Knicks City Dancers Blogging From Beijing
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Kids, make sure you don't smorke!
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As our fabulous trip to China came to an end, we couldn't help but find some last minute humor at the airport as we saw the "Smorking Room" sign on our way to the gate. From the "fire hyrant" to the interesting restroom situations, the KCD were able to find humor throughout the entire trip, "take it to the next level" (as we always do), and have such a fun time!
We said one last goodbye to China before boarding our plane, and then we were back at Newark Airport by 5:15 pm on Tuesday.
Thank goodness for Duty Free!
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This trip to China was quite enlightening. There we were on the other side of the world, immersed in a completely different culture, learning about its amazing history and trying its rich food. Through all that, we were still able to connect with fans there and find that common thread with the Chinese people...a love for the game of basketball!
A very special "xiexie" to the Knicks City Dancers: Christie, Alexis, Marcella, Sarah, Erika and Becca! The performances were great, even under some hard travel and practice circumstances...WE WORK HARD, WE PLAY HARD LADIES!
And finally, thanks to all the fans who logged on to keep up with our adventure. Stay tuned throughout the season for more special Knicks City Dancer news. KNICKS FANS KNOW...the Knicks City Dancers have fans all over the world!
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Onward and upward ladies!
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Along our trip to The Commune we saw donkeys feeding on the side of the road...definitely not a sight we are used to experiencing in NY. We also had to sit in a bit of traffic, because not only is it a Chinese national holiday, but Beijing is busy preparing to host the 2008 Olympics. While driving I also noticed a lot of the use of the color red. I’ve learned that red is very symbolic here and means happiness, strength and good fortune.
We then headed to The Great Wall. Wow...it’s absolutely breathtaking to say the least. The wall is approximately 4,000 miles in length (to get an idea, they said to imagine a wall going straight from NY to LA...crazy, huh?). As we walked up the incredibly steep steps, some of which were up to my knees, we even had to crawl at times using our hands for fun. Probably the best step exercise we’ll ever get for sure!! When we turned around to look down, you could barely even see any steps...just the bottom! Our photos were being taken the whole time, except some times I didn’t realize it. It’s crazy to think of celebrities that are constantly being photographed. We definitely didn’t mind the response we were receiving. When we reached a certain point we stopped and posed for some more group photos, took a little breather and then headed back down. Going down was a bit scary and we were taking our time being cautious...we do have the upcoming season to prepare for.
The Knicks City Dancers stood atop the Great Wall of China.
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Afterwards, we stopped by the Silk Market where we picked up some souvenirs and funky little gifts for family and friends. It kind of reminded me of a NY flea market or...Chinatown! Michelle was also able to pick up some cute KCD attire for this season’s Asian Theme Night. We had a lot of fun practicing our bargaining skills. You have to be prepared to walk away in order to get to the price you want to pay. I'm just not sure how Marcella and Alexis are going to get their knife and 20 DVD's through Customs...
Finally, we got back to the hotel just in time for an hour break before heading out again to dinner at the wrap party for the Jam Van. Everybody was there including all the sponsors and NBA crew. The dinner was a buffet variety of Chinese and American food, and was very good...something there for everybody. Following some speeches and thanks to all of the incredible people who were involved in this event, we played games. Are you ready for this? We fit 12 people standing on one single t-shirt without falling! TWELVE! Alexis, Sarah, Michelle, Erika and I were on there among others, and we could not stop laughing! We won since the other team could only fit seven...haha!
Well...now I must say I’m ready to call it night. We’re all exhausted and tomorrow we head back home. It’s been an incredible trip, but were ready to get back to practice and perform for our NY fans! Hi to everyone at home, I love and miss you all so much!
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The Knicks City Dancers made it to the papers!
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Anyway, it took me long enough to adjust to the jet lag! What is this? Day 5? Jeez! Unfortunately we'll be coming home soon and I'll have to go through the whole non-sleeping thing all over again! Oh well, the point is that I was well rested and ready to go for our last day of dancing. Oh, and on top of me being happy about actually sleeping last night, I woke up to a beautiful sunny day... the first one since we've been here, which was great! Then it was off to our daily rehearsal at the hotel gym. After we perfected our routines, it was time to get ready to leave for the last Jam Van performance.
At 2:30 pm we were off to the People’s University of China. We'd been dancing at Workers Stadium the previous days, so this was a new experience for us. I was especially excited about going to the University so I could compare it to my school (Go Rutgers!). When we arrived, we were taken straight to the VIP room to get ready.
We were all trying to get ready when Alexis said, "Umm...good luck to whoever needs to use the restroom." We were all a little confused and curious as to what she meant. I looked in the bathroom stall and there was something that I did not expect to see. Well, all I can say is that luckily we're all trained dancers with a pretty good amount of balance that is needed to squat long enough to be able to go to the bathroom in a hole in the ground! Haha...oh goodness!
We had about 30 minutes to hang out in our VIP room before we had our first performance. We walked out of the building expecting to walk over to the site, but had to ride in the van to spare us the lengthy 100-foot walk to get there! It wasn't our choice, but the NBA staff here is committed to our safety and insists on us taking the van directly to our security guards that make our human tunnel before we run out to perform. Immediately after we ran out to see the crowd, I noticed that this group of people was much different than the others we'd seen the previous days. They were MUCH more enthusiastic and excited about us being there. I guess it was to be expected though, considering they were a bunch of college students. It was definitely a lot of fun performing for this group! After each performance, we handed out t-shirts and hats to the crowd. We almost started a riot at one point! Thank goodness for security!
After the first performance Christie, Alexis, and I signed autographs on our KCD posters for whoever wanted them. As we were getting ready to sign the posters we were informed that people had been lined up for 2-1/2 hours just to see us and get our autographs! How crazy is that?! The people here think we're real celebrities! We were even featured in “MVP,” a Chinese NBA newspaper - our spread was so big! It was really awesome to see our pictures in a Chinese newspaper and to see how our names are spelled in Chinese characters! The fans have been really great, and I definitely think Americans should get this excited about the KCD as well...starting now, right? Haha, just kidding! Actually, Don (from Replay, the producers of the Jam Van) explained to us that some of these locals have never ever seen Caucasians in person before, so they are very excited and will take a picture with you even if you aren’t a celebrity.
There was a big commotion when KCD gave away t-shirts and hats.
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As we rode back to the hotel, everyone was a little sad. We realized that we would be leaving soon and being here has been so great. Before we came, we had no idea how we'd be received by people that were unfamiliar with us and didn't speak our language. When we got such great reactions, it made us feel so welcome and appreciated that it made us want to stay longer! The people here have made our trip that much more enjoyable.
We had a half-hour break and then it was back to the gym for our second rehearsal of the day. You're probably wondering why we had another rehearsal when we're finished with our performances here in China. Well, while we're here, the rest of the KCD are continuing to work hard at our regular scheduled rehearsals in New York. Being in China isn't an excuse for us to fall behind on preparing for the upcoming preseason games, so we brushed up on all the choreography that we need to know for rehearsal with the rest of the ladies this coming Wednesday.
After that, we went off to do our own thing for a little bit, some girls even worked out (crazies...we'd been dancing all day!), while others rested. Now I'm just preparing myself to wake up really early to go to the Great Wall tomorrow! That will be a great experience, and we're all very excited. Only a couple more days here...the trip has been absolutely wonderful, but I'm definitely anxious to get home too! Can't wait to see everyone in a couple days! Buhbye! !
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"I hope that's not the line for the bathroom!"
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Retiring early last night was definitely a smart choice because we needed all the energy we could find to get through today, which for us isn't even close to done yet. We set out at 8:30 this morning to visit "The Forbidden City” and Tiananmen Square. We learned some fascinating history, from Charlie our tour guide, while walking through “The Forbidden City.” The city gets its name because during the years that it served as a home for the emperors, common people were forbidden to enter. It was filled with royalty, politicians, and the emperor’s concubines, which numbered in the thousands! We spent about 2 and a half hours touring so I could go on for pages, but if you really want to know more about the history you’re better off Google-ing it.
So we notice as we get off our bus and enter the city that a lot of people are staring and pointing at us. We didn’t even get 2 minutes into our tour before the first group of people approached us, and with non-verbal communication which has been so useful, they asked us if they could take our picture. It didn’t stop there. Once a small crowd formed, people who weren’t even looking at us to begin with became curious, and before we knew it we were doing a photo op in the middle of Beijing’s most historical site. Imagine this...the six of us, completely caught off guard, lined up smiling with different Chinese people taking turns jumping in and out of the picture. It was a riot! They were so excited without even knowing exactly who we were, and when Charlie explained that we dance for the NBA they were even more excited because basketball is so big over here. This went on here and there throughout the day.
In the midst of all this, we spot a baby being held over a garbage can, going to the bathroom through a convenient split that went right down his pants. Shocking!! It was kind of like a car crash, you probably shouldn’t stare but we couldn’t possibly look away. A little later a man walks by with his adorable son slung over his shoulder. It was pretty cute and as he passed my gaze followed...another one! This kid's bare butt was hanging out for all of Beijing to see. Finally at dinner tonight I was able to get an explanation for this madness. Sadly, some underprivileged families resort to this practice because they can’t afford diapers. Now that I know, when I see this again I’ll be more respectful with my rubbernecking.
Fast forward to the afternoon and it’s time to hit up the “Jam Van.” Along with “The Chief”, Robert Parish, we helped to host a basketball contest for Special Olympics Children. Seeing them so determined against all odds was inspiring. I’m happy I was able to be a part of that. After that we performed, a few of us did an autograph session, and Christie did some media interviews in the lobby. Again it was a successful day. The crowd was enthusiastic and we had so much fun dancing for them.
When our appearance was over we headed back to our suite to change. In the hallway I noticed a fire extinguisher encased in glass. There was Chinese writing on the box to label the extinguisher and below it was an English translation that read, “fire hyrant.” We were dying of laughter because of the way hydrant was misspelled, then we laughed even harder, if that’s possible, when someone pointed out that it wasn’t even a fire hydrant...it's a fire extinguisher!
Tonight the NBA treated us to dinner again but this time at a more authentic venue called Made In China. It was amazing, the atmosphere, the food...all of it. Plus we were in good company. It was the same crew from the night before plus some other NBA Asia PR people: Flora, Marcus, and Kim Hung. We tried a ton of different foods that were all really great, with the exception of Sarah almost eating a roasted duck head by accident, beak and all!
Now you see why we needed a good night's sleep before today. There wasn’t a dull moment and it’s not done yet. We're about to relax in the sauna before our massages which are booked for 11 pm. Besides being quite inexpensive here, it's a perfect way to wind down from a crazy day so we can be rested and prepared for more action tomorrow.
And to all the KCD holding it down in NY, we're always thinking about you ladies. XOXO!
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Sarah poses with her number 1 fan.
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Today was our first day out of the hotel. We were all really feeling like we were still just back in New York just hanging out with each other, like normal. Everyone mentioned at one point “I really don’t feel like were in China.” Let me just say, the moment our van took off and we saw some of the city, that feeling changed quickly! We arrived at another hotel close to where our event was being held. We went into our suite, changed, and headed back in the van to the Jam Van event. The second we got in the van, Jay (who works for NBA China) immediately turned to us and said, “Close the curtains.” Yes, they have curtains in their vans here. We all looked at each other with wide eyes and knew that we were in for a great welcome. As we headed out of the van we had our own security guards that made a human tunnel/barricade for us to run through the middle to our screaming fans!
We said hello and introduced ourselves one by one ("Ni hao, wo jiao Sarah!") and went to judge our dance contest. That’s right, we weren’t the only ones dancing! Three local dance teams performed their own different routines, and then we taught all the teams choreography from one of our routines. The team that picked up our choreography and executed it the finest would then perform with us at the end of the day. It was a tough decision, but one team had to win. So we all deliberated quickly and decided that “Ku LaLa” was the winner! Ku LaLa included: Yu Dan, Ye Shan, Ye Qian, Zhang Xiaomeng, Xu Jing, and Li Fei. Sorry all if I butchered your names, I just needed to give a quick shout out!! They came up to our suite so we could teach them more of our routine and clean it so it was KCD perfect!
The Jam Van event brought in a large crowd.
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Christie, Alexis and I then signed autographs for some of the fans. I tried to quickly learn a few Chinese words to communicate to them. Someone would say “Welcome to China” and I would respond “You’re welcome,” all excited with a huge grin, thinking to myself “get it Sarah, yeah!” Alexis then quickly burst my bubble shaking her head and laughing at me! I’ll stick with English...for now!
While we were chatting it up (like we love to do) with the event MC, Jin Jing, we found it very interesting that rap and hip-hop music just recently became popular here. Even more interesting, Chinese people have a very different idea of beauty than we do. When Jin Jing asked us who we think is beautiful and we replied “Lucy Liu...you must be so proud of her. We think she’s beautiful!” the woman quickly started making gagging motions. “NO, NO, NO!” she said, “We all think she’s ugly!” We almost all passed out at the same time!
Tonight we will be heading to the Outback steakhouse with the rest of the people from the NBA. Can’t wait to see what kind of twist China throws on the Bloomin’ Onion. Before our Jam Van event tomorrow, we will be meeting at 8:30am (which should be NO problem for us lately) and heading to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, which means “gate of heavenly peace.” If you’re wondering why my blog goes on forever, they call me “Storytime” back at home and I couldn’t disappoint! We miss our other Knicks ladies back in NY. Until tomorrow...Zaijian (goodbye)!!
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Can I get MSG Network on this?
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After we forced ourselves to get some more sleep, we wake up to start our first big day of events. We get to the gym at 10am to workout and practice... Practice? Yes, I’m talking about hard-core, full-out, sweat-dripping dance practice. Come on...you didn’t expect anything less from your Knicks City Dancers did you? We came to bring it in Beijing baby! Our call time for the day was 2 pm, so after rehearsal we had some time to kill. I got my first glimpse of the rainy weather outside. It was dismal and dreary, but after about an hour of lounging around, I got up to get myself ready for the event. I mean, it’s not like they’d cancel the whole thing right?
Getting ready here has been a bit of a challenge. The electrical outlets have all types of holes going through them, and some of our converters weren’t working. But, we made do with what we had and emerged from the rooms looking absolutely fabulous. After waiting a couple of minutes, we’re informed that the event is postponed due to rain. We have a couple of hours to kill, so we head to the mall.
There’s this enormous mall underneath our hotel. It has several stores that were familiar to us like Valentino, Givenchy, Lacoste, Esprit and Burberry. Plus it had a McDonald’s (which I have to admit, made me VERY happy). After a quick meal and a walk around the mall, we get the official word that our day of performing and fun has been cancelled because of the rain. BUMMER! It’s about 4:30pm now, and we all have pretty much hit a wall.
At about 7:30pm we all emerge from a much needed nap and head for this cute little Thai restaurant in the mall. While at dinner, Marcella discovers that public restrooms here only have one giant roll of toliet paper for the entire restroom... outside of the stalls!
I also discover that I am willing to try new types of food, as long as the food looks different from the way it did when it was alive! Seriously, yesterday Michelle ate some shrimp that had eyes still on it – BLAH! Anyway, after a nice meal we found our safe haven Starbucks... and retired to our rooms to get ready for tomorrow.
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A girl's gotta get her beauty sleep!
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The 14 hour non-stop flight was made much more comfortable than normal because the plane was only half booked; therefore we each were able to spread ourselves amongst our own three seats…each of which had their own LCD television!
The flight ran smoothly as we all read books, slept, worked, and even worked out! Yes, that’s right, you didn’t read it wrong, we worked out our arms and mid-sections on the plane, and even did leg raises and lunges in the aisle. How could we possibly go 14 hours without some sort of movement…we ARE dancers, aren’t we?! Unfortunately for Christie, the flight wasn’t so smooth as she developed a stomach virus.
So, we finally arrived in Beijing, China to pick up our luggage and pass through customs, when the first thing that caught my eye was of course the familiar green letters that spelled out STARBUCKS!! All I could think about was a caramel macchiato to keep me up to get through the jet lag. It's not going to be easy adjusting to the twelve-hour time difference between China and New York.
Our first glimpse of Beijing, from the airport on the way to the hotel.
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We were escorted to our hotel by Charlie, our guide, along with Eddie and Jay, who work for NBA China. The Grand Hyatt, Beijing is one amazing hotel with great hospitality. We have been experiencing nothing less than 5-star service here, and everyone we’ve encountered has been more than friendly. Check in took 10 minutes and our bags were in our room within 15. We ate in the hotel at a “supposedly” Italian restaurant, but the food was more like local Chinese… or at least we think.
Before checking in for the night, we stopped by the spa area to scope out where we could rehearse, work out and swim for the rest of the week. Not only was the gym impressive, but there was an extremely large indoor infinity pool that made us feel like we were on an island somewhere.
Overall, I’d have to say that Beijing and the people in it are exceptionally nice. What a great start to an exciting week!
