Well, yesterday was Valentine's Day. And usually on Saturdays I go into work for a couple of hours. Not because anyone makes me but just because it helps me get focused for the next week. And because of my current situation with new children and a new assistant, I really need to go in and get things organized. But because of the special holiday, I'm working today (Sunday) and yesterday Chase and I spent hanging out and catching up on being in the city. I heard more about his India trip which I will post some pictures of soon and chatted with my family on the phone for about an hour. We went out for lunch at our neighborhood Thai restaurant. It is really owned by Thai people so the food tastes authentic and not some Chinese version of Thai food. The curries are thick and the soups are the perfect blend of spices.
Next we made a trek out to DongCheng District. Yes, we left ChaoYang District. So it was a big adventure for us to be in another part of Beijing. One thing I noticed was that everything seemed so much more colorful and varied. There were more Mom 'n Pop stores and little eateries compared to tall skyscrapers and modern storefronts we are used to. There's a bit more character and Beijing can really be a charming city when the sun comes out. We went to the Three Kites Shop. It's a kite store that's been in the same family since the Qing Dynasty (which really means about four generations) and they hand-make and hand-paint every kite they sell. Getting a kite was my Valentine's gift from Chase. And if you don't know, I am obsessed with kite flying. I'm not very good at it but it is a past time for me that really calms me down and I just love watching the movement of kites. It's one of my favorite ways to pass time on a windy and sunny day. So it's even more poignant because the origin of kite flying is, depending on who you ask, in China or in the South Pacific. Kite flying is extremely popular in India too so I think it has something to do with my genetic make-up that draws me towards kite flying. Hehe. The store had various kinds of silk and nylon kites. I first picked a silk kite that was in the shape of an owl with its wings spread. He was majestic and the colors were vividly painted. But as we were getting it wrapped up, we noticed a small tear so we had to give up that option. I ended up choosing a very brightly painted blue butterfly made from nylon. It was bigger and easier to fly said the shopkeeper and her family. Yesterday was not a very windy day so we have plans sometime in March to go fly the kite in Tiannanmen (because March tends to be a very windy month). Then we went to HouHai which is a lake really close to Tiannanmen surrounded by shops and small shops. So made a big loop around the lake and walked and enjoyed the relatively warmer temperatures (still around 35, though). During the winter the whole area is frozen and it's a great place to skate but the weather has been warm the last few weeks and the ice is not dependable anymore. Oh well, there's always next winter. Then we went over to the bike store and bought Chase his Valentine's present, a bike pump. You might be laughing but he refused to let me buy him anything else. That's all he wanted he said and it made him very happy. He's so difficult to buy gifts for and rarely wants or uses the gifts I buy for him. So I'm glad he will at least make use of this gift.
Chase took a nap in the afternoon as I tried to confirm a reservation for dinner. However, I was too late in calling and there were no reservations left. And I literally made calls for an hour to all the restaurants we have been eager to try and they were booked. I had no idea so many people celebrated Valentine's in Beijing! We decided to cook at home and Chase went out to get a bottle of wine and he mentioned that everyone was out and all the restaurants in our area were filled with fancy cars parked out front, etc. I guess we still think that America is the only place that has money and celebrates these overly commercialized holidays. But Beijing continues to surprise us with the amount of people that have money and are willing to spend it on holidays that are adopted. In fact, this is a depressing aspect of the current Chinese generation. Because of the cultural revolution, they lack a sense of belonging to a culture or identity. They don't have religion or spirituality to guide them and so they take in western practices so readily and just absorp and cling on to any sense of culture they can. We were also talking the other day at dinner about how Chinese people are not affectionate in public but there's a large devotion to chivalry and the romantic cause. So Valentine's seems to be a holiday they identify with easily. I on the other hand became somewhat saddened that we couldn't get a reservation "to be romantic" last night and that there's so much pressure but on "being romantic" that day that it makes the meaning of the whole day worthless to me. I am a romantic though but am a lot more practical so I will be going out to buy a bouquet today instead of yesterday because I can expect some good discounts.
No comments:
Post a Comment