Freezing in Beijing

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Fast Facts:

• Beijing population is 12 Million. The entire China population is 1.3 billion people, 1/5^th the earth’s population.

• There is a one child rule in China. (formerly two) It’s not so much that you can’t have more than one, it’s that if you do, you lose privileges in both gov’t and private companies. Benefits are stopped, promotions cease, etc.)

• Summer temps in Beijing are in the high 20s but can reach 40. No surprise. The surprise (to us) is that winter gets down to -5 and can drop to colder than -20.
• This is the year of the dog. We missed the year of the goat by 3 only years.

After changing planes again in Hong Kong (ho hum!) we arrive in Beijing in late evening. After being processed through immigration into our second communist country of the tour we look for our guide who is supposed to meet us. No guide. After 30 minutes or so suspect I’m going to have to call someone to discuss the problem and try to recall enough Chinese to do so. Realizing that if the company isn’t named chow mein, we’re in trouble, when with relief we see a sign finally appear looking for A and C Barnett.

“Jane” our guide and her driver make a simple delivery to the hotel, about 45 minutes away at The Presidential Palace. A couple of false starts at getting a room. (first one already occupied, second smoking with twin beds) we finally settle down for the night.

Next day my early morning walk reveals a temperature hovering around zero. I don’t think we’re dressed for this. We’re met at 7:30 for the day where we’re joined by two others for the tour, two Canadians from White Rock, BC. (What are the odds?)

We learn that it’s not going to get any warmer and the wind is coming up. We really aren’t dressed for this and the entire tour is going to be outdoors. Our first visit is to be Tiananmen Square. However, we learn that the annual meeting of the National People’s Conference is having their once per year congress, which lasts 10 days or so and there may be delays. (The conference is privately referred to as the conference of the three hands. The delegates shake hands with other delegates, raise hands to vote yes to whatever the government has decided and then to applaud those decisions.)

No sooner had the possibility of delay been mentioned, than we were stopped in order that a convoy of buses carrying the up to 3,000 NPC delegates could be waived through. Once again we’re on the scene. First the car with the King of Thailand. Now buses with NPC members in them. Downside is that when we get to our first stop, Tiananmen Square, we can only view it from across the street for security reasons. I think about protesting for a moment but then remember where I am. (Oh and it’s beginning to snow.)

What We Say Today:

• Tiananmen square (from across the street) World’s largest public square.
• Silk factory (Claire buys comforter)
• Pearl Factory (Claire buys pearls)
• Stop for lunch at cheesy tourist spot. Americanized Chinese food and goofy dancers.
• Summer Palace. (Home of some emperor: now parks, lakes for citizens to frequent)
• Forbidden City (Sort of an inner city built by a Ming emporer. 180 acres with 9,000 rooms where 10,000 people lived including 3,000 eunichs. The general population were “forbidden” to enter it under any circumstances.)
• Some other place where it was cold too.

Back to hotel at 4sh. Realize that we need more clothes for tomorrow’s trip to Great Wall of China and our subsequent trip to Tibet, so we go shopping on our own at a department store. Turns out they don’t understand a word of English. Never bartered in a department store before and in a language we didn’t understand but great fun. Bought a jacket listed at $200 for $40, socks and some long underwear all at less than half the asking price. Suspect I may be the first Canadian tourist taking home as a souvenir, long underwear with Made in China label proudly displayed.

We encounter the same language barrier that night when we decide to order “Chinese food” and in particular to sample Peking duck, a local specialty. To this day we’re not entirely sure what we ate (although if it walks like a Peking duck and quacks like a Peking duck…...) and it wasn’t served in any logical fashion, but it was tasty and we provided lots of giggles to the serving girls. (While communications was a problem, China is getting ready for the Olympics in 2008 and is determined to present a positive image as part of it’s global recognition campaign. Taxi drivers, for example, are required to study English one night per week in order to maintain their license.)

Next day I wake up sick with a cold and Claire has a recurrence of a running ailment from earlier in the trip. We briefly consider cancelling the day but agree that to go all the way to Beijing and not see the Great Wall would be unthinkable. We decide to go to the wall on this one. When we get downstairs we learn that it’s even colder than yesterday!

Today we’re joined by a third family. This family of three is from Comoux, BC (Another Canadian. What are the odds?) Actually the odds are pretty good. Our guide tells us that Canadians and Australians are the two biggest tourism groups followed by Germans. Americans are not yet coming in droves.

It takes over an hour to drive to the Great Wall. We’re grateful that we are to take a break by touring a Jade factory. Claire doesn’t buy anything. I realize how sick she is.

We arrive at the Great Wall of China. Truly an astounding work. I’ve seen countless photographs but it’s impossible to appreciate the scope without being there. We park the car and the guide asks who’s going to climb the 1,900 steps to the top. Claire and I say no. (We’re just too ill and it’s freezing out, literally) The others in our group say yes. We all start up the first flight of stairs to get pictures taken beside a sign recording Mao Tse Tung’s comment that “In order to be a hero, you must have climbed the Great Wall at some time in your life” I realize only going this far is cheating so I decide to go up the next flight, and then the next and eventually I make it to the top of the Wall. The temperature is minus 5 and howling wind but it felt quite exhilarating to be there. After freezing my exhilaration off for a few moments I head back down to find I’m the only one in our small group that made it. After walking 1,900 steps up and 1,900 steps down in the freezing cold, I sit down to rest my very sore legs. I ask where the washroom is and someone points to it, 37 steps up. I weigh my options and decide I need to do 37 more. Now that’s heroic.

We go to another lunch at a tourist trap / factory kind of place and then off to see the Ming Tombs. (History lesson: Mongol rule overthrown 1369, Ming dynasty ruled until 1644, Quing (pronounced ching) dynasty until 1911. From 1911 a bunch of confusing stuff happened until in 1949 Mao Tse Tung declared the communist People’s Republic of China) There are 13 Ming Dynasty emperors buried here. Monument is OK and the context is interesting but the bottom line is that the tombs themselves are basically piles of dirt.

On the way back to the hotel the guide tries to convince us to go see the world famous acrobatics show. Although intrigued we were losing our health and energy quickly and decide to head back to the hotel to rest. That evening Claire can’t eat at all and I go to the café in the hotel for a light meal. We consider the next leg of our journey. A six hour flight to Tibet where it will no doubt be colder. We’re both feeling ill. We’ve read about the effects of high altitude sickness. We already know that accommodations and comforts are going to be less comfortable. We briefly consider trying to cancel but decide to see it through. (Big mistake!) Next morning we’re picked up at 7:00 to be taken to the airport. We’re happy to have a guide assist us to get checked in. Beijing airport is bewildering and English is rare.

We didn’t much enjoy Beijing but part of it had little to do with the city or the country. We were miserably cold, and beginning to get ill. Also we had arrived from some countries what were bright with greenery and foliage to a very early spring before any blossoming. The city architecture was not the least bit interesting. Private and public buildings alike were box-like and without colour. Kind of reminded us of the drive to the Toronto airport. Language was a problem. And we just didn’t see much that interested us other than the historical / political landmarks. It had a Soviet communist feel, whatever that is. And no Chinatown.

The Great Wall was stunning and almost worth the trip by itself. I’d go back to explore other parts of the county. After all, with a country containing 1/5^th the world’s population and given its rich history there is lots that we didn’t experience in a two day visit to one city. But I’d do it at a different time of year and I wouldn’t do Beijing again.

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY

We had expected a communist country with China’s reputation as a police state to be quite intimidating. But although it seemed like half the population were dressed in a quasi military uniforms we weren’t uncomfortable anywhere. Military people seemed easy going. The contacts we had with locals were very pleasant and they were quite charming in their sincere interest in interacting with us.

I am not naïve about the political underpinnings of Chinese politics and its human resources abuses, but what I learned today is that day-to-day life in this is not that dissimilar to many other democratic countries we’ve been in.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

We were told that although Beijing is the capital of China it is not the largest. Our understanding is that it is the third largest and that Shanghai is second . We never did learn the name of the largest city and what its population is. Anybody know?