Oh, hi Beijing…
Forgive my lack-luster depiction of Beijing…
Here’s the deal. I’m used to Shanghai by now. I’ve got the great public transportation memorized (great for China…keep that part in mind), I’m happy with my cheap cab rides after 11pm, I’m good with the ease of finding places to eat or whatever the heck I need at any hour of the day. With that said…
Beijing kinda attacked me in a weird, surprising sort of way.
My first evening in Beijing was a strange adjustment period. Did you all know that the city of Beijing is the size of Switzerland? It. Is. Massive. If Godzilla ever decided to come chill in Shanghai and squash all of the super tall buildings- that is how Beijing feels- low buildings and incredibly spread out. Like Wal-Mart spread out. Or like…Yao Ming is to Shanghai as a sumo wrestler is to Beijing…okay. Enough analogies- the place is huge.
Although Beijing is the capital of China and claims to be the cultural center of the country, it is not my city. I thought it would be since I did not really like Shanghai’s massive city-feel, but Beijing does not have any inkling of “small” or “comfort” to it…I was actually happy to return to Shanghai, and I am now quite satisfied that I chose the right place to study.
But don’t get me wrong- Beijing is also pretty…eh…awesome? Nope. I tried guys- I tried to muster up some enthusiasm, but it is just not flowing. I’ve put off this post for almost a week (update: two weeks now…but I am blaming my VPN issues for the second week part) hoping that I might get struck by lightning and have my brain rewired to feel the utmost joy and love for my trip. Maybe it was how I experienced the city. I’ve never been on a week-long tour where I lacked the choice of sites to visit, length of stay, etc…I am thinking that holds a lot of the reasons for my mundane response. I mean…I most definitely saw a lot. A LOT. And I am super thankful for that.
Okay. Obviously I am trying to make it seem like I am not some spoiled, stuck up brat who is all like “Oh, Beijing? Pssh- unimpressive.” It was impressive, but aaah- I could keep typing forever trying to say the same thing over and over. Here it is, plain and simple: I went on the trip expecting to see the authentic culture and heritage of China, and what I experienced was some fake, ostentatious, and over exploited place that seemed to have lost all the charm and character it once had.
Anywho- Onward to explain what exactly it is that I ended up doing with my life for a week in the capital of China:
Day 1: Fly in, decompress, meet everyone over dinner. Return to hotel room- crash.
This is my first encounter with Beijing-style cuisine. If I had to explain Shanghai-style cuisine to you, I would have a really hard time. Beijing-style is incredibly obvious: sweet and fried. Everything is sugary, deep fried, or both. This is most definitely where the influence for American-style Chinese food came from.
After dinner I returned to my hotel room where the air conditioner was broken. Alas, I would not let this get me down!
Day 2: Tian’an Men Square, The Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven
Do not be fooled by the name of the places I visited on this day. Sounds pretty bad-ass, yeah? Well…you be the judge.
Tian’an Men Square
It is a giant concrete square full of people. If it were not famous for its historical (historic? Grammar- you will forever be my enemy!) implications no one would visit it and go straight on to the Forbidden City that is right beside (in front? Behind? Directions- where did you go?!) it. I could not figure out why there were so many Chinese tourists hanging out on the square- that is, until I realized they were there for an entirely different reason. Little did I know that I and three other girls were the main attraction. I have never been so bombarded with photo-demands in my life. Granted, I was not as harassed as the 6-foot tall African-American girl who just flew in the day before. Poor, poor girl. She had not had the chance to slowly be immersed in the awkwardness that is Asian-Foreign photo obsessions.
-----have I mentioned this yet? Many people don’t know, and it is something you should definitely know if you are going to travel in China: If you look different, people will stare. They will take pictures. They will want to touch you. About once a day I will catch someone taking my picture as I walk by, and once a week someone will ask to have their picture taken with me- it happens to every foreigner who is obviously foreign- I have no idea what happens to these photos. I often wonder if every Asian family has their vacation photo album, “And here Tian’an Men Square…there is the government building…that’s the white girl…Over there is…” -----
Back to Tian’an Men! So what turned into an anticipated 20-minute walk across the square ended up being an hour-long battle between USAC study abroaders and the native Chinese. I am sorry to say that I lost. I encountered the most aggressive Chinese tourists I have ever met. One man grabbed my arm and demanded a picture, and when I say “grabbed”, I mean “held on and refused to let go”. After I said no politely and made excuses in Chinese several times, he still insisted. Cue my roommate who barley stands over five feet tall. I have never heard such an annoyed, keep-touching-her-and-you-die “NO” in my life. Finally, we escaped…
-----It is China's 90th year of being Communist...they are kinda super excited about that.-----
The Forbidden City
(Dear world: I just took a three day break on this posting thing…BUT I’M BACK!)
Alright…the Forbidden City…
Honestly, besides the kickass name (sorry for cussing Grandy) this place felt incredibly fake. They repaint most of the buildings yearly, so the site seems to have lost its authenticity. I mean, I get that China is all for appearing ideal in the eyes of others, but some things should simply be preserved, not painted over.
Yet…I have to give the Ming Dynasty some credit: They rock at naming things. Let me lead you all through this gargantuan abode:
1. Enter through the Meridian Gate, and stand in awe as you face the Gate of Supreme Harmony. Flanked on either side of you (far off in the distance) are the East and West Glorious Gates (for real. These are real names). Walky walk walk…Please note to your left the Hall of Military Eminence, and to your right the Hall of Literary Glory. I’d also like to point out that they have a hall dedicated specifically to clocks which I found hilariously awesome. Who in their right mind would think “I wonder what time it is? Well, I might as well go to the HALL OF CLOCKS to find out…”
Anyway….The main attraction is the Hall of Supreme Harmony (guess what? It is just a big hall…) You keep on a-walking and end up smack in front of the Palace of Heavenly Purity. I would have had no idea that any purifying would have occurred here given that it looks IDENTICAL to everything else around it. Ah well, maybe that was the plan- trick the enemy into thinking it was suffering from perpetual déjà vu. But fear not! If you don’t feel like getting pure and all that jazz you can frolic on over to the Hall of Mental Cultivation (a.k.a. brainwashing station). Afterwards you can skip on over to the Palace of Tranquil Longevity (do any of these names start to feel like you have entered into an old-folks home and these are happy words for euthanasia?). Lastly, after a stroll through the Imperial garden you can exit through the Gate of Divine Might.
Yeah…wow China. Wow. Creativity points out the wazoo. The U.S. could learn a few things, I mean…seriously? The White House? Guys…come on. China has the freakin’ FORBIDDEN CITY…white house? Really. Get. With. It.
The only notable occurrence that happened around the Forbidden City visit was that this strange Asian man appeared out of freakin’ nowhere (seriously, like POOF HI IM HERE). He asked for me to take a picture with him, and I’ve learned by now that complying with these frightening Asian demands is easier than trying to run away. So…SNAP. Picture taken. He runs away (literally, runs.)
La la la, time passes, oh look more of the same thing, la la la, have I been here before? No…oh. Really? La la la, oh look! Freedom beyond that gate! Yay, we are out! Finally!
…then the same man appears again beside me. Seriously- he scared me and I jumped (tricky little man). He pulls out of his wallet a laminated photo, and first shows me the back of it. It says “Wang Peng (not actually his name, but it was in Chinese and I can’t read Chinese names) and his wife”…I am thinking “this dude is crazy, why on earth is he showing me this?” …then he flips the photo over so I can see the actual picture…
Yup. It’s the photo we took together no less than an hour ago.
Dude is a creeper. Oh dear goodness me. Everyone else in the group had a face that perfectly expressed this thought: What. Just. Happened.
…yeah. I have no idea where the little man went after he showed me the picture; he just disappeared again…So…hey, ya’ll! Want to send me some wedding presents? Cool. Thanks.
The Temple of Heaven
Once again, China and those names! The Temple of Heaven was EXACTLY like the Forbidden City except the buildings were round and the area was more desolate. Yeah…I am not going to go into detail about this place. You got your Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, and then you got your typical Imperial Vault of Heaven. No biggie.
By now, my brain is full of fantastical names, my eyes are numb to brilliant colors, and if anyone so help me God tries to take another picture with me I will stab them in the eye with my chopstick.
K. Thanks. Goodnight.
Day Three: The Great Wall of holly-goodness-me and the Ming Tombs
The Great Wall
Dearest People…the Great Wall was insane. You climb at practically a 70 degree incline (no joke, here is a picture I took- see…practically straight up)
-----Looking down. Yay steep things!-----
And every other “step” or so is a GREAT LEAP (yes. Pun intended). Seriously though, it was like, baby step, baby step, la, la, climbing is easy, OH DEAR GOD IS THAT A STEP OR A WALL, let me just use my hands to hoist myself up over this mini-wall-of-doom, oh look- more baby steps…
Yeah…basically, it was incredibly inconsistent but awesome nonetheless. I climbed forever up (I’m climbing a mountain, so what would you expect?) and every so often I would stop and look back down…I noticed after about the 8th tower stop that I could no longer see “down”. That’s right- the world had actually ceased to exist around me. I felt incredibly at peace with everything, mainly because “everything” consisted of me, the immediate stone surroundings (at this point in time I had yet to become irrationally angry at the stairs) and grey clouds. I noticed after about an hour of climbing that it was really hard to breathe…I think that is when I realized how high up I had actually gone. I continuously tried to capture what I was seeing with my camera, but it was impossible. It was a view only meant for those there in person. I’ll show you what pictures I took, but they are nothing compared to what I experienced.
-----"Heart cerebral disease sufferer ascend the Great Wall to please watch for."-----
Granted, the journey was not all awe-inspiring. I was coated in sweat and my legs were oddly wobbly by the end of the downward trek. After I hit the last step (cue irrational anger at previously mentioned steps), I turned around and looked back towards my conquered feat but I was only able to see at least the 4th tower…less than half the way up.
Ming Tombs
This will consist of a paragraph- mostly of me whining. Why would people pay to see this?! I get visiting cultural sites, I do. But when those sites were raided during the Cultural Revolution, and NOTHING IS LEFT INSIDE…what is the point in going to see an empty hole?
BUT I went anyway. I ventured downward, deep into the ground, only to be cattle-prodded through empty, dripping corridors (it also kind of grossed me out to realize that the tombs were dripping due to body heat and breath exhalation- that water only evaporates back up to the ceiling, falls down, and does it over and over again…eck). I got to look at three large red boxes (caskets) and a heck of a lot of money thrown on the ground around the caskets. Eventually, you are herded out, and climb the steps back up to civilization.
Thus ends Beijing Post part 1…It is taking forever and a day to load the pictures for this post, so I will wait to post part 2…
No comments:
Post a Comment