My school gave me a bike, and it was a time machine

October 23, 2012- By now it must seem like all I do is take pictures of beautiful scenery and sit around drinking Tsingtao with other expats,  but my life here is so much more.  More chaotic, dirtier, louder, more confusing.  A few weeks ago my school gave me a bike to use, and it has given me a level of freedom that I hadn't even noticed was missing before.  I often go and explore a different part of Baoding during my lunch break or after classes.  I've found that I see so much more from my bike than I do from the bus.  It makes me more aware of where I am, and I feel like a participant in daily Baoding life rather than just an observer.

My bike Orlando.  I named it after Shakespeare's brainless but brawny hero.

 During the past few weeks, I have been trying and failing to capture the China that I see every single day in a picture.  I've found it to be impossible.  For one thing, without the sounds and smells of China, a picture is almost meaningless.  I've mentioned to some of the people I know living in Beijing that I like going to Beijing because it feels like Europe or America to me.  They are always shocked and think that Baoding must be an awful place.  But to me, the chaos and noise of Beijing traffic is nothing to that of Baoding.  The streets of Beijing and Hangzhou seemed very clean and orderly to me, because I'm used to a city that is still trying to attain that level of modernity.  I know that there are many problems with the terms developed and undeveloped countries, but Baoding can only be defined as developing.  It is a city rapidly expanding to contain it's 1 million+ people, and to gain the appearance of wealth and modernity that is evident in other parts of China.  I know that I am still explaining this very poorly, but just bear with me.  I feel so lucky to be in Baoding rather than one of the larger cities in China.  In some ways it is harder for me, since there are fewer foreigners and people who speak English.  But I feel like I am getting a glimpse at what China is really like, and hopefully as the year goes on I will be able to describe it better.

A picture from my explorations of Baoding- part countryside farm, part towering apartment complex.

This past weekend, I went to the neighboring province to the city of Pingyao.  It's an ancient walled city and an UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It was very beautiful and old, and less touristy than some of the other places I've been in China so far.  The city walls, built in 1370, still surround the old city, and contain many well-preserved courtyards and buildings.  I spent one day exploring the old city, and climbed the city walls, and another in the surrounding countryside.  The whole weekend made me feel as though I had gone back in time, especially when I wandered away from the one or two tourist streets and wandered instead through abandoned cobble-stoned streets. 

Pingyao's city walls

Wang Family Courtyard, outside Pingyao

The village of Zhangbi, outside Pingyao

Once a week the students have dumplings in the cafeteria, and the class before lunch is either shortened or canceled entirely.  I never know which day is going to be dumpling day, and today I went to class only to be informed that class was canceled for dumplings!  I don't know why this is, but I don't question it.