The middle kingdom

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Peeking out the window all I see is grey clouds. As I wait for the plane to break through the final overcast and seeing the endless city blocks spreading out towards the horizon I am instead welcomed by a slight bump as the landing gear touches Chinese tarmac. Robbed of such a majestic arrival I rub my eyes and have another look outside. Hey, wait a second, I can actually see some buildings of the Capital Airport. Whether their inviting concrete naturale designs were intended as camouflage or not I have no idea, but the arrival could surely have benefitted from some more colour. I suddenly remember that Beijing is the grey city. I visited this place almost exactly one year ago, and the weather is very much the same. The sun is hidden behind a wall of smog and the gloomy cityline will not spring to life until after sundown. I spent most of the flight playing an addictive but frustratingly impossible taipei game, I didn't manage to swipe the board clean a single time. At least that gives me something to look forward to on my returning flight.

After passing through immigration I meet up with Joanne as planned, she herself having arrived a few hours earlier on a flight from Guangzhou. The time is already afternoon. We grab a cab from the notorious taxi stand, and I can see there have been some improvements made here. A new generation of golden Volkswagen Jettas and are replacing the worn out wine-red Santanas and Citroêns. More interestingly, we are handed a brochure with helpful advice on how to make complaints about crooked drivers to the supervision office. We are heading downtown, to just south of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, where I am to meet up with one Mr. Wang to receive the keys to a spiffy studio apartment that I wanted to try out for a couple of nights. The small apartment meets my expectations and comes fully stocked with water boiler, washing machine and a set of pink rubber gloves. Remembering the chilly room I stayed in last year I can't help but smile, as this room is boiling, and even after turning off the heating, switching on the aircon and opening the balcony door the room remains very warm even after several hours.

Joanne has an evening appointment so we spend some time catching up at a Taiwanese teahouse franchise at a nearby shopping mall before splitting up. I take a walk around the neighbourhood in the chilly evening sucking in the rather foul air, before heading directly back to my beckoning warm room and a collapse on the bed.

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Comments

[- Kay -]

Cute room...
hey...the room is cute as seen in the ads right? ... made the right choice...by the way...when can i see all photo?

[Auntie]

I´ll have....whatever as well. Was it good ?