Beijing, Y2K
When the Fall 1999 semester at URI ended, I badly needed a
break and a change of scene. I decided to get those things and escape from all
the Y2K hysteria by spending the New Year in Beijing, It made for an unusual
holiday, to say the least, because China didn't quite know how to handle this
New Year's celebration. On the one hand, they don't make much of the western New
Year because their Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, comes a few weeks
later. That's when everybody all over China packs up and goes home for a few
days. On the other hand, this New Year welcomed a new century and a new
millennium, so that was more activity than normal in the capital. To this was
added some lingering signs of a nascent western-style Christmas, complete
with lights, decorations, and Santas scattered over Beijing. The ambiguous
feelings about both Christmas and Near Year's made for an interesting time
indeed.
I visited the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences in
Beijing and a Tibetan graduate student-friend, Zhuoga, whom Kelly and I had met
at the Nanjing Institute of Meteorology the previous summer. I made new friends
at the academy, gave talks on atmospheric chemistry and scientific writing, and
experienced two or three snowfalls. I also visited my friends at Beijing Normal
University. All in all, I had a great time. I hope you enjoy the pictures!
General
Dinner with Guoshun and students
Tiananmen Square on New Year's eve
A Walk Down Main Street
Dinner in Roast Duck Heaven
The Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences
Visitors
A Talk on Semiannual Cycles
Scenes Around CAMS
Scenes around CAMS-2
Class on Scientific Writing
Zhuoga and Xiaohua
Beijing Normal University in the snow
Walking across campus
Viewing the sampling equipment
The ICP laboratory
The X-ray fluorescence facility