China Review: Beijing

Those of you who follow this blog regularly may (or may not) have noticed that I've been a little quiescent of late. That's because I've only just come back from a three-week trip to China with my Dearly Beloved, Gary, a former colleague of my Dearly Beloved's, and 21 teenagers. (Well, okay, I've been back a week or so -details!).

The reason why this trip was undertaken lies in the fact that my Dearly Beloved teaches Chinese as a Second Language to high school students, as part of which, she has for many years now been taking groups of students on trips to China as part of their language and cultural development. She changed schools at the start of 2008, but this trip was her last task for the old employer; and Yours Truly and Gary were the other "responsible adults" (in my case, "responsible" was utilised in its broadest possible context) taken along to give her a hand.

I have to admit, I was slightly nervous at the prospect. I have never been to China, and despite the fact that I love Chinese history, I was vaguely aware that I was travelling to a country whose way of life and worldview would be entirely different to mine. So there was very much a sense of "the other". On the other hand, I was also quite excited; the prospect of seeing marvels such as the Great Wall and the entombed warriors of Xi'an was a history buff's dream come true. So it was with mixed feelings that I boarded the plane at Tullamarine Airport for the long haul to Beijing (via Sydney and Shanghai).

I won't bore you with the details of the flight. I had intended to keep a diary, and managed to do so for the first week and a bit; but then the constant travelling and the fatigue this induced mitigated against doing so. Thus, I have determined to break my recollection of events into bit-sized chunks following a basic format. Hopefully, this will give you an insight into my thoughts and feelings at the time, as well as the results of post-event processing in what passes for my mind.

Overview

Beijing is an astonishing megalopolis. Just imagine the high-density, built up CBD of an Australian city extending for square mile after square mile, and that is what Beijing looks like. Or, rather, that's what Beijing looks like when you can see through the smog. I kid you not, the smog has to be experienced to be understood; you know you're in a polluted city when you know there's a skyscraper 100 yards away, but it is completely obscured from view by a thick, yellow pall of smoke, dust, and fumes. On the other hand, there are days in Beijing when the sky is blue, the sun is bright, and the air is clear; on these days, you appreciate just how vast a city Beijing is. Beijing is a place of extraordinary contrasts: of extremes of wealth and poverty; of ancient monuments and ultra-modern construction; of hectic pace and serene, contemplative peace. You have to hit the ground running when you land in Beijing, otherwise it can mess with your head!

Highlights

Without a doubt, the historical monuments, many of which have undergone considerable preservation and renovation in recent years, were the highlight. The Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, and the Yonghe Gong (Lama) Temple were all endlessly fascinating. The first three are monuments to the secluded splendour and majesty in which the Chinese Emperors lived, vast projects involving the construction of palaces and temples, lakes and artificial mountains. It is truly astonishing to think that these seemingly boundless reserves of material and human resources were all at the disposal, and deployed for the enjoyment of, a single individual. The fourth is a precinct of calm and serenity in the midst of Beijing's chaotic sprawl, an operating temple still reverently attended by Buddhist monks where people still come to pray and undertake their religious observances. A lovely complex of gardens and temples and courtyards, it culminates in a colossal (and yet oddly inconspicuous) carving of the Buddha, wrought from a single piece of white sandalwood and standing three stories high!

Beijing also has two lovely gardens, Beihei Park and Jingshan Park, which were once exclusive imperial domains, but are now open to the public. You can stroll through lovely gardens, sit in exquisite pagodas, or contemplate the scenery. On the weekends, the Chinese flock to the parks in droves, making their own entertainment in dance, music, public speaking, or having their photo taken with foreigners. (I declined.)

Lowlights

The smog, the general pushiness of the average Beijinger (precipitated, I suspect, by the fact that life for the average Joe in Beijing is pretty hard), and the presence of snooty ex-pats from all over the world presently resident in Beijing who tend to be arrogant and condescending to both tourists and the locals alike (largely because they're making a fortune from China's economic boom and enjoying a life denied to most Chinese - and even themselves, were they still living in their native country).

The Traffic

The first thing you notice about Beijing is the traffic. There's lots of it, and it is constantly moving. This makes being a pedestrian extremely dangerous, a hazardous condition not helped by the fact that it appears that cars have the right of way. And they come at you from every direction. And yet, oddly, the whole system seems to work, not least because everybody's doing the same thing; but also because the traffic seems to operate on the very Taoist notion of flow and movement - water moving around the rocks, as it were. People just change lanes at will (and are let in); merging traffic just merges on the (correct, as it turns out) assumption that others will make way for them; and pedestrians and bicycles just ease their way through the interstices between vehicles. It's frightening until you get used to it; but once you are, you can appreciate the internal logic. And the thing is, there are hardly any traffic snarls or backlogs in Beijing; by an ironic twist, the only traffic jams we encountered were in Shanghai, which seems to have replicated the West right down to the level of traffic gridlock!

Food

Generally speaking, the food was great. And the reason I enjoyed it was because it was completely unlike the "Chinese" food you get in Australia - this was the real deal! No sweet and sour, no lemon chicken, no banana fritters; just good, honest, north Chinese fare. Ironically, this was the very cause of the teenagers' discontent; they were used to the "Chinese" they'd grown up on in Australia, and couldn't get their heads (or their taste buds) around the genuine article. Sure, there were one or two dishes I wasn't keen on, and I haven't lost my preference for south Asian cuisine; but let me say right now, I discovered a new appreciation for authentic Chinese cooking. Yet the irony is that the culinary highlight wasn't Chinese but Tibetan; the roast yak steak we had at a Tibetan restaurant in Beijing was just sublime, like the best lamb shanks I've ever had - but even better! And the cumin spicing that went with it just added an extra dimension of flavoursomeness, none of which was spoiled by the smooth and hugely enjoyable Tibetan beer. Yum!

Well, that's a snapshot of Beijing. Next: the Great Wall! PS: Why are there no photos - long story, will tell you later!

Talk to you soon,

BB.

Quote for the Day: May you live in interesting times. (Chinese curse)