Check out the third audioblog segment here, and see some
pictures of the famous square in Beijing here.
The audioblog is from atop the Great Wall of China, in an area called
Mutianyu. It was totally awesome and hopefully we'll get some pics of
that up soon.
The pics from T.S. are from 10.Sept.06 while we were waiting for the
flag-lowering ceremony. I'm not kidding when I tell you that there
were literally thousands of people out there waiting for this thing.
The throngs were crazy, and this ceremony (of guards marching out from
under Mao's giant head to take down the flag in Tiananmen Square at
sunset) takes place every day.
On a more general note, Beijing has been a difficult transition for
us. Our first few days here were pretty lousy and exhausting and
everyone here spits. But what was really surprising is the lack of
courtsey we've received. Even though I'm speaking Mandarin to people
here (pretty well, I might add), the most common response we get is
just a grunt... even from hotel staff. Coming from Japan, where we
were babied from the start, this has been a bit unpleasant.
In addition, we were having a hard time finding any good food here,
since the two vegetarian restaurants listed in the Lonely Planet guide
book are closed. On the way to one, a rikshaw driver ripped us off
(but it was only for a buck, so who really cared) and the next day,
when we tried to go to the other place, we walked into a ghetto
created by the olympics (Beijing is hosting the 2008 summer games, in
case you didn't already know). I know Justine is going to blog about
this, so I won't spend too much time here, but basically it seems that
whole blocks of hotels, restaurants, homes, and shops have been shut
down and demolished to make way for new, "friendlier" development. In
the place where a top-of-the-line vegetarian place was supposed to be
was a homeless family with a toddler running around broken glass and
splintered wood. And this was not always some slummy area, but now
the street is desolate, ALL storefronts are closed, and these huge
walls with pictures of happy people shopping and eating (a la the
movie Brazil) line the street. Behind the walls is a totally
different story, and that wasn't the only neighborhood we saw that was
like that.
Anyway, China isn't all bad. The Wall totally lived up to our
expectations, we have since found a really nice neighborhood and moved
from our first hostel (which was quite bland, boring, and of steriled
decor) into the area near all of the foreign embassies. Today
(12.Sept.06) we had an excellent Chinese dinner, and yesterday we had
great Thai food for dinner. One thing I've been craving like mad is a
burrito, and I think we found one or two Mexican places around here,
so I'd like to give that a try tomorrow. In addition, we're going to
try to bike around the city center and visit the Beijing Urban
Planning center, where the long-range plan for the city is laid out.
Maybe we'll find out what's supposed to go behind those walls...
3 comments:
I want to spit on you...just kidding...Stupid spitters all spitting...Hoe all is well!
James
I'm glad the Wall was worthwhile, but oh how it makes me so mad to hear about their unfriendliness. It makes sense, though, that it is the result of such a country with so many human rights violations!
"Methods employed to ensure compliance have also included the forced use of contraceptives, primarily the I.U.D., and forced abortion for pregnant women who already have one child. In Zheijang Province, for example, the family planning ordinance states that "fertile couples must use reliable birth control according to the provisions. In case of pregnancies in default of the plan, measures must be taken to terminate them."
and
"The one-child policy, in conjunction with the traditional preference for male children, has led to a resurgence of practices like female infanticide, concealment of female births and abandonment of female infants. Female children whose births are not registered do not have any legal existence and therefore may have difficulty going to school or receiving medical care or other state services. The overwhelming majority of children in orphanages are female and/or mentally or physically handicapped. The one-child policy has also contributed to the practice of prenatal sex identification resulting in the abortion of female fetuses."
I'm sure you know this already though! What an interesting trip you guys are having...enjoy the rest.
When I was in Beijing, there wasn't quite so much rudeness because they were jockying for the Olympics. The spitting was definitely there, though.
The other thing we noticed was the definite communist flavor of the economic plan. There were high rise buildings that looked to be 3-4 years old that were completely empty, while right next door, another would be under construction. Also, in the larger restuarants there would be 10-12 waitresses and 8-10 customers. The wairesses (and they were all women) would just stand around, evenly distributed around the floor, and would hover. We were eating Mongolian hot pot and we were never able to put our own food into the pot, because whenever we reached for the plate, someone would jump to our table and put it in for us. Weird.
Which part of the wall did you go to? The most popular section is Badaling, which has been completely reconstructed. We went to the section north of Huairou, which was almost completely deserted (we ran into three other people also hiking there). The only shop out there was a tiny mini-mart. Most of the structures (like houses, barns, etc.) near there were constructed out of brick that had been obviously salvaged from the wall. And it was in the middle of a massive orchard (plums, I think). It was very beautiful and peaceful. If you get a chance, I recomend it.
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