This past weekend we took advantage of Will's last weekend before school resumed, and spent Saturday and Sunday playing. We started our day on Saturday at our favorite brunch spot, the Vineyard, which is in a hutong near the Lama Temple. We ended up running into several senior managers from my work - guess they know where to get a good english breakfast too!
Then we went to the 798 district - an area in Beijing we've heard a ton about and have been looking forward to exploring. 798 is is an old factory district, which is now filled with tons and tons of cutting-edge art galleries. We just happened upon the opening of a really cool exhibit, from an artist who lives in a small town near the Yangtze River, home also to the Three Gorges Dam. In 2009 the artist's town will be submerged in water to build what is supposed to be China's largest contruction project since the Great Wall - a massive hydroelectric dam. The artist's photographs were amazing. He took pictures of residents in his town at familiar sights, and using digital techniques pictured them submerged under water, wearing masks and snorkels. Only here would we have the opportunity to meet the artist, have a glass of wine while looking at his photographs - and wonder how things can be so easily destroyed, to build something new and modern.....something we see almost too often it seems in Beijing.
We wandered around the other galleries, including a very cool exhibit by an Italian artist, which featur
ed interactive mirrors and cardboard mazes. I'm not sure yet about the deeper meaning of the exhibit, but nonetheless it was fun to wander around the maze and look at ourselves in the images.Saturday night we went to our favorite Indian restaurant in Beijing -- but I have to say we haven't found Indian food here that rivals Cambridge (especially Punjabi Dahba!)
Sunday I took a cooking class with our friend AJ. It was a lot of fun. The class was in a hutong near a neat street, Nan Luo Gu Xiang, which has a lot of fun shops and restaurants. We learned to cook 4 dishes, mostly Sichuan (spicy) style. We'll have to see if I can replicate any of the dishes at home.
Well - the next blog i write will be when the girls from home are here! Emily, Caty, Tara and Kate arrive TOMORROW - i can't wait!
