My first priority when I got to Beijing last week was to get my computer fixed since I was afraid it might take a while after what they told me in Korea. Since I didn’t get to my hostel until mid-afternoon on Wednesday, I decided to wait to go until first thing in the morning. The hostel was located in a traditional hutong neighborhood of narrow streets and alleyways and since I got off the subway at a station that turned out to be a lot farther away then I thought, I was a hot, sweaty mess by the time I finally arrived. I spent the remaining daylight hours walking from my hostel vaguely in the direction of Tiananmen Square to see if I could get there before it got dark.
My first impression of Beijing was “wow, it’s smoggy.” It was hot and muggy and the sky just had this foggy haze to it. I was walking down a street with a little park in the middle so that was pleasant enough. However, since I once again miscalculated the distance I was trying to go, I became tired and cranky rather quickly. Then right as I was about to get to Tiananmen Square, a young Chinese man and his two female friends approached me to say hello. I tried to be friendly since I figured they probably just wanted to practice their English, but I wasn’t really in a talkative mood. They told me Tiananmen Square would already be closed by then (I didn’t know that was possible for a city plaza) and asked me if I wanted to join them for a drink. I was a bit wary because I had literally just read a warning in my hostel about a scam where people invite you to try some tea and then make you pay a lot more than you were expecting. I couldn’t find a good reason to turn them down, though, so I reluctantly agreed.
We went to a place right down the street and ordered a few sodas. My new friends mainly asked me questions about living in the US and my thoughts about life in China. I noticed the prices at the bar were a bit expensive (by Chinese standards at least), but was kind of stuck now that I was already there. When the bill came, the guy turned to me and said, “They’re students so let’s split it in half.” I felt annoyed that it seemed like I had just been scammed, but in the end I paid a bit less than half and basically only covered part of one of the girl’s drinks at just over $3.00. I vowed that I wasn’t going to get stuck going to dinner with them, though, so as we started walking again I told them I had to go back to my hostel.
The students continued to walk with me in the direction of the subway station. As we were walking, we passed a night market selling all sorts of goodies to eat such as silk worms and scorpions. The guy kept pointing everything out to me and I finally announced that I was going to try the scorpions. There were big black ones and crispy, fried small ones. He let me get the small ones and after a few minutes I finally got the courage to put one in my mouth. It actually just tasted crunchy and fried like a potato chip and wasn’t half bad unless you actually stopped to think about what you were eating. Once we got to the subway station, the Chinese students turned off to go shopping and I went back to the neighborhood of my hostel where I was able to get some real food for dinner.
On Wednesday night it rained so by the next day the smog had washed away and it was a bit cooler out. It was as if the weather knew that it was suddenly September. That morning, I took a taxi to the computer repair center and to my delight they told me it would only take a day and cost about $150 to fix my laptop. I was rather nervous leaving my computer there, but figured it couldn’t end up in any worse condition than it already was. On the way out I passed a Daoist temple that housed the Beijing Folk Custom Museum and decided to check it out. My favorite part of the temple was the crazy statues of all the different “departments” that are in charge of rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior throughout peoples’ lives. I’ll post the pictures when I get the chance. There was also a really interesting exhibition about traditional Chinese festivals.
After leaving the temple, I walked through a pretty park with a pond toward the Workers’ Stadium where they play pro soccer. I then took the subway to the Olympic Park to check out the Birds’ Nest Stadium and the National Aquatics Center from the 2008 Summer Olympics. I was surprised how modern this area is in comparison to the rest of Beijing and was really impressed by all the cool architecture. When the park really shines, though, is at night, when there are colored light shows on the sides of some of the buildings.
As I was walking around before it got dark, I passed a mobile blood drive and decided to give blood since it had been a while since I had donated. The people running the booth seemed a bit shocked that I wanted to donate and tried to make sure that I understood what I was signing up for. I made it clear that we were on the same page and then spent the next 15 minutes or so working with them to figure out how I needed to fill out the form that was printed all in Chinese. It finally got sorted and in the end they seemed to appreciate my effort to help. Everything seemed to be very clean and sterile, but I guess it’s good that I got all my hepatitis shots before I left just in case! It gave me the idea that I would like to do even one small thing to give back to the local community in each country that I visit. I figure I fulfilled that promise in Korea where I helped to pick up trash around the Golgulsa Temple during my stay and worked as a “carnie” at the camp flea market to (allegedly) raise money for the Jinju Orphanage.
I’d like to close this post now with a poem that was in the in-flight magazine on my Korean Air flight from Seoul to Beijing. I know it’s super corny that it was in the cheesy airline magazine, but it just struck me as being very apropos for my journey ahead so I copied it down before landing:
After a Year
This postcard is written in a small hotel room in São Paolo.
Tomorrow morning, I will begin another long journey.
By then, a plane carrying you from the other side of the earth
Will soar into the unfamiliar afternoon.
Sorry I have departed.
Sorry we cannot be together,
To the face I’ve yet to meet,
Yet to be separated,
But still missed in joy,
Hello,
What is your name?
Han Cha-hyeon
Next time I’ll tell you all about my visits to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven. Plus, some fun times with friends!
Posted courtesy of George Merrick
My first impression of Beijing was “wow, it’s smoggy.” It was hot and muggy and the sky just had this foggy haze to it. I was walking down a street with a little park in the middle so that was pleasant enough. However, since I once again miscalculated the distance I was trying to go, I became tired and cranky rather quickly. Then right as I was about to get to Tiananmen Square, a young Chinese man and his two female friends approached me to say hello. I tried to be friendly since I figured they probably just wanted to practice their English, but I wasn’t really in a talkative mood. They told me Tiananmen Square would already be closed by then (I didn’t know that was possible for a city plaza) and asked me if I wanted to join them for a drink. I was a bit wary because I had literally just read a warning in my hostel about a scam where people invite you to try some tea and then make you pay a lot more than you were expecting. I couldn’t find a good reason to turn them down, though, so I reluctantly agreed.
We went to a place right down the street and ordered a few sodas. My new friends mainly asked me questions about living in the US and my thoughts about life in China. I noticed the prices at the bar were a bit expensive (by Chinese standards at least), but was kind of stuck now that I was already there. When the bill came, the guy turned to me and said, “They’re students so let’s split it in half.” I felt annoyed that it seemed like I had just been scammed, but in the end I paid a bit less than half and basically only covered part of one of the girl’s drinks at just over $3.00. I vowed that I wasn’t going to get stuck going to dinner with them, though, so as we started walking again I told them I had to go back to my hostel.
The students continued to walk with me in the direction of the subway station. As we were walking, we passed a night market selling all sorts of goodies to eat such as silk worms and scorpions. The guy kept pointing everything out to me and I finally announced that I was going to try the scorpions. There were big black ones and crispy, fried small ones. He let me get the small ones and after a few minutes I finally got the courage to put one in my mouth. It actually just tasted crunchy and fried like a potato chip and wasn’t half bad unless you actually stopped to think about what you were eating. Once we got to the subway station, the Chinese students turned off to go shopping and I went back to the neighborhood of my hostel where I was able to get some real food for dinner.
On Wednesday night it rained so by the next day the smog had washed away and it was a bit cooler out. It was as if the weather knew that it was suddenly September. That morning, I took a taxi to the computer repair center and to my delight they told me it would only take a day and cost about $150 to fix my laptop. I was rather nervous leaving my computer there, but figured it couldn’t end up in any worse condition than it already was. On the way out I passed a Daoist temple that housed the Beijing Folk Custom Museum and decided to check it out. My favorite part of the temple was the crazy statues of all the different “departments” that are in charge of rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior throughout peoples’ lives. I’ll post the pictures when I get the chance. There was also a really interesting exhibition about traditional Chinese festivals.
After leaving the temple, I walked through a pretty park with a pond toward the Workers’ Stadium where they play pro soccer. I then took the subway to the Olympic Park to check out the Birds’ Nest Stadium and the National Aquatics Center from the 2008 Summer Olympics. I was surprised how modern this area is in comparison to the rest of Beijing and was really impressed by all the cool architecture. When the park really shines, though, is at night, when there are colored light shows on the sides of some of the buildings.
As I was walking around before it got dark, I passed a mobile blood drive and decided to give blood since it had been a while since I had donated. The people running the booth seemed a bit shocked that I wanted to donate and tried to make sure that I understood what I was signing up for. I made it clear that we were on the same page and then spent the next 15 minutes or so working with them to figure out how I needed to fill out the form that was printed all in Chinese. It finally got sorted and in the end they seemed to appreciate my effort to help. Everything seemed to be very clean and sterile, but I guess it’s good that I got all my hepatitis shots before I left just in case! It gave me the idea that I would like to do even one small thing to give back to the local community in each country that I visit. I figure I fulfilled that promise in Korea where I helped to pick up trash around the Golgulsa Temple during my stay and worked as a “carnie” at the camp flea market to (allegedly) raise money for the Jinju Orphanage.
I’d like to close this post now with a poem that was in the in-flight magazine on my Korean Air flight from Seoul to Beijing. I know it’s super corny that it was in the cheesy airline magazine, but it just struck me as being very apropos for my journey ahead so I copied it down before landing:
After a Year
This postcard is written in a small hotel room in São Paolo.
Tomorrow morning, I will begin another long journey.
By then, a plane carrying you from the other side of the earth
Will soar into the unfamiliar afternoon.
Sorry I have departed.
Sorry we cannot be together,
To the face I’ve yet to meet,
Yet to be separated,
But still missed in joy,
Hello,
What is your name?
Han Cha-hyeon
Next time I’ll tell you all about my visits to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven. Plus, some fun times with friends!
Posted courtesy of George Merrick
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