SOOOO nice. I woke up around ten, showered, and Di, Tara, Shelley, and
I headed over to 798 for lunch. We ate at the At Cafe, the first cafe
that was built in 798. I had a tuna sandwich and fries... I had been
really craving some Western food and I got my fix for lunch. I only
crave Western food every once in a while, and it's nice that there are
places around here to satisfy my cravings.
After lunch we went to Wu Wenguang's studio. I met a woman there who
leads free dance classes every morning and I am thinking about going
on Thursday. She welcomed me to come since I told her about my
background in dance.
At Wu Wenguang's studio we learned about a project he is doing with
young filmmakers called the Memory Project. Each of the filmmakers
goes back to the village where they were born and attempts to fill in
the gaps in Chinese history, most of which occurred during and right
before the Cultural Revolution. One young man asked villagers about
the things that are in modern history books, most of which are altered
or just untrue. They were reluctant to talk to him, for obvious
reasons. If anyone in the government got wind of what they said they
could very possibly be in trouble.
Another young woman made a film about the famines in the countryside
during the Cultural Revolution. The film was heartbreaking, touching,
and shocking. I don't know if anyone knows about the famines during
that period of Chinese history, but basically the government
stockpiled food in order to show that they had as much food as other
advanced nations at the time. There was also a shortage of food
production due to starvation of factory workers. It was quite a
difficult time in Chinese history, and most of my fellow students who
I talked to who were educated through high school in China said that
their history books quoted the famine as being part of a "natural
disaster."
The young woman's film was fascinating to watch, and made me wonder if
I could do a similar project and interview people who were in East
Berlin before the wall fell. Ask them what it was like, how they
remember things... and also interview them about how they felt when
the wall fell. It's a good thing to tuck away for now.
I also learned that Wu Wenguang will be in Berlin during my time
there, at a festival at the Hau Theater. I will definitely pay him a
visit, he welcomed me to do so.
While Yomi and the rest of the group deliberated on where to eat for a
group dinner, Shelley, Tara, and I snuck off to Wudaokao to find
somewhere to eat. After a while the group dinners get tiresome, and
having someone order food for you can be kind of a drag. We went to a
popular Sichuan place and had a really good dinner, and then did a
little shopping at the BHG department store. I bought a pretty
dress... hopefully tomorrow I can get some laundry done because I'm
almost out of clothes.
I'm going to watch a movie now and then call it a night. I am always
incredibly worn out after we're out and about in Beijing. I also have
huge welt-like bug bites all over me. blah
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