The Cat Garden

At Beida, or Peking University as you might know it, the is a cat garden. It is a place for all the people who love to just sit down for a quiet, sunny lunch go, and all the chinese kids who love to throw rocks at cats with their parents encouraging them. The cats are too clever for them, though. And so adorable. Students who live on campus come every day to feed them, and I secretly envy them for knowing where on earth in Beijing one buys cat food.

I ate lunch there with some friends the other day. The day was beautiful - sunny, crispy blue autumn skies, actually reminded me a lot of those beautiful autumn days at home when the temperature is just perfect and the weather is showing off it's best side. I was lying in the grass looking at the skies enjoying life in Beijing.

Cleaning in China

Cleaning in China ain't like cleaning in Norway. Why people even bother to "clean", that is to smear the dirt more around with these sloppy brooms, I do not understand, 'cause the floors really do not get cleaner, the dirt just seems to turn into glue and stay. Maybe it's because their cleaning devices are kept randomly at the most (or least) convienient place?)

Sidewalk view

Outside the cafeteria at school

I went to Yashou marked yesterday to get a warm jacket, and couldn't resist taking a snapshot of this. What the picture doesn't capture is all the people standing underneath yelling : wanna buy dvd, madam? Cheap dvd, good price!

The pirated discs peddled is illegal publication. Aight. I didn't even know the word, but apparently the Chinese are now one step ahead of me English wise.

Morning Bird

I didn't actually know how lucky I was who ended up with this room when we got the apartment. I am an early bird, and to my wonderful surprise, my big window faces east and every day as I get up for school, I watch the beautiful sunrise - if the weather allows it. Yesterday it was exceptionally beautiful and I just sat and watched the sun rise and the skies lighten up.

I'll tell you a little secret ...

I'm actually starting to get a little tired of dumplings. I know, I know, but still. You try eating them two weeks in a row, every single day! But tomorrow I'm going with Xiao Wang to eat hotpot and finally have something different from the dirt cheap food I have forced myself to eat lately due to budget issues. Man, I can hear that hotpot calling <3

Oh, and I miss my dog. A lot. Here he is:

Ps. I'm getting so sick of the "musicians" living in the apartment over me - I think they might only be three-year-olds from the way they are murdering that tuba and their piano. I'm spoiled, been listening too much to my friend JJ (who is coming in only a few weeks! WEE! :D).

...

I miss Norway in the summer ... God, I'm looking forward to coming home.

This I miss ...

Mia eating dumplings

Mia failing at eating dumplings

"just wait a sec, just have to close my purse ... goddamnit!"

Mia and the Chinese

Mia taking a rest after walking 20 metres

Mia sleeping next to me

Mia dying to get on facebook

Mia being weird

Mia being beautiful

Mia getting her nails done

Mia pretending to be rich

Mia being the best sister in the world<3

Sightseeing with Mia

One of my favorites from the Chinese Cuisine

Hotpot - gotta love it! At least I do, to everyone's grief. I always want to eat hotpot, but unfortunately for me, hotpot is a group activity, and my dear roomie Xiao Wang does not want to eat hotpot as often as I do. Luckily, I brought my sister this time, and she agreed to have her last dinner in China at my favorite hotpot place just across the street from where I live. Yum!

Handmade noodles are being cooked - very fresh and need only one minute to cook!

Spinach - one of my favorite hotpot additions, after the lotus root

We had half the pot with spicy duck blood and tofu sauce(<3), and half with mushroom (not so spicy and therefore not as tasty^^)

And of course, the essential sauce. At this hotpot place, there is a sauce bar, so you mix your own sauce. Mine contains peanut sauce, fresh veggies, some seeds I don't really know what are called, and chili. MMmm!

I am so buying a hotpot kit when I'm leaving - wonder where I can get hold of that ...

(For more photos, you can always visit me at www.flickr.com/silvenna)

All by myself

Just said goodbye to Mia at the airport. God, I miss her already :(

Summer Palace

Went to the summer palace to show Mia what real royalty does for recreation. The building started in 1750, and the area spreads out for over three square kilometres. Three quarters of this is a huge lake, Kunming Lake, which is entirely manmade. The soil and dirt from the hole was used to make the hill overlooking the lake, where temples and resides where built. The whole area is beautiful, although the pollution kind of spoiled the view the day we were there.

I have been to the Summer Palace before, six years ago with my grandma when we travelled to Beijing together, but when I tried to go there with Jonas, we just got lost. The area is huge, and getting lost is just too easy. Oh well, he'll be back in a month or so, so then I'm sure I'll find my way back. And hopefully we'll have better luck with the weather!

Do you love traditional architecture as much as I do?

Good morning!

The weather is back to its polluted normal, but we're having a lazy Thursday, so we don't care.








Love, China girl.
Ps. For more photos, go to www.flickr.com/silvenna

Scraping

I got my back scraped... This is an ancient part of Chinese medicine, so I just had to give it a try. It actually was kinda pleasant! The marks are awful, though. As all kinds of traditional Chinese remedies, this one cures everything, and as always when I or someone else from my class from Norway tries these cures, we shock the doctors with our bad health (as with cupping, the darker marks, the worse your health). But it really did help, my back and shoulders feel a lot better right now. Maybe it really did "pull the bad stuff out" (quote doctor).




Love, China girl