Welcome to 北京 (Beijing)
The recurring theme of my pre-program tour around Beijing was one of clashing eras. With the city's hypermodernization over the past few years, it's frequent to see tall steel complexes surrounding small, ramshackle hutongs, or alleyways. What's more, Beijing is rapidly becoming a major source of consumer demand, making Western brands a very common sight around the city, even in the most unexpected of places. Since this dichotomy is better shown than told, I decided to chronicle our time in Beijing through photos. I'm also just really lazy. So here we go.
Our first foray into 北京
After settling into our hotel, my mom and I consulted our travel books to find a good place to eat. We settled on Grandma's Kitchen, pictured above. The travel book described the restaurant as a little piece of the Midwest right here in China, but I guess the owners just couldn't go completely Western on us, given the paper lamps. Although I will give them credit for authenticity: they gave us a jar with a straw in which to pour our canned sodas. I haven't drunk out of a jar since my childhood days at the neighbors' house.
For those few who haven't realized...
China isn't all that Communist. This picture was one of many taken along the street of my hotel, which included Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, Rolls-Royces, Mercedes Benz, and other luxury cars I had never heard of. Along this same street were the typical luxury designers as well. It's just hard to believe that it was only within my lifetime that it was even possible for these stores to open in Beijing, much less thrive.
Token 长城 Picture
The changcheng, or Great Wall, was, of course, epic, even though we were at Badaling, the least authentic section of the wall, and the most popular. My mom and I still had a great time climbing the many steps/slopes to get to the summit of this particular section. I personally was a hit among the Chinese tourists. I think many of them come from inland China, which is less populated and sees fewer Westerners, which is why they wanted a picture with a 外国人waiguoren (foreigner).
"Man and Nature Coexisting Harmoniously"
...or at least that's what the sign on the way to the bear enclosure said. These Chinese bears were in a concrete enclosure in what was called "Bear Village," a collection of tourist shops at the base of the Great Wall. I guess the bears might be happy they don't have to fend for themselves, but they also don't have trees. However, they do have lots of tourists willing to throw them the pieces of sweet potato sitting in dishes along the rail of the enclosure.
在长城的肯德基
For the curious, the KFCs in China are pronounced kendeji (ken-duh-gee), and they might actually be Beijing's most popular restaurant chain. This classy little establishment was right at the base of the Great Wall for anyone who was already missing the calories they just lost (I was mildly tempted).
Which image does not belong?
After our successful quest to find Beijing's best pizza (you can tell we were making a real effort with trying new food), we walked along one of the many lakeside parks. Apparently couches are very popular options to put around restaurant patio tables. At the end of this particular park, we found these adorable kids practicing their martial arts. It just seemed so... cultural, I guess, with the kites flying around and everything, so I had to take a picture. Later I saw the little green circle in the background. It's actually very difficult to go anywhere in Beijing without seeing modern Western influence.
BONUS
A "Forbidden City" that's no longer forbidden!
It's just irony, ok? Aside from running your bag through an x-ray machine, there is no real obstacle to getting in to see the Forbidden City. In fact, it's about as far from forbidden as you can get. The buildings that flank either side of the many courtyards hold exhibits showing off the treasures of old, from empresses' wedding dresses to solid gold dinnerware to flowered trees carved out of jade. As large as I thought the city was going to be, in reality it was actually even bigger, so we didn't have the time we wanted to explore every nook and cranny.
Sittin' on a fence post, chewin' my bubble gum...
when along came Herman the mulberry leaf-eating, cocoon-spinning silkworm, who is singlehandedly responsible for the silk industry. For his services, Herman gets treated like a king during his caterpillar days. He only lives in the most temperate of environments, never wants for food, and, by silkworm farmer mandate, does not have to deal with loud noises. Farmers don't want to upset the silkworms in any way so as not to jeopardize the quality of the silk they spin. Unfortunately, the price for such luxury is a swift, chemical death while still in the cocoon, so as not to break the silk. While silk-spinning, like cotton, was once done by hand, now it is almost completely mechanized.
And here's the Summer Palace
Once home to the great emperor who built not only the Summer Palace, but the Forbidden City and the Ming Tombs. While he used to have these many hundreds of acres to himself (2/3 of which are taken up by the giant lake), now tourists can wander pathways, glance into the private bedrooms, and paddleboat around the lake. I have to admit, I was impressed by the workmanship of the Forbidden City, but the beauty of the Summer Palace surpassed it by far, in both natural and human artistry.
The Water Cube, the Bird's Nest, and nothing else
Briefly the busiest area in Beijing, this place is now devoid of people. I recently read that the Olympic park was Beijing's biggest white elephant ever, because they simply had no use for the facilities after the Olympics concluded. So now, except for occasional distant pictures like this one, the only activity available is to see where Michael Phelps did his thing.
Top: scorpions on a stickBottom: Beijing roast duck
From the most reviled to the most revered, the Beijing culinary scene has it all. For those interested in the former, the scorpions were still alive and wiggling, just waiting to be cooked. For the many more who are interested in the latter, one of the chefs came out and cut the duck right in front of us. Beijing roast duck is served with wafer-thin pancakes, so I made a duck fajita with sauces, vegetables and all.
no words
Thinking back on where I was, on its significance to the Chinese and to the world, I really can't describe how I feel about this place. In high school, Tian'anmen Square was just a buzzword used to conjure up images of an oppressive China. But for the Chinese, Tian'anmen Square is almost a place of worship. Not only is Chairman Mao's illustrious visage mounted on the north side of the Square (pictured), but his embalmed body is on display in his gigantic tomb close to the south side of the Square. My lucky mother got to see it because she wasn't carrying a bag, but I, with my purse, was denied entry. She said there were a lot of people kneeling at the foot of Mao's coffin, purportedly praying, or something to that effect. Other than the tomb, the People's Hall was on the west side, and the National Museum on the east. I was struck by the fact that I was seeing the very steps that the student protest leaders kneeled on when they offered their petition to the government in 1989, right before the Massacre, and right in the middle of Deng Xiaoping's opening up and reforms. It was a harrowing thought that, while on the surface China seems to have undergone a radical transformation, they can revert back to a police state in a day.
Transition
After three days as a tourist in Beijing, it was finally time for me to go become a student. My mother decided to take the subway back to the hotel from 北京语言大学 (Beijing Language and Culture University), the place where I'm attending 哈佛北京书院 (Harvard Beijing Academy), so I made sure she had explicit directions on how to get back before letting her go off in Beijing alone. I loved traveling China with her; she's the best companion you could ask for. Being left alone in Beijing was daunting for a couple minutes, but I reminded myself that I wouldn't regret this, and got to work getting ready for the summer ahead.
Speaking of work, I'm about two hours behind on my Chinese chapter for tonight because the "lazy way" of blogging actually takes a ton of time. Lesson learned.
