Goodbye Beijing — scribbler at large

Hi friends! Here I am, sitting on the floor of our empty apartment and writing my very last blog from China - at least for a while. Our bags are (sort of) packed, and we’re leaving tomorrow.

Two years in Beijing is too much to sum up here—actually it’s too much to sum up in my head or anywhere else—and I guess that’s what my earlier posts are good for, right? My feelings towards this place have changed a lot since I arrived, and this past week alone I’ve been both devastated and jazzed that we’re shipping out. You know you’ve lost perspective when you’re walking home from the grocery store at night in severely polluted, 80-degree weather, coughing and sweating and thinking “China, you’re so charming.”

In an odd twist of fortune, I ended up starting a full time job 7 weeks ago, so lately I haven’t roamed around as much I used to. Maybe my timing was perfect, though, since it’s been a tough few months for China-U.S. relations, and tensions can trickle out onto the street. [Side anecdote: when the U.S. gov first instituted trade tariffs earlier this spring, an older dude stopped my husband and I on the street and asked if we were American. I said yes and he held up a piece of paper with the words “sanction” and “punish” written on it. He asked me how to pronounce each word, and then said “AMERICA PUNISH CHINA” and laughed. I’m pretty sure his whole day was waiting for white people to walk by so he could run through this routine.] Anyway, my seven weeks of job ended on Friday, and this morning (while my husband did all the packing) I went on a quick highlights tour of my old haunts. This turned out to be a great idea, and I may have almost cried while standing in front of the bananas at the wet market.

Because the crappy things about China are big and gnarly, and because my day—and the awesome things about China—was/are great, the rest of this post is about the things I will miss the most. You may notice that many of them are food-related - surprise. In no particular order:

The egg tarts at KFC (蛋挞, or danta). You’ve probably had an egg tart before—I think there are variations of them all over the world, and Portugal may be where it all started(?)—but KFC has a killer recipe. The crust is super flaky and light, and the custard is slightly sweet, very soft, and a little bit toasted on the top. They are served hot, and are the bomb. I had my last one today.

This guy. He’s at my favorite wet market every day, and if you turn on the sound you’ll understand why he rules. I think he’s selling pickled eggs.

油泼面 (you-po-mian), which are flat, wide noodles traditionally from Shaanxi province (south west of Beijing). They’re served in a spicy oil with a couple of vegetables and are super cheap and satisfying. My favorite noodle place is called 零贰玖 (ling er jiu) or “029.” We ate there yesterday.

Singing and dancing in public parks. Today I stumbled upon the group above, but it’s pretty common to see smaller groups of middle-aged or older women dancing—there are dudes sometimes too! I think this is so awesome, especially for older folks—it seems like the retired life here is pretty social.

The psychotically beautiful flowers. Each flower is mind-blowing and I have no idea how/why.

Photo opps like this. Compared to the U.S, people here are relatively indifferent towards anyone/thing outside their personal orbit of family and friends. Sometimes this is really awful and annoying—getting body checked while standing in line, or seeing the collective apathy of passersby when someone on the street gets hurt. BUT it also means that people seem to care less about the judgement of others, and that is a real joy to witness. This dude.

The Flowers look even better on clean air days.

The clean air days and nights. They are stunning, and exciting because you never know when you'll see the next one.

Tofu. In China tofu is not a thing that vegetarians use a meat alternative—tofu is it’s own amazing thing that sometimes coexists with meat, or just wins on it’s own. If you’re picturing the blocks of tofu you can get at Whole Foods, they have those here—sometimes as cheap as 3 Yuan per chunk (aka 50 cents). But ALSO, you can get tofu in like, 6 other forms—possibly dozens, I don’t even know. There is frozen tofu, tofu skins, stinky tofu, dehydrated tofu, tofu that is cut into long, ribbed strings that sort of looks like pasta, white tofu, yellow tofu, brown tofu AND MORE. It took me months to realize that all of these different foods were actually tofu. I never ate it in the U.S., but I'm a convert now. All of the images above are tofu - please note the grimy display window I took a bunch of these photos through :) #Sanitization

Dumplings. Need I say more? No, but I will. There are different kinds of dumplings, to include “xiaolongbao” which are the Shanghai-style, super-pretty little pillow dumplings that Americans call soup dumplings. In Beijing, most dumplings are more clearly hand-formed and a bit lumpier-looking. They’re often boiled (I think?) instead of steamed, so they do not get delivered to your table in a steam basket like xiaolongbao do. There are also guotie, which are rectangular fried dumplings that are so. dang. good. They are all so good.

A store at "Glasses City," the mammoth eyeglasses market.

A wooden "laughing buddha" at Panjiayuan, AKA "the dirt market," which is an enormous antiques market that's mostly full of (awesome) fake stuff.

The market scene. It’s wild here. There is a market for anything you can think of—eyeglasses, hotel supplies, clothing, gifts, fabric, electronics, flowers, insects, and more. These markets are usually HUGE and overwhelming, and bargaining is critical to success. I have been ripped off many times, which is a terrible feeling, but on the flip side, successfully talking a vendor down to a reasonable price is the greatest rush of all time.

Sichuan peanuts - these come in little white bags and you can’t eat just one! They are a little bit spicy, and are mixed in with Sichuan peppercorns, so if you eat a whole handful your mouth and throat go numb - how cool is that??

Of course, the thing I will miss most of all is shopping for produce at the wet markets here. I love getting mowed down by grannies with their granny carts, and watching little kids with grandparents navigate the crowds and snack on fruits. It’s dirty and loud and uncomfortable, but SO MUCH FUN.

A walk-through of my favorite wet market.

There are more things I will miss, but these are the big ones. I am hoping to come back to Beijing/China in the near future, but am happy to take a break in the old USA for now.

Thank you for reading, as always. and let me know if you ever have questions about Beijing.