China!!! (Part I)

Friends, Romans, Random Interested Parties! I give you, the China travel log! (Which I would have given whilst in China, except for the fact that the internet there... it is not what we might call... internetty. And Blogger is as Forbidden as the City.) But now I'm back! And stories I have! And jetlag I have gotten over! (Sorta. Though I've apparently developed temporary Yoda-Syndrome.)

And now, without further ado (though we all know how I feel about my ado) I give you, THE CHINA EXPERIENCE: PART ONE:


After a flight from Seattle during which I watched five movies and still had time to sleep for two hours, I landed in Beijing and breezed through a surprisingly easy immigration/customs process (especially considering what a pain getting the visa was). Then I stepped outside and felt the air hit my lungs. For the first few days there wasn't much wind and breathing was like chewing yellow fog. (In case you're wondering what orb that is in the picture over there, it's the sun. See how it almost penetrates the smog? Purdy, huh?) I commented to my Beijing-resident friends that if I lived there, I'd probably take up smoking, cuz really, why the hell not? If the air you breathe has the same effect as a pack a day, might as well get a fix out of it.

I had a unique opportunity in my visit, because I was staying with an ex-patriot friend who works in Beijing and therefore got to see the culture in a way I probably wouldn't have on a strictly-tourist venture. But that didn't mean we didn't play tourist (oh, did we ever play tourist...). The first stop on our Stranger in a Strange Land tour was the Forbidden City.

As with many things in China, I had a moment of "Huh, this isn't as old as I thought it was." It was, however, still deeply cool... and older than our entire country, so everything's relative. Beijing was not, actually, the first imperial city of China - but it was the last. The Forbidden City was built in the early 15th century and housed the Ming and Qing dynasties until the early 20th century.

During that time, commoners were forbidden from passing through those big red doors, under punishment of death. (And since I'm quite common... well, let's just all be happy the executioner wasn't on hand, shall we?) The complex is massive, which luckily made it feel a bit less crowded... and by far the majority of tourists were Chinese - as was the case everywhere we went, which surprised me a bit having seen (and heard) the multinational crowds at the Eiffel Tower and other international icons.

After an exhaustive (and exhausting) tour of the City, we made our way (in a lemming shuffle with a bajillion other tourists) through the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tian'an Men). After snapping a pic of the pubescent guard at attention in front of Mao's portrait (isn't he just adorable? don't you just want to pinch his cheeks? The guard. Not Mao.), we crossed to Tiananmen Square itself, where I got the Beatles' Revolution stuck in my head and might have sung a few choice lines before my companion smacked me.

The square houses the monument to the People's Heroes (or Martyrs depending on the translation) and is flanked by a government building and a museum, two large white edifices which look virtually identical to one another. Apparently, they weren't always so similar. The museum used to be eleven meters shorter - a breech of feng shui that was evidently a "point of shame for all of China" so the museum's facade was recently rebuilt larger to match the PRC building across the way. This was not the last time I would notice the idea that beauty is objective in China - a matter of symmetry and feng shui more than personal taste. And the concept that a lack of perfection (in symmetry or accomplishment) is a point of shame.

The Chinese tourists seemed to be fond of flashing peace signs in photos, so (fully cognizant of the irony) my American cohort and I emulated that tradition in the famous protest square. We wandered past Mao's Mausoleum (which is rumored to have the actual formaldehyde-rich version of Mao on display some days - all together now: eeeeeewwww) and checked out the Bell and Drum Towers before calling it a day.

That night we grabbed some local eats and... a belly dancing show? Yep, you heard me. Chinese belly dancing. And one of our party was dragged up on stage - let's all heave a sigh of relief that it wasn't me. (Don't they look hot? Dude. Love it. If you're ever in Beijing, it's Red Rose in Sanlitun.)

Between catching up with friends and jet-lag, the rest of my first couple days were occupied in non-tourist ways, but fear not! There was more touristing to be had. Oh yes. You can count on it. Watch out for Part Two with my solo adventures at the Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven during the week while my friends were at work - and see if I could navigate Beijing taxis armed only with a little flipbook of popular destinations and my one-word-comprehension of Mandarin. Life in China - where even getting from point A to point B is an adventure.

More to come...