Chad’s Blog

I should be saying that being with family is reason enough to go home for a visit. Having a family that feeds me steak, crab legs, and Tim Horton’s coffee is enough to seal the deal.

Valery and Joel got married under a willow tree on a beautiful summer day in Fort Erie. Awesome.

Finding seventy rambunctious Chinese kids in matching uniforms at the gate for your twelve and a half hour flight seems like a prelude to traveller’s hell. The timing for an upgrade to business class couldn’t have been better.

Thank-you Air Canada check-in counter supervisor! I slept in peace the entire trip.

I spent three weeks in Guangzhou helping to prepare for the visit of the Governor General.  The staff in Guangzhou did an awesome job.

I can only imagine that the deer’s better parts have some perceived pharmaceutical value, but that doesn’t explain to me why many Beijing pharmacies have stuffed deer in their windows.

I was walking by the North Korean Embassy and stopped to check out the photos that were posted outside.  I had seen many of them recently in this collection, while others I hadn’t seen before including these of Dear Leader with the ladies.

Here’s a similar setup from his younger days.

Big Brother is everywhere in China, especially in provinces known to riot. In Kashi, he made himself known in the form of heavily armoured troops marching forcefully through the streets.

He made himself less known, but just as present observing and recording from the roof of our hotel.

I have no idea what this poster actually says, but I get the impression that it’s a pretty stern warning to anyone considering starting an uprising.

During the riots, the government shut down all forms of electronic communication. Local phone access is back, but there was still no internet access, no international phone access, and no international sms messaging in Xinjiang. I went through withdrawal for the first few days without Blackberry service.

Beijing seems to be under continuous redevelopment. Tearing down entire neighbourhoods brick by brick is a local obsession. On one hand it’s sad to see a generic apartment block go up with a Starbucks in the lobby. On the other hand, a generic apartment is a definite step up for the people living in the neighbourhood compared to using a communal toilet.

This particular temple fair was lacking a temple, but certainly had a carnival atmosphere of a fair.

The park was packed with people playing carnival games, winning large stuffed animals, and snacking on all kinds of treats.

The highlight, apart from people watching, was snacking. I thought that chatang was disappointing. You have your choice of all kinds of powders in your bowl, to which they add steaming hot water from a dragon’s mouth. I think the two mystery powders I tried were duds. I’m sure there’s a tasty mix somewhere.

While the strange powders in a bowl left something to be desired, the meats and fruits on a stick were great.

They were so good that I missed my bus while trying to decide which fruit on a stick coated in caramelized sugar I liked best. I still have no idea what fruits I was trying, but I now know I can point to my favourite.

We were told that Beijing has a tradition hosting fairs at temples that dates back thousands of years. While some have moved to parks and other open spaces, some temples, like the Dongyue Taoist Temple still continue the tradition.

Some showed up to pray for blessings in the year of the tiger.

Others showed up for the entertainment and the games.

My contribution was adding my name (in English and Chinese) to the thousands of other red wooden ornaments lining the central pathway.

Being an entirely practical religion, you can pray to one of hundreds of gods represented around the outer perimeter walls. To aid you in your search for the right deity, they’re organized into departments. I think I found the right one.

Unfortunately, the cast of characters in the department seemed to leave a little to be desired. I guess the guy with the club is encouraging me to to be honourable in performing my duties.