It’s HOT. On top of that, the air has been so sticky and polluted over the last few days that you almost need to take a pair of goggles and a snorkle out with you because you’re swimming in it rather than walking in it. This dreaded Beijing Summer that I’d heard so much about (which I thought we had met a month ago but was just the pre-cursor) has finally arrived, wielding flaming nunchucks and bodybags for the unseasoned westerners like us. For the last two weeks the average maximum during the day has been around 37deg, and catching glimpses of blue sky through the smog has been the exception rather than the usual (I guess we were spoilt with blue sky days during the winter months and leading into Spring).
From what I have been told by the old-hand expats, the Beijing weather patterns can be forecasted and explained by two simple rules:
1. Every time it rains in winter, it gets colder and drier.
2. Every time it rains in summer, it gets hotter and more humid.
I'm not sure about the 1st one, because to be honest we didn’t see too much precipitation around the place in winter (notwithstanding our blog on the snow fall, which was instigated by the Government through cloud seeding to relieve the drought). The 2nd rule though has certainly proven to be the case, and when it does rain in summer it REALLY rains. All up we have had around 5 real bouts of the wet stuff since the mercury headed north, 3 of which have been Darwin summer-like thunderstorms that has resulted in overfilled gutters and another being so serious that it turned day into night and even reached as far as the news in Australia (check out the ABC news footage here filmed at 11 o'clock in the morning). Number 5 just so happens to be going on while I’m writing this in between (of all things, ironically) sessions of the Ashes delayed by rain. It’s cooled the air significantly now, but as I’ve learnt here in China it’s not only blessings that come in disguise. And as the heat is my enemy, trying to sleep in it some nights even with the aircon is like trying to sleep having rolled in a tub of coke beforehand.
It's not to say we haven't had the odd spectacular blue day and great evening skyline though, as the random shot and pic from my test run of the camera tripod below can attest too.
One of the few True Blue skies we've had recently. Looks almost like a Canberra skyline.
Beijing by night, from the back balcony of our apartment.
Outside of the very ordinary weather there has been a few big developments since our last post. Maddy is currently on her big school holiday break which spans for 7 weeks, four of which will be spent at holiday camp while the other 3 we have either been keeping her busy or will be finding ways to do so. The apartment compound has organised a roster of parents to take kids in activities, so I did the only natural thing and put my name down for leading a session of the paper mache (for those who witnessed the “Yellow Submarine Incident” and have been trying to forget, apologies for wasted repression therapy. For those who were lucky enough to be spared, know that there is a God and he has looked out for you. Except for the fact that I have included a picture below ;-).
Apologies to the others in the photo who I couldn't cut out.
Given the 3hrs I have set aside for wrangling the paper mache padawans I don’t think we will get to the scale of pumping out any minature naval defence subs, but I will admit I am looking forward to it (and probably a bit too much for an adult, but hey, everyone needs to have some form of ‘artistic’ outlet).
Whilst this will provide a great respite from my usual hectic life, it is about to get even busier as I have managed to score a job here managing the budgeting, corporate planning and reporting for one of the department offices located in China, as well as looking after their process improvement initiative (something dear to my heart). I had gone for a another job in the office which would have given me the opportunity to travel to Mongolia a few times a year, but on the positive side this one gives me the opportunity to travel to Australia instead which can’t be a bad thing for my lungs. Plans are to start the job a few weeks before I head back to Oz, and now incorporate some training back at head office while I’m in Canberra for my first week.
Nature for the Masses, and Chinese Construction Management 1A
One of the few holiday program activities that Maddy and I have done so far was an organised hike down the Long Quan Yu Gorge last Tuesday. Around 2hrs drive NW of Beijing, the hike required us to do some serious climbing over rocks as well as climbing up along the walls of the gorge on a few occasions. The most ‘fun’ part was the traversing of a very dodgy stick bridge that had been bodgied up to get hikers across a gap between two rocks, leaving only the side of the cliff to grab onto. Maddy was a few positions ahead at this stage, and was over and down the even dodgier ladder by the time I had to summon all my balancing skills to shimmy across.
Fellow hikers test out the first part of the gap bridge, before reaching the final challenge. Our final assessment on the structure? ...
...FAIL.
The last bit of the trip also provided a bit of excitement and randomness, with the path ending at a spot giving us two options for proceeding. Option 1 was to take a very dicey path along the edge of the elevated cliff, and then finish off the crossing of the water hole through knee deep water. The 2nd option involved jumping into the water from the start, and included a neck-deep section requiring me to carry the camera and other backpacks above my head. After trying the first option to the half way point Maddy and I both decided to take the swimming option, knowing that we would be cooling off anyway.
Everyone took the opportunity to cool off in the cool water at the end of the hike, while the local in the right of the picture continued to collect sand from the bottom of the pool.
What was obvious though from the rubbish lying around was the little regard that the locals had for their limited nature areas. Whereas in Australia most nature-loving people abide by the “take out what you take in” rule, in China it seems to be a “take in what you don’t want any more” rule. There was litter lying along the track from walkers before us, and the various water holes littered on the top with floating rubbish. A lot of sites in China come complete with various locals collecting rubbish for recycling money, but this spot must have been too secluded for that particular activity.
Near death experiences and Ian Kiernan withdrawals aside it was a great day out, with some GREAT scenery and the hike ending at a large relatively clean swimming hole where we were able to cool off while we waited for the bus to come and pick us up.
Maddy taking the more adventurous route along the track.
The path most trodden, judging by the rubbish. A look back up the gorge. 
That trail looks good enough to mountain bike on, if only it wasn't for the REALLY rocky and wet sections.Human Trafficking
On the human import and export front, we are looking forward to the arrival of my cousin early next month for 8 days on her return from a trip to US (assuming we didn't send her scrambling to the flight cancellation and refund desk with our first paragraph). The process of getting her through the Chinese Visa hoops has certainly highlighted some new visitation requirements from the Chinese Government, which is good as it makes the process for my parents a bit clearer as we go about helping them sort their paperwork for their visit in mid Sept when I bring them back to Beijing.
I'm also counting down the days for my return to Oz, to check out the MTB Worlds at Stromlo and to catch up with family and friends (and now to do some job training). I'm a bit worried about this one on the fitness front, with all my old riding buddies telling me stories about their new-found riding fitness and zest for the exercise.
In between entertaining Maddy and organising travel we both continue to be very busy with our extra-curricular activities. Amy has some mystery meeting every morning at 5.30 with someone called Jim and comes back red and sweaty, and is also enjoying wushu with me on Monday evenings. I’m currently between seasons in the Beijing International Darts League and the Ten Pin bowling (the latter of which I was going to pass up next season, but am finding it fun) as well as getting back into the language lesson on Thursday and Tai Chi on Friday. I am also looking to get back on the bike in the next month so I can at least keep up with my riding mates on the Canberra MTB trail climbs when I head back, including a few planned trips out to the Olympics course (having done a 2nd one last weekend, but more of that in the Part 2 of the blog).
As you have probably guessed this is Part 1 of a 2 part blog, and although I'm slack on this front I do have the 2nd part half written so hopefully will be up sooner rather than later (covering our continued adventures in the orient and even a few more not-so-well translated signs).
On a final note (if you haven't noticed it already) Amy has started a new section of our Award Winning** blog, which you can get to via the little sidebar to the right of this post. We hope you enjoy it.
** Disclaimer: Awards may or may not be recognised outside of our apartment in the People's Republic of China.
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