Beijing Spring

This is a week old, but better late than never?

It’s spring in Beijing. Most trees have sprouted and the daytime temperatures are getting up to the mid-60s, which is a welcome change from the bitterly cold and dry winter. It’s nice to chill outside after classes and the half hour walk to school every morning is also getting more bearable, although the eight lane road and elevated expressway I walk next to tends to take any pleasantness away from the journey. Springtime also means sandstorms, which I experienced for the first time yesterday morning. It was a small one, but the sky was still a harsh grayish-orange with visibility around one kilometer. It blew away fairly quickly and today is back to the normal gray haze. The Dodgers and Padres played two exhibition games in Beijing on Saturday and Sunday. I went on Sunday with a bunch of friends for about $10. We sat in the leftfield bleachers of China’s only baseball stadium, which seated around 12,000, so it had the feel of a minor league game. It was an absolute blast. Not only was it great to watch baseball again, but it was fun to see China trying to copy American culture with weird hotdogs and funny tasting peanuts. The vendors would come up to you and politely ask “Excuse me, would like some beer?” rather than the standard “BEER HERE!” The Chinese fans were really into it too. They would cheer at everything no matter what team or circumstance. Once the ball came off the bat it was time to clap and cheer! It was pretty awesome.