You have to jump around in a circle on one leg, otherwise you'll be cold.

Hello, hello from the large and heavily polluted country of China! It's been a long time and made even longer by the fact that I couldn't access my blog here in China until recently.  Through my own cleverness :) I figured out a way to bypass the blocks put up by the Chinese government to censor sites they deem inappropriate? or somehow dangerous to the government? Either way, I can now happily access some of my favorite sites: Hulu, Netflix, Universal Sports to watch the World Cup Ski Season, my blog to post for you lovely people, and Facebook (although this one is still giving me trouble). You really have no idea how bored you can become when so many sites are kept from your reach.

Thus, this begs the question, what have I been doing with my time without internet? Well, my mom and Ron have taken to waking up extremely early to go exercise at 天坛公园 (TianTan Park) in the south of Beijing. The whole process of getting there includes waking up early in order to get ready, eat breakfast, take an hour long subway ride, and still get there at a relatively early hour to practice various forms of Taiji. If all this weren't enough, it also happens to be very cold here in Beijing during the winter time, at least much colder than what I'm use to from DC weather, and even worse early in the morning.

Still, despite the extreme cold weather, I do have at least some working knowledge of how to keep myself warm. However, my mother doesn't seem to understand this, which led to a whole list of things that she required me to do, otherwise I would be cold.

1. You have to wear these windproof pants, otherwise you'll be cold.
2. You have to wear this long underwear, otherwise you'll be cold.
3. You're taking a shower? Well, you have to blow dry your hair, otherwise you'll be cold.
4. Those are your gloves? Well, you should probably wear mine, otherwise you'll be cold.
5. Also, you should probably wear my hat, otherwise you'll be cold.
6. You have to eat this breakfast I've laid out for you, otherwise you'll be cold.
7. You have to wear these extremely hideous, Chinese Communist shoes from Mao's era, otherwise you'll be cold.

Okay, she didn't really say that last one, but they're really ugly shoes and you get the idea. After all this preparation, we head out for the park. No lie, at 7AM, that park is bustling with activity. There are those, like my mom, who go to exercise, but there's also a good majority simply there to socialize by playing games and just walking around the park. By 8AM tour groups have also started coming through the park. If I go back, I promise to remember to take pictures to share!

Other than doing this, my mom and I have also taken on the task of feeding me all the delicious Chinese things I love to eat. I've only been here five days so far, but I've tackled quite a lot of the list. They include hot pot (hmm delicious and extremely well-suited to the winter weather), Song Shu fish (which is a fish that blooms open when its cooked, fried, and covered in this sweet and sour sauce), JianBing (which is a pancake type thing, but basically its classic street food), and various other dishes.

SongShu Fish

 I've also had other street food items that are specifically around Beijing during the winter time. I remembered them from when I was a child and they are just as good as I remember! For many people, chestnuts roasting over an open fire is something associated with an American Christmas and the Bing Crosby song, but my first taste of it was in China. Of course, when I was little I didn't realize it was a chestnut, but now I know, and roasted chestnuts are AWESOME! Little stalls around the city roast them for you and then you purchase them in brown paper bags, each one weighing one Chinese pound. So good!!

栗子 - Chestnuts

Another great street food is an old, traditional Beijing treat, candied crab apples. Crab apples are placed on skewers and then covered in a soft candy shell. More modern versions of the treat have added other fruits or covered them in nuts, but I prefer the traditional candied crab apples.

Well, that's pretty much what's happening in China for now. We're expecting my brother tomorrow if he manages to get on the plane. Gotta say I'll be very happy to see him because I'm getting a little bit too much quality time with my mom and Ron. More updates later!