Beckie Loewenstein

twenty three years old next year i will get even today in my prime

The old Scottish hippie Crashed the Holy City, Searching for places to stay. Anthronerd Miriam, Kibbutz-loving woman, Agreed to sublet her place. The old Scottish hippie Skipped town with a freebie, Damaging walls to dismay. "I handed him the keys," Miriam sighed with unease. "Broken trust makes me feel drained." The old Scottish hippie Ditched responsibility, Taking high robbery way. He bounced Jerusalem Off to New Zealand, Not a shekel for rent payed. Dedicated to Miriam

Parakeet exhales Bird breath smudges window panes Marks territory   Haiku dedicated to Charlie

Pomegranate slippers, Ruby red prisms of tart taste and seedy style, Squish juice prints on kitchen tiles. Sleeping seeds snuggle In darkness of fruit grooves. With a resounding crack Light pours on rows of ruby red And squishy brown beds. Seeds get ready for school, Tumbling into the glass jar; Accidentally making a juice stain, A seed blushes red. Pomegranate seeds burst As his teeth pulverize the fruit. Spritzing his tongue with acidic juice, Distorted seeds swirl in his saliva.   Dedicated to Nicky

Sam wears a watermelon With slippery black thread seeds, Woven red juice And stitched green rind. With rain and sunshine And a blessing or two The watermelon Grows and grows In silken black curls. On Shabbat watermelon vines Slide down to his forehead and Leafy bobby pins point to Hazel irises of round eyes, Sam's kippa tilted to the side. Dedicated to Sam

wipe counters clean with cloths swish swish swish pour white bleach into sink rinse rinse rinse toss lime rinds down the drain grind grind grind good night, kitchen. click. Dedicated to Fernanda

Too late to return your call In my cell phone voice mailbox I discovered a digital Version of your voice. Electronic you. Listening to the audio recording Of your vocal chord vibrations, The hairs of my ear drum vibrated, Your sound waves triggering My nerves to tell my brain To recognize you, The digital you, Queen of the Jungle. Dedicated to Karina

Like cranberry produce Squished inside rigid cans, I cannot say no, cannot refuse My mother's intrusive plans. A party at the Finnish Embassy For me to go dance alone But mom insists on driving So I've got nervous bones. I peevishly decline her request Without one ounce of tact. Now I've got this parental mess Thanksgiving, I got to change my act. Dedicated to Christina

non-toxic white goo why melt horse hooves down to glue? heated oats work, too

I don't need your parasympathy My nervous system works for me. Those sad thoughts coursing through my mind Spiral brain waves up, down my spine. Today my face swollen with tears, Tomorrow smiling ear to ear.

rain drop floats up and down riding cirrus cloud falls down through dry air kerplunk drop bounces on leaf absorbs gold pollen rolls off petal down down dry stem hairs kersplash drop bounces in mulch absorbs brown soil specks slides in earthworm tunnels down down to dry roots

You touch, smell, or taste something And realize that it leaves a residue On you. Stay to read and write, please do.

mango con chile paprika and chili powders dried mango strips packaged in plastic. fingers pick up mangoes, place in palm of hand. skin oils mingle with spices and red orange particles seep underneath fingernails. fingers press and rub eyes, swirling spices into tear ducts. sudden awareness of spice residue transfer from fingers to eyes. salty spicy tears pour out gotas de lágrima con chile

rain drop floats up and down riding cirrus cloud falls down through dry air kerplunk drop bounces on leaf absorbs gold pollen rolls off petal down down dry stem hairs kersplash drop bounces in mulch absorbs brown soil specks slides in earthworm tunnels down down to dry roots

This evening I joined the Chinese folks congregating together outside the Bird's Nest and Water Cube to watch the Closing Ceremonies. Olympics sentinels stood in every nook and cranny. The Olympics volunteers took orders from the police. Their job was to deny entry to all roads leading to the Olympic stadiums. Chinese soldiers looked sharp and attentive to remind us who was boss. With one glance, they curtly turned all of us no-Olympics-access-folks away from the paths to the Olympics Green. The pubescent beanpoles in green uniforms marched drills, squeezed together in alleys, and held onto stools (later to squat on them while staying in line formation). They held onto stern grimaces. In spite of the crowd control function of the street, I did manage to squirm my way through to an area with a view of the Bird's Nest. I crowded with Chinese folks at their residential community southwest of the Olympic stadiums. The end of the lane gave a partially obstructed view of the skies ab

The Olympics spirit calls for peaceful competition between nations. In China the bird that best represents both peace and competition is the gezi — dove or pigeon. The Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics took place at the Bird’s Nest stadium. One performance transformed the traditional Chinese character of 'he' (peace) into a flying bird. Considering the importance of pigeon racing to Chinese culture, I think that the bird that roosts at the Bird’s Nest is a pigeon, not a dove. Pigeon racing in China goes way back to the Ming Dynasty. Pigeon breeders across the centuries have raised the pigeons not simply for their calming coos, but for the jolts of excitement of the race. During the Cultural Revolution pigeon racing was banned because it was determined to be "feudal, capitalist and revisionist." China now has a capitalist economy, and official ceremonies release flocks of pigeons in true capitalist fashion. Preparations for the Olympics have meant some restrictions o

Watching an Olympics match on TV at Liangmaqiao station on subway line 10, I read the lips of Chinese fans saying "zhong guo, jia you" or "china, add energy!" With gas prices skyrocketing, public transit ridership in Beijing may be at an all time high. Beijing has been working to reform its public transportation services in preparation for the Olympic Games. This has provided affordable travel options. The spanking new subway lines provide a convenient, inexpensive, and safe way to get around Beijing. It is a veritable subway system. Right now Beijing's residents and tourists are more likely to add cash to their subway cards than pump gas into private vehicles. The nine subway lines give a broad reach to places in the center and outskirts of the city. Lines 10 and 13 have air-conditioned trains with soft seats and TV monitors. Line 8 gives access to the Olympic Sports Center and Olympic Park and the blue line goes straight to the airport. In this sense, Beijing&

It makes the most sense to take the eleven hour train ride from Harbin to Beijing at night. The chug chug of a train steadily rolling across the tracks lulls me straight to sleep. The bunk beds of a sleeper train would feel as cozy as a den if they were not quite so narrow. The Chinese family reclining on the bunks below mine munched on ruby red tomatoes. They held their tickets to the Olympic Games in their laps. I would have eavesdropped on their conversation, but they were speaking a dialect of Mandarin I could not quite grasp. We departed Harbin on August 8, 2008 around 9:00 p.m., an hour after the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games at the Bird's Nest in Beijing began. We were missing the fireworks, but I counted my lucky stars that I was on my way to Beijing. My Chinese friends were surprised that I managed to purchase a train ticket to Beijing at all. They held the perception that the train station only reserved those train tickets to those who already possessed tickets

Article and Photography By BECKIE LOEWENSTEIN The water of the Five Continuous Pools in the Black Dragon Province fizzes like an ice-cold Pelligrino. The mineral springs are found at Wudalianchi, a rural community in the volcanic region of Heilongjiang, China. The water contains more than forty minerals compatible with the needs of the human body. Those who drink and bathe in the water on a regular basis gain the most health benefits. Chinese tourists stay for months on end to cure diseases of the skin, digestive, nervous, and circulatory diseases. Those who cannot stay long enough to soak up the goodness take the water to go. During the summer the locals and tourists arrive in droves to collect the precious water from the taps. They come prepared with empty 10 kg plastic containers, thermoses, and bottles. The cold water gushes out. Some load the backs of trucks with as many containers as can fit. Many drink straight from the tap. The mineral water tastes strange at first. The bubbles

Article and Photography By BECKIE LOEWENSTEIN Chinese massage therapy involves a series of rubs, presses, scrapes, brushes, pulls, pokes, shakes, slaps, and punches. The intensity and duration depends on the health condition and personal preferences of the client. The residents of Harbin turn to massage therapy as a medicinal remedy to aches and pains. I accompany my classmate Christine Trac to the massage therapy clinic in the residential district to the north of Heilongjiang University. The white characters “blind person massage” (盲人按摩) painted on the windows advertise that the therapists are all visually impaired. Before the 1980s blind massage therapists were most common. The elderly even more than the youth in Harbin have the belief that the blind have sharper senses and can give the best massages. Christine chooses the full body massage that protects overall health; it costs 30 元 an hour. Sometimes you can choose your career, and other times that career chooses you. Zhou was bor

Photography and Article by BECKIE LOEWENSTEIN Unidentified gases spew out of smokestacks scratching Harbin's skyline. The seventh and eighth floors of the dormitories of Heilongjiang University have a view of the factories to the south of campus. On the rainy day of July 18, 2008, the gases look particularly black. When rain and wind do not carry the smoke away, the air takes on the taste and smell of the pollutants. A Chinese student at Heigong University describes the "air flavors" (气味 qiwei) as either sour, sweet, spicy, bitter, or fragrant. Each day in early June the air smelled either pungently bitter or sickeningly sweet. However, today the air smells relatively fragrant. Perhaps the wind has changed direction.

Article and Photography By BECKIE LOEWENSTEIN Siberian tigers arouse from their siesta in the shade to snatch a chicken or two at their current residence, the North East Tiger Park (东北虎园) in Harbin. Trying to maintain the health of their tigers, the park employees only feed the tigers live animals and meat that have passed multiple health inspections. The tigers are rapidly losing their native habitats in China due to increasing population growth. These tigers will not be released back to the wild anytime soon. This park is the only breeding center for Siberian tigers in the world. Sightseers can hold one month year old tigers. Although no park or zoo can ever replace the wild, these tigers have more space than most living in captivity. They roam in the shade of trees and snooze in the tawny grass of fields. Sightseers take a Safari bus ride through the tigers' pad, and have the option to purchase live chickens, ducks (40 元 each）, and guinea fowl (100 元 each）. A jeep with its wind

Article and Photography By BECKIE LOEWENSTEIN Chinese citizens expecting to see the morning torch relay from the Flood Control monument at Zhongyang Street in Harbin, China, console themselves with photography. They arrived before 5 a.m. as prepared as could be. With heart stickers of the China flag on their cheeks and flags in hand, they waited patiently. Catching a glimpse of a torch-bearing proudly carrying the Olympic flame would make missing a day of class and/or work worth it. They waited more than three hours at the barricades. The first barricade enclosed the street. A second barricade created empty space of twenty-five meters in width. The pre-approved university student leaders and Chinese elites stood behind this barrier. The general public squeezed into spaces behind. The crisply-dressed police officers, bearing no weapons on-person, faced the public. During the joint police forces warm-up exercises, they jogged together in single-file unison. Hesitation and uncertainty tem

Article and Photography by BECKIE LOEWENSTEIN Descending from the top of the Hat Mountain(帽儿山: Mao Er Shan), a peasant herds two cows. The cows hungrily graze on the lush green undergrowth of the forest. Their four hooves are loosely bound together with rope, slowing them down and making them easier to guard. With an occasional stumble, they lunge forward to the next morsel of grass. Cowbells clanging, the cows sway their heads in between mouthfuls of leaves. The cows are nameless. The herder, their owner, guides them out to feed in the forest and pasture. But he does not want to build an emotional attachment with these animals. They are not pets. They are destined for slaughter. The cows will bring in wealth and financial security to the herder's family. The larger the cows grow, the more flesh there will be to sell in the meat market. The only names the cows ever receive are those of Chinese dishes. The climb up Hat Mountain attracts city folk who want to get a breath of fresh ai

Article and Photography By BECKIE LOEWENSTEIN Rivers do not have to be clean to attract fishers, bathers, and swimmers. The Songhua River of Harbin, China, is no exception. Newspapers and television stations in Harbin warn that the pollutants in the river will bring about illnesses of the skin. Nevertheless, Harbin’s urban dwellers depend on the river for summer leisure activities. Entire families sojourn out to the river to catch fish, wash laundry, scrub clean their pet dogs’ fur, bathe, and swim. Bathers scrub their bodies down with soap. Many do not know how to swim. They sit at the edge of the river to soap their skin, and then rinse off with handfuls of water. The swimmers peel off their clothes down to underpants. After smoking a cigarette or two, they wade into the shallows. They scrub their faces and ears with a bar of soap; the soap bubbles all dissolve during the dive into the murky depths. The Songhua River veteran swimmers notice the difference in water quality. Fifty-two

Yang Wei Ming plays tennis with a friend at Heilongjiang University on an overcast summer day in Harbin, China. Tall grass and flowers grow in the cracks of the cement tennis court.

Sun Wen Si, third year undergraduate law student, at Heilongjiang University in Harbin, China, advocates recycling and reducing litter as the message of the Green Olympics. She hopes to bring yellow canvas bags as an alternative to white plastic bags. Since June 1, 2008, grocery stores and markets in China began to charge customers for plastic bags. “We all know that the plastic bag does not protect the environment and is not biodegradable," says Sun Wen Si. "These yellow bags can be used multiple times." Students can throw the "white rubbish" into the mushroom-shaped litter bins on campus.

  Cormorants, their webbed feet bound with twine rope, go for a boat ride in the Munai wetlands, a nature conservation site in Heilongjiang Province, China. The dense reeds growing in the freshwater, greatest depth of six meters, provide nesting sites for more than two hundred species of birds. This eco-tourist destination includes rafting and dragon boat racing.

Article and Photography By BECKIE LOEWENSTEIN Today's Chinese martial artists no longer train on the green limbs of old growth bamboo, but on the roofs of steel and concrete buildings. Martial artists and acrobats in search of more economic opportunities move to the big city. A group of martial artists and acrobats from the rural areas of Kaifeng, Hunan Province, moved together to Shanghai, Jiangsu Province, to begin performance careers. Living without the support of friends and family poses a challenge. The martial artists of the Kaifeng Martial Arts and Acrobatics Troupe assembled together in the rural areas of Kaifeng, Henan Province, and migrated together to Shanghai, Jiangsu Province. They regard each other as close friends. After training together in the E Warehouse of the Shanghai Arts District, they return to their apartment on Shangnan Road. Adopting Shanghai’s punk style, they dye the tips of their long black hair pink and gold. “It looks more attractive,” says martial ar

By BECKIE LOEWENSTEIN AND FENGQIONG CHEN In the mountains of Shanxi and Henan provinces last year, Chinese owners of illegal mines and brick kilns forced Chinese adults and children into slave labor. A Chinese television station broke the story. BBC News reported that more than 160 people were involved in trafficking almost 570 people and 50 children. Wang Dongji—the Chinese Communist Party secretary for Caosheng village, Shanxi province—looked the other way as his son, the kiln operator, ran the kiln without the required licenses and inspections. President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao called for a thorough investigation, resulting in the indictment of 96 local officials. Yu Youjun, the governor of Shanxi province, felt compelled to issue a public apology. The anti-rightist movement of 1959 had no use for law. No new law students were admitted to Peking University from 1966 to 1971. After the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, the restored leadership of the Chinese Communis