Woodhands Bring Back Love From Beijing

The Woodhands China Blog

The Woodhands recently visited China along with Daniel Wesley, You say party! We say die! (who can't get into the US but can tour more open countries like China), Buck 65 and Champion.

The Woodhands kept a blog of that visit, cataloguing some of their interesting findings which you can check out at http://woodhands.exclaim.ca

Here are some random observations about Beijing:
1. Lack of flush toilets.  Yes, we know but don’t really know: there aren’t a ton of flush toilets in Beijing.  You gotta do the squat!  There are also a ton of homes that do not have running water or plumbing at all!  These exist in some upscale areas too, so when we were out shopping for awesome shit in NLGX (a hip back alley artsy zone that is steadily gentrifying), we watched as people emerged from their homes to use the public toilets that are found all over the place. When we were at D-22 I went to hit the public toilet next door and peed next to a kid who was squatting with a handheld radio, listening to Chinese pop music. Crazy!

2. You can drink booze anywhere in Beijing.  We spent a lot of time drinking on stoops, on the side of the road, in front of clubs where the drinks were too expensive, on the way to and from wherever it is that we were…You can drink anywhere here.  Just like Berlin.

3. Beijing is crazy cheap.  A beer costs about 30 cents.  A 20 minute cab ride costs about $1.50.  If you know where to eat – and we were lucky enough to be shown around by locals – you can eat hella well for hella cheap.  When we went out with You Say Party! We Say Die! and some friends to eat, there were eight of us and we chowed hard.  The bill came to about $20.

4. You don’t really notice the government…or at least we didn’t.  Aside from Tianamen Square, where the propaganda is on serious display, the government seemed like a non-factor.  People we talked to here said that they didn’t really think about the government a whole ton.  But this being a city of about 30 million people, the arm of the government can only go so far.

5. The weirdest thing about Beijing is how normal it seems.  How much like any other amazing city.  The place is huge and you get the sense that you could spend a lifetime exploring its secrets.  But aside from not knowing the language, it didn’t feel like some foreign land.

6. We almost didn’t play our second show at D-22 because when I plugged in my power bar to the system, I almost started a fire and short-circuited their power supply.  After a couple hours of stress, everything got worked out.

7. Bands thinking of coming to China: do it.