Beijing

(Ms. Arkin)

Beijing is a huge city with a tremendous amount of history. I know that is not a very sophisticated description, but I think I am forgetting my English vocabulary. Everywhere you look, there are apartment buildings. Mostly they are tall, high rise buildings or long rectangular buildings (look like the high rises tipped over on one side) that are set up in rows. The older ones are characterized by unpainted cement that has accumulated years of grime, and rusted iron cages in front of the windows. The newer buildings are obviously not as decrepit, but still look a little wilted. The ultra-new apartments are huge high rises often built in clusters of three or four identical structures. They are modern and clean looking. I was surprised that there was no laundry hanging anywhere in Beijing. The other cities have all been colorfully accessorized with clothing and sheets that hang just about everywhere (even in the rain).

If you look hard enough from the window of a moving vehicle, you can also see pockets of new wealth where they have built little communities of town homes or single family homes. The ones that I noticed were tastefully landscaped and tucked away behind fancy gates.

Something else that stands out in my mind about Beijing, besides it being enormous, is that the traffic is horrific. In fact, the traffic in Beijing almost makes route 128 during rush hour seem not so bad. Almost.

So, what did we do in this big, bustling, traffic jam of a city? The Great Wall…. The Forbidden City…. Tiananmen Square…. just to name a few. We also saw the Beijing Opera (yawn), the Temple of Heaven, the Lama Monastery and the list goes on. There is so much history in Beijing it is overwhelming. We had a very packed agenda for the four days we were there! Our guide, Da Li, was wonderful, except for the fact that he speedwalked. I think it amused him to make us walk a lot - he believed we should walk fast so we could see more places! He also had interesting things to say and I learned a lot from him without ever being bored.

We were fortunate to be in Beijing for the festivities that celebrated the “countdown to the 500 day countdown” to the 2008 Summer Olympics. We were there for days 504-501. Beijing is undergoing all sorts of cosmetic renovations in preparation for the games. Shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and even historical sites (like the Forbidden City) are all being spiffed up. It is also rumored that a public order will prohibit residents from driving their cars during the Olympic events. This will reduce both traffic and pollution.

We visited the Lama Monastery, which is a Buddhist temple. We have seen many Buddhist temples in China and I confess, with some hesitation and shame, that they are all starting to look the same. What stood out at this particular temple was not the architecture, the statues, or any of the elaborate artwork. Instead, it was a Tibetan monk (on vacation from Tibet) raucously carrying on a conversation via his state-of the-art cell phone. I thought, wait a minute, is this a commercial for Verizon or is there really a Tibetan monk, in full orange garb, with a techno ring tone? The other memory I have of this temple was “inviting” a statue of Buddha to leave the gift shop and come home with me. Da Li told us that was the proper terminology for the transaction. After giving money to the gift shop, I took the statue to be blessed by a monk who (after watching me put a donation in the donation box) told me to kneel while he recited a prayer. Then he sang something that, although I have no idea what it meant, sounded authentically devout. My Buddha is now supposed to bring me happiness and wealth.

The Great Wall was very steep. It was sad thinking about all of the workers that died constructing it. I wonder if they ever imagined that tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world would journey to see it every day. I don’t know what else to say about it. It looks like the pictures you see in books, except that it is steeper and packed with people (which made it kind of colorful). All along the wall there are salespeople hawking various souvenirs. They don’t have stands; they just walk around with armfuls of goods. I couldn’t resist buying a t-shirt that says (in both English and Chinese), “I climbed the Great Wall”.

The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square were pretty much as I imagined them to be. Our guide did not offer much commentary as we walked across Tiananmen Square. The events that took place there were reduced to the words, “there was some social unrest here in 1989”.

What I found most remarkable about the Temple of Heaven, was not the Temple, but the park that surrounds it. It is literally a playground for Beijing’s senior citizens. There are jungle gyms and monkey bars and swingsets that are used by hundreds of men and women over the age of 50. It was kind of surreal. Our guide told us that citizens are being encouraged to retire early in order to create more jobs for young people. When the men and women retire, they come to this park to participate in dance groups, singing groups, etc. They also make friends and play games.

I guess my journal entry can’t be complete without some mention of food. Beijing is famous for duck. There are many duck restaurants and even duck boats. That makes two things in common with Boston. Anyhow, the duck was delicious. Quack. We waddled out of the restaurant with full tummies.

Another experience we had in Beijing was taking a pedicab tour through one area of the city (known as the Hutong). As part of the tour, we stopped at the home of an elderly couple and got to visit with them for a few minutes and see their home. From the outside, the home looks like a dilapidated shack. From the inside, it is a little better, but still sparse and lacking many of the comforts we take for granted. The couple is retired from working in the factories and now they spend their time relaxing and opening their home to tourists. Their home consists of a small outside courtyard, a living room, a bedroom that is basically an extension of the living room, a small kitchen and a fair amount of clutter. They also have birds, fish and turtles to keep them company and help provide a warm, homey feeling. For heat, they heat up water in the living room. Their bathroom is the public lavatory which is about 50 meters down the street. The woman laughed at our muffled gasps when she told us this, and then went on to explain that it doesn’t bother them, because that is the only way they know.