I know of, and he didn’t seem to have a “coming into the light” realization moment.

He had to make this realization at a very young age.

An age that most people would think, “Someone so young can’t decide for themselves what to do.”

I disagree.

I have hope, and a belief, that many people can make decisions for themselves, at a much younger age, than we believe.

I’ve seen it many times when working with clients.

I’ve seen it with kids I know.

Give them a proper set up, and the options, and they will make a choice.

It might not be the choice we believe is the right one, but they will learn from the consequences and move forward.

You survived your childhood.

So will most other kids.

Jill and I were walking around Nanluoguxiang, a very cool and old part of Beijing, and happened to see some posters on the wall with an article and beautiful papercut designs next to it.

We read the article and then went inside.

Let me introduce you to Zhang Yonghong.

He was born with brittle bone disease, less commonly known as osteogenesis imperfecta, and it seems horrific.

He is has had over 100 fractures in his life and his body seems to be quite small and he had a hard time moving around on his tiny bed.

He lives in this office, full of his art, and his bed, and without much room for much else.

His assisstant came out and we did our best to converse with both of them.

They both smiled a lot and were incredibly friendly.

We pointed out which piece of art we wanted and bought it.

It was 30RMB.

That comes out to about 5 USD.

We actually felt some shame that we weren’t paying more or buying a larger piece of art.

We had a party to go to and didn’t have the ability to carry it at that point.

However, we are planning on going back and buying more for gifts to give to our friends in the USA when we return.

Sadly, as you will read in the article posted below, was born with the same affliction and his wife left him.

She lives in his hometown and comes to Beijing twice a year for medical care.  It costs about 5000 USD per visit and he has stopped his medical care since he can’t afford to pay for both of them.

I have no idea if there is a way to do a crowdsourcing movement to help him with his medical bills, or to help him support his daughter, but I’d love to hear any ideas anyone has.

By the way, this is the same disease that “The Kid President” has if you’ve seen his videos.

Amazingly, both The Kid President and Zhang have the same amazing positive attitude.

Click here for the link to the article, “Life by a thousand cuts.”

Ps. My friend, Katherine Rodriguez did the photography for the article linked above.  I think she did a wonderful job of catching his beauty, grace and charm.

I did not photograph him as I thought that would be offensive and rude.  He seemed to be such a kind person that he may not have minded.

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