I heart being an international student in Beijing. But every once in a while, I need an escape from my life here. Sometimes a girl just needs to get away from the “Woo Crowd.” What’s the Woo Crowd you ask? Well let me tell you. International students are congregated in Beijing’s Wudaokou area. They come from all different countries and usually our medium of communication outside of classrooms is English. I like to refer to us as the “Woo Crowd” because of Wudaokou, and also because  cries of “WOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo!!!!!!!!” can be heard anywhere within a 5 mile radius.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to have fun. I love hanging out with my friends. I love being the nutcase that I secretly am. But I came to China for more than just a collegiate experience. For something totally unique to this amazing, bustling city. That’s where The Hutong comes in. It is a melting pot of creatives drawing in everyone from artists to tai chi masters to culinary chefs. For the past year, it has been my haven. I was privileged to teach my own photography courses and floored that there were people who wanted to learn from me. And then the news spread. Friends would ring me up and say they read of my classes in The Beijinger. City Weekend. Time Out. Even China Daily. Whoa.

I need to write a full other entry on how amazed I am at the doors that have opened to me through photography. But this entry isn’t about that. It’s about the wonderful people who believed in me when I was full of doubt and gave me a platform to share my passion. Mostly, it’s about my amazing friendships with people here. Some weeks ago, I decided to throw a rooftop barbecue party with some friends in Da Wu, and bring them out to The Hutong. It was like trying to mesh together my two different worlds here. And I loved it. Joel provided some amazing culinary stylings, Simon dj’d and there was good times had by all.

Joel working away and Stacy stealing cake batter

Meet Alex and adorable Theo. Alex is our Chinese Medicine practitioner and a Qigong master at The Hutong. How much do you want to baby-nap Theo???!?!? So cute!

Joel insisting on teaching me the anatomy of baby garlic shoots

This is the tea room, where I often teach. And where we hold meetings for the Beijing Photography Club

Mark and Stacey, dressing up The Hutong they originally came as tour guides from Australia and fell in love with Beijing and later founded The Hutong.

Roof top view of The Hutong

Les peeps!! I should probably have shot this before we devoured Joel’s culinary magic

I kinda have a girl crush on Monica. (You would too if you met her) She writes over at kapookababy.

Oh Beijing. How will I ever be able to leave thee?????

拆. Chai. If there is one Chinese word that could encompass the wholesale destruction of culture, it would be this character. Painted on the outer walls of buildings, it marks hutongs for demolition, only to be replaced by the same generic, mass-produced, shops and eateries found in newly developed areas of the city. Much has been written and photographed on this subject. In an effort to keep up with a globalized world, Chinese cities are all too eager to “chai” the very qualities that make them unique, slap on the right brands and shiny fixtures to fit in with the cool kids.

My friend Simon (of Metavari fame <– woo! shameless plug. Acoustic wonderfulness) is fond of long bike rides. He’ll regularly hop on his massive steel bike, throw on some tunes and ride for four hours or more at a time. On one particular occasion, I joined him for one of these ambling rides. We zipped along the crowded streets, rode helmet-less against traffic, and for all extents and purposes, took little to no precaution with our safety. (In other wards, it was just a regular bike ride in China.)

I had a budding interest in documenting what was happening in the hutongs and Simon, true to form simply said “follow me.” A few hours later, I found myself standing literally in the rubble of peoples’ former lives. (I’m not kidding. There was even a Teletubby lying among the ruins.)

Maybe this gives you an idea of the quality of life (or some people’s priorities) we came across a jacuzzi after the wall had been torn out of this hutong.

A wall that remained in tact – gives you a sense of what it must have looked like before the sledgehammers came in.

Oh Simon, you do that rockstar-looking-into-the-far-off-distance MUCH too well.

As if Simon wasn’t an amazing enough friend to go on an adventure bike ride with me.. we came across a section of wall that remained in tact, and thus, a dead end. What to do.. what to do. Any sane person would have turned around but for Simon+Eva, it was up and over. This is what we saw when we climbed onto the roof tops.

My jaw hit the ground, I tell you. This is a siheyuan （四合院）a typical home of Beijing’s wealthy, which is built around an enclosed court yard. And there we were, running along the rooftops like some kung fu movie wannabe stunt doubles.

…

.

Sometimes I wonder what I possibly did to merit such an adventure as coming to China.

We managed to find a way down from the roof tops and entered a stunning court yard. Can you believe this is all going to be demolished??

I suspect this was once a hotel or something from the wall paper of the rooms. Graffiti covered most of the walls.

Unbelievable.

This past year however, life in the hutongs has meant more to me than the vestiges of a global city on the rise. It’s been my haven and second home. Followers of The Ricetrail know that for the past year, I’ve been teaching photography at The Hutong, a culinary and arts school that also serves as a community center. I absolutely love it there. Not just because of the novelty, or the amazing students I’ve had, but the amazing people I’ve met and the relationships I’ve formed. One of these is my friend Joel, head chef at The Hutong, a tea guru, and (I’m fairly certain) the modern incarnation of Confucius.  The Hutong deserves it’s own entry (which is to come) but I when Joel offered me the chance to poke around his latest project, I couldn’t resist.

Doesn’t look like much yet, (especially the above photo, which… well.. is kind of lacking a roof.) But this is Joel and Youngcall’s latest project. A hutong hotel. Youngcall owns Tao Yao Bar, a gem in the middle of Beijing’s Houhai District. Together, they are like Batman and Robin of creativity, design and culinary arts. In a few short months.. this place is going to be unrecognizable for sure.

So, I mentioned that Joel is a chef and a tea master. And I’m sure by now you can see his affinity for hutongs. Well, he and Youngcall actually live in one as well. I fell in love with Chez Schuchat when I tagged along to a casual dinner a few weeks ago. Joel turned the courtyard into an amazing garden with bamboo, date trees (which are amazing and look like giant bonsai trees), as well as a herb and rose garden. Instead of a conventional dining room, they have a table in the courtyard with a giant umbrella. The perfect place to camp out and do a day’s worth of computer work.. on a rainy day.

I recently purchased a new lens (85mm 1.8 Nikon Prime) and my word.. I am so in love. It gives me razor-sharp images, and incredible bokeh. Oh and it lets me get all sneaky like and take candids like this one:

Not going to lie. Since hanging around Joel, I’ve developed an obsession for Chinese tea. We went to Maliandao, the local teal market.. and let’s just say, I came back with a lot more than I intended.

Chez Shuchat (and Youngcall!) is filled with all sorts of neat things from their amblings around the world. Like this lamp in the courtyard.

I found a tiny kitty at Youngcall’s bar. Small furry things do funny things to my heart. Have I mentioned how much I love my new 85mm?!?

Last but not least, Joel’s bike. I feel less like an eternal pedestrian here in Beijing, because almost everyone gets around on bikes. I’m not sure how they manage, but a whole family of three can fit on one of these (the father is usually quite tired, I’d imagine.) I’ve always been baffled by how these dainty Chinese girls are able to perch themselves on the back of a moving bike, and make it look so easy. I’ve realized two things:

1. it takes a good biker (i.e. one not afraid of their passenger digging their fingernails out of sheer terror)

2. necessity is the mother of invention. Sometimes, you just gotta get from point A to B.

Such was the case on Saturday. I finally was able to ride side-saddle (?) on the back of a Chinese bike. Omigosh. It was harrowing. Especially when Joel insists on biking like a madman. Going against traffic. DURING RUSH HOUR!!!!

I need a shot of myself on this thing to show how massive it is (my feet are almost a foot off the ground when I sit on the seat), but also for posterity. So I remember that I too can ride like a Chinese girl. Just maybe not so dainty-like though.