1.3 Billion + Me

It's common knowledge that China's population is ridiculous. Anyone who learns of your impending trip to China will tell you to "be ready to fight the crowds." I had absolutely no idea just how much of an understatement that would turn out to be.

There is literally no escaping the constant anxiety that comes with being in a crowd. You deal with it in every facet of your life. Examples:

• ordering food
• shopping for groceries
• paying for anything
• walking or biking along the streets*
• going to the market
• visiting tourist destinations
• taking a bus or subway
• flagging down a cab
• sitting in class

There are a few noticeable, and telling, exceptions:

• going to the gym (especially for women)
• going to expensive department stores or malls
• in our dorm's common room!

So first, let me say that walking or biking along streets in Beijing tries my patience more than my three siblings ever have. I'm not one to yell really, but I find myself yelling (without too much force) in English at the Chinese commuters surrounding me. In such a large city everyone is intent on making his own way to his own destination as quickly as possible. I think a few anecdotal stories are in order.

One day, I was riding across campus to get to class and had to weave around a bit of construction. Then all of a sudden there was a plastic ribbon tied to trees on either side of the street I was on. Everyone was walking or biking under it, of course. The man in front of me, upon hearing my biked approach, turned and saw me coming up behind him. He then proceeded to lift the plastic tape up to let himself through, turned, looked at me, AND DROPPED IT BACK DOWN. I had been anticipating that he would hold it up for me since he saw me coming up right behind him, so then I had to slam on the brake and awkwardly hold the tape up and toe myself under the plastic.

Another day, as I was riding the subway to Tuanjiehu Station, which is right by the Sanlitun area (the playground of Beijing nightlife), I was squished together by the hordes of Chinese boarding the subway at every stop. They would literally pile in on top of each other, pushing the entire subway crowd into each other to get in. I spent that subway ride wedged between one man's beer belly and a woman's large derrière. Some photos of some less extreme subway crowding:

And let's not even get started about road traffic. The only discernible difference I have found between rush hour and the rest of the day is that in rush hour, you literally don't move. The rest of the day, you move... but just a little bit at a time. But it's still convenient being able to rest throughout your entire journey in a backseat, as opposed to the battle that is public transportation. So even though taxis are just as slow as the subway and 10-30 times more expensive, you still have to battle to get the taxi in the first place. And it's no surprise with all the PEOPLE IN CHINA. See pictures below for people at Xidan (a popular shopping area in Beijing) including a matching couple that was walking right in front of me:

So overall, Beijing can be a very disconcerting place. Not only are there 17 million or so official Beijingers, but there are also the temporary migrant workers who come to make a few quick dollars, the Chinese tourists who come to see the glorious capital of their nation (so the other 1.27 billion), and the foreigners... like Japanese, Koreans, and me.

Living here since June, I thought I had come to understand the crowds. But this week is National Holiday, and where else do the Chinese want to go to celebrate their nation but the capital of all capitals, Tiananmen Square right in the heart of Beijing. I went there myself to document what I was sure would be a crazy spectacle. Next post, you'll see if I was right or not.