Tuánjié, it can be used as noun means comity, rally, solidarity; or verb, means hold together, unite, solidify. To the best of my knowledge, Tuanjie Lake area hasn’t changed a lot compared to other places in Beijing, at least I still can find some relative traditional breakfast place around there. Once I talked with my friend who lives there, she told me a new change was coming.

She— Hey, do you notice many Xinjiangese around Tuanjie Lake area recently?

Me— Nope, but I took a nice photo of Xinjiang kid there, did you see that?

She— No. At least you’re luckier than me. What I see is the robberies, which are committed by Xinjiangese most, and a Xinjiang guy even followed me once, awful experience.

Me— Robbery?! Really?!

She— Sure, and the policemen don’t dare to intervene the robbery, otherwise they will be accused of destroying national solidarity(ç ´å??æ°‘æ—?团结)!

Me— (78 seconds laugh)…

Now, I’m wondering how many of you can get this post means, perhaps it doesn’t make sense to you…I’m wondering if it is a mistake that I prefer translating some words with Chinese characteristics into my crappy English, if it can be called as a mistake. Or, it’s an innovation in language? Ok, I’m bragging, I’m just get used to messing and cleaning to kill the time:P

Speaking of English, there’s another conversation between my mom and me. One of my habits is to chat with my mom after dinner. Today she asked why I slept later than usual.

Me— I was writing many looooooong English compositions, you know my English is poor so I have to spend more time writing them.

Ma— I’ve thought your English was good, I remembered you talked a lot with your friends in English on the phone

Me— Yeah, full of “Sorry?� “I can’t get it� “Can you speak as slowly as possible� “When we can have a conversation in Chinese?!�

Filed under: Out of Words
Leave a comment

· “如是我闻��为中国佛教文学的一�体�，优美而有文艺气�，鸠摩罗什译�加上“如是我闻�，味�就��了。

· 梵文也是一�文字语言，�以去学，但是它�真正的佛法是毫�相干的。

· 佛的大讲堂: 祗陀太��给孤独长者两人�力所盖，称为“祗树给孤独园�

· 比丘：中文的��就是“乞士�。��是讨饭的，讨一个永远�生��的精神食粮。所以，上乞法于佛，下乞食于一切众生，称为�佛比丘。

—选自《金刚�说什么》，�怀瑾著

佛的教育,简称“佛教�，而�宗教的范畴，这个定义使得施者与�者�以宽容地对待彼此而百无�忌。太久没看这方�的书了，最近想�新拾起（或是屡屡拾起，书都破了�还没看完），觉得这个缘分�能了，��对�起自己，尽管佛担心众生被��优美的文字迷惑，我确是愿�这样的迷惑，也愿努力生出一份自觉，以�沦为夸夸其谈�目�憎之徒。

我想我是迫�得已地在这里讲这个，是想活在一��想的公众监�下，这样我就�会�懒了。“��字委实已�美化我了，我的懒惰濒临昭然若�的边缘，所以出此下策，将“读书笔记�放在这里，当然多多少少，丰俭由人，�胜于无。

算一下，枕边的书有七八本，�水性扬花的个性几乎将它们全部撂至中途，除了永�的《红楼梦》和��的作�。��的书的确难�，他让我嗅到了这个城市久�的味�，也�尔生出�北京人的骄傲，说北京人的好�时，我�是忙�迭地往�凑呢。

今天的书记于上，�多，积少�多嘛:P,其实真实的�由是我刚刚被蚊�骚扰,所以以迅雷��掩耳之势转��为一个刽�手,并且毫�留情地将它们�尸于…墙上!!!

无�间�现了Montgomery Clift的官方网站，喜�自�，最喜欢电影里他那一派游移淡定的神情…

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
2 Comments

June heat is known as a prelude to a hot summer in Beijing. 38℃, the highest air temperature today, ground temperature was about 50℃ this afternoon. I hate cold weather, yet few know I sort of hate hot weather as well. I was a little ashamed to admit that I was even picky about the weather, until a friend told me I was wrong about myself. She told me I was just not good at adjusting my body temperature, which came as a relief.

Of course, I shouldn’t feel any relief yet. Since evolution determines the physical structure of a creature, which affects its control system, I have reason to believe sometimes I can’t adapt to “outside temperature� mentally. So may I say “temperature� was one of the reasons why I turned down two jobs recently?

Maybe. I don’t think I’ll go to any office everyday in a sweltering summer if the job is not attractive; it’s hard for me to look at the vampire face of editor-in-chief of some paper related to Chinese art (don’t tempt me with art- appearance!); I can’t work with old comrades who still spout nonsense like “You should work harder, even if you have to stay up often, the pay will not be high though�(damn it, I should work for WHOM?!), a woman said this to me, I really didn’t know if she was humiliating me or the calendar in her head was running a few decades late. I sound like a spoiled brat, huh? With a bit of luck, the brat already went and counted the coins in her piggy bank before she said “no�.

However, there’s no denying the fact that I’m really not adaptable. I’m off school for years, but still feel nervous for young students when the new semester comes; I don’t like to go out, but once I go out, it’s difficult to make me back unless I am bombarded by my mum’s warm nagging messages; I spend more time adjusting to new conditions than others do, the conditions include new places, new friends, new-style books…It's by no means an issue of biological adaptation, I think I just need far more time to ENJOY 'adapting'. We usually say “enjoy myself�, for me, not enjoy adapting to myself only.

BTW, you might find you like to take more naps in summer, it’s not a matter of laziness, so don’t blame yourself like a few friends do. Here is a Chinese saying: Sleepy in spring, tired in autumn, nodding off in summer and can’t wake up in winter. Hope it can become a theoretical justification for your yawning.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
3 Comments

Once I talked with my friend about the beauty in disaster and quoted Lao She ’s novel Such a Whole Life of Mine —“I have to say something that should earn a slap, that fire looks really fucking beautiful ①�, plus almost at the same time, another friend told me he was listening to the audio book of Lao She’s Lo-t'o Hsiang and the most famous Chinese stage play Teahouse will be performed in August by Beijing People's Art Theatre . And so, I picked up Lao She’s novels again.

Besides a good insight into the lives and philosophies of the common people of old Beijing, Lao She’s novels are also well known for using Beijing accent literarily. While I was reading, I wondered if the book would prefer to be heard rather than read, since new Beijing slang is replacing the old and to be honest, I can’t tell what slang only belong to Beijingers, as this city has become an immigrant one. I reckon some teenagers don’t even know how to pronounce them.

The Chinese government has been appealing for the protection of cultural property (when something needs an appeal for, it means it is already close to ruin), and I’m curious who is saving this audible property as it hovers at the edge of death. Most Chinese are familiar with an idiom“�破�立�(there is no construction without destruction), the key is why and how…? Oh, yes, problems are plentiful in every corner if you look or think a bit deeper, also I’m not far-seeing enough to judge what should be at the top of the list, actually at most all I can do is to write some stuff here, tell my friends about my feeling, and buy a ticket to appreciate and applaud Teahouse. But I believe if the applause is loud enough, some people who are in charge of related projects would hear that. Although nobody can stop the language being changed as time goes by, everything does change, at least please reserve some materials like good quality audio books and dvds with clearer images than this …

As for MY Beijing accent, hmmm… the fact is when I went elsewhere in China, few could tell where I was from. I was not allowed to speak with a strong Beijing accent because my dad thought it sounded uneducated (京油�/胡�串�), I guess he used to get provoked by the infamous Beijing seller’s attitude. My friend told me that I didn’t realize I just spoke with a Beijing accent when I took a taxi, I figure it’s because I’m an idiot with direction so to avoid being cheated, I have to “tell� them in my way that I am a local person (but still be cheated occasionally). Some people, particularly people from other provinces, don’t like the Beijing accent, that’s true, it sounds arrogant sometimes. I had a few fights with some rude Beijing bitches or assholes (I’m rude now, I know), their strong accent was one of the elements to annoy me… But to be fair, it’s not a matter of accent… don’t let stupid behavior make some kind of innocent language sounds stupid…

I won’t mention another author whose works are called new-beijing-accent novels, because I find more of the Beijing accent’s charms in Lao She’s works, including his plays. So, if you have time in September in Beijing, if your Chinese listening is not bad, hope you can try to watch this classic play Teahouse . I got a bad dream days ago—I was back in college, all the students in our class were sent to Shanghai to finish the first year and requested to do everything together. I look it as a nightmare because I really don’t like so-called collectivism, my teacher in high school even talked with me about that in private. So far, the only thing I regret about collectivism is I didn’t go to watch Teahouse with my classmates, you know, the cast at that time was a gathering of masters …我相信没人�以超越于是之的表演，�次在电视上看到他的“茶馆�，我都会被惊�；实际上在新版“茶馆�里，我觉得我唯一�以期待的是何冰的表演，尽管英若诚也是大家.

① My poor English translation of“说�该挨嘴巴的�，�真是好看��—《我这一辈�》

Filed under: Bunch of Contradictions
4 Comments

Today, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, is Dragon Boat Festival (Duan Wu Festival in Chinese, also called “double fifth�), I mentioned a bit in a post .

Got a few text messages from friends, the funnier one is: There’s another new function of your cellphone is to buy Zong Zi online. Please dial 110 for order, dial 119 for delivery. Contact me if you have any questions, website: triple w dot who-can-be-cheated-except-you dot com. Happy Dragon Boat Festival! (您手机6月起已具买粽�功能,预定粽�拨110,�货119,有疑问请与本中心�系,网�:三达�溜点��你��点抗么!端�快�!)

The funny part is the website was told by Chinese pronunciation, which sounded like “san (triple) da’bu’liu’(w) dian(dot) ……dian(dot) kang’mer!(com)�, I really enjoyed the “kang’mer� part, reminding me what I did on my middle school English textbook was filled with notes as wen’ni’la (vanilla, pronounced as same as “kiss you� in Chinese), wa’zi (“socks� in Chinese, but vase in English)…

Now we still use Chinglish pronunciation to make fun. I remember a few years ago, it seemed that everyone was crazy for studying an MBA, so the conversations between my friends and I were often like “What is this guy doing? �,“Studying for an ai’mer(M)BA�. Yeah…it was an upsurge in being businessman, so you couldn’t help suspecting the Cultural Revolution had gone but the Business Revolution had come at that time. By the way, if someone had an unhappy look, then she/he used to be described as “like who owes her/he millions dollars�, Chloe in 24 was that type, but I liked her:P

Happy Dragon Boat Festival:)

P.S. the Zong Zi in the photo were made by my mum, she made a lot, because my dad likes any food with sticky rice in it.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
1 Comment

I have such a PRODIGIOUS brain, it is filled with all sorts of wonderful ideas. Do you agree? If you do, please keep silent…or, tell me what popped into your head at the moment when I described my brain.

Filed under: Holiday of Thoughts
13 Comments

I have to admit I was tortured by stomachache last night as the result of excessive spicy food. But at the same time I must announce it was definitely my fault for being greedy for hotpot. My stomach felt like it was on fire as my feet felt the same way. Feet? This is because I used some stuff, which has a small bag full of powder of Chinese herbs for clearing the fire poison, to stick on my feet. The bag should have turned into brown which means it detoxified fire poison in your body more or less, the surprise I got was when I woke up at 2pm (I fell asleep at 7am, so you can imagine what a tough night I had), it almost turned into black and the bottom of my feet even still felt hot while “morning� showering. Well, I was a little bit excited by being a successful customer finally since it’s not easy for me to buy the satisfying things, as I’m tempted by ads sometimes or I really don’t have sharp eyes or enough patience to judge the quality of a product.

Another success I got was I made my favorite dessert and tasted good. It’s been raining in Beijing today so the weather was very enjoyable and fit for cooking, especially for my poor stomach. I happened to find a recipe website one day so decided to have a try sometime. It’s a famous Guangdong dessert that is not offered in many restaurants here. I can’t believe I did it even had a nice chewy texture , I can’t help showing off here (it’s said good chef must have high IQ, the fact proved I’m not the exception:P), don’t misunderstand it’s just milk, it’s kind of like pudding but without flour in it, the Chinese name is �皮炖奶(double-skinned braised milk??)

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
4 Comments

It’s about an unfinished post.

Hotpot, Sichuan Hotpot, it’s not kind of food make my mouth water but make my heart cry when I find nobody would like to keep me company to have it! They usually refuse me by various reasons (or, excuses) like “have hotpot in such a hot weather?� “Oh, for keeping fit, I won’t have that oily food as dinner,� or “er…it’s ridiculously spicy, you won’t like it if you have high taste for food�---a friend in need is a friend indeed? I’m wondering…

I feel like a complete loser who is incapable of calling friends to join in my hotpot dinner. Or looking on the bright side, they just have no ideas about how much I love it. I tried to explain it with beautifully literary words or professionally academic language, but you know, when you fall in love with something irrationally, it’s time to figure out what the “word is out� is. What I can say is I don’t care I will get a huge gross pimple as the old one hasn’t vanished ,I would rather use face treatment oil and have Chinese herbs which can help to avoid diarrhea after having hotpot. By the way,I like to have meat with hot peppery broth and vegetables with consomme.

Probably my love for hotpot is not pure yet, because I won’t have hotpot alone so I cannot order more dishes, as for buffet hotpot, I tried once, but totally spoiled my appetite, that’s why I have to go on looking for my hotpot partners… Actually I’m not greedy, at MOST I have hotpot MONTHLY, so if you like hotpot, welcome to Hotpot Club, our slogan is “Let’s Swim In The Hotpot! � I haven’t thought over the rules of this club, who cares, as long as you step into Hotpot Club, you become my sister and brother at once.

I’m not sure if you noticed that I didn’t wrote this in a bad mood, yes, I will go to my favorite hotpot restaurant tomorrow with a kind friend!! It’s on the famous ghost street which is named 金簋·�山城, it looks poor but if you go there around 6 to 8pm, I’m afraid you have to get a small table or wait in the queue, it’s worth trying if you’re interested in tasty hotpot. I will put the photos later.

Anyway, have a good weekend! I believe I will have:)

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
12 Comments

Song Li just e-mailed me two lovely photographs she took of seed pods on a flower head. Although I have often seen similar photos I never tire of the beauty that nature presents to us through form and pattern. Not only in this flower but also in many other apparently unrelated natural plants and animals (especially many sea creatures) we can find a process that is governed by strict mathematical rules. However nature is not always one to be so formal and often superimposes a lyrical variation in her work that takes away the stiff and rigid and encourages a second look for those that wish to delve deeper.

I really enjoyed the first photo that is comprised of 16 smaller repetitions on the theme. Here I feel the softness that nature imposes as the seeds begin to fall from the flower head in a random but controlled manner, the seeds falling away from outer edge toward the center. At the same time we still can take in the swirl of the original pattern and order, which we never entirely loose as the empty seed sockets once again remind us of the shape in negative.

Artists and scientists often do not see eye to eye when looking at exactly the same thing. Too bad I think, after all there is so much to share, why bother to argue who is right and who is wrong.

Written by John

P.S. Special thanks to John who teaches me a lot, it’s always enjoyable to share with him many views of art.

By the way, John, Li Zhengdao (scientist) is my professor’s good friend, it seems so far they haven’t fight (at least not in the public:P ).Besides, an exhibition will be held in China National Museum of Fine Arts next year, the theme is Art and Science. The first exhibition with the same theme was quite a hit in China, I didn’t enjoy much though, was yawning again…

Filed under: Sense of Seeing
Leave a comment