Shijiazhuang

Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you...my final post on May's trip to China!

I feel like all I've been doing for the past weeks is uploading photos and videos of China to my blog...which couldn't really be further from the truth, but it's a feeling nonetheless. There's just something so daunting about embarking on a set of posts I know will be difficult to compose (especially the first two on culture). I must say that I'm quite glad to be rounding the corner. Now, I just have to write a few more and I'll be up-to-date!

In other news, I'm currently in Charleston, South Carolina, attending the very first Mark O'Connor Method Camp! I was trained in the first two books of his method a few months ago, and am here to receive training for Book III, which is being released this week at the camp. I've been looking forward to visiting Charleston, but am even more excited about spending the week hanging out with string players and music educators who are interested in the same types of music as I am!

It looks to be an incredible week.

But now, back to China.

We spent two weeks in downtown Shijiazhuang rehearsing for our performances in Italy, working on some new material, and cleaning up the show. 

It's hard to describe exactly what Shijiazhuang feels like because it's a very much a city in transition. 

I guess it was most like what happens when you clean a messy room: Shijiazhuang was at that strange phase where the cleaning has started but parts of the room somehow end up looking messier before they look cleaner. In one moment, we basked in the opulence of a giant mall adorned with recognizable faces, and just two blocks later we came upon the debris of a building recently imploded to make way for new housing.

Here are some photos I took around Shijiazhuang. All of these places, with the exception of the university, were within a 10-minute walk from the hotel.

The library, with sidewalk parking next to the building.

Please don't throw banana peels from your car.

The People's Park of Shijiazhuang.

Mao Zedong.

Bicycle parking on the sidewalk.

With our translator, Eric, and our technical assistant, Ja Wei. Eric, who graduated from university while we were in Shijiazhuang, gave us a tour of his campus before he moved out.

Hebei Normal University. (By the way, Shijiazhuang is the capital of Hebei province.)

Housing.

Going to Eric's room. Each room has three bunk beds, six desks, and six guys.

The building where students get hot water. All of those colored thermoses on the ground are communal: pick one up, fill it, take it.

Eric and Tim play ping pong near the recreation center. The residence halls are in the background.

The gang with Eric.

Eating late into the night at the Aegean Sea, our favorite restaurant in town.

NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts were a great form of entertainment while in China (available as a free podcast through iTunes). After seeing one with concert violinist Charlie Siem and learning of his modeling career, I spotted his face just down the street the next day.

Natalie Portman.