Blogging from Baoding

[Don]

I am never very good with the squat. How much of my pants do i remove is my worry. It is best if i take off my pants completly, but it takes longer and i know the locals do not remove the pants. I am only talking abotu number 2. Plus, if i take my pants off where do i hold them since no place on wall to hang them usally. So many issues when you travel.

I also really enjoy the read. Take as many classes as you can, most of the info is hard to practice and learn in the US. Take more Taichi if you can.

Edited March 29, 2008 by Don (see edit history)

[david_dawei]

[Roger:] The ubiquitous "R" finds it's way into may words in the northern beijing dialect areas.. as a suffix joiner; Yi ping pi jiu (a bottle of beer) would be stated as yi pingr pi jiu... So, not sure if an "R" is being added to the "He" part??.. will have to listen around here to others pronounce it. My wife is a 'proper' pronunciation maniac... just ask Dennis or DanR whom she would correct without hesitation...

 

 

He isn't kidding. David I'm surprised you don't get smacked for using dialect.

 

Where is the throat treetment in your story??? What did she come up with?

 

Did you try the black pepper tea? Are you sucking on salted dried plums?

antibiotics

[david_dawei]

Randy is right.. and probably because they first do it as children and already so low to the ground that it becomes a natural way flatfooted. I can do this since in wrestling, we used to do single leg squats with the other leg straight outward in front of you... the trick is to lean forward as you squat and... that is the ultimately in balance.

 

And as Don suggests... the clearance is at stake here! and frankly it's more an issue for the front IMO ... too bad they never came up with a potty trainer seat

 

Don... realized I explicitly answer the clearance question... just need to pull them down a little... keep the pants above the knees and when you bend, then everything important is hopefully below the knees

Edited March 30, 2008 by DavidZixuan (see edit history)

[david_dawei]

March 29, Day 3:

 

I am the ultimate anti-morning person... so is my wife. When she first came to the US we were in the habit to stay up often till 1-3am watching chinese streamer video of american tv and shows. Periodically we break from this late night habit but midnight is not unusual most nights.

 

The one exception is when I am in china; the time change and self-imposed staying awake for two days prior to the first night in china always flip my own clock around. As I state, I am instantly on chinese time due to this approach and have slept wonderfully the first three nights so far... and am up anywhere from 4-7am without the feeling to sleep anymore.

 

The real benefit is the chance to go out and observe and experience as the chinese do. But our routine, if one can say that after two days development, is to eat and then go walk for about 1.5 hours just to look around and be in the crowd... cross the streets in death defying manner, and buy from the vendors. Today, we went to an outdoor mart where everything from food to clothes are sold.

 

But the real lesson learned is that of timing... I'm trying to get back to the Tai Ji I started in CA with DanR and Dennis... after spotting who is doing the same form, I know where to come back the next day... but I still need to get up earlier than the last two days.. I'll need to be at the park by 6:00-6:30am if I want to participate... so either eat afterwards or eat really early.

[david_dawei]

Traveler's Observation #2:

 

I think there is one myth to dispel, if it exists... but may go like this: Chinese food is healthy.

 

To first give credit where credit is due, their overall cusine, pleasing colors and presentation, speed of delivery, taste and inherent focus on nutrition, and economical value is second to none around the world.

 

But they know what most of the world knows and our mom's taught up; To eat a hearty breakfast, however fattening it really is. That the chinese eat their share of fat must be accepted; they consume alot of meat... but 'breakfast in baoding' is a feast in fatty, deep fried foods for sure. Maybe it's the north where extra fat is appreciated (ladies can say each other are fat and get a thank you; they appreciate men with a little fat too). But I think it's pure pragmatism; Fat is a source of energy and the digestion helps to get the body functions moving, and the daily grind needs plenty of energy (at least now, facing the cold mornings on bikes or just walking).

 

The chinese don't allow the elements to hold sway over them, they grin and bear their environment and existence. There is an austere stare in the morning cold and again in the evening chill ride home... Couple that with the sudden emergence of an mei guo ren in their sights and you get this completely dead look and usually I like to stare back and usually they stop. It's those few moments when one keeps staring through you that you really wonder what's going on in their head... and it's probably nothing at all... just doing their daily duty... helped by the morning fat.

[Dennis143]

David, you actually got me to dream about China, last night. I was picking up trash from the streets of Boading and then trying to balance over a squatter...not even sure which emoticon is appropriate, as the trip to China was awesome plus I maintained my balance by staying flat footed!

 

So, I'll just retire tonight without your daily travelog and guess that you're trying out different masseuses...sigh.

[david_dawei]

David, you actually got me to dream about China, last night. I was picking up trash from the streets of Boading and then trying to balance over a squatter...not even sure which emoticon is appropriate, as the trip to China was awesome plus I maintained my balance by staying flat footed!

 

So, I'll just retire tonight without your daily travelog and guess that you're trying out different masseuses...sigh.

Just so you can feel more comfortable in your dream-not-true existence... I'll share one small piece of my morning routine:

1. Wake up anywhere from 5-7am... due to the chill from no heating, trying to decide how quickly to jump up out of bed and what clothes to throw on.. oh yea, I only have one pair for the two months

2. Go into kitchen to boil water.

3. Shave and clean out sink, which empties into a bucket.

4. Dump bucket of water down the flat toilet

 

As for massage.. I'll save that story for my daily update... finally had the electric massage this morning... going to 'point' massage this afternoon.

[Smitty]

You can tell an Easterner from a Westerner in this respect - an Easterner will squat with their feet completely flat, and their knees virtually at a 180 degree angle. The Westerner will squat on the balls of their feet, leaning slightly forward to keep their balance. The Easterner's balance is maintained by the flatness of their feet, and that the center of gravity is above the feet.

Just a bit confused, but isn't a 180 degree angle a straight line?

[Dan R]

David Ping says Hi to both of you. But she is trying to figure out how you can do these things and have time left to post it all. Your schedule of the day did not include computer time either.

[david_dawei]

You can tell an Easterner from a Westerner in this respect - an Easterner will squat with their feet completely flat, and their knees virtually at a 180 degree angle. The Westerner will squat on the balls of their feet, leaning slightly forward to keep their balance. The Easterner's balance is maintained by the flatness of their feet, and that the center of gravity is above the feet.

Just a bit confused, but isn't a 180 degree angle a straight line?

take the starting position... standing straight upward... take the squating position... virtually 180 degrees of standing... so your right, the squat is a straight [angle] line from the standing.

[david_dawei]

March 31, Day 4:

My wife is falling behind on providing me the meals in chinese... and I realized I fell behind one day since I didn't account for the 'next day' arrival... so a day appears to skip!

 

Today's events were as follows:

Get up and shave as described in previous post, and go eat breakfast. I had mentioned that I wanted jiao zi (dumplings) for breakfast and my wife laughed heartily; said that on my very first visit to china I only wanted a very simple breakfast of eggs and never wanted meat; now I ask for Donkey and dumplings... she exclaimed I'm turning too much into a chinese man.

 

For breakfast we had a dumpling soup and a spicy noodle soup... after that we walked around for a while to find the bank of china... then went to get electric massage. The technique is as follows:

The doctor places his bare heals on a bad of wet connective pad which is plugged into the wall, and sits on a foam insulating mat; I'll call this the positive. Then a strap is placed around your body with a wet cloth in contact to your body; I'll call this the negative. His body acts as the connective wires and his hands apply the electricity to your body as he touches you. Essentially, you are getting electrocuted and your paying for it. The doctor will apply the charge to your points and your body will jump; I"ll just say that I think I have a slight feeling of what it feels like the moment one goes into a stroke. Needless to say, I had them look at my back, shoulder and knees... and we're going back tomorrow and my wife plans to study under him for a month. I can see why she likes this as the doctor is very careful and focused on his art, as she is.

 

In the afternoon, I went to get manual 'point' massage... the lady doesn't quite know what she's doing as far as point/meridian goes but it's not a bad massage if one ignores the point issue... and iit's just about 30 steps from the apartment.

 

But there are two massage places within 30 seconds of our apartment; add in a few minutes and the number raises to about 6. The very best ones require a taxi and on this trip I don't think we'll spend the money and time for them too much.

 

On my second trip, I had a massage which left me black and blue for a week... that was supposed to be "medical massage"... I think the idea is you go get medical attention afterwards! But I think we've had the entire range of massage in her hometown during my 5 trips here... the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

In general, what I recognize is that a woman is generally better than a man at massage... JMO. because, the men will use their strength too far and stay with a perceived problem too long; if they find a knot in your neck, you'll wish they didn't find it... and they leave it about 10 minutes too late. A woman tends to operate by a plan; never staying too long anywhere since the overall plan has been laid out and should be followed. Men are obviously stronger but I wouldn't sacrifce that for a proper massage... women who are smart in the art will know the points and nullify the need for strength. To date, the best massage we've had, and we agree, is a lady we frequented in our previous trip 1.5 years ago.

 

I've got a back condition which is my 5th vertebre is out of position; I'll spare the medical term... but I have been willing to let anyone look at my back short of a surgeon who can pin it back in place, and place me on my back for 4 months... I've only meet one chinese guy who actually attempted to reposition it by working my legs like a puppet, and I think he is the only one who actually understood you cannot deal with it as a chiropractor nor a massage therapist; neither is really dealing with the problem but with what they are limited to do and understand. I will go see two bone doctors here and may revisit one doctor at the local hospital who took xrays at the last trip... he put me on a stretching rack (yes, mideval style) and that is partly what I need... to be pulled apart at my limbs to straighten my spine... and I'll need a little more er guo tou to straight out my brain...

 

Speaking of drinking... I've now had two meals where bai jiu was served... The first time was a brownish version where the guy said this was good for sex; He tanked down two bottles himself and I had but two glasses and my head spun. I don't think one can have much sex after drinking this. The second adventure was meet with quick effect as well... it will take me about two weeks of drinking this moonshine before I can stand toe to toe with most here... once I get my tolerance up, I can drink a tall bottle with another. For some unexplained reason, I can drink almost a bottle myself some days and barely a few glasses another... that adds to the whole mystery of this white toxic fuel.

[Joanne]

Looks like your main mission of this trip is to do a survey of Chinese massages.

[rogerluli]

David what's the house situation in Baoding? i remember you bought two houses there about the same time (2006) that we bought ours. Are prices up since then? People still complaining they're too high? See any evidence of prices falling? How about house sizes...I am constantly being... by Lu Li that I insisted on buying TOO BIG houses...but it looked to me that Chinese themselves wanted larger houses than what they had been stuck with before...

[david_dawei]

Looks like your main mission of this trip is to do a survey of Chinese massages.

I think all our previous trips were a survey... this is a mission to cash in on the survey but they are getting our cash

[david_dawei]

David what's the house situation in Baoding? i remember you bought two houses there about the same time (2006) that we bought ours. Are prices up since then? People still complaining they're too high? See any evidence of prices falling? How about house sizes...I am constantly being... by Lu Li that I insisted on buying TOO BIG houses...but it looked to me that Chinese themselves wanted larger houses than what they had been stuck with before...

Some prices here are clearly higher... housing seems to be going through what FL is experiencing; it would be a buyer's market if people would drop prices but nobody wants to drop them and therefore nobody wants to buy them... renting is too easy to do and the renters cut out without notice if wanted and will get any pro-rated amount due.

 

She's talked of 'trading-up' one of the properties but I don't think they will sell right now. Baoding is quite a poor city so some people are willing to live very meagerly in small filthy places. I've seen her elder brother's nicely sized place but the family got that as a result of having previouly owned farm land; the government gave farmer's a place in the city and then they expanded it. Her uncles place is outside the city a little and big.. but a very traditional looking flat space where about 10 families can live together. Her cousin has a very nice newer looking place outside the city which is very comfortably sized. her four friends all have very nice looking apartments and represent those who as a couple work hard to own a decent place above the filth. She's now talking of a joint ownership with one friend of commercial property.