798

So sorry everyone for the super long absence!  last week was the last week of classes for round 1 and so has been happening that ive been just too tired to post an update.  So today is now the 17th of July and in the past two weeks i have been to the acrobat show, hiked the great wall and camped out in a guard tower, been to the art district, taught some kiddos english, learned entirely too much chinese to remember and basically had an overall enjoyable time!  This update is going to have to come in a few posts because there are far too many pictures to load up at once (it would take ages!)  So first is Qi Jiu Ba (798) art district.

Basically qi jiu ba is an old industrial park type of buildings that has now been converted to several (and i mean a bunch!) of different art exhibits.  There are indoor exhibits, and then there are seemingly random pieces all along the streets that go through.  This place is HUGE and there is something interesting to see everywhere you look!  There are also rows of restaurants that serve pretty decent western food, although its pretty pricey. Dangran! (of course)  We lucked out and got another clear day when we went, which is always nice even if it means its hotter.  Selin and I took a taxi to meet my friend Amir there and after lunch and a bit of wandering about we meet up and had a pretty enjoyable day.

tons of streets to choose from

Pegasus

hmmmmm

This guy claimed to be driving the real Bumble Bee.  i sincerely doubt that. He did however have some very real cameras and was a bit too close for comfort.

part of the old factory i guess.  really cool looking!

=)

this was pretty shocking to me.  i guess i just figured since talking about Christ isnt exactly legal...having an image of His sacrifice would be a bit taboo as well.

but then again the crucifixion was placed right next to this guy.....so well i dont really know what to think about that.

slightly more than slightly disturbing.

funny mirror

this was a legit art piece....i could have done that in about a min.  i dont get it...

none of these were translated right

this one was the least vulgar.

for Hayley =)

some crack at America im sure. 

this guy......

.....is scary!

also for Hayley!

100 yuan bills

child labor.

I didnt get any pictures of the exhibit that impacted me the most, and plus its not something i would want to look at again.  It was called "This Face" and was a few hundred pictures of one womans face from the moment she woke up, until she went to bed that night.  I know we all realize that the face is very expressive, but what i never thought about before, was how deeply you can really see someone by just capturing their face.  

This woman, i dont think we were told her name, is a prostitute here in Beijing.  This bit of information alone put the photos in a whole new light for me, not that i looked at her any differently, but that i could really see what she was thinking, when she numbed out, when she hid behind her "seductive" mask, when she fell apart at the end of the night, it was really amazing.  It was more than slightly uncomfortable to see, even though it was just close ups of her face, you could really tell when she had just been with a client and the toll it took on her emotionally.  

They also included her diary entry from the day the photos were taken.  I couldnt get through the whole thing because it was far to graphic for me, but the little bit i did read really made me count my blessings.  I thank God that i dont have to live that way.  

Qi Jiu Ba was definitely a thought provoking day Id say!  Definitely a place i would go to again seeing as how the exhibits change pretty frequently.  

cheers!