Ladies Street Fashion...

Yesterday I brought you some of the delights to be had with Chinese male street wear.

Today I present you with some lady fashion with which I have become quite fascinated.















There is a slight obsession over here with the humble stocking sock. Worn with everything from sneakers to glamorous evening stilettos, these flesh toned numbers are everywhere. They are most commonly worn by the ladies but I have seen some older gents sporting them.

I have not yet figured out why they are so popular, especially when spotted on stylish high-heeled young things, but suggestions we've come up with range from in-shoe comfort to hygiene in the dirty streets.


Generally though, women's fashion is quite eclectic and multi-faceted.

It starts young too:



She would have been no older than six and was wearing lipstick and eyeshadow.

Men's Street Fashion

I am so excited to finally bring you all photo evidence of two of my favourite Beijing men's fashion trends.

These aren't the greatest photographic examples but I wanted au naturale action...

Trend #1: Chivalrously carrying your ladyfriend's handbag, regardless of the weight/sequins/branding. Ricky, it's lucky Mel doesn't make you do this too...




















Trend #2: The Beijing Belly: and no it's not what you get after accidentally eating warm dairy products. When the temperature rises, instead of taking their shirts off, or simply dealing with the heat, Beijingers like to roll their shirts up and tuck under their arms, thus exposing their midriffs as modelled by the man on the right.

Au revoir el Cube-o

My last shift at the Water Cube was yesterday.

It was a little sad to say farewell to the big blue bubble box and all the people I met within its walls.

I've got another blog I did for a university assessment about more specific work-related issues.

If you're keen, it's called FlashQuoteBlogger. Be warned though, It's not near as fun as this blog!

Last night's purchases

So I went a little crazy in the jewellery section of the markets last night.

I heart accessory shopping in China!


I found this giant ladybird ring and it was love at first glance. Also bought about a thousand bracelets. Well maybe not quite a thousand...

The Great Divide

Coming to China, I really had no idea about the composition of the city.

I'd heard about the rich history of the Forbidden City.

I'd seen photos of the Olympic venues.

I'd heard that business was booming and office towers were rising.

I'd heard walls had been erected to hide the poverty.

It's odd in the way that the traditional and the modern, the western and the eastern attempt to coexist in this country.


In the city, shiny new high-rises tower over the few remaining trees. With so many cars in Beijing, so much road space is required.














It usually costs an entry fee to see the traditional areas of China but some are visible from the expressways, poking out awkwardly between global monsters McDonalds and KFC.






The world's biggest stand-alone Adidas store was opened in Beijing in time for the Olympics and many other brands from home exist in some form in China.














Had I not heard about the walled poverty controversy before I came to China, I probably wouldn't have noticed it. Atop the Drum Tower though, it's hard to miss areas like these.

A friend asked me if there were many homeless people in China. Where I am staying, I'd have to say no. I've seen individuals indulging in a spot of bin scrounging but I haven't seen anyone curled up under a rug on a kind stranger's front step.



Apparently inflation in China has sky-rocketed, particularly with the worldwide onset of Olympic fever. Even while I have been here, prices at the markets have increased massively. However, as soon as you drop a few words in Mandarin, mention you've been here for two months and that you're a student on volunteer wages, the price drops a little.

Censorship has been the focus on China's recent foray in the media spotlight. The massive income divide and culture clash though must be given greater attention. As China continues to open up to foreign business and investment, this issue will only increase. It was less than two weeks ago that an American was killed at the place where I took the above photo. Obviously tensions are growing. If China can somehow harness these two competing worlds, it will be world's next super power. Hopefully for the beautifully welcoming population, they are not forgotten and left on the bottom rung of a very tall ladder.

The Koala vs. The Panda

With just five sleeps until I board the Qantas jet, I'm thinking about the Australian stuff I've been missing and, at the same time, the Chinese stuff I will miss.

I have created a list for your viewing pleasure!

Australian stuff I've been missing:

• Avocados... with lime juice & Murray River Pink Salt
• Multigrain bread... For some reason, the Chinese love to stir in a whole lot of sugar with their bread dough. Not cool, China, not cool.
• Babies wearing nappies.
  
• Brushing my teeth with tap water
• My bed. My bed here is terrible.
  
• Western toilets in the restrooms of restaurants. Enough of this squat business already.
• While we're on the toilet topic - those pink "lady bins" in public places. Lidless waste paper baskets are way too gross.
  
• SUNSHINE & BLUE SKIES & FRESH AIR!!
• Being able to read the menu at a restaurant, instead of just pointing at pictures of stuff that looks nice... only to find out that you just ate pig's heart.
• My friends from Australia

Chinese stuff I will miss:

• Everything costing at least one sixth of what it does in Australia
• The broccoli and Peking Duck at "Red Lantern" - the cheaper than Aussie chips restaurant five minutes walk away. (Mum, as if you ever thought I'd say I would miss a vegetable!)
• Always having something to do and somewhere to go... unlike Maito.
• The alcohol laws here, and thus the cheapness of the drinks!
  
• Accidentally eating random animal parts.
• Public transport - sure the buses are a serious OH & S issue but they're on time & go everywhere I need them to.
• Taxis - the drivers are great entertainment and it's never too hard to get one.
  
• Being told how incredibly attractive you are every time you go to the markets... (Sssh I know they just want me to buy their designer fakes...)
  
• Pretending you're an Olsen twin being chased by paparazzi... it's Chinese mothers chasing you for photos with their Chinese babies.
• My friends I've met while in China
  

You Know You're in Australia When...

...a Warnie look-a-like is present with his butt-crack flashing lady friend.


We crashed a party at a place called Australia House (near Wangfujing) to watch the Olympic opening ceremony with a bunch of Aussie blokes and sheilas.

It wasn't exactly "rocking", with the majority of the crowd being Mums, Dads and Grannies of Australian Olympians.

I spent the night slurping Jacobs Creek chardies and thankfully, "smonking" was outlawed here:

Try a Little Tenderness...

I had always heard that the hospitality and kindness of the Chinese was second to none and the longer I have stayed here, the more this has been proved to me.

Tonight there was a decent thunderstorm (yay for the clear skies tomorrow) that we got caught in on the walk home from dinner.

I'd pulled my hood up and was ready to trek it in the rain when a random Chinese girl came up and offered me half her umbrella space.

She went out of her way to walk with me back to my building on campus.

I wonder, would we do this in Australia?

Another extraordinary display of kindness was shown by some locals at the Yashow markets on Saturday.

The ATM neglected to spit out a friend's cash and thus, crisis ensued.

Thankfully, we had a group of nice ladies get us on the phone to someone that spoke English.

Once the English skills of the man on the phone had dissolved under the pressure some cool dudes were happy to jump in and finish the finer details of the conversation in Mandarin.

The money was back in the account within hours.

I think one reason why such kind assistance can occur is the multi-lingual ability of so many people in China.

In Australia, we are spoiled and perhaps a little ignorant, in that many people really only know how to speak English fluently.

Speaking to Olympians and coaching staff through the work I am doing has further encouraged me to learn another language.

These people speak not only their own language but can also be interviewed in English on finer technical points of their event.

It is so good to speak the little bit of Mandarin I know and I feel so very ignorant not knowing more.

Mission when I get home: search for some language lessons and be super friendly to lost and distressed foreigners!

WANGfujing Crazy Food Market

Guess what these are:

Did anyone guess assorted animal testicles?

Until I asked, I didn't realise either.

And before you ask, no I did not attempt to eat one.

Wangfujing street market is the place to be if you are keen to indulge in the weird and wonderful side of Chinese cuisine.

As you may know, I did eat crickets earlier in my stay so I was slightly keen to find something a little exotic on which to have a nibble...

What better to try than an arm of steamed starfish?

It was weird but not particularly offensive.

To eat it, you need to crack the shell open from the underside and eat the inside.

It tastes fishy with a spongey consistency.

The starfish vendor was desperate to flog his centipede skewers to us but we had to politely decline.

And it was strangely difficult to explain to the enthusiastic "chef's'' that we weren't up for these either:

Seahorse Skewers...

Scorpion Snacks...

Baby Snake Twists...

Best thing we ate all night?

Toffee-dipped fresh fruit skewers.

This little boy totally agreed with us:

Hoot, Hoot, Hooters!

The skanky Pamela Anderson-esque image of the American icon Hooters is blown to absolute shreds by the cast of Hooters, Beijing.


Sure, they're all hot as.

But do they Hoot?

Yes, but not in the same way this chain most famously does.

Hooters has always maintained a well-publicised tradition of supporting sexy ladies who's cups most definitely runneth over.

I had never been to a Hooters before so I assumed a sizeable rack was simply part of the job description.

As far as the venue existing as a "restaurant", I assumed there would be poor service, overpriced food and waitresses more interested in maintaining an alluring appearance than actually waiting the tables.

Hooters Beijing though, seemed to be all about fun for us young Westerners.

For the seedy old men, and yes they were there in packs, Hooters Beijing is as much a perve-fest as I suspected it would be.

The girls sang ridiculous songs (for example: "Put your hand in your pocket and your pocket in your pants"), hula-hooped and danced for the delight of the aforementioned seedbags, and for the absolute amusement of us.

The food was a lot dearer than a local beef stirfry, but in Australian money, the meal and a drink still cost less than $20.

And although they completely messed up our bill and overcharged us at the end of the night, the waitressing was not the worst I'd ever experienced.

I won't be back, but I wouldn't rule out a comparative study with another Hooters elsewhere.

As we were leaving, one of the Hoots (girl on far left of picture), exclaimed to Katie and I "You girls are the real Hooters!"

Naturally, we both bought the uniform singlets.



(Photo taken by Katie)

Bill & Ben would be so proud!

Beijing is now home to over 40 million new flower pots.

The plants have been configured in creative and mostly Olympic-themed designs all around the city.

The official word on this policy from BOCOG is that the flower pots add to the "green" goal of the Beijing Games.

They also serve as a way of welcoming visitors to the city.

Earlier this week, we woke up to find this at the entrance to our campus:



It appears to be created entirely out of plants and chicken wire.

Take note Jamie Durie!


Extra info from: http://www.olympics.com.au/News/Olympicnews/OlympicNewsArticle/tabid/289/Default.aspx?ArticleID=10302