First Impressions of Beijing, China
Thick yellow haze hangs in the air, hovering at eye level and drifting up to the gray, windowless buildings above. Relentless horns from passing motorist and jingling bicycles echo through the narrow hutong alleyways. Another traffic jam perhaps? Senses come alive. Somewhere up ahead, a delicious aroma is wafting my way and…whoops…I think I was very nearly just spit on there…yup, I’m certainly back in Asia…Beijing, China to be exact.
China – the country of mind bobbling linguistics, untamed rural landscapes, congested city streets, gastronomical delicacies and short people (at least in my case)….the list goes on and on…welcome!! After a cramped, but movie-filled flight from Brisbane, I arrived in Beijing International amid a gamble of shouting touts and taxi cab drivers. I had my directions on how to get to the hostel via local bus but the thought of expended effort for the trip literally exhausted me. My head was still spinning from the lack of sleep so I hesitated before climbing on to the shuttle bus bound for the city center. It was already jam packed full of clambering locals and reuniting couples – deep breath and dive on in, Ash. Luckily, I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned around, expecting to be overwhelmed by an offer for “ride miss” or “nice tour lady” from a broken English speaking, smiling guide. However, I was surprised to see my seat buddy from the Singapore flight who, seeing my plight, kindly offered me a ride in his taxi. Weighing my choices and pushing safety concerns aside, I hopped and was dropped of in front of the Red Lantern hostel with fare wishes from my savior. The ride itself was breathtaking, a life threatening, harrowing experience. At times, I thought we were going to crash directly into the brick wall in front of us before the driver finally decided it was a good idea to jerk the wheel sharply to the right and turn. In the process, he knocked over a fruit cart and almost caused a knobby kneed gentlemen to topple to the cobblestone. It took a while for my heart beat to return to normal. Welcome to China!
Cara greeted me in our dorm room. She was already snug as a bug in her warm cuddly clothes and wrapped in a duvet. Meanwhile, I was still wearing a singlet from Australia having foolishly packed my winter gear into my heavy backpack. I forgot how chilly China was suppose to be during the late fall months. God bless beanies and the Salvation Army. I had stocked up on gloves, woollies, and scarves and wasted no time digging them out of my bag to properly dress myself for the weather.
We wasted no time at all hopping on the tourist trail. However, the tourist traps are a bit different from what I have previously experienced. I can count the number of westerners that I’ve seen on one hand. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, seems to be part of an Asian tour group. These massive clans are complete with matching base ball caps, blaring megaphones, and enough flashing Nikon cameras to feed a small country. They all follow tiny neon flags that the loud, megaphone wearing tour leader carries at the front of the group. Cara and I thought we would be savvy and try to absorb some history behind some of Beijing’s finest by following the tour around for awhile. Apparently, these Asian tours are specially designed for Asian tourist and are not conducted in English — we learned this quickly enough but were pulled into some friendly tour group pictures before our hasty departure.
Our girl group quickly expanded as we befriended our fellow dorm mates for a trip to the famous Summer Palace. The bus ride was experience enough – much like being cattle herded and shipped off to market. Half of the passengers were hanging out the window and open doors of the bus and the driver didn’t exactly have a clue as to proper road courtesy (but then again, does anyone in China?) We arrived safe and sound at the brilliant gates of the ornate Summer Palace and spent a thrilling afternoon strolling through the gardens and mesmerizing buildings on the Palace grounds. Five hours of tourist activity later and we were left with rumbling tummies. We cleverly answered this dilemma by visiting the Donghuamen Night Market, a veritable zoo of kebabs, skewers, and other semi-tasty delights. Before your mouths start watering as you contemplate this BBQ fantasy, let me end by mentioning that these tantalizing skewers may have actually contained every type of insect known to mankind – many of them still left wiggling. Nikki and I foolishly braved some sort of crunchy, bug with a mushy filling. I have no idea what it was and I think it just might be still wiggling around in my tummy, probably hatching eggs somewhere.
In the Streets of Beijing
Street Sweeping: Someone mentioned that China employs more street sweepers than any other nation. This is certainly the case as every ten feet sits a jumpsuit clad sweeper with his little brush. I’m tripped over more than my share since arriving in China. I’ve also sat and surveyed their technique, but, not being talented at the art of street sweeping, I’m not sure I can correctly point fingers. However, as far as I can observe, they seem to simply move the rubbish from one side of the street to the other….and back again…..and back yet again. Perhaps it will then be brushed into a corner just to add a little excitement to their sweeping hours. Then it comes out of the corner and is swept onto the other side of the street. See a pattern developing here?
Beds in China: I’ll either come home with perfect posture and a straight spine or I’ll be permanently crippled from my China experience. The beds are but a hard platform with the thinnest of thin pads spread on top. They are NOT thick enough to resemble a mattress, perhaps a towel is more like it. I wake up each morning groaning and walking like a 90 year old field laborer, my back cracking and popping with each step. And the pillows!! I swear that my pillow last night was made out of split peas….it could explain why I keep tossing and turning.
General Hygiene: Shall I dare share?: Warning – what you’re about to read may contain graphic material. Small children may need to leave the room. Nah- it’s really not that bad. I won’t delve into details about the bathrooms here in dear ol’ China. Putting it bluntly – you can’t come to China and expect some super white western toilets with a soft loo roll on the wall beside you. Just wear shoes, roll up the hems of your jeans, and carry plenty of hand sanitizer with you. Many of the toilets are trough like, door-less squatters where you can see everything and everyone– makes for another fun conversation piece on my next date!!
On another topic – spitting is almost an art form, an acquired talent learned through years and years of careful practice. The adults have the technique down to perfection. These are the generous ones that you can hear at 3 a.m., hocking up whatever disgusting substances are lurking in their throats. It’s a sound that truly makes my stomach turn and hairs on my neck stand straight up – even worse when it takes the individual over ten minutes to successfully achieve the throat clearing. Then comes the decision as to where to dispose of the offensive substance. What better place than right on the floor? Directly in the path of where I happen to be walking is the usual choice. This could be why the streets are filled with puddles of phlegm and why I tend to walk in a zigzag pattern down the sidewalk in order to avoid such puddles. Yum!
Food Matters: To Eat or Not to Eat?: Where’s the sweet and sour pork? My taste pallet hasn’t quite accepted the fact that I’m a newcomer to China. I LOVE Asian food usually – rice, stir fries, curries, spicy noodle dishes. I had no trouble traveling through the rest of Asia gobbling down these tantalizing eats for every meal. However, China is a bit different. Here, they are very careful about using every single part of the animal – insides, outsides and in-betweens. Since I can’t decipher the menus, I’m always concerned that I will wind up with intestines on my plate instead of rice noodles, a fate that I’m not willing to punish my stomach with at this time. Don’t get me wrong. Beijing does have some imaginative cuisine, especially the backalleys where there is a world teaming with cheap eats and food treats. Cara and I try to be conservative with our food money and have frequented the Hutong alley’s for dinner on more than one occasion. Mantou – steamed bread, jiaazi – yummy meat or veggie filled dumplings, and jianging- pancake like bread with veggie fillings are usually solid and eatable choices. Also popular are the ‘hot pots,’ a steaming spicy broth used to cook all sorts of veggies, meats, and fruits on skewers. We tend to stick with the broccoli, taro roots and potatoes, tofu and chicken options rather than the stomach, squid, kidneys, or brains that are boiling in the same kettle.
Restaurants are a different story. We have been lucky a few times to come across picture menus. How fantastic are picture menus?!?! Using them, we simply point, smile, and good food comes our way. Then there are the times without picture menus – god forbid that happen! When this unfortunate circumstance comes about, we are left to wander around the cafe, inspecting the dishes that the other customers are eating and pointing to whatever seems the most tempting. We tried this technique last night and, instead of ending up with stir-fried beef, we found stir-fried stomach and kidneys in the dish. Better luck next time girls.
Bidding Farewell to Beijing
We leave for Pingau tomorrow night. A night train will take us the twelve hours to the dusty, sleepy town halfway between Beijing and Xi’an. Hard sleeper all the way. Cara and I decided to save money and avoid the commission that the hostel added on to the train fare. We took bus #47 all the way across town to the HUGE western train station hoping to be in and out in a jiffy. Long story short, there was an English speaking line at the train station that contained no English speakers at all. This is the fun, character building part of traveling. We emerged two hours later clutching our tickets and in desperate need of a beer. BUT, we saved a whopping 40 Yuan in the process!!
Seven weeks may be a long time to spend in the country. However, I never realized just how huge China was. Our trip tomorrow night is about the width of my pinkie finger on the China map. Considering that the entire map is about two entire hand widths, we have alot of ground to cover. By the time our trip ends, we figured that we will have spent over 200 hours on the train/bus systems. A nice way to watch the scenary pass by eh?
More from the next location. Coming up — Pandas, Terracotta Warriors, and horse trekking!!! I talked Cara into a four day horse trek in the mountains. First time camping and horse riding for her!! I’m sure to have plenty of stories to tell from this experience.
