With the end of summer, and cooler weather returning to Xi’an, I thought it would be appropriate to finish our summertime series with a blog post about air pollution/air quality.

Without getting into too many specifics, I will try to give you all a good summary of what we (and the Chinese people) are dealing with… and hopefully offer a bit of encouragement too.

The encouragement: China is very much aware of the pollution problem and has been surprisingly transparent and open with the public about their failures and what their plans are to fix it. And although this isn’t something that can be fixed overnight, or even in the next 5 years, we have been encouraged by what we are seeing/hearing.

For now, we have taken steps as a family to do what we can to keep our lungs healthy, while still not shying away from living life here. We have five air purifiers that we run while we’re home, and a monitor that measures pollution levels in the air.

Here are a couple of need-to-know definitions I copied from the web…

Air Quality Index (AQI) – is a number used by government agencies to communicate to the public how polluted the air currently is. 0-50 is good. 51-100 is moderate. 101-150 is unhealthy for sensitive groups. 151-200 is unhealthy. 201-300 is very unhealthy. 301-500 is hazardous.

PM 2.5 – Fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) is an air pollutant that is a concern for people’s health when levels in air are high. PM_2.5 are tiny particles in the air that reduce visibility and cause the air to appear hazy when levels are elevated. These particles are the real bad guys and what I keep an eye on the most. Any reading greater than 12 is considered unhealthy.

Xi’an’s AQI average for this past year is 150 and ranked the 33rd most polluted city in the WORLD (#21 in China). By the way, Beijing’s AQI was 139 and ranks number 68.

Our first day that averaged in the “good” range (less than 50) occurred last week on August 29 and lasted for 2 days. It was glorious!!!

Below is the view from our bedroom (facing south) showing a typical bad day, an average day, and a really great day.

On a clear day our view is amazing! And leaves us really appreciating the beauty of this place.

Below are the AQI and PM2.5 readings from the worst day and best day we’ve had since arriving here (using the Air Matters App).

To give you a frame of reference… I follow Austin on my app and Austin’s most polluted day of the year had an AQI reading of 89 (and only 23 days above 50). In comparison, we’ve only had 2 days with average readings under 50.

BUT — our air purifiers rock!

Here is a reading that shows our outdoor AQI with our indoor AQI.

 

Below shows you one of the purifiers, and the monitor I mentioned.

So whether the day looks like this…

or like this…

we are thankful because we get to breathe in fresh “Texas-like” air everyday 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

“Hosting” has been a central theme for us this summer — something that never would have happened in our previous city. So far, we’ve had visitors stay for a combined 30ish days (and counting)… and we’ve loved it! Most of our guests come through for the Terracotta warriors, IKEA, or the international airport… but we’ll take what we can get 🙂

Visitors have included Elise’s Chinese uncle (a good friend from Xining), good friends who were on their way back to the U.S. to get married, and 3 friends from Switzerland just to name a few.

But the highlight of the summer was hosting Kristen’s mom and step-dad (Dianne and Mark, or “Dedi” and “Poppy” to Elise). They were only able to stay 11 days but we made the most of our time.

Elise was up with the sun, and Dedi & Poppy were up with jetlag, so they would play for hours while Kristen and I slept 🙂

Mid-morning, after Elise’s nap, our day would officially begin…

The park across the street was on our favorite spots, because “China” comes to you. Mark was a hit with the dancing ladies and Dianne got a little cardio in at the workout area.

She would have liked to do some leg-press, but they were all taken…

Of course they went to the Terracotta warriors (where they got to meet the farmer who discovered them!), we rode bikes around the ancient city wall, and ate lots of traditional foods, but we also made time for a little pampering.

I think that back massage on the park bench above cost $2.00 for close to 30 minutes!

And Kristen turned 33 during their stay!

Dianne helped make her day special by making waffles for breakfast and baking an awesome carrot cake (sorry I didn’t get a picture of the cake or Kristen blowing out the candles… my bad).

They were even able to experience a power outage of sorts… caused by our excessive use of the air conditioner. You pay in advance for electricity here but, since it’s our first summer in Xi’an, we were still getting a good gage of how fast we go through units… we learned the hard way! We used up all of our units around 7:30pm (an hour after the office closes). So we spent the evening playing cards using our cell phone flash lights and head lamps, and sweating through the night until we could go pay the next morning.

In all, we had an amazing time and wish they had been able to stay longer. Being away from family and friends is the hardest thing about living here. So when we do get these sweet opportunities, we savor them.

Until next time…

Summer English camp!

Chinese parents are eager (understatement) for their kids to learn English. We’ve been asked countless times, usually by perfect strangers, if we would be willing to teach or tutor. For those who are properly certified, and have a work visa that allows them to make money, teaching English can be very lucrative. We have only ever been on student or tourist visas (which prohibit you from earning money), plus when your vocabulary consists of “that is so sick”, “cool”, or “what’s up dude” you’re probably not qualified to teach.

But this summer we rented space at a local hotel and held a 4 day camp for 80 elementary students. Fortunately we had qualified teachers that came from the States to teach, so my job was to provide entertainment, exercise, discipline, and to take kids to the bathroom. Each day, I was a different sports athlete… day 1: basketball player, day 2: ping pong player, day 3: swimmer, and day 4: kung fu master. I got to start each day by putting on a skit, and during break time I was in charge of games and exercise.

Below are a few pictures and a video that gives you an idea of my role… sorry for blurriness of some of the pictures, I pulled them off social media… I almost went viral 😉

Above: All 80 students (they were split into morning/afternoon groups)
And below: the skit from day 1

Here is a video clip of one of the skits: Kung Fu. I asked in Chinese for the kid to perform ONE kung fu move and I would try and copy it. Something was lost in translation and this is what ended up happening…

Overall, the camp went really well. The kids had a blast and we received great feedback from parents. Our plan is to host it every summer!

Similar to how we posted our “day in the life” series, over the next couple of months we will be sharing/posting about what life has been like during our first summer in Xi’an.

I feel like the best place to start is to try and describe to you how hot it is here.

Xi’an is considered one of China’s “Furnace Cities”.  As a matter of fact, as I’m writing this, the temperature is 107 outside. The “high” has been over 103 since July 4th. Now, I know all you Texas people are thinking… “yea, it’s hot here too”; but let’s remember how Texans beat the heat. You go from your air conditioned house to your air conditioned car to the air conditioned grocery store, ect. Then there’s a swimming pool in most neighborhoods/backyards. Unfortunately, we don’t have that luxury. Plus, this is a city of 10 million (2x bigger than Houston) and full of concrete. Anyways, enough comparison, y’all get the hint 🙂

So, how have we been beating the heat? We’re not… it’s winning. It’s hot and when you have a child that insists on going outside, there really isn’t much we can do. We are in a perpetual sweat.

After setting off, Elise is always making sure we are still with her. Most of our morning walks are around this pond (see below) as this time of year it is filled with lotus flowers in bloom. The other option is to head to a park just outside the city wall in order for Kristen and I to touch up on our pingpong game… can’t wait to teach Elise!!!

At other times, we keep our eyes open for construction sites that have been converted into temporary water parks… like this one…

I learned something about Kristen that I never knew. She loves water parks!!!

Another bonus, they were blasting American music…

At some point, I was at the top of the slide when the water park’s electricity shut off. It immediately started collapsing. The worker started yelling at me to hurry up and slide down… by the time I reached the bottom of the slide, this is what it looked like…

In all, we had a blast and plan on going back soon.

Another “cool” thing we were able to do was spend a weekend in the mountains with a few friends. This was our first trip outside of the city (besides having to leave the country every 60 days for our visa run). We hiked and enjoyed breathing in the fresh cool air.  Elise wasn’t as impressed as we were.

One thing that still amazes me is how you can be up on a mountain and find Chinese women wearing high heels…

We tried to hike as many trails as possible, but here is one trail we ended up skipping…  yikes!

We do have our heat limits, and we’ve decided that we will not go outside when the temperature reaches a point that dogs quit walking…

So at that point, we keep Elise inside… and spend our time reading, playing games, taking selfies, yelling, and learning Chinese (see video compilation below)!

By the end of the day, everyone is sweaty and worn out, so we crash without any covers on…

About a month and a half ago, we were walking through the park across the street when we were stopped by a couple of girls who work with a local children/family photography studio. They saw Elise and fell in love. They asked if we would be willing to allow them to use her to advertise their business, and in return we would receive a free photo shoot and photo book. Kristen and I agreed as we were wanting a few Chinese style baby photos of Elise.

We made an appointment for the following week. Before arriving we tried to explain to Elise that she was to be this company’s new baby model, and that this could be her big break. When we got there, Elise realized there was other competition so she began to size them up.

Finally it was time for Elise to shine.

The photo shoot started off great. Elise was working the camera, and the photographer was loving it…

 

After about an hour and half of shooting, things started getting a little weird. They wanted Kristen to place her hands over and around Elise’s face and pose with her for a few shots…

Then they asked us we if wanted to do “traditional” pictures with all of us. We thought that would be a lot of fun. We would all get dressed up into traditional Chinese clothing and take a few fun shots as a family. Sold.

So they took Kristen outside to “fix” her hair, which basically meant take it out of the ponytail and brush it. Then the photographer asked me to take off my shirt. I obliged and was expecting to be given clothes, but instead they said they wanted Elise and I to take a few pictures together without our shirts. I was a little confused and thought I misunderstood, but I just went along with it. At this point, I’m holding Elise up in the air, she is only wearing a diaper, and I’m shirtless… when Kristen walks back in. She mouths, “What the…?” and I look at her and whisper “I have no idea…”

 

 

 

 

 

Then they asked Kristen to join me for an even more awkward family photo…

We ended up asking them to take the shirtless pictures offline, and in the end, the experience left all of us feeling a little like this…

So not sure if Elise’s modeling career will take off anytime soon, but if you are ever in Xi’an, be on the look out for Elise’s picture posted around town!!!

Now on to the next awkward (awesome?) cultural experience!

 

I think it’s time for Elise to have her time in the spotlight… so here is a snapshot of what’s been going on in her life over the past couple of months.

Below are a few of her many faces… it’s usually pretty obvious what she’s thinking 🙂

Hanging out with her Chinese grandpa and taking a ride on the subway!

Elise loves to read and to teach her friend (“bubba” the rabbit) how to play nicely.

Spontaneous photo shoots in her crib…

Elise attracts a crowd wherever we go. They call her “yang wa wa,” or “western style doll.” Sometimes she doesn’t mind being held by strangers and other times she lets everyone know that she’s not having it.

Our nickname for her is “Lady,” so we shot this picture in South Korea. Also, the lady loves to stare at herself in the mirror 🙂

Below is one of my favorite pictures… hanging out in the airplane bassinet!

She wanted us to buy this teddy bear for her, but we told her it wouldn’t fit in our apartment.

Counseling sessions have already started…

I’ll end with a video compilation from over the past couple of months to show a bit more of her personality:

Overall, she’s the sweetest baby and really fun to be around. She sleeps great but many times is up well before 6am, leaving us feeling a bit like Yoda…

Okay, I’m finally getting around to posting a blog showing you our new digs. After 4 months of living here, and although we still have things that need to get done (i.e. decorating the walls), I think our place is finally at a point where it is worthy of a blog.

If you’ve ever wondered how to rent and renovate an apartment in China, this is the blog for you…

First, don’t arrive on the first day of Chinese New Year. By far the most important Chinese holiday, it is 15 days long and everyone leaves to go back to their hometown to celebrate with family and relax. So we basically did a lot of waiting around the first two weeks, but thankfully we were staying with friends until we were able to move in to our place (a place we had committed to via text while we were back in the States). Within a week though, we did manage to meet with the landlord (great to meet her in person instead of just through text) to sign the lease and pay our deposit and one year rent up front (those are our finger prints in red ink, no signature needed).

Upon signing and receiving the keys to our new home, we set out to see what needed to be done to the place. Our’s was in better condition than most, but there is almost always some major renovation that needs to be done.

Because of Chinese New Year we still had to wait another week before we could hire any workers to start plastering walls, painting, baseboards, sinks, toilets, ect. So we used the extra time to plan 🙂

Besides planning, I figured I could start doing a few things to prep the house.

Still not sure what that thing was, but more importantly, why was I not wearing any gloves?!?! Always wear gloves.

After hiring a guy to plaster and paint the walls, I left Kristen in charge of renovation and taking care of Elise while I flew back to our old city to figure out a way to get our stuff from there to here.

Ultimately, we decided to use the train instead of a moving company. They picked up our stuff outside the Xining apartment building, put it on a train, then dropped it off at the Xi’an apartment – everything intact and accounted for – for about $125!

As you can see in the picture above, Kristen had done a great job of managing without me. The paint job looks great!!!

Reno continues with guys putting in baseboards and the internet guy (standing behind) waiting to install our internet.

I asked for a receipt after the baseboards were installed (never expect a formal receipt)  and this is what he gave me…

Now that things were starting to come together, it was time for Kristen and I to head to IKEA (yes, we have one in our city) to purchase a “few” things.

We had also been given a few things from another foreign couple who left the country last summer, which our friend had been storing for us at his apartment. His place is only a 10 min walk from our house, but on this day it took an hour because of an alley traffic jam. Expect alley traffic jams.

In all, we stayed with our friends (and we still are friends) for a month while we made our place livable, and have been touching things up ever since.

But here is a video taken this morning of what our place looks like today!

Huge thanks to our good friend Todd who is a handyman extraordinaire (and we were staying with his family) because without his help we would still be living in a hotel. Here he is preparing to cut a bigger hole for our kitchen sink while wearing my snorkel mask as safety goggles… a true man! So, last but not least, always have a friend who is a handy-man, and speaks fluent Chinese 🙂

For the next post, an update on Elise!

This Easter was extra special since we now have Elise in our life. She just turned 7 months and every day seems more fun than the last… her personality is really starting to come out, and we love getting to watch her grow and experience new things. Like Peeps!

In all seriousness, we had a great Easter here with our China family — complete with the annual Purdy Egg Contest (which Elise won), a Good Friday celebration dinner with local friends, and a city wide gathering of foreigners to celebrate our risen King on Sunday!

Kristen’s mom sent a beautiful dress for Elise to wear, along with lots of goodies to put in her Easter basket. You can see in the video below that Elise was really “moved” by it all 😉

Spring has finally come to Xi’an, so we’ve been trying to get out and explore our new city as much as possible. We’ll be sure to post pictures of our adventures here soon!

Okay I lied… this is not the post where I will be showing you our Xi’an digs. That’s hopefully coming soon! Instead, this blog is dedicated to my blonde locks. I started growing out my hair upon arriving in China back in the fall of 2014. Kristen thought it would give me “edge”… whatever that means.

This was me the night we boarded the plane for China…

This was me 2.5 years later, sporting mad flow. (note – I had already cut off 7 inches a couple of months before this pic)

But after moving to a new city, change was in the air… it was time for a new look. So a couple of weeks ago, I made the change with some help from a few friends!

Finished product… Elise didn’t even recognize me!

The buzz cut has been nice; plus I don’t use nearly as much shampoo or conditioner 🙂

19 hours after leaving Texas, we arrived in Barcelona. Elise was a rockstar the whole flight, but we were all glad to be able to stretch out a little and sleep in a bed.

During our time in Spain, we met up with some friends for eating, and sight seeing… and eating again.

Please don’t call cps, but when you are at dinner and your child needs to sleep and she won’t sleep in your arms and the lights are too bright, this is what you get…

We also got to spend some time with Kristen’s cousin and his girlfriend who live there. It was great because they were able to show us around and introduce us to some of the best spots to do more eating.

Kristen and I also loved seeing the famous architecture…Elise, not so much!

But, while walking down the beach, we were all amazed by this sandcastle which had running water and a real fire going…

Also on the beach, we hit up Spain’s version of muscle beach. Some of the dudes were pretty legit, so Elise had to show off a little…

 

We also had a good friend from our previous city in China (and his sister) fly in to visit us and meet Elise. Here we’re showing Elise how to play Phase 10. I think she’s got it down.

From Spain we flew to Thailand, where we got Elise’s 4 month vaccinations and our Chinese visas. But when we weren’t doing all of that, Elise was able to go swimming for the first time – she loved the water!!!

Elise also spent time making friends with our hotel staff. They even got her a gift before we left! We’ll try to go back every winter.

These hot air balloons took off from near our hotel every morning. So pretty.

But after 4 weeks of travel, and couple of nasty nights of fighting mosquitos…

we were ready to head to our new home!

Elise was greeted by her first Chinese 奶奶 (grandmother) in the Bangkok airport, who scooped her up in her arms and went off to show all of her friends what she had found!

And after 34 days of travel, we finally made it to our destination – Xi’an China – where we crashed at our friends’ house for another 4 weeks while we got our apartment ready. They’re good friends.

 

Next blog: Our new home, Xi’an