We went to Beijing, and it was pretty wonderful.
After hearing lukewarm things about it from coworkers who have been there, and after having experienced some of the most touristy areas of China (i.e. Hangzhou and Suzhou), I had extremely low expectations.
Beijing is a city with 21,000,000 residents. The May holiday that I was about to embark on was, by a lovely coincidence, the most popular time to travel to Beijing of the year. I expected cheap, tourist-trap type attractions that were absolutely brimming with an unfathomable number of Chinese tourists.
In the end, Beijing was very touristy, but it was still awesome.
Our hostel was in a Hutong. Hutongs are basically just alleys, but the alleys in Beijing are world famous. At first I couldn't figure out why, but after our second day there it finally hit me: The Hutongs make you forget you're in this huge insane loud busy modern city.
There we were in the middle of downtown, and walking through this Hutong you'd never know it. The Hutongs looked and felt like some provincial town in China 300 years ago. I don't think they've changed much since then. They were quiet and, while they were dirty and very "Alley-like" they felt very intimate and personal. Like you were the only person in all of China at that very moment.
The hostel itself was in a very old private residence, It was a courtyard style building that was brimming with old-style "Chinese" feeling. This was a very welcome departure from a lot of other places that I have stayed, namely my own apartment!
Exploring the city with Laura, her brother Kevin, and her brother's friend (now my friend too) Dr. Jim was a lot of fun. I wish that I could have visitors come to see me all of the time because it totally reinvigorates me. I am someone who really likes to "see things through others' eyes", and showing someone around Chinese cities and cultures allows me to vicariously experience it all for the first time again.
It is hard to believe how much I used to love it here, but the proof is staring me in the face every time I open up this blog. The blog itself is a monument to an idea that I've already almost abandoned. The thought that China was going to change my life and be totally amazing all the time. Of course I would want to keep track of literally every single thing that I do! I'm going to want to remember every day I spend in the magical Orient, won't I? Obviously I should make it public, too, since everyone I know is going to want to take time out of their day to read my writing and hear about all the amazing stuff.
Clearly I have become a lot more jaded. Updates twice a week became updates once a week, which have slowly become bi-weekly updates. Sitting here at my kitchen table I look up at the original title of this post and I realize that it has been almost a month since my last update. The gas tank is really running dry on my desire to keep sharing things. I know it is good for me; it is both valuable writing practice and a therapeutic way to debrief. Still, I kind of just want to make this experience hurry up and be over with. Maybe I don't want to remember everything. Maybe there's a reason I have updated less and less. I certainly haven't shared absolutely everything. My opinions, both sickly sweet good and bile-ridden bad, about a lot of the people that I have interacted with in China are certainly whitewashed and censored since I know that at least some people read this. These entries probably seem like I am bleeding my heart all over the page, and wearing my emotions right on my digital sleeve, but there is a LOT that I have left out for one reason or another. With time those memories may fade.
But I digress. These feelings immediately go away when I have some new blood to accompany me. Here Kevin, try these AMAZING grilled chicken hearts! Jim, you heard me right, we can drink a beer while walking down the street! Look at how much money and pride that the Chinese poor into infrastructure projects like subways and public restrooms!
There are so many things good here in China, and Beijing might be one of the best examples. All it takes is genuine friends and family to share it with, and a trip to a city 1200 miles away from my own.
Aside from the hutongs and all the food options, Beijing's biggest and most obvious draw is all of the amazing historical sights. It is easy to drop into hyperbole when talking about places like the Great Wall or the Forbidden City. One cannot help but use capital letters when typing, or even just saying their names. I sort of assumed that a lot of it would be overrated. The biggest tourist attractions are rarely the best things about a place, I am beginning to learn.
Once again, China proved me wrong. The Forbidden City was amazing. It was straight out of Mulan. Laura and Kevin and I couldn't help but sing some of our favorite songs from that classic Disney cartoon as we roved around the sprawling royal complex. Even the insane heat and the crispy sunburn on my back did not dampen the mood. And the Forbidden City was probably the least greatest thing we visited!
Tiananmen Square, the Front Gate, The Temple of Heaven, and Lama Temple, the Drum and Bell towers. All of these places were so great. It is very easy to get caught up in the drama of daily life and forget how incredible China's history is. When you're squished on a bus between a screaming granny and 6 foot tall 40 lb dude who doesn't believe in deodorant, the foremost thought on your mind is rarely how this culture is one of the oldest continuously existing ones on the planet.
Climbing one of the many (many, many, many) flights of stairs in any of these historical zones quickly reminds you why Chinese people are so proud of their cultural heritage, and affirms that they have every right to feel that way. I won't go too far into details about any of these sites. I am not the first, hundredth, or even millionth person to write about them, and I won't be the last. I'm definitely not the best writer to talk about them either. So if you want to know more, why don't you go and read a book or two on Chinese history? Suffice it to say, they are all well worth the trip and the often long waits to see them.
The accomplishments are even more impressive once you realize how hard Mao worked to destroy all of Chinese history and heritage throughout most of the 20th century. To have failed so mightily to crush the spirit of Beijing might be one of China's proudest moments. I hope someday they allow themselves the self-reflection necessary to realize that.
The trip wasn't all roses and sunflowers though. There were plenty of goofy Chinese moments that didn't make any sense. The zaniest thing was probably our trip to the Great Wall. We had booked a driver through our hostel, and they picked us on at 6am on Sunday morning.
We had settled on a trip to Jinshanling, one of the farthest away areas of the wall that visitors are allowed to climb. It was to be a 4 hour bus ride. The bus was already full of people from all over the world by the time we were picked up.
It got off to a rocky start when our tour guide, a relative well-spoken man named David, forgot that the tour promised breakfast on the way out. He, obviously embarrassed, pulled over the bus and ran into a party store for nearly half an hour. He came out with 18 or so loaves of raisin bread. So that was our breakfast.
This tour group was an interesting microcosm of the world. Indeed, it was a lot like the UN, except a lot less professional, organized, and intelligent. We had people from the USA and China, (obviously), Canada, Malaysia, The Netherlands, France, England, Spain, and more on board. Everyone spoke decent enough English. The car ride out was a cavalcade of people watching and people listening for me and the Kuznias. Everyone spent the ride bragging, posturing, and being almost unbearably annoying to one another.
Our bus ride included the Malaysian man, whom we named "14 houses", since he liked to talk about how he owned 14 houses. His favorite person to talk to was "Wikipedia", a girl from Chicago who was queen of the know-it-alls (and this is coming from a card carrying member of the same club). They were the most vocal of the bunch, and together they made the ride a lot more interesting if not a lot more teeth-grindingly obnoxious.
The wall itself was intense. You have to be in pretty much the best possible shape of your life if you intend on climbing and hiking along it. There are other locations for visitors much closer to Beijing which have been "updated" for tourists. These places have elevators and hand rails and brand new sidewalks along the top of the wall. Jinshanling, though, is almost entirely unrestored. It looks much the same way it has for nearly 800 years, although a bit shabby in some places.
Breathtaking doesn't really describe the view from the top, nor the experience as a whole. At several points on the bus ride I questioned if it would be worth it in the end. 4 hours each way, plus a crazy high admission fee and all the chatty Kathy's on the bus ride were altogether a pretty high price to be paying. Once I hit the peak, though, I knew it was indeed worth it. The Great Wall is something that EVERYONE should try and see in their lifetimes. It may be a lofty goal for some or all of you, but it is definitely one worth striving for.
A word of caution to this tale, however. Even though Jinshanling was far enough away from the city that there were not many tourists, it was absolutely crawling with peasant farmers trying to sell souvenirs.
I am totally sympathetic to these people. They live a hard life farming in a harsh region of the world. They are all very poor, and subsidizing their meager income by trying to get the better or some gawpy wide-eyed tourists is not only their right but actually a pretty good idea. My biggest problem with these ladies is that they are tricky. They are dressed like other hikers, and their English is good enough (and my Chinese decent enough) that they try to act like your friends. "Let's climb the mountain together!" the say. They take advantage of a lot of the good will that tourists tend to want to convey, and hike along with you for several hours. After getting you alone (and away from the less-than-vigilant eyes of park security, they open their bags and start trying to sell you all kinds of useless crap. The other annoying thing is that they are totally relentless. We were followed by a literal pack of these ladies for over 2 hours. They did not leave or stop trying to sell us stuff until near the end of the hike when we got to the steepest and most dangerous area of the wall. Even after we said no thank you, and that we wouldn't be buying a souvenir under any circumstances.
But the wall is greater than these ladies, and they didn't put any kind of real damper on the day.
Probably the biggest disappointment in Beijing was the Peking duck. Considered one of the single top dinners you can eat in the entire world, true Peking duck is only available in Beijing. Duck might be my favorite meat, and after BJ lived up to all of its other promises my mouth was definitely watering for the duck.
First of all, this duck is insanely expensive. Second of all, it's really not that amazing. Sure, it was good. In fact, it was great. But I would say that after almost a year here that I have had equally good duck meat at a hundred other locations around the country, and for nearly 1/5 the price. If I could do it all over again, this is the one thing I would probably skip.
Oh! And another thing. The night markets in Beijing suck. Being so close to the center of the national government, they are incredibly highly regulated. The night markets in Beijing, fully aware of their draw for international tourists, try their best to live up to the expectations of a chaotic and lively area full of strange and delicious exotic delights. Sadly, the effect just doesn't work. All of the stalls are lined up in a nice row, and all of the stalls look identical. Everything is a little too clean, and even the prices are fixed. What's the point of a night market if you can't argue about the prices? Plus, since only tourists come to them, the prices at the night market are insane. A plane Coca Cola, for example, is about 9 RMB at a restaurant in China, and as low as 3 or 4 RMB at a party store. Here at the tourist night market they were asking over 20 RMB. That's almost $4, a price you'd expect to find in the states.
Sadly, as with all good things, the trip had to come to an end. Kevin and Dr. Jim flew to Hong Kong/Macao for a few days before returning to America, and Laura and I went back to Foshan.
It may be simple-minded of me to say nothing has happened this month, but I will say that there is a reason I haven't updated this web page in over 28 days.
They say that the rainy season in China lasts from about the end of February to July or August, but I am here to tell you that it exists almost entirely in May.
It has rained, no joke, every single day here since coming back to Beijing. Often times it is an intense and turgid sort of rain that you see in David Attenborough documentaries about rain forests. It can and does rain several inches per day in Foshan.
Since we caught the tail end of the rainy season last year (where it only rained once), and had gotten through most of February and March (where it only rained once or twice), we made the dumb decision to send most of our rain gear home with Laura's siblings.
We have been so wet, every single day!
Beyond the rain though, there is little to report. I am filling my time practicing my Chinese (at a much slower and less intense rate than before), trying to recapture my skills at German, and reading. We have planned out the rest of our weekends and our trips between now and when we come back to the USA in August, and so any other free time is mostly spend finalizing plane and train tickets.
Nonetheless, some of the highlights of May have been as follows:
-Discovering a parasitic worm infestation on our bathroom floor. They come out of our leaky sink that I have been asking my boss/landlord to fix since before Christmas.
-Discovering a termite infestation in our apartment. This one was especially funny since there is no wood in the building! What are they eating???
-Going to a house party with some Chinese friends. It was a bit surreal, in that it was a lot like a party in Michigan (or anywhere in the US), but also very different. We got to grill some delicious food though! I can't wait to bring home a lot of Chinese grilling secrets back to MI. I hope you're all up for a few barbecues.
-Seeing the Avengers in a legit Chinese movie theater. It was the authentic China experience. People on their phones the entire time, often taking full, loud, long phone calls right at the most dramatic parts of the film.
-Making more friends at a different convenience store. I swear after a year here the majority of the people who I have met that have wanted to be my friend are convenience store owners. These ones gave us a free umbrella! Which has come in handy...
-Discovering an amazing Vietnamese restaurant in Foshan. It's our new favorite place to eat! Pho all day.
-Finding a place that sells delicious stinky tofu in Foshan. This is probably the most exotic and "acquired" tasting thing that I have found in China that I really love. You guys might think Fish heads and chicken feet are weird, but I guarantee that anyone who actually gave them a chance would love them. Stinky tofu, though? Most people probably wouldn't like it.
And that's it I think. That's the result of a good 20 minutes of wracking my brain.
School has been more of the same as usual. It's pretty mind numbing, but at least I'm used to all the BS. We had "midterm surprise" last week, where they told us on Monday that we had to write and administer midterm exams THE VERY SAME DAY and then turn in grades a few days later.
Our boss told us a month ago that our last day this year would be July 10th. Last week she told us "the last day will be July 14th", and then denied ever telling us that it was originally the 10th. Since nearly all of us had bought plane/train tickets and hotel rooms and such already, she had to acquiesce and change it back to July 10th. Seriously!! How can she do that?
So now here I am. Typing this has made me feel a lot better. Reliving sunny Beijing has given back a lot of the energy that this humid and rainy weather has tried to sap (and it WAS sunny too. Beijing had the best weather I've experienced in all of China so far. No pollution either, which I think is because it was a holiday and the factories were closed).
In this rarely true good mood, I want to recommit once again to updating this once a week. It's only for myself that I do it, and I'm only hurting myself if I don't update it. I don't care if it's bad writing or good writing, I really just want to keep writing. Dropping the habit when I have nothing better to do but write means that I'll probably not keep it up when I get back home either.
Even if only 2% of what I write is good, if I go and write long enough and hard enough then I will statistically produce a lot of good content, right?
So here's some things to look forward to hearing me write about
-I'm going to try to find, buy, kill, clean, and cook my own crabs this weekend. I've GOTTA be sure to tell you how that goes
-I am going to the Philippines next weekend for 3 days. More Balut, here I come!
-My good buddy Bryan Ranger is coming to visit shortly after that. I have promised him that we will go and get some true Hong Kong Dim Sum. This is something I've been wanting to do all year.
-I'm going to see Xiamen and the greater part of Fujian province in the middle of June. Xiamen is known as one of the cleanest, nicest, and most modern cities in China. "Little Shanghai" is its nickname.
-I'm also going to mystical Guilin to take a cruise on the Li River in July. This is one of the most beautiful and iconic parts in all of China. The Li river is featured on Chinese money, and is also what they based Kashyyk on in the Star Wars movies.
-After that, school is ending! Hope they throw us a damn party
-Once I get out of China I am going to hit up Singapore, Java Island, and Bali island before I come back home to the USA
-One last thing: Komodo Dragons
So I have a lot to look forward to! I just need to survive here a little....bit.... longer
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