A Final Day in Beijing

The final day of the tournament saw an early morning contest between the North and South Koreans. We got up early and went over to the rink to pack the equipment bus for the trek home. The girls were bussed to the shopping center for a day of shopping. Tim and I went back to the hotel after the game, checked out and headed to the train station. We found a locker for our stuff in the International Soft Berth Waiting Lounge and for a mere $3 we stored our travel bags for the 9 hours until the train left.

Next we decided on a walk to the Temple of Heaven, just a few kilometers south of the train station. It was a great sunny day of about 65 degrees. We walked by the ancient remains of the city wall that dates to the Ming Dynasty and past many construction sites. We stopped for some pizza on the way and finally found our way to the east gate of the temple. For 10 Yuan, we were in! The temple’s main area is the “Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.” It is a huge area bigger than the Forbidden City as the Chinese thought a temple of heaven should be larger than where they resided. We saw the long corridor (which leads to the Good Harvest Hall), we saw a “nine-dragon” cypress tree over 500 years old. There were many people in the corridor just hanging out and playing cards or music or dancing and singing. There was a group of mostly women chanting and doing what appeared to be a physical exercise and spiritual ritual.


You can see all my pictures from the Day in Beijing on my photo website.

It was a great day and a great walk. We headed back out the North gate and back to the train station. At the station, we found a room with reclined chairs and paid 5 Yuan for a one-hour nap in the room. We gathered our stuff from the locker, grabbed some food in the food court and headed for the mass of humanity boarding our train.

At 9:05 p.m. our train pulled out of the station and in just a mere 12 hours we were back in Harbin.

For those looking for more visual stimulation, I have also put up some photos of the Asian Women’s Hockey Tournament on my photo site.

So, greetings again from Harbin!

Asian Tournament - Day 5

The tournament ended with an exciting contest in which we tied Kazakhstan, 2-2. Both teams had leads during the game, and it was great game up and down the ice. There was also a very spirited hometown crowd. The tie placed us in third place in the tournament with a 2-1-1 record. This is a very good result considering the key injuries we were battling and the two missing players still playing in the Finnish women’s league.

The tournament awards were given out to the top three teams and the most improved team, South Korea. Tomorrow morning, N. Korea faces S. Korea in a battle of two teams who have yet to win a game in the tournament (each 0-3). It should be a spirited game in spite of the fact that both teams showed up and cheered for each other at all games throughout the week.

Tomorrow night we leave Beijing for Harbin on the late overnight train. Below is the interesting buildings that we see out the front door of our hotel, that Tim has named the “Jetson’s roof”



Good night for the final time from Beijing!

Asian Tournament - Day 4

Yes, I skipped “Day 3.” Yesterday was an off day, we had practice, rest and relaxation.

Today, we played one bad period and found ourselves unable to come from behind, losing 4-1 to Japan. This sets up a must-win against Kazakhstan to force a three-way tie for first place in the tournament.

After our game, there was a banquet for all the coaches, team leaders and officials. It was big enough to be a two-table banquet again. There were many toasts to the success and continued improvement of Asian Women’s Ice Hockey, and talk about future tournaments. The Kazakhstan group brought some homemade vodka to add to the Chinese “devil wine” and beer. It actually tasted much better than any of the Chinese wine I have had. I sat next to the president of Japanese Ice Hockey. He is 81 years old and a very nice man. He very much enjoyed the Kazakhstani Vodka.

That is all for tonight, a big final day tomorrow!

Below is a picture of a face-off vs. N. Korea with me looking "happy" on the bench:

Asian Tournament - Day 2

Today we faced North Korea. We played very badly in the first period, with the exception of our goalie, and we escaped the first period tied at 0-0. The second period we played much better and came out of the second up 4-0, with goals from four different players. The third period was a little up and down and after giving up a couple of goals, we came back and scored a couple of our own to win 6-2.

So, we have made it through the easy portion of our schedule and now have a day off before we face Japan and Kazakhstan in the final two games. Hopefully the day off will allow us to recover some of our injured players.

At the game we met someone from the U.S. embassy in Beijing. His son plays hockey and he knew some players on the South Korean team. He was very nice and gave us all a ride home after the game. He is originally from Waltham, MA, it is truly a small world.

After the game, Tim and I went out with Tracy and Butch again as it is their last night in China. We went to an acrobat show and then for at “hot pot” dinner. The acrobat show was amazing, with some unbelievable stunts. Hot pot was good as always and it was a great evening.

Good night again from the Chinese Capital!

Asian Tournament - Day 1

We had the first day of competition and things went as expected. We defeated S. Korea 8-1, in a game that was as unbalanced as the score implies. It took the team a little while to get over the nerves and jitters that are to be expected of such a young team, but in the end we made some strides. The anthem lineup is below...



The exciting game was the Japan vs. Kazakhstan game which found Kazakhstan coming from behind in the third period to win 2-1. Japan was a slightly better team, but the Kazakhstan goalie played well and they out-muscled the Japanese in the end.

After the game, Tim and I went out with my cousins, Tracy and Butch, for some “meat-on-a-stick.” We walked down the merchant street next to our hotel and found a great outside place on a warm evening in Beijing



Next, we face a much better North Korean team, good night again from Bejing!

Beijing

Today we arrived in Beijing. We came in on the overnight 13 hour train from Harbin. It is impossible to describe the unbelieveable amount of people at the Beijing Train Station. Amazingly we did not lose anyone getting from the train to the one block walk to our bus.

We then got on the bus for a 10 mile, one hour and 30 minute ride to the hotel in Beijing rush hour. Plus our bus driver got lost three times, once stopping half on and half off a highway off-ramp. He stopped there, got out of the bus and walked across the off-ramp to look down to the street below and see if it was the right exit. All the while he was partially blocking both the highway and off-ramp traffic at rush hour.

We got to our hotel and it appeared, from the outside, like a bad beach motel in south Florida, with teal coloring and a weathered exterior. Although, instead of overlooking the beach, it overlooks the highway. However, inside it is brand new! It could not have opened more than a couple weeks ago. The rooms are small but all new fixtures, furniture and everything.

Somehow, someone had forgot that we needed breakfast when we arrived at the hotel, so the “tall man” headed out to find a restaurant. He found one around the corner and we ate about 30 minutes after the scheduled time in a small corner restaurant and we filled up all of their seats.

After our 3:00 pm practice time was changed to 10:00 am and then 30 minutes later to 11:00 am, we headed to the rink to get settled in. We found that the new rink was actually still under construction on the outside, and after dodging cement mixers and falling plaster we got inside to find our locker room.

The team had a light skate without coaches to get the feel for the ice and relax a little. The inside of the rink is nice, but poorly layed out. It is where the Beijing Asian League team plays. However, none of the Beijing players are from China, all from European countries.


So, after the ice session, we went back to the hotel for lunch and catch up sleep lost on the train ride.

Tomorrow we have a morning skate and opening game with S. Korea at a new time 6:30 p.m. CST (China Standard Time)

Good Night from Beijing!

Two Scrimmages and a Banquet

In our preparation for the final tournament of the season, the Asian Cup, we had two scrimmages this week. Both were successful. On Wednesday we scrimmaged the former men’s national team players. They had beat us pretty badly in the last two scrimmages. This time is was 7-3 at the half and 16-7 in the end. We did much better, and were simply out muscled a lot. Our offense has definitely improved and our defense is getting there.

Today, we faced off against the former women’s national team players. We narrowly defeated them 2-1 the last time we scrimmaged. We were without three players from our second line for the game, who are nursing injuries and getting ready for next week. However, we played very well in a 4-0 victory. We had great focus on defense and if it were not for a few cross-bars we might have won by a lot more. Our young players from the 4th line did well filling the spots on the second line. So, we will be prepared, with a couple practices next week, for Beijing. We face South Korea on Friday, March 24th at 4:30 (China Standard Time) to open the tournament.

After our scrimmage today, Mr. An came into my room around 10:00 am and gave me the standard ten minute warning before a banquet. So, we were off, and in some high powered company today. We had two tables at this banquet. Our table was headed by the Chief of Police for all of the Heilongjiang Province, Mr. Li, and the Chief of Police for all of Harbin. Mr. An, Tim, Coach Ji, Coach Liu and two other policeman (one a former basketball star) were also at the table. The other table had many of the former women’s national team players that we had played earlier. It was a fun time, but way too much drinking. It seemed to double due to the two tables. Luckily, we had nothing else to do this afternoon. Below you can see the crew from our table, the two police chiefs are right behind me:



Good night and Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Harbin!

Chinese Blackout

We returned from the evening practice on Thursday around 5:30 to find that the power was out in our dormitory, and ONLY our dormitory. We were told it would be out for a couple of days. So, the girls were sent over to the pool to take showers, flashlights were handed out and Tim and I headed off to Carrefour (store) to get some candles. I returned after dark to find the only lights in the dormitory were tall thin candles placed “safely” on the wooden window sills in the stairwell with no candle holders. The girls were running around with flashlights alone and ALL of the adults in charge had left the building. So, they asked me if they could go to Carrefour also, and I allowed all that wanted to go an hour or so to go get what they needed. Tim arrived shortly afterward and had found a better package of candles than I had, and also had purchased some tin foil to use for safety, all his camping experience showing through. So I went around giving some tin foil and fire safety tips to the girls.

A few had started a card game in the lobby, while some others were playing some games in their rooms. Tim had created a nice ”feng shui” café candle feel to his room so we hung out in his room for a while and his travel guitar came in handy.

At 9:30 pm, Coach Ji returned to check the players into their rooms for the night. Along with him was Coach Li, who came and chatted with Tim and I for a while. During the evening, outside Tim’s window was the power crew working in a very deep hole by the light of car headlights and a blow torch. And, wouldn’t you know it, around 10:00 pm the power returned. The two day estimate was mercifully shortened to just about 5 hours. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the internet which was still out a day later, probably severed by the blow torch.

Sorry there were no pictures from the blackout, but it was dark...

Cousins

Two of my cousins, Tracy and Butch, came to visit me in Harbin. After arriving by plane in Beijing they got on the overnight train and headed to Harbin. They visited here for 3 days and two nights before heading back to Beijing, Shanghai and Xian before they return to Beijing again for the first two days of our Asian Tournament. Quite a whirlwind tour I know, but I am sure they will have a great trip. You can see them below with our friend Pei Ying


While in Harbin, we had a good day of Beef Noodle and the Harbin Buddhist Temple. It was a very active day at the Buddhist Temple as there were many people and lots of burning incense. My cousins, too, were able to take the famous Harbin photo of the Buddha “spinning” the ferris wheel.

On their last day, we found a great all-you-can eat buffet place in town, courtesy of Pei Ying. So, Tim, Pei, Mr. An, Tracy, Butch and I went out for lunch. For a mere 30 yuan ($3.75 US) each, we had all the home brewed beer you can drink and all we could eat at the buffet. An amazing find. On top of the salad bar type food display, the cooks would come into our private room every few minutes with a new version of meat on a spit: Duck, Chicken, Pork, Beef, Chicken wrapped in bacon, chicken hearts, cow tongue, and our favorite “Pork Fire Meat” It was our favorite because it was just a mini hot dog. We think they should change the name from Fenway Frank to Fenway Pork Fire Meat or (Fenway PFM). At any rate, Tim and Pei were in rare form trading stories back and forth and keeping us laughing all afternoon. You can see Mr An with Tim and Pei Ying below:


You can see some more pictures from the Buddhist Temple on .mac webpage Scenes from Harbin II.

"Creepy" forecast and a Night out with the Pei’s

So, we have decided the forecast for today is “Creepy.” It is like we are permanently in sepia tones, as everything just looks amber. It is like that movie “Pleasantville” except that instead of being stuck in black and white the world is in sepia tones. It is a little warmer today, high 30’s, and there are lots of strange smells and bad air. It is just creepy, that is the only way to describe it. If you took all of my previous Harbin photos and converted them to sepia, that is what today looks like.

Anyway, three nights ago, we were treated to a dinner out with the Pei family. It was the night before “Women’s Day." It is tradition that the families go out to dinner so that the Mom does not have to cook. We had our own private room with dinner and our own private karaoke machine. We met more of the extended family. At the dinner were Mr and Mrs. Pei, Pei Ying, her little sister, two uncles, one aunt and a younger cousin. We had some good food, and lots of laughs as the Karaoke started. Mr. Pei is a very good singer and was again pretty drunk with all the toasting. Her younger sister sang "My heart will go on" by Celine Dion in English and it was not bad. Pei Ying's aunt is a doctor and her husband a policeman. Her other uncle is unmarried and a police chief, responsible for an entire district in Harbin. It was a fun evening and again, like on the Chinese New Year, they made Tim and I feel like part of their family.


Go to my .mac homepage for more pictures.

Heilongjiang Games

Sorry for the delay in posting, have been busy with traveling and reports. I have also written "Year in Review" blog post for the NY Islanders Website, but on to the games…

Once every four years there are the Heilongjaing Winter Games. This season it was in Jia Mu Si. Players from our team returned to their home teams. There were three girls teams from Harbin and one from QiQiHar. Two of the Harbin teams were comprised almost entirely (except 4 players) of players from the National Team. There was one National team player on the third Harbin team and QiQiHar was all new players. The top Harbin team, comprised of our first and second line and best two goalies, won the tournament easily. Also in Jia Mu Si was the men's tournament, which comprised six teams from QiQiHar, Jia Mu Si and Harbin. We watched the Harbin top team easily defeat a lower level QiQiHar team, face-off below:


Tim and I went up for two days to watch the games and scout the players. We had a nice and fairly uneventful trip up with Mr. Zhou driving. On the way home, the “Tall Man” was going to drive. Tim made a deal with him that we would go home with him only if he kept it under 120 km/h. He agreed and we were off. He drove as he said and every once in a while slowed way down. When we asked, he told us (through gestures) that the police had video cameras to judge the speed and give you a ticket. Wouldn’t you know it, a few miles down the road, we got pulled over and he got a 200Yuan ($25) ticket for doing 110 km/h in an 80 km/h zone. We thought it was very funny! He laughed a bit too. Tim probably saved him some money.

Below, you can see the streets of JiaMuSi on our way out of town. Having had much of the snow melt since our last visit there only made the city much more dirty.


Anyway, yesterday was "Older Women’s Day" in China, similar to Mother’s Day, but also celebrating older married women who are not mothers. The day before yesterday, we were again asked to join the Pei family, for dinner out, to celebrate. It was much fun and an entire post will be forthcoming…

Good day again from Harbin!