Call for Papers: 2012 Western Conference of the Association for Asian Studies

Both graduate and undergraduate students are invited to submit individual paper and panel proposals. The theme of this year's conference is "50 Years of Exploring Frontiers"

The conference will be held at Brigham-Young University, Idaho from October 11-13. For more information, please visit: http://www.wcaas2012.com/index.html

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Information about conference travel support for GW students:

The Sigur Center provides travel support to graduate and undergraduate students invited to present scholarly papers at conferences. If you are selected to present an Asian Studies-specific paper, you may apply for conference travel funding. Please submit the following three items to Dr. Ed McCord (mccord@gwu.edu) and Matt Grieger (mgrieger@gwu.edu): (1) confirmation that your paper has been accepted for the conference; (2) an itemized budget; and (3) your academic paper. Requests for funding are decided on a rolling basis. Students who seek and receive cost-sharing commitments from other GW and non-GW sources will be considered favorably.

Sigur Center Grant for Field Research for Summer 2012

It has been three weeks since I started my work as a visiting research fellow at Asia Center at Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea.
Today is another hot summer day...Every single person that I have met on bus, at school, and at convenient stores complained about this severe drought.
Some of them said sometimes they felt guilty even when they brushed teeth while running water, since this drought is causing much difficulties for farmers in Korea.



The picture uploaded shows the dried-out bed of Taepyong reservoir in Nonsan, South Chungcheong, which is craked like a turtle's shell. This is the worst drought in 104 years.

It could sound absurd to some people who are not familiar with Korean superstition, but we, Koreans are accustomed to blaming corrupted politicians for drought. When we have a severe drought, just like the one we are having, we are not reluctant to point our fingers at politicians, who we think did not care for the people who put their trust on them. When the politicians fail to care for the people, Koreans believe, the God (Haneul in Korean) gets raged and gives the people natural disaster in the form of drought, flood and so on.

Koreans now blame the politicians who are heavily involved in "Color" debate, not taking care of falling Korean economy partly due to EU financial crisis. The Left, called the Red by conservatives, is blamed for both politically using North Korea to regain their power and rewarding the North for their bad behavior; the Right is accused of spreading McCarthyism to keep their power intact.

How can I laugh at those politicians using the so-outdated word, "McCarthyism" to get the people's attention? In the post-Cold War era, Korea is so "Cold-War."

Opinion leaders in Korea urge Korean politicians to do something about both China heavily remilitarizing and Japan that could go nuclear in the near future. When Korea's giant neighbors seek for ways to balance by engaging in rearming, Korea is leaving behind because of domestic politics.

Korean politics seem to have reached a contentious limit. It seems just yesterday that people were criticizing the backwardness of Korean politics for dragging down the Korean economy, but now it has become a problem not just for the economy, but also for the national security. And maybe, the politicians could be the ones that are causing this severe drought.

We, Koreans, are thirsty for politicians who can get everything back on track!

Grant for Asian Language study in Asia - Hindi in India: Landour Language School

It is now been two weeks since I arrived in Landour to study Hindi. Coming from Delhi, the first sensation is one of immense relief: set at 2800 meters high amidst century-old woodlands, Landour offers a precious respite from the pre-monsoon swelter of the plains. In some nights, one may even feel the need to wear a sweater.

  I walk this path every morning to school

Landour is not so much a town or a village as it is a place. In addition to the school, which is located on the grounds of the Kellogg Church built by American Presbyterians in 1903, there are two other points of confluence: Chaar Dukan (literally, and fittingly, ‘Four Shops’) and Sister’s Bazaar. The latter is composed by three shops, two of which belong to Mr Prakash so that while he, his son and his son-in-law sit in the grocery, his wife and daughter sell local handicrafts next door. This should give you an impression of the dimension of the place. I am staying a little further down the road in a homestay with a room overlooking the Himalayas (though the dust and the smog from trash burning have prevented me from actually catching a glimpse).

The Landour Language School

Now, on the Hindi education. After two weeks, I have nothing but praise to say about the Landour Language School. The course is very well drafted, the professors are professional and the school is generally run like a Swiss clock. Classes last 50 minutes (a bang marks their termination) and each class is taught by a different professor so that each hour students can be seen exchanging rooms (and professors). There are several professors and students request which ones they wish to have on the following week (forms must be placed in a box until 12:00 every Wednesday). Although a complete match between student’s wishes and professors’ schedules is often difficult to obtain, my experience so far has been quite positive as the school has generally accommodated my wishes. I am taking four classes each day (individually) and the day’s works are as follows: first class grammar, second reading, third vocabulary, and fourth speaking and revision.

Vocabulary and plural drill

In these two weeks my progress has been quite astonishing. The introductory Hindi manual has 30 chapters, designed for an intensive course lasting three months. Since I already knew some Hindi, in the first week I was able to move quickly until chapter eight. This covered the entire alphabet, present tenses of several verbs (to come; to go; to eat; to drink; to give; to take; among others), personal pronouns as well as basic questions (who are you?; what is your name?; etc). During the second week, I moved on until chapter thirteen. This included plurals of masculine and feminine nouns, oblique forms of plural nouns (plural + post positions), numbers, date and time, days of the week, infinite, past and ultra-polite imperative. Thus, in these two weeks I covered almost half of the introductory course. Although the level of difficulty increases from here onwards, I am hopeful that I will be able to finish the manual in the following weeks. Until then, thanks for reading!

Diogo Lemos

PhD student in Political Science 

2012 Sigur Center Grant for Asian Language Study in Asia

Hindi in India

Sigur Center 2012 Chinese Language Grant Fellow in Taiwan: National Taiwan University

Wow, it's been such a crazy start to the summer! School ended just about a month ago, but it already feels like a year. I am currently studying Chinese at National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taiwan, and it was a wild journey to get here.

After leaving Washington DC on May 15th, I went back to my home in Southern California. I spent three days in California before I had to board a plane to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Although classes at NTU didn't start until a week later, I was in a rush to get to Taiwan because the language center at NTU required all students to take an orientation exam to determine everyone's language ability so that all the students could be placed in appropriate classes. It was a extremely tiring journey..it was the first time I've traveled such a long distance in a short period of time.

National Taiwan University (commonly known as 台大 "Taida" in Taiwan) is commonly recognized as the top-ranking college in Taiwan. It is located in Taipei, Taiwan's capital, and it has an extensive history dating back to the Japanese colonial era in Taiwan. The university was established in 1928, when the Japanese government controlled the island. Many of the buildings at NTU were built by the Japanese.

Below is a picture of an administrative building at NTU. Like many of the other buildings at NTU, the walls appear to be old with faded colors. This building however, also has holes that have been indented into the walls. This building has been preserved in this fashion because the holes are bullet holes remaining from World War II. Thus, NTU also serves special historical significance.

Taipei has an extensive public transportation system that includes three major metro lines, along with several other smaller lines, and a myriad of buses. NTU is easily accessible by metro or bus. The front gate of NTU is across the street from 公館 "Gongguan." Gongguan is a popular destination for Taiwanese people and a tourist destination. In the afternoon, Gongguan has many street vendors and shops selling various products and small restaurants that are distinctly characteristic of Taipei. At night, Gongguan turns into a vibrant night market. In future posts, I'll introduce some must-go places in Gongguan that you should visit if you ever get the opportunity to come to Taiwan. Below is a picture of Gongguan from the front gate of NTU.

I have been taking classes at NTU for four weeks now. I travel to campus by public transportation. Although the NTU campus is easily accessible, I live pretty far away from campus, so it takes me about an hour to get to my class. What's worse is that I was placed in the 8:20am class..and I am NOT a morning person. I usually get up at 6am, and leave the door by 7am. First, I have to ride the bus for 30 minutes (the traffic is horrible in the morning!) to get to the Xindian District Office metro station, and then ride the metro for 15 minutes to get to Gongguan station. After that, I have to walk for another 15-20 minutes to get to my classroom because the NTU campus is HUGE. Most students at NTU have bikes, because it's a necessity in order to get around campus. I'm in the process of applying for a bike permit so that I don't have to walk to get to my classroom..especially as Taipei's summer weather continues to get hotter and more humid. Hopefully, by summer's end, I'll adapt to being a morning person and have the courage to register for 8am classes when I get back to GW.

Below is me standing in the NTU campus. Behind me is the library, which is probably the most recognizable building on campus because it is at the center of campus. The library is extremely big, and the first floor even has an museum exhibit displaying ancient artifacts.

I am extremely excited for what's to come the rest of the summer, and I want to thank the Sigur Center for giving me the opportunity to be in Taiwan studying Chinese. I am truly grateful and blessed!

Peace,

Chris Wang

B.A. International Affairs, Minor in Sociology 2014

Sigur Center 2012 Chinese Language Fellow

National Taiwan University, Taiwan

International education opportunities in Asia

Teach for China (TFC) is hiring program managers for education programs in Yunnan and Guangdong, China.

Details: http://www.idealist.org/view/job/mgwDjdPh74bD/

WorldTeach is recruiting volunteer teachers for programs in India, Micronesia, American Samoa, and the Marshall Islands.

Details: http://www.worldteach.org/site/c.buLRIbNOIbJ2G/b.8092815/k.8CF5/News__Openings.htm

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Other resources for teaching in Asia:

National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
http://www.ncuscr.org/teach-china

SEF-International
http://sef-international.com/

2012 Chinese Language Study in Taiwan Fellow--Around Taipei

My name is Kyle Churchman and I am rising senior at the Elliott School majoring in International Affairs and Chinese. I am currently in Taiwan studying Chinese with the support of the Sigur Center’s grant for Chinese language study in Taiwan, and look forward to sharing some of my experiences this summer on this blog! I hope that whoever reads my posts will find them interesting and informative. I also want to thank the Sigur Center at the onset for giving me this opportunity to travel to and study in Taiwan this summer.

In this blog post, I thought I would write about some of my various experiences so far in Taipei. In the three weeks that I have been here so far, I have already traveled to many of Taipei’s famous cultural and historical sites, and would like to describe some of the places that I thought were the most interesting.

Within my first week of arriving in Taiwan, I visited Taipei’s National Palace Museum—considered by many to be the finest museum on Chinese civilization in the world. Thanks to Chiang Kai-shek and his fellow retreating Nationalists, many of the museum’s priceless artifacts were shipped to Taiwan during the last days of the Chinese Civil War, where they more likely than not escaped destruction under Mao’s turbulent Cultural Revolution. The museum itself is not that big, and most of the exhibitions change every three months due to the museum’s limited capacity. Nevertheless, the museum’s most famous artifacts have permanent, year-round exhibits, and I was awestruck by two such exhibits: the early Qing Dynasty (mid-1700s) Carved Olive Stone Boat, and the late Qing (late 1800s) Jadeite Cabbage. Before coming to Taiwan, I had already seen pictures of the Carved Olive Stone Boat in Professor Chaves’ Classical Chinese class, as the ancient three hundred character Chinese poem we had been studying in his class is carved on the bottom of this tiny, boat-shaped olive pit. That’s right, I said olive pit. Looking through the magnifying glass inside the glass of the boat’s exhibit, I was awestruck at the extent of the detail of the eight men sitting inside this tiny boat—you can clearly make out their facial features and clothing style! My other favorite piece at the museum was the late-Qing Jadeite Cabbage. The artist took a one-half white and one-half green slab of jade and transformed it into the shape of a cabbage, with the white and green parts constituting the stalk and the leaves respectively. Originally considered an imperfect piece of white-green jade with blotches and cracks, the artist incorporated these imperfections to replicate the veins in the cabbage’s stalk and leaves. The leaves of the cabbage peel back in different shades of green; and, if you look closely, there is a katydid and locust carved into the top of the cabbage’s dark green leaves. Like the olive-pit boat, the exquisite craftsmanship put into this jade piece left me awe-struck, although it was a challenge to appropriately admire these pieces given the huge droves of Mainland tourists throughout the museum that made it difficult to view the pieces!

Moving from the ancient to the modern, I visited Taipei 101—Taipei’s tallest building—about a week ago. With 101 floors (an auspicious number in the Chinese culture), it was the world’s tallest building from the time of its completion in 2004 until 2010 when Dubai’s Burj Khalifa took the title. Situated in eastern Taipei’s bustling Xinyi district, Taipei 101 dominates Taipei’s skyline: the next tallest skyscraper seems to be only half its size. Despite no longer being the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101 does have the world’s fastest elevators. It only takes 37 seconds to get from the ground floor to the observation deck on the 89^th floor. Looking out from the observation deck, one can see all of greater Taipei as well as the Pacific Ocean in the distance. If it is not too windy, you can also go to the outside observation deck on the 90^th floor for a truly hair-razing experience. Despite the high guardrails, I was a little nervous at first to get too close to the ledge because there seemed to be 15-20 mph higher-altitude winds blowing off the sides of the building. I also saw Taipei 101’s mass tuned damper—a massive metal ball connected to hydraulic pumps in the center of the 88^th floor. This damper reduces 40% of the building’s sway during earthquakes and typhoons—two natural phenomena quite common in this part of the world. I have been in Taiwan for only three weeks now and have already experienced three earthquakes and one minor typhoon!

Another interesting historical attraction in Taipei that I recently visited is the Presidential Office building, which serves as the office for Taiwan’s president and vice-president. Built in the early 1900s as the office for Japan’s governor-general (Taiwan was a Japanese colony between 1895 and 1945), the Presidential Office exhibits Japanese colonial architecture: it is painted red (for the red sun in the Japanese flag), and there are two courtyards in the middle of the building separated by a wall. Looking from above, these two courtyards give the building a 日shape. The architects purposely made the building this way because in Kanji Japanese (as well as Chinese), the 日character means “Japan.” I found it fascinating that Taiwan transformed this building into their Presidential Office building instead of demolishing it like South Korea did to their Japanese governor-general’s office in Seoul. Unlike other countries in Asia such as South Korea and China, which hold considerable resentment towards Japan for its behavior during World War II, people in Taiwan hold Japan in high regard. I think this is because Japan developed Taiwan’s economy and infrastructure when it governed the island, and because of its successful efforts to “Japanize” Taiwanese people, causing many Taiwanese to identify themselves with Japan and Japanese culture. I found it interesting that many elderly Taiwanese people today can still speak Japanese—the language of instruction in Taiwanese schools during Japanese rule.

I will be visiting Tainan—the former capital and current cultural heart of Taiwan—this coming weekend and will be sure to write about my experiences there in my next blog post. Thanks for reading!

Kyle Churchman

2013 BA International Affairs and Chinese

Elliott School of International Affairs

Grant for Asian Language Study in Asia, Hindi in India

Eighteen hours, three continents, two long hauls and several time zones later (or earlier!), I find myself trapped on a boisterous Delhi jam. The cacophony, the stench – a powerful recipe involving waste, cardamom and exhaust fumes – are immediate reminders of previous stays in India. Yet, the recollections last only briefly. As I discover over the course of the following days, New Delhi, is quite unlike any other subcontinental city.

In fact, the long, leafy avenues – most impressively the horizon-defying Rajpath – of New Delhi are most reminiscent of … Washington D.C.. Come to think of it, there is much in common in the political past and present of these two cities: from their colonial days to their modern position as capitals of federal unions, from the lasting legacy of two towering figures (I have started reading Ramachandra Guha’s India After Gandhi, in which much is said about the similarities between Jawaharlal Nehru and Thomas Jefferson), from the perceptible weight of the state apparatus to the ubiquity of a diplomatic contingent (Khan Market being the equivalent of Georgetown). In New Delhi, however, the city center (Lutyen’s Delhi) is not occupied by office buildings but by the houses of the individuals assumed to work in them – the Indian Civil Service (ICS).

The Rajpath with the Indian Parliament fading into the horizon

Just as I arrived, news broke out of the attribution of one of the best ‘bungalows’ (i.e., a mansion) to cricket star Sachin Tendulkar, who recently became a member of parliament on behalf of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi’s Congress Party (INC). Eventually, Tendulkar rejected the ‘gift’ but it is unclear whether this was due to public outrage, or to internal opposition: it appears the desirable grade VII ‘bungalow’ was considered too high an honor for such a junior member of parliament. The other big story on the press reports to the budding rise of Narendra Modi, Gujarat’s Chief Minister, as the main opposition candidate for the 2014 Lok Shaba (national legislative) elections. Sadly, this ominous sign of things to come (at least for those concerned with communal peace), seems auspicious to me, the social scientist, since my own research interests have come to bear on Modi and Gujarat. Few experiences underscore this thought and the human costs of the political phenomena as my later visit to the grounds of Gandhi Smirti – the house where the Mahatma lived his last days and was fatally shot by a Hindu nationalist on January 30^th, 1948.

The spot where Gandhi was shot 

Finally, after three days of dust, sweat and spice, I embark on the Dehra Dun Express towards the northern state of Uttarakhand (most specifically in Landour, a small agglomerate on the foothills of the Himalayas), where I will be studying Hindi for six weeks. The railway line is currently in high demand by Delhites seeking to escape the ferocious pre-monsoon heat, leaving me no other option than to take a place on 2^nd class no A/C. After wrestling my luggage through a busy platform, I enter a sauna-like carriage to find my seat between two fellow travelers. It is 113F/45C outside and inside the air is torpid. To distract myself from this sticky discomfort, I take out my notebook and begin practicing the Hindi alphabet. I should have probably anticipated that those around me would take this as an open invitation for tutorial aid. Soon, I am in the company of nothing less than five enthusiastic teachers. And so, in this sizzling and crowded carriage, my Hindi education begins. 

Inside the Dehra Dun Express

Diogo Lemos

PhD student in Political Science 

2012 Sigur Center Grant for Asian Language Study in Asia

Hindi in India

Internship Opening: Foreign Policy Initiative Fall 2012 Internship Program

The Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) Internship Program seeks rising college seniors and graduate students of the highest caliber with interest in the fields of, but not limited to, international studies, defense, national security, democracy and human rights, political science, and foreign affairs. FPI interns are given substantial work in current events research, policy communication, and think tank operations. Interns are encouraged to attend stimulating discussions around the local D.C. area and to interact closely with FPI's in-house experts. Though the FPI internship program is unpaid, participants gain valuable skills, a broader understanding of the policy world, invaluable experience, and networking opportunities.

The 2012 Fall Internship Program will run from September until December. Applications must be submitted by Tuesday, July 10th.

Click here to apply.

Requirements:

• Rising college senior or graduate student
• Understanding of FPI's mission  
• Foreign policy interests
• Strong written communication skills
• Excellent academic and current events research skills
• Proven work ethic and willingness to take initiative
• Professional demeanor and positive attitude
• Ability to take instructions and work with minimal supervision
• Reliable and able to commit 20 to 40 hours a week
• Capitol Hill experience is a plus
• International experience is a plus
• Second language is a plus

To apply:

• Visit the application page on our website
• Submit your resume with GPA
• Submit a one-page cover letter explaining your passion for foreign policy and how you meet our requirements

For further questions, please e-mail interns@foreignpolicyi.org.

Internship opening: Congressional-Executive Commission on China

The CECC hires interns for the fall, spring, and summer semesters. The application deadline for fall interns in July 1.

For more information, please visit the CECC website:

http://www.cecc.gov/pages/general/employ.php

2012 Summer Research Fellow - A Visit to Tianjin

This past Tuesday (May 29th) I had the chance to head from Beijing down to the nearby city of Tianjin, about 40 minutes away by high-speed rail line. Back in 2008-2009, my wife lived in Tianjin and worked at an English school there while I was studying in Beijing. I'd travel down to see her almost every weekend since she had work in the evenings and couldn't come to Beijing, so making the trip down always leaves me feeling strangely at home. Despite their proximity, the two cities have very different characters, but as the Chinese would say: ge you suo chang (each has its strong points).

A quick aside on high-speed rail in China. The train has been slowed from a top speed of 205mph to about 180mph since my last visit due to restrictions put in place after the high-speed rail crash outside Wenzhou in July of last year. But that hasn't exactly lessened the trains' popularity as far as I can see. When I arrived in 2008, Beijing South Station was brand new, cavernous and mostly empty, with trains leaving every 20 minutes or so for Tianjin but few running at capacity. You could only reasonably reach it by taxi because buses dropped passengers off about 15 minutes away, and the subway wasn't open yet. This is what the station looked like then:

And here's what it looks like now, with high-speed service open to Nanjing and Shanghai and a subway connection to line 4 on the lower level. Remember that this is basically only for high-speed rail; there are three other major train stations in the city for "standard" rail service.

To me, it's just amazing to see how quickly Beijing has grown into such massive infrastructure.

Anyway, the purpose of the visit to Tianjin was to meet with international relations faculty at Nankai University's Zhou Enlai School of Government. Professors Liu Feng and Huang Haitao, as well as Dr. Li Lijia of the State Council Development Research Center, served as my hosts for the day, a connection that came about from some translation work I did for GWU's Professor Glaser during the past year. After taking a cab to the South Station, catching a 7:35am train, and grabbing another taxi in Tianjin, I arrived at the Nankai University South Gate just in time to see Professor Liu ride up on his bike to meet me before my scheduled talk.

As part of my meeting with him, Professor Liu had asked me to give a guest lecture to his M.A. and Ph.D. international relations students. My topic for the morning was American views of China, and how those views illustrate some current difficulties in international relations theory. I spoke for only about 35 minutes, and then enjoyed taking questions for the rest of the class period. It was great to talk with some Chinese students about their perspectives on US-China relations and to present my own thoughts as well. As ever, Chinese students don't shy away from asking challenging questions, and we touched on everything from Confucious Institutes to US support for Taiwan and human rights. Many thanks to Prof. Liu for the opportunity! Here's a picture during the talk:

After that, we took a short break in the office before heading to lunch with Prof. Huang, Dr. Li and a couple of graduate students. In between taking turns toasting each person at the table and chowing down on flowering miniature cucumbers, numbing peppercorn fish, turtle soup, and two of my favorites - eggplant and spicy tofu! - we had a great conversation about Chinese foreign policy and US-China relations. I also fielded a couple interesting questions from the professors about religion and its role in politics in the US, which of course is one of many huge differences between our two countries' political systems. It was really a pleasure to share lunch and observations with such smart and inviting individuals, even if I have to admit that I surreptitiously passed on the boiled frog due to past experience.

While this visit wasn't a formal interview, the connections I built might be even more valuable. I've been following up for further meetings, to get clarification on certain issues in my research, and for suggestions on who else to talk to during my time here. Both professors have agreed to be respondents for a written questionnaire on nationalism and foreign policy, and Dr. Liu has already helped me arrange a meeting with faculty at Tsinghua University back here in Beijing, for which I'm very thankful - almost as thankful as I was for that spicy tofu on our table.

As ever, thanks for reading!

Jackson Woods
Ph.D. Political Science 2015
Sigur Center 2012 Field Research Fellow
Beijing, China

2012 Research Fellow - Beijing, China

Hi! It's great to be back in Beijing, and it's also great of the Sigur Center to let students share our experiences here on this blog. I hope people find some of what I'm going to write in my blog posts interesting and enjoyable.

My name's Jackson Woods, and I'm currently a 3rd year political science Ph.D. student at GWU. I'm here in China for a short seventeen-day stay with the support of the Sigur Center's Summer Field Research grant program, for which I'm very grateful. My research falls somewhere along the boundary between comparative politics and international relations, and I'm very interested in popular domestic constraints on China's foreign policy. In practice this means studying things like nationalism, public opinion, and social mobilization in the modern PRC.

My purpose in coming to China this summer is two-fold. First, I'm doing some initial research and making preliminary contacts and inquiries as I prepare to do long-term field research for my full dissertation in 2013-2014. Second, I'm following up on the work I've been doing as Professor Bruce Dickson's research assistant over the past three years. This means that on a day-to-day basis I've been meeting on my own with Chinese faculty, attending talks and seminars, and working with Prof. Dickson and his collaborators at Peking University.

Rather than keep going with academic talk right now, I thought I'd just share a little bit about my favorite "tourist" part of this visit so far. A bit of fluff, but I promise I'll have more about the details of my project here in future posts.

The past week of weather was among the best sustained periods I've ever experienced in this city, with true blue skies instead the usual smog-choked air. Here's a "before and after" comparison from my hotel window to give you some idea:

So, with the weather being this good, I felt obliged to do a little sight-seeing on an afternoon last week when I had some free time. To that end I headed down to the Houhai and Drum Tower areas of town, northwest of the Forbidden City. Houhai is part of a series of small lakes that run through the center of the city, including Beihai Park and also the Zhongnanhai government compound. To some degree the Houhai area has turned into a tourist trap, but it's still a really attractive spot with a very authentic beauty. Lots of folks come down late at night for the bars and restaurants, but I'd actually never been down during the day strictly for sight-seeing despite my previous time in Beijing.

Here are some pictures, with the CCTV building visible to the east in the first photo and the Xiangshan mountains visible to the west in the second:

It's amazing to me that such lakes exist in the middle of a 20 million person metropolis like Beijing. They're also surrounded by some of the final holdout hutong neighborhoods with traditional Chinese lane houses, which means getting to wander up and down narrow streets busy with foot traffic and bikes but with very few cars. These areas, such as the drum tower neighborhood, have been targeted in the past for massive redevelopment but thankfully (for me as a tourist) have so far been spared that fate.

Anyway, believe me when I say that days like this really are newsworthy in Beijing. For example, there was a recent smog crisis in December 2011 that even caused flights to be cancelled and which you can read more about here and here on James Fallows' blog. It would have been a shame to stay in a meeting room, office, or coffee shop on a day like this one!

I'll have some more substantial posts soon on my research activities and some of the personalities here in Beijing. Thanks for reading!

Jackson Woods
Ph.D. Political Science 2015
Sigur Center 2012 Field Research Fellow
Beijing, China