Exploring the Artsy Side of Beijing

I would say that day has been one of the most satisfying days I've had in Beijing so far (it's already been 3 weeks and 2 days!). As I was sitting in a dark movie theater, waiting for the screening of Ondine to start, I began to reflect on the day and realized why. Sure meeting random Chinese people and joking around with them was fun but at the same time it's still part of the whole going out with kids and partying scene. But today was different because I wasn't wasting my day away sleeping in, waiting for the night to come. Yes I went to the Great Wall last weekend but that was planned by IUP and barely took any initiative on my part. For the past three weeks that I've been here most of my days have felt pretty slow because at IUP, the schedule and environment makes me feel like I'm in high school. I get to school at 8am, go to class until 2pm and I get home at around 3ish (or I stay at school to finish my homework and then go home). Once I get home I either do my homework or surf the web, the routine is so close to what I had in high school. People live far from each other so there isn't that sense of community that college provides. As a result, I've felt very uninspired to explore. Don't be mistaken, it's not like I just stay in my room; I do call up friends from Yale or from high school to meet up with them but I haven't been successful with doing Beijing specific things aside from eating or partying.

So what did my day consist of that has made me feel so productive? My first stop was the 798 art district, which was unexpectedly fun (mostly because I'm not really an art person).
When first entering the district it seems sort of abandoned and empty but the real treasures are the art galleries and small shops that line the road on either side. These mini-art galleries each had very unique themes and styles. While some were conventional oil on canvas paintings (though the medium might have been conventional the subjects were mostly not) others were sculptures or just arrangements.


I think the most disturbing one was a room filled with hanging skulls. Though there were obviously fake skulls, they were all identically hung from the ceiling in a very orderly fashion and the music that filled the room was a women's voice tell the visitor to meditate. Here's a picture of entrance sign to the exhibit.
I think a highlight of my day at 798 was going into the small souvenir shops. Especially when I randomly bumped into two other Yalies. I found the most amusing things in those stores but resisted the urge to buy them (things were super expensive because it's geared towards foreign tourists).

After about two hours of walking around in the 798 district my friends and I headed off to a movie screening of an Irish movie. It was free and sounded interesting so I thought Why not?
Supposedly it was about a fisherman who falls in love with a mermaid and the main male lead was Colin Farrell. The name of the movie was Ondine and won a lot of awards apparently? Before the movie began they spent 30 minutes talking about the movie and the amusing part was listening to someone translate the organizer's English into Chinese and being able to pick out the parts that were completely wrong. But in the end, the movie was actually pretty good, especially since it was an independent film. Usually those movies give off a really artsy vibe and don't have a direct plot line but Ondine was artsy in its style and scenic landscapes. For those of you who plan to watch it (and you should) I won't give any spoilers but I will give props to how the story is able to mix/blur the lines between fantasy and reality (when I first heard the organizer say that I didn't get it, but it makes so much more sense after watching the movie).

Yeah, so to sum it up: I had a really fulfilling day.
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