Thanks for writing! This all resonates a lot with my recent visits. I can see the dichotomy of the foreigners now in Beijing (especially if they haven’t been to China long) not noticing the nuances of economic slowdown.
I really enjoyed reading your perspective on your trip and May is lovely compared to the brutal humidity and heat of July. I have lived in BJ for 30 years and Shichahai for the past 10 years just west of Gulou. One doesn't notice changes as much while in the middle of the sea. Am guessing the Gong An hassle was at M on BaoChao hutong. I hate to admit that Chengdu and Shanghai's foreigner music scenes now seems to be better than BJ with its 5,000 rmb fines and question marks about visa renewals. But there still are some under the radar venues. But life goes on in its merry ways in this very livable city. Too many tourists around my hood, but fewer closed shops that are evident in other neighborhoods as a result
I lived in Shichihai as well, for around a year! That's what I meant when I said I used to live in the Gulou area. I was in 龙头井胡同. It was always packed with Chinese tour groups on my street.
As far as I understand, the "Gong An hassle" affected various different venues. I'm sure there are still some places that are flying under the radar. And yeah, life goes on. By the way, I Googled you and found some reports in the Chinese media about your work as a volunteer. Congrats! I'm glad you enjoyed my piece.
“ The cool thing about the actual Dead Sea is that you can float on its surface, because it’s so salty. This is apparently possible in Yuncheng’s lake as well, but as far as I could tell visitors aren’t expected or even allowed to enter the water. I went to what seemed like the most popular spot, and there was no sign of anyone doing so.”
Bizarre lol. I wonder why they didn’t bother building a shallow bathing/paddling area at least. I imagine they spent plenty of cash turning it into a tourist spot. Environmental assessments too much of a faff?
But I went to the ares where visitors seem to go, and there was no sign of anyone doing that. There also wasn't a shallow bathing or paddling area. It's true that the lake is large and I didn't explore it all, but there were no signs or indications that there was any other area where you could enter the water. The whole lake has been turned into an ecological protection area, and the water seemed clean, so I don't think the issue is the environmental assessment.
Makes me miss those old hutongs!
Thanks for writing! This all resonates a lot with my recent visits. I can see the dichotomy of the foreigners now in Beijing (especially if they haven’t been to China long) not noticing the nuances of economic slowdown.
I really enjoyed reading your perspective on your trip and May is lovely compared to the brutal humidity and heat of July. I have lived in BJ for 30 years and Shichahai for the past 10 years just west of Gulou. One doesn't notice changes as much while in the middle of the sea. Am guessing the Gong An hassle was at M on BaoChao hutong. I hate to admit that Chengdu and Shanghai's foreigner music scenes now seems to be better than BJ with its 5,000 rmb fines and question marks about visa renewals. But there still are some under the radar venues. But life goes on in its merry ways in this very livable city. Too many tourists around my hood, but fewer closed shops that are evident in other neighborhoods as a result
I lived in Shichihai as well, for around a year! That's what I meant when I said I used to live in the Gulou area. I was in 龙头井胡同. It was always packed with Chinese tour groups on my street.
As far as I understand, the "Gong An hassle" affected various different venues. I'm sure there are still some places that are flying under the radar. And yeah, life goes on. By the way, I Googled you and found some reports in the Chinese media about your work as a volunteer. Congrats! I'm glad you enjoyed my piece.
“ The cool thing about the actual Dead Sea is that you can float on its surface, because it’s so salty. This is apparently possible in Yuncheng’s lake as well, but as far as I could tell visitors aren’t expected or even allowed to enter the water. I went to what seemed like the most popular spot, and there was no sign of anyone doing so.”
Bizarre lol. I wonder why they didn’t bother building a shallow bathing/paddling area at least. I imagine they spent plenty of cash turning it into a tourist spot. Environmental assessments too much of a faff?
On the net I found some (very old) photos of people floating on the lake's surface: http://torch.2008.sina.com.cn/hd/other/2008-04-25/170274539.shtml
But I went to the ares where visitors seem to go, and there was no sign of anyone doing that. There also wasn't a shallow bathing or paddling area. It's true that the lake is large and I didn't explore it all, but there were no signs or indications that there was any other area where you could enter the water. The whole lake has been turned into an ecological protection area, and the water seemed clean, so I don't think the issue is the environmental assessment.
Sounds like a nice homecoming.