Posts Tagged Beijing
Ping-pong
It’s been two months since my last post – two very hectic months. Now, on what feels like the longest flight ever, I do have plenty of time. So what has the past months been like?
NYC
In the end of September we traveled over the pond with tickets to Springsteen and E-Street band’s final concerts at Giant Stadium. That my birthday fell in the same week didn’t hurt either… :)
I love New York. Every time I visit I wish I could stay longer. Had a great birthday dinner in Brooklyn with friends, strolled the streets of Manhattan and smiled at the sun up on High Line Park. Enjoyed Central Park as ever, and a rainy day at the Met. Ate very well and a few tall drinks. Had the usual stop, well two, at B&H, but managed to stay away from the big purchases. That said, all in all, we did our best to help the US economy with a healthy shopping spree. It was so great to take full week off in the autumn. Not done that since the late eighties. Scary.
The two concerts were great. Amazing atmosphere. It was nice to experience Bruce in his backyard before the old stadium was torn down. I wouldn’t call myself a hardcore fan, liked his music before the shows, but now I catch myself humming his songs more often than not. Curious that.
Seoul
Arrived home from NYC on a Monday evening, had a quick meeting at the office on Tuesday morning before heading back to the airport and the flight to Seoul with my boss. Three continents in two days, not advisable, not surprisingly it turned into a jet lag rollercoaster. Had a great time though. Met with our Korean partners for a few days. Very busy schedule. Didn’t even find the time to take a single picture before we continued on to Beijing.
Beijing
It had been almost six months since I’d visited our team in Beijing. It was great to be back and to spend some time with them. It was the first time in the office not being directly in charge. A bit weird, but I still think of the studio as one of my babies.
It still amazes me how fast the city develops. Even when I visited more frequently I saw changes. With a half-year break it was just amazing. The area around our studio is completely transformed. Only three years ago I drove over an empty, bumpy field (the taxi made a wrong turn and decided to take a short cut over the grass – which turned out to be more rocks and potholes than anything). Now, at least ten skyscrapers were in construction on the same lot. Luckily, the little green oasis we have around our studios is still there, just surrounded by concrete.
The only bummer with this visit was that I didn’t find the time to visit 798. It was my boss’ first visit to the Far East, so we opted for the usual suspects instead. Unfortunately, we arrived at the Forbidden City ten minutes too late. It closed earlier due to the 60-year celebration. Tiananmen Square was packed with, I would guess, at least 200.000 people. Its on days like that you get an idea of the share number of the Chinese. We did get to see the “Egg”, the music hall, which was a first for me as well and I was very happy that we managed to stop by my favorite café in Houhai for a Tsing Tao. The planned trip to the Great Wall went down the drain too, but we did visit the “bird’s nest” and “water cube” at night.
San Francisco
I spent ten days at home, before flying out again. This time I traveled to the West Coast and San Francisco, another favorite city. The weather was perfect, warm, and sunny. Waking up to a cup of tea at Samovar in Yerba Buena Gardens, having a great Sunday brunch at Mama’s and strolling along the Embarcadero was a great way to start ten busy days. I did of course burn my nose…
Los Angeles
After a few days in the Bay Area we turned south to Los Angeles, to more meetings, dinners and more fun. Good drinks and company at Philippe and Roger Room. Gazing out over the Pacific in spare moments in Santa Monica. A pre-Halloween bash at the Hollywood cemetery was OK, didn’t bring any costumes on our trip which made us stand out quite a bit. So when we the following day were invited to Heidi and Seal’s Halloween party at Voyeur, we had to find something good. I ended up as an undead renaissance something…
Seattle and London
The day after we continued up to Seattle. Stayed at the 1000. Brilliant hotel, you should try next time you visit. I’ll book it again for sure. It was a quick stop in the Pacific Northwest before we headed back east the following day, across the Atlantic to London. I must like cities, because this is another favorite.
Home
Coming back to Oslo was nice, even though November is the saddest month of the year. A joyous time of cold, dark, and wet, occasionally white, quickly turning into wet, cold sleet. After two weeks without much sunlight I found myself back on an airplane, and my first visit to Busan in Korea.
Busan
Speaking at ICON/G-Star, meetings, dinners and walking the show floor. A five-day visit. I managed to squeeze in a free day, on Saturday, taking a taxi to unknown destinations. I like it that way. Stepping out of a cab, not knowing what I’ll see or experience. My trusted friend, Nikon and I on yet another adventure.
I found myself in what I believe is a national coastal park area. All signs are in Korean only and all around me were locals. I saw a group of people walking over to a booth buying tickets. I followed their example, and before I knew it I’m on the kiddy-train. Driving 5km/h along the footpath… It was fun for 300 meters, where I jumped off and walked down to a pebble beach. And to my surprise I see someone I’d wanted to meet since I read an article in National Geographic Magazine years ago; the pearl diving grandmothers. Amazing women.
Stumbling along on the large pebbles I was almost blinded by the brilliant, incredible flat, white sunlight. Enjoying the gentle sound of waves until it was suddenly drowned by the weirdest, kitschy, Korean electro pop music I ever heard. As a perfect score in a Wes Anderson flick it blasted out from a tourist boat on the other side of the beach. What happened next is hard to describe. Standing there listening to that music, shielding my eyes I saw silhouettes of a crowd of old, small, Korean seniors rushing – on slow motion – down a hill to catch the boat. Such a surreal experience, and I loved it.
The walk around the peninsula was quite pleasant. After three hours I continued my journey into the unknown city. Stopped at different markets before heading back to the hotel to pack my bags, and an early night sleep before the long flight home the morning after. Or so I thought. Damn you, jet lag. In bed, wide-awake I counted down the hours till I had to get up. At 5:00 I finally submerged into dreamless sleep, giving me a full hour…
In transit
I’m arriving in Frankfurt in a few hours, just one more flight left before I’m home. The journey will take me 23 hours door to door. Knowing that I don’t sleep on airplanes I figured that by the time I’m diving into bed I will have slept only one out of past 47 hours. I’m so looking forward to get to my bed.
Inside the birds nest
Ever since I saw a documentary special on the architectural marvels of Beijing I wanted to visit the birds nest. This was even before they started digging on the lot. On visits since I’ve been following the construction from taxi windows driving past, but when the arena was opened to the world with the Olympic opening ceremony I was disconnected from the world in Kenya’s Rift Valley.
Yesterday I was lying on the field, in the middle of the stadium, looking up at the stance and the nest surrounding. I can hardly imagine the feeling it must have been for the athletes with thousands of excited spectators cheering them on, but it felt really good. To bad it’s empty of sporting events most of the time.
Spring is in the air and through the smog we caught a glimpse of the warming sun in a blue-ish sky. The pollution and traffic aside I really like this city, the people and atmosphere. Vibrant and ever changing – some for better, some for worse – it’s managed to keep something a colleague reminded me of earlier this week, its tranquility. So many people, so many changes and still it manages be so calm. Fascinating. It always feels like I’m leaving too early, and this time it could not be truer. I didn’t even find time to visit 798. Sacrilege!
Back in Asia
Posted by NN in Photography, Travels, Work on 081127
I traveled to Seoul to meet with a new business partner, to toast the end of a negotiation and the beginning of our collaboration. I also attended the yearly Korean game industry event, G*Star held at Kintex just a few miles south of the DMC. Through the bits and bytes, glitter and loud noise I was amazed about hundreds of young guys walking around with heavy-duty camera equipment, serious lenses and small ladders to stand out of the crowd. I was told organizers had stepped down the abundance of “booth babes” in years past, but what I saw was only shy of what the Chinese drape their booths with at China Joy. It was quite fascinating and somewhat disturbing to see this school of paparazzi at play.
A few days later I looked out of the airplane window, and through the clear blue sky, down on a city I’ve wanted to visit for a very long time, Hong Kong. Almost thirty degrees Celsius and bright sunlight was a very pleasant change from the grey cold skies clouds of Seoul. I know I would be back to even grayer skies in Mainland China three days later so I soaked in as much as I could.
Hong Kong is a great city, even better than I thought it would be. I’d planned a day off after working the previous weekend and made the most of it. The tram up to the Peak to look over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon as the sun set. Dangling in a gondola through the peaks of Lantau Island to get to the Great Buddha and Pon Li Monastery. Strolled the streets of Kowloon through Tsim Sha Tsui down to Victoria harbor and watched the evening skyline light show. Finished the tour sailing across the sound on the Star Ferry. A true 24-hour tourist, I enjoyed every minute of and leaving me wanting more. There is so much to see. Not only the know markets, buildings and sites, but the small details of every day life that make a city like this so very interesting.
Sitting on the Maglev I sped towards Shanghai proper. It’s always a blast to hit the 431 km/h mark. After being upgraded to a junior suite for free (yay!) I stepped out into the cold, brisk air, camera in hand and walked the familiar streets. A few meeting days past and I walk into Zhouzhuang, an old, picturesque water town an hour drive west of Shanghai. I’ve wanted to see this place for quite some time (yes, there are many places I want to see) and I left the town with mixed feelings. It is a beautiful place, but the small stalls and booths crammed into every available space ruin the one time serenity. Back in the city I found a very interesting building, “1933”. An old, abandoned slaughterhouse being refurbished that eventually will host art galleries, retail space, restaurants et al. I’m glad I walked into this momentous Bauhaus building, a labyrinth of bare concrete. A photographers dream and the perfect set for any horror flick.
Beijing was the last leg of this Asia trip. It was good to be with our Chinese art team again, meeting old and new colleagues and friends. The farther I travel north, from Hong Kong the more I realize it’s less then a month to Xmas. The cold, dry wind flowing down from the Mongolia is a freezing reminder of that. I only spent a few days in Beijing. Sad in ways, I’ve always enjoyed the atmosphere and time spent with friends in this city, but it will be so good to come home.
Countdown 888
It’s been close to seven months since my previous visit to Beijing. It was cold and wet back then, the pollution was thick and the three days I spent went very fast. It is still very polluted, feels even more so than before. The grey air makes it harder to enjoy my stay, but the people always make up for it. Four days this time – I hope I’m not sensing a pattern and that my next visit will be longer.
It was next to impossible to see the sun most of the time, but you could definitely feel it, and when the sky finally cleared it was blistering hot, too hot for my gentle Norwegian skin and for most of the Chinese by the look of it.
Again I was visiting for work. Had a few good days in our Beijing studio, spent time with my colleagues, old and new, had a nice dinner in Hou Hai (ate too much as always…) followed by drinks and games. Long overdue, we had a good time.
Met a few friends, had my obligatory visits to Pan Jia Yuan and 798. The latter is ever changing. A lot of construction there now. It’s not the same. Good or bad – I’m not sure. It’s different yet I find it interesting and I think I got a few new interesting shots. Like always I like to wonder the old factory area with my camera.
I’m concerned about the Olympics. Not that it’ll suffer poor organization. All sporting arenas are apparently finished and ready for the athletes and spectators – hey, even the gravity defying CCTV building looks like it’ll be finished in time. No it’s of course the pollution. If I had trained like a maniac taking push-ups since I was a fetus and being on a diet depraving me of all the sinful delicious food out there I wouldn’t risk it all by sucking in that foul air with a pulse just below 200. Then again, maybe that’s why I’m no Olympian.
>> photos to come <<
798
Posted by NN in Photography, Travels on 080426
One of my favorite places in Beijing is an old factory made art scene called 798. Located in the Dashanzi Art District you can stroll around through this old factory, past sculptures, galleries, cafés, and so on. You should go if you get the chance, but do it fast.
I was first made aware of this gem four years ago. It was quite different then. Artists worked in their studios with open doors. I have two sculpted pieces at home by an artist I met in his workshop. The old man with looks of a wise one in one of those old Kung Fu movies, was sitting in a cramped and dusty room with a million drawers and tools everywhere. We didn’t know each others language, but communicated still. I truly relish the two sculptures he gave me when I left. Today old man is gone, replaced by a slick, clean gallery and store displaying a few chosen works of the old man’s art.
798 change every time I visit. It grows by the day and is becoming more and more popular. During my first visits I only say ten, fifteen visitors. Now you have to queue to get through certain areas.
When you visit Beijing you should take the time to visit. It’s not the typical “must see” place you’ll find in the guidebook, that for me is reason enough. That said, it might be in the book today.
And now, some photos…
Listening to: Kent / Mannen i den vita hatten
Backlog part 2
Posted by NN in Photography on 080422
Slowly, ever so slowly I move through the digital photo archives. Today I bring you a selection of my pictures from San Francisco and Beijing, October 2007.
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Three days east
Late again. A lot has happened since last time. Had the best intentions, but never found time. Plus all my photo equipment has been packed away, still is actually. Why? You’ll know a bit further down.
L+H, sun and some Chinese
Posted by NN in Photography, Travels on 070323
I’m sorry I couldn’t come up with anything better in the subject line, a tad cryptic perhaps? Anyways, I’ll start with L and H, my two dear new cameras. I had the good fortune of visiting California again a few weeks ago, thus the sun and tomorrow is the last weekend four colleagues from Beijing are sightseeing in Oslo before they return to our office in China.
Snow, snow and I’m off
Yup! The snow is finally here. Or should I say there, since I’m not there now – more about that in a sec.
70 cigarettes
As you probably know by now,I really enjoy visiting Beijing as often as I do. I am very lucky. but, and there is a big but about this place and that is it’s pollution. It can be really, really bad. Like today. The smog is so low it’s almost difficult to see across the street. I just can’t be outside when it’s like this.
I’ve been told bad days like today has a pollution equivalent to smoking 70 cigarettes. Think about that. It’s just crazy. They must change this. But it is hard with approx 1000 new cars on the streets per day, and that’s not in China, but only for Beijing.
I hate chewing the air…