Beijing, Day 1

Well, we're here, but getting here was not easy. We took a soft sleeper from Shanghai. There were two other people in our car, but they kept to themselves. It wasn't until the man asked Bobby if he could turn off the light that we realized that he spoke excellent English. One thing I like about Chinese (and Japanese) people is their standoffishness. If he were Korean and spoke English, he would not be comfortable with silence.

We arrived at the station at about 8am. We walked around awhile looking for a taxi line, and when we finally found one there was a long line. Several men approached us and offered us a taxi, but I know by now that an unlicensed taxi is a bad idea. Our taxi driver made a genuine effort to get us to our hotel, but there was just too much traffic. He tried two different approaches to our street, but both were at a standstill. Finally, Bobby asked him to let us out and point us in the right direction.

We wandered around for awhile, suitcases in tow, until we found a Hilton. The bellhop there was very solicitous and got us a map. We then ran into our first “art student”. We would meet several more. He spoke excellent English and told us he was preparing to study in the U.S., as, we would discover, was a commons story. He did help us find our hotel, but (in all honesty) it was after we bought a painting from him. It's a beautiful calligraphy, but we probably paid too much—a cardinal sin to the Lonely Planet guide. This art student scam is a long con. They talk to you for awhile, asking questions and behaving like they are studying English. I'm used to Koreans doing this, but the “art students” do eventually ask for money. My dad once said he would offer bums money if they didn't give him the story. I feel the same way about the “students.” In Shanghai, there are tons of people walking around trying to sell watches, but they are straightforward about what they want, as are the unlicensed taxis. Something about the students con rubs me the wrong way (and I love my painting and we were planning to buy one anyways), and by the time I met my fourth student I was telling them to piss off. Anyways, we got to our hotel and the clerk told us the hotel had no power and that he would take us to another hotel. It was a bummer, because the hotel I chose overlooks the forbidden city. He will bring us back in two days, but in the meantime we have a five star Chinese hotel that's close to the shopping district.

When we finally got into our room, it was almost noon and Bobby had no suitcase. The staff had delivered his suitcase to the wrong room. The problem was eventually corrected, but we were not in the mood to deal with it.

We had lunch and set out for Tiananmen Square. It was incredibly imposing. For one thing, it's massive. There are lots of soldiers and metal detectors at each entrance. In the center of the square, there are two giant screens that show propaganda: waving flags, patriotic songs, etc. The buildings surrounding the square are ominous and imposing. To top it all off, every few feet there are light poles with three or four cameras on them pointing in all directions. I was creeped out, and we didn't stay long. Most countries will admit the bloody parts of their history, but China has glossed over the Tiananmen Square massacre and the Cultural Revolution. Officially, Mao is still a hero.

One of the things Bobby and I do best is wander around and find interesting things. Today we found a historic “rice road” that used to be the main thoroughfare for bringing goods into the palace off the left side of the square. It was lined by some old looking walls, and there were some doors in the walls with stores behind them that have probably been there for centuries. We saw a colonial European looking church and some old mansions, where (I imagine) nobles used to live. It was also refreshingly free of tourists and the people who prey on them. We returned down a huge shopping street and saw a 7 story book store.

For dinner, we visited Xiao Wang's Home Restaurant in Ritan Park, a very popular place that was listed in our guidebook. We had Peking duck and a couple other dishes, and we were not disappointed. The restaurant was worth the hype. I have been reading about Chinese haute cuisine, so when I order dishes I can't help but feel we are doing it wrong, but our duck, dumplings, and soup were delicious. We walked around the park afterwards and ran into several dance classes. I have seen dance classes in Central Park. They do it in Beijing, too! We also walked down Embassy Row, though there were no indicators on any Embassy so we couldn't tell which one was ours. We saw another shopping mall with a huge LED billboard for a roof. It lit up the entire street. Beijing has a lot of character. There are ostentatious futuristic buildings right around the corner from buildings which could be 500 years old. For all it's brutishness, I like it a lot.

A street corner

Recognize this?

Giant propaganda screen

Cameras, Cameras

Statues in the square

The Rice Road

Seven story bookstore