A Trip to the North --Beijing

---

We were excited to finally have a week break. Beijing was bound to be a great trip, since we could see two
familiar faces. We decided to take the overnight train to Beijing. It was extremely convenient. We left at 9
PM and arrived at 8 AM. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a return ticket, so we had to book a flight to Shanghai.

This is absolutely the worst time to travel. This week is “Labor Week” so all workers have 7 days off. We
think it is a pretty awful idea to have the whole country travel at the same time. Things get very congested.

So we arrived at the train station at 8:30 and found our compartment. Each compartment has 6 beds; 3
stacked on top of each other on each side. We climbed up to the top bunks and stretched our legs. It was an easy 13 hours, and only set us back $35/person.

We arrived in Beijing around 8 AM. The train station was very crowded. For some reason, workers were checking our used train tickets on the way out. Directly after they checked our tickets, we were bombarded by beggars and old ladies yanking at our tickets. We didn’t really understand why they wanted our old tickets—nonetheless, Aaron fought aggressively with an 80-year old woman to get his ticket back.

So…our first impressions of Beijing were a bit strange. We decided to get on the main drag and walk to our hotel. Aaron felt like Crocodile Dundee, navigating by use of the rising sun (seriously). We got to our hotel an hour and 3 miles later.

The Shangri-La China World Hotel was not exactly what we expected---maybe the nicest hotel in the whole of China. Underneath the hotel, there was a plethora of Italian leather goods stores, notably Fendi, Gucci,
Armani, D&G—the whole works. We arose to the ground floor of the hotel, greeted by marble floors, chandelier-covered ceilings, and the international elite (the ones who don’t actually wear cashmere sweaters, but use them as a throw over their shoulders). We felt like the local riff-raff, with our Old Navy backpacks, worn Chuck T’s, ratty jeans and unwashed hair. We held our chests high and checked in. Every worker was dressed almost as opulent as the chandeliers above. The whole staff had a solid command
of hotel English.

We headed over to the elevator area. A worker stands there 24/7. They constantly anticipate your needs. If
they see you make a step for the elevator, they push the button and right as you get there an elevator door opens.

The hotel room was ….wow. Mogens commented that we probably won’t see a hotel room of this stature even on our honeymoon. Evian drinking water, 100% cotton robes—none of that blend crap, a super king size bed, with oodles of pillow top comfort. You know, we have been sleeping on basically a wood board with sheets. The Chinese claim a hard bed is therapeutic. We whole-heartedly disagree.

Other reasons we knew it was a 5 star hotel 1. The hotel offers a turn down service. They carefully place a basket of fruit and Swiss chocolates on your bed before nighty-night. 2. Mogens and Sally each received personally initialed PJs laid out on their bed upon checking in. 3. Downstairs in the lobby there are several workers in the bathroom. One worker won’t even let you put soap on your hands. He won’t let you turn on the water. He won’t let you grab your own towels. He won’t even let you open the door. 4. An orchestra played Classical Western music for hours every night in the lobby.

We woke up on Day 2 with the best sleep we have had in months. Off to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We were shuttled off in buses with a police escort (the group was upwards of 300 people). The square is the largest in the world. Many years ago it held 500,000, when the Communist state was born.

We spoke earlier about how the government exercises a little control over tour guides. Before a tour guide
gets a license they must go through government training. The government controls what the tour guides
are allowed to say to tourists. They can't get a tour guide license unless they attend very specific
training.

We saw a great example of this. Most Americans recognize at least the name Tienanmen Square because
of the student uprising in 1989 where hundreds and thousands gathered in defiance of communism—around 10 students actually died. The funny thing is, though this event made the square famous to the Western world, our Chinese tour guide failed to say a word about it.

The square was nothing special to us hillbillies. There was a large obelisk honoring the martyrs of the
wars, a large flag, a portrait of Sun Yat Sen, a hall, a museum, and Chairmen Mao’s body on display.
Unfortunately, the mausoleum that housed Chairmen Mao was being renovated (because of the Olympics of
course). We think it is a little strange to have a former leader’s body on display, but to many of the
older generation, a visit to see the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, capped off with a visit to see Mr.
Mao is like a visit to Mecca.

The forbidden city was gigantic. It's the largest palace in the world. It was a little overwhelming. There is so much history in these buildings--so much we didn't know about. It was hard to really appreciate the setting. We haven't learned or been here long enough to let the rich culture really soak in. What we did learn was quite interesting. The Forbidden City was built around 1400. At that time until the early 1900s, no common people were allowed through its gates. The last empower was de-powered in the early 1900s. Apparently the last emperor lived out the rest of his life by working in a public garden in Beijing. Can you imagine the transition? From near deity to maintenance worker.

Another interesting observation was the lives of the emperor's concubines. The word is just a fancy saying
for a woman servant. Apparently the emperor's fancied the concubines quite a lot. He would request 2-3 every night. The concubines entire meaning was to make the emperor happy. Interesting....

After the half-day trip, Sal laid down for a nap, so the three of us went off the beaten path. There is an
interesting contrast in Beijing. You see wealth, cashmere sweaters, upscale shops near the hotel. We
walked for 3-4 blocks and the city changed drastically. Small little shops everywhere, an open market selling everything from fruits to fresh leg of lamb, a pineapple stand (our favorite snack), migrant workers digging holes, etc. This felt like the real city, not Beijing on steroids at the Shangri-La China World Hotel. We sat down for a beer at a small restaurant and sat outside for reflection. The beer was twice the size of the Shangri-La, was served at room temp, at cost several hundred percent less, at 25 cents a piece. It is so strange how, in three blocks, depending on your location, a beer can go from 25 cents to $6. The 25 cent, dusty, warm, provincial beer was one that we were getting used to. Mogens, despite being a native European of 18 years--and some European establishments being known for serving luke-warm beer--has gotten accustomed to the ice-cold, beer drinking, Husker loving fan's mentality for all too many years.

On day three of our trip, we first headed off to the Pearl Market. This is a famous building in Beijing
which is known for—you guessed it—pearls, of all shapes, sizes, and price ranges. Our tour guide seemed
nervous about some of the suckers on the bus. She asked the group multiple times, does anyone want good pearls? Because if you do, I WILL ESCORT you to the best place in the market.” Its like she was announcing to the group that this venue is notoriously known for knock-offs, so if you want the real stuff, come with me. So we walked into the market, which was a madhouse. It was not 1 big department store, oh no, but hundreds of little shops, selling everything from Fendi bags to Pee-Pee boys(a toy; its a little boy you fill up with water---pee shoots out...pretty funny).

We worked up to the fifth floor, where the higher quality goods were located. Even at the top-tier stores, bartering is still common. Can you imagine going to Zales and shooting prices back and forth? One
difference between an American jewry (yes..jewry) store and a Chinese store is that you get served
beer....it apparently eases the nerves...probably increases revenues too.

After the shopping we went on a hutong tour. A hutong is the Chinese word for narrow street. There are many old, old hutongs in Beijing. We went by 3-wheeled carriages. Someone warned the traveling alespeople of our arrival because the barrage greeted us with all sorts of sales pitches.

The street the drivers took us on was neatly swept, there were few people, we even felt like the natives
we did see on the tour were staged. One was supposed to be digging something, another little girl needed to wave and say hello to us. The China we know is not neatly swept, there aren't calm and desolate streets, there isn't just 1 person digging a hole. After the tour, we were escorted in groups of 20 to a
traditional Chinese home. There was a small courtyard shared by 4-5 houses. We walked in a small
dining/living room and sat down. A Chinese retired couple had prepared Chinese snacks and were also
preparing traditional Jasmine tea for the group.

If you own a grocery store, you need to choose where you will buy your groceries from. This was an Affiliated Foods warehouse trip. The warehouse sponsors trips trips all around the world. Some of the
people on the trip seemed to be fantastic. They were interested in learning about the local culture, were
willing to accept indifferences, and just wanted to soak up as much knowledge about this foreign place as
possible. Others might have been the opposite; a little ethnocentric, unwilling to tolerate cultural differences, unwilling to deviate from the Midwestern norm.

Our least favorite feeling of the trip. As a middle-aged American sat on the Chinese families couch, a soft couch (an American couch, not a Chinese couch), as he sat next to a table full of Chinese goodies prepared by this gentle couple, as he was served the precious Jasmine tea served by the old man, he whispers, "spose I can exchange this for a Jack and Coke?"

(Aaron) I don't know what made me so angry about this. Maybe it is that I feel sometimes that us Americans are overly confident. We feel falsely superior to other cultures. We don't understand a culture or a custom. So we call it "crazy" or "strange", or just crack a joke, because we just don't understand. Maybe
he was just trying to be funny....I didn't find it very humorous.

We just really appreciate the people here. They are so kind. One night at the hotel, the group had a dinner
where Chinese handicraft makers were brought it, traditional musicians and dancers were hired, silk seamstresses were on hand, a group of teenagers walking around in a traditional dragon get-up. I was
walking by a little table where an American was trying to buy a small, home-made kite (kites were invented in China thousands of years ago). Anyways, I was walking by and I, oddly enough, understood the Chinese seller speaking in Mandarin. She couldn't speak very good English, but was trying to sell the small kite for 50 RMB. I knew this was too expensive. So I decided to help the man barter. I ended up getting it purchased for him for 20 RMB--the seller wasn't too happy with my aggressiveness. He graciously thanked me, gave me a handshake, and returned to his table. Halfway through, Ely had joined us and I could tell by the look on her eyes that she wasn't thrilled. As soon as we walked away, we both felt a sense of sorrow. The American saved $3.50. 1 gallon of gas. Woop-di-do. But what did the seller lose? 30 RMB could probably feed a thrifty Chinese family for a couple days. I repeatedly said, it isn't necessarily important for the merican tourists to get the best deal on goods. All they need is a perception of getting a good deal. If they are happy with the price they paid..Good. That is all they need.

A memorable part of the trip. We were finishing up the tea and asking questions to the retired couple. One
person asked the question, "what's their religion?" A solid question, we thought. The translator spoke to
the Chinese woman, and replied, "they don't have a religion, but her husband likes pigeons very much."
Everyone chuckled. Not sure if it was something lost in translation, or if he really just religiously watched after his pigeons.

The Olympics are just insane here. They are hard to escape. Next to the Great Wall, a large Olympics sign
reads, "One World, One Dream." We read an article in the Shanghai Daily recently that was quite funny. In a southern province hundreds of migrant workers were shipped to a mountain for several weeks to tediously CARVE in the mountain a huge all-important message, "Don't destroy our forests." It has caused absolute public outrage. At the Great Wall site, this is sort of how we felt. A huge modern sign next to an ancient cultural relic--the symbol of China. We understand that welcoming change, development, and modern marketing is important. We understand and expect China to move forward as an economic giant, but we didn't want to see something like this at such an ancient and special place.

After reading snipits from Frommer's China guide, we were already amazed at this masterpiece. A misconception we had was that the wall was just 1 straight wall, built from start to finish in 1 un-interupted period of time. This was wildly false. Parts of the wall were build thousands of years ago. Others finished in the 1400s. It isn't just one wall, but several at times connecting together. It isn't flatland either. It is built on some pretty rigorous terrain. In a northern province, another 80 KM stretch was just discovered in 2003! The wall has some tough trekking, huge slanted stairs, and poorly paved cobblestones---we were on the touristy section, so I can't imagine what it is like in more desolate locations. Apparently there will be a marathon run on the Great Wall this year. This just boggles our mind.

At the apex of the wall, there are all sorts of memorabilia. Frankly, the whole way up the wall, natives had set up shop. You could buy refreshments, a certificate indicating your climb to the top, more pee-pee boys, carvings, artwork, etc. It sort of ruined the mystique and aura we thought the Great Wall would have....The salespeople... and of course the crazy hoards of people. We will maybe visit another section of the wall in the future. Parts of it are very desolate and secluded. This is an incredible feat. One of the wonders of the world. Thousands of miles of stone stacked up 20-50 feet high, all with primitive technology. We felt happy after the visit. Another incredible thing crossed off our imaginary travel goal list.

The construction in Beijing--and all of China really--is incredible. Our tour guide said that half of the cranes in the world were currently in China. Not hard to believe after touring the city for a couple of days.

So, the trip was good. Good to see our family. Good to see a city central to everything that is China. Its a
little hard to have a correct perception of a city when you travel with an upscale tour. We hope that--though construction riddles the city and tourism is becoming more and more of a viable industry--the city can keep a balance of keeping the tourists happy and comfortable, but also cultivating and shaping the industry in such a way that foreigners' beliefs about China are correct. We don't exactly know what the correct ideology is, but we know a couple things it isn't. The people aren't so rude, they aren't all trying to take advantage of you, and they aren't that much different than us. Just living the best way they know how.

---

Photos

sun yat sen
portrait of sun yat sen at tiananmen square

forbidden city
the glazed gold roof tiles could not be used for anyone but the emperor

9 little animals
the amount of animals on roofs was also limited - only the emperor could have 9

water pots
huge pots to catch rain water - not the best way to fight a fire.

sal
overlooking the inner court of the forbidden city...(we think...it's just so big, it's hard to keep everything straight)

emperor's stairway
there were 5 stairways, the middle one was reserved for the emperor only. The center of the stairway was carved out of a single piece of marble. pretty incredible.

outdoor market
from over-the-top grand to down-to-earth humdrum in about 3 blocks form our hotel

Comments

[Uncle Mo]

That about captures it
Nice pictures, kids. And here I thought you weren't paying attention! My impression was the same as yours, kind people just trying to make a life for themselves. The parks were my favorite places - full of people doing things together, pretty cool. Next time I go, I am going to the hinterlands and see China as it is away from the cities. But, better not wait too long, because China is a country in a hurry, and on a mission.