My newest published article in the Xianease magazine, this time exploring Xi’an famous BBQ scene as well as the low-down on how to order your own.

Download a PDF of the article here

For a few days, I was a little disappointed. The event I had talked up and told other people about, wouldn’t be happening for me. Well fortunately things in China can still get done with a slight greasing of the palm. A buddy of mine called up and said that he had 10 people who wanted to sign-up for the race, they said “no, it’s too late”. After an explanation of how they’re all foreigners who couldn’t understand the website (not entirely true), and an offer to pay an extra 10 RMB per person, we were golden. So for the low price of 10RMB per person we were able to sign-up late for the race, yeah, the extra 10 RMB was a 33% increase in the race fee, but really 40 RMB for a shoe bag, a nice sweat-wicking shirt, and a city wall ticket is still a good deal.

Race day was cold as I had expected, but perhaps a bit warmer than last year. Once again, despite “needing” to be there at 8:00 AM everyone stood around and waited until the race started at about 9:30. I guess it was really important that some government officials talk and be given some kind of award or box of tea or something.

Anyway, from the beginning of the race until the end. I mostly kept my eyes on the ground so as to not trip and fall on my face. Fortunately I had a little company for at least half the race and the second half was just me telling myself that I wouldn’t stop running until the end. I finished the race in 1:17:48, about 5 minutes slower than last year. But I’ll attribute that to the lack of time to train this year.

Afterwards Xianease magazine sponsored a double-decker party bus with pizza and beer, the perfect way to replenish after a long run!

Later in the afternoon my dad came to pick us up from my school and take us downtown to my grandparent’s home where we’d be spending the holiday. Along the way we stopped at a small fireworks vendor on the street corner. The amount and size of the fireworks was quite impressive! Sure, I’ve seen a lot of fireworks at warehouse sellers around July 4th, but these fireworks, they were huge! Apparently the biggest fireworks vendors are able to legally sell, at least in North Dakota, are 500 grams or less, due to safety concerns. Well, China has none of that. There were very large items for sale, many large canister-style munitions weighing in at 3000+ grams were for sale, for less than 200 Yuan (about $30). We bought a few big ones, and a large string of firecrackers for later in the evening.

After arriving at my grandparents’ home, my parents showed me how to put up the traditional signs that hang around and on top of the front door of most homes, these signs speak of good luck in the new year to all who enter the home. I also put some traditional Chinese paper cuts up on the windows for decoration. These are things  that small children usually enjoy shortly before the holiday, but since this was my first Chinese new year, it was almost as if my 24 year old self had turned 5 again. After putting up the paper cuts, my parents and grandparents gave Tyler and I our hongbao, a red envelope filled with money, which the older generation traditionally give to the younger generation at Spring Festival time, rather than actual presents.

Around 6 PM my family walked to a nearby restaurant for our New Year’s Eve dinner, where we had had reservations for nearly two months. At the dinner was me, Tyler my parents, my grandparents, my cousin, my other cousin’s husband (He Chao), and his parents. The meal was delicious as always, but who knows, that could’ve been my thought after consuming a large amount of baijiu. He Chao, told me I had to toast every person at the table individually with a shot of baijiu, so 9 people. But that was after, Tyler, He Chao, and I had gone shot-for-shot through one bottle of baijiu already. I was barely able to make it around the table. Fortunately I’m pretty sure I did much better that Tyler. After a lively stumble home, we went outside to play with fireworks along with some of the other children in the apartment complex. We had a great time, drank some beer, and blew things up. I guess you’re supposed to stay up pretty late on New Year’s eve, but by about midnight I was wiped out from the lack of sleep the previous night and a good amount of baijiu.

The next day I awoke at 9 AM, like I do nearly everyday, and was greeted with a “Xinnian kuaile!” (“Happy New Year!”) and a bowl of dumplings. Wonderful breakfast! We spent a good part of the day visiting with relatives and family friends who would come over a few hours during the day. Similar to relatives stopping by on Christmas day back home. We ate some good home-cooked food, played a lot of mahjong, and watched TV most of the day. Most of the family members who’ve never really met me were all impressed that I can actually play Chinese Mahjong since they apparently consider it a tough game to master. I’m no master, but I can hold my own without giving away too much money!

Tyler and I spent the remaining days in Xi’an going shopping, hanging out with friends and visiting the important attractions around the city like the Terracotta Warriors, the city wall, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Muslim street, etc. Evenly spaced out with some drinking excursions to nearby bars (that were actually open!) and a visit to Club Salsa. After 5 days in Xi’an, we left again, this time for warmer weather in Guangzhou.

Earlier this week I went out for a few drinks with the British friends I met a few months ago. We started off at the Park Qin, a popular expat bar in Xi’an where I was introduced to a friend of theirs, Jackie. I think I complimented Jackie pretty well actually, she’s Chinese, looks Chinese, but speaks English like she was born in the U.S. I actually asked her “are you actually Chinese or are you an ABC?” She was surprised to say the least, but her English speaking is just so polished that it sounds very natural. We hung out at the Park Qin and put back a few while a few more friends joined in, bringing the crew to an even six, three guys, three girls. One of the girls, another Brit, suggested we check out another bar down the street. I’d never been there and this was a night to have a good time so why the heck not.

I don’t know if this bar has a name, and if it does I certainly don’t know it. But I do know where it is, and that’s all that matters. When I first walked in I didn’t know what to think. There was a room, not much larger than my living room with a long coffee-table type thing in the middle of the room. At each end of this table was a small fire pit made of bricks where small pieces of anthracite burned to keep the place warm. Around this table was two concentric rectangles of benches and lastly furthest from the door was a stage just large enough for 2 guys with guitars. The dark and smoky feel to the place just reminded me of a sweat lodge.

There was probably a dozen people in the place when the 6 of us (4 whities, and 2 Chinese). Everyone was so friendly, I sat at the end, next to a Chinese man who must have been in his late 20′s to early 30′s. He started trying to chat me up right away, offered me a few shots of baijiu and the night really got goin’. With the guys up on stage singing some acoustic songs, someone pounding on the hand drum, and booze flowing, this place was literally a community bong short of a hippie drum circle. Everyone was having such a good time there, drinking and singing and talking that we didn’t leave there until 3:45 AM. That place is definitely, my new favorite bar.

I crashed that night at my British friend’s apartment since he actually lives in the city as opposed to an hour drive north of the city like me. The next morning I woke up feeling alright, which was a good thing because I had made plans to meet a student of mine for lunch. I met up with Sara at about 1:15 PM and she took me to a really great German restaurant. She really surprised me because we had talked about this place before, but I had forgotten about it. Sara and I had kinda made a connection because I used to study German and she has a crush on a friend of hers who is from Germany.  Either way, the German restaurant was great, not too expensive, and all kinds of German sausages, breads, and really delicious craft-brew beer. I think I’d like to just go there an get drunk on their amazing beer one day.

After lunch I hung out with Sara for awhile and she suggested we go to a movie. So we decided on seeing “孔子” (aka: Confucius). The movie was an overview of the life of Confucius, it was an interesting story but not a great story. Perhaps if I knew a little more about Confucius it might have been better, perhaps not. The movie was all in Chinese, but fortunately there were English subtitles. I could understand a little of the Chinese being spoken but would have, overall, been very confused without the English subtitles. After the movie I finally went back home, having been out and about for the past 24 hours, I was rather tired. But the whole excursion was totally worth it.

1 km = 0.62 miles  >> 13.7 km = 8.51 miles

The events began bright and early, as in before 8am, centered around the south gate of the city wall. This was a slight problem for me, because it takes me more than an hour by bus to get from my school to the south gate. Fortunately my Chinese mother and father were able to help me out (I can’t say enough about how generous and helpful they are!) and provide me with a place to stay the night before the race, located only a 15 minute drive from the south gate. Upon arriving, there were many people located on the main plaza in front of the gate pounding on drums and dancing some kind of traditional dance. The run was clearly a big event, and actually quite international. I hadn’t seen so many white faces since leaving LAX! I felt like it was a little un-organized, but that could be for a few reasons; I’m illiterate (that’s a big one, but it is supposed to be international), or perhaps I’m used to the great organization provided at the Fargo Marathon. Had I been alone, I probably would have been very confused.

My family helped me figure out where I needed to be, and realize that I had almost an hour to kill before the race would start. We walked around, and chatted and just observed some of the other people getting ready for the race, many Chinese, and a good number of foreigners, 43 different countries according to the official count. With about 20 minutes to race time I got down and did my stretching, and before I knew it there were five people taking pictures and one person shooting video. Apparently a white guy stretching is quite interesting. After some fanfare, including a few words from the Mayor of Xi’an and some other important figures, the race was about to begin. Although I’d love to talk about all the beautiful scenery I saw while running around the city, I can’t. The running surface isn’t the flattest, so I spent a good amount of time looking down at the thousands upon thousands of bricks to make sure I didn’t roll my ankle.

I’ll answer your questions about the air-quality now, before you even ask them. No, the air really wasn’t all that bad. My throat was a little sore after the race, but it’s not like I was breathing in exhaust fumes the entire time.

…I finished with a time of 1:12:10…

Before the race, I estimated that I could easily finish within one hour and fifteen minutes, and I’m happy to say that I was right. I finished with a time of 1:12:10, meaning I ran pretty consistent 8 minute 30 second miles. The unfortunate fact was that there was no timing being done unless you were participating in the half-marathon competitively! I’m glad I wore a watch and timed myself, otherwise I’d have no idea how fast I ran! I’m sure I’ll be a little sore for the next day or two, but I’m definitely happy I was able to take part in the race. See all the photos from the race in the gallery.

For those of you looking for information about the race, where to register for next year, etc. Check the links below.

Local news on the event (xinhuanet.com)

Official website (have someone who can read Chinese help you, the English version is relatively useless and outdated)

Celebrating my birthday here in Xi’an was a bit different experience that what I’m used to. But only a little different. Saturday night I went out with a handful of my friends to a restaurant in the Muslim quarter of Xi’an. We had a nice meal of typical Chinese food. Unfortunately, I neglected to take some pictures of the meal. Here’s where it was different; because it was my birthday I did the inviting. As you soon find out in China, if you invite, you pay. So I had to pay for my own birthday dinner. I hope they enjoyed my dinner!

After the meal my friends and I walked down Dong Dajie (East street) to go to a club. We had decided on the 1+1 Disco because one friend had a discount card that would get us a bottle of Chivaz (scotch), 7 bottles of tea, and a plate of fruit for only 200 kuai (of which I also paid for). About 5.5 hours, one huge alcoholic orange juice glass, 1.25 L of scotch, dancing, being offered to take home some guy’s (hot) girlfriend for the night (for a price of course), and one friend almost getting the boot, we decided it had been a successful night and I headed back to my hotel.

Jake, Marina, me

It was rainy the next day, and after waking up with a nice hangover, and getting some fried rice I finally met up with my Chinese parents. I always like hanging out with them, it feels good to have someone around that you can consider family. They also help me a lot with my Chinese because they force me to speak Chinese with them and always want to teach me and show me cool things.

My parents took my girlfriend and I to the plaza near Da Men Ta (Big Wild Goose Pagoda). The first thing that surprised me was there was a Dairy Queen! I was psyched! Despite having just eaten we decided some ice was in order. I got a chocolate shake and we talked about the previous day. After DQ  we explored the plaza and looked at a lot of the statues and fountains, which Lijun always tried to explain to me with Marina’s help.

We then checked out the Xi’an Art Museum (where I decided that I like looking at the photography a lot more than paintings), there was all kinds of really nice art to look at, and it was good to get out of the rain.

After the art museum we made our way to a hot pot restaurant nearby and had a nice dinner to celebrate mine and my Chinese mother’s (HeBin) birthdays. Hot pot is always a good (and a bit expensive) meal in China, and I really do like it, unfortunately I never feel very well for about an hour or two afterwards, it just hurts the stomach.

After dinner my parents gave me my birthday gift, a nice fall jacket! Since all the Chinese men are so small, they bought me a XXXL jacket, and it’s even a little snug. But I think it’ll fit soon, I can tell my waistline is shrinking little by little. To end the evening we saw a movie, I have no idea what it was called, but it was about spies in the Sino-Japanese war during the 1940’s or so. Fortunately, it was subtitled in English so I could understand what was happening. Following the movie it was an hour or so car ride back to school.

Overall, a different and busy, but still very satisfying birthday weekend.