Chillin' in Beijing

Rachel and I have spent the last 4.5 days in Beijing, and it has been a great experience, filled with new and interesting things to do and observe. We arrived here on the bullet train from Shanghai. This train is super-fast, going 290-308 km/hr the entire way here. It only took 5 hours, and the ride is incredibly smooth. We could place our water on the ledge beside us, and the water would barely even ripple.

When we arrived, we took the subway towards Tiananmen Square (and were incredibly glad that we before we came we bought an English-language map of Beijing that included a subway map). The subway was completely packed, with people rushing for the doors the moment the train opened, and we were carrying all our stuff, completely loaded down, taking up the space of about 3 people each. We didn't even fit onto one of the trains, and had to wait for the next one.

When we got to the area we were going for, we got out of the subway and looked around. We couldn't see very far, because the smog was so thick. We got out our map and started walking towards where it said our hostel was. Unfortunately, we didn't use the compass to make sure we were heading the right direction, and we walked for about half an hour in the wrong direction. We then met an Australian couple who were in a similar situation, and were just booking it along. They took a good look at our map to see where they wanted to go, and said, "Well, we'll just crack on then!" Rachel and I thought that was a funny phrase and have been using it ever since! We ended up figuring out the direction, and walking through some smaller streets to get there, which was way more interesting than the main thoroughfares anyways. We kept walking... and walking... and walking.... Our feet hurt like crazy, our shoulders and backs were sweaty and sore, and our heads hurt from breathing the smog while trying to walk quickly carrying a donkey-load of stuff. We began to question whether we really needed to bring along all our gear. :)

We were accosted by a man with a bike cart, offering to drive us different places. We showed him the Chinese characters for our hostel's address, and he nodded. Rachel was a little hesitant about getting in the guy's bike cart, but I thought that even if he brought us to the wrong place, it would be an interesting experience, and a chance to rest our feet. So he started the little motor on his bike, and cruised down the street with us behind him, cringing as he dodged cars, pedestrians, and other bike carts. He dropped us off right in front of our hostel, and we were incredibly glad. He totally overcharged us for the ride (which we have since figured out requires some good bartering ahead of time), but we were so glad not to have to walk and get lost with all our stuff, that we just paid him and went to our hostel.

Our hostel is in one of Beijing's hutongs, which are these little windy, narrow-streeted courtyard type of houses. There are stairs, balconies, courtyards, and tiny alleyways all over throughout the hostel, and it is quite nice, in a great location. The staff is great and try their best to help with everything, including helping us write questions out in Chinese so that we can do things like book train tickets.

The evening we got here, we went for a walk in the neighbourhood, and everyone was out, just walking around or in little shops, talking and laughing and visiting. It was great! We watched what a lot of the locals seemed to be eating, and tried a few things. My favourite so far is this yogurt drink that comes in an earthenware jar, with paper across the top tightened by an elastic. You pop a straw into it and drink it in front of the shop, so that you can return the jar when you have finished. It costs the equivalent of $0.48 Canadian, which is a little expensive for food, but it is so worth it as a treat! I also wanted to try this snack that many people had, skewered hawthorn berries covered with honey, so I approached a guy with a cart selling them, and gestured that I wanted one. He offered me two, and I had a really hard time making it clear that I only wanted one, and I wasn't going to pay more than 2 yuan for it. We kept going back and forth, trying to communicate with gestures, and as we did, a whole crowd of people gathered, laughing and shouting at the man, and pointing at me. It was a huge, noisy, hilarious gong show. Finally a girl who spoke English asked me what exactly I wanted, and translated it to the guy, and he sold me the skewer, as everyone laughed. The girl introduced us to an older lady with her, and said, "This is my auntie. It is her first time in Beijing. She wants take picture with you." We agreed, and the girl took a picture of us together - actually about 5 pictures, and about 7 other people took pictures as well. Then some random guys tried to get in the pictures, and I shooed them away, and everyone laughed a lot. We laughed a lot too, and were glad to have provided some entertainment to the Chinese tourists visiting Tiananmen Square!

Saturday we went to Tiananmen Square, which is huge, ugly, and completely filled with people from all over China, many of whom have apparently never seen foreigners before and are constantly asking (through broken English or more commonly Chinese with gestures) if they could take photos with us. You have to go through security to get into the square, and there are police and soldiers everywhere. We also went into the Memorial Hall, where Chairman Mao's preserved body is on display. It was interesting as a glimpse into how many Chinese view their government and history. The sense of awe, almost like a pilgrimage, was evident in many of their faces and gestures. The smog, however, was so bad that we could barely see 500 metres in front of us, and we had to walk slowly so that we wouldn't be completely gasping for breath. We saw a guy wearing a full-out gas mask.

On Sunday, it was a rainy, freezing, blustery day. We made our way to Haidian church, which is one of the registered Chinese churches. It was an English service, but most people there were Chinese. It was really neat, singing our hearts out (most songs were familar) and listening to a simple, Biblical exposition of Ruth's story of leaving her family and people to follow Naomi and Naomi's God. We met afterwards with a family from Calgary who is now there leading a Bible study, and they also introduced us to some Chinese believers, who we got to talk with. We had lunch together with them, and it was an amazing, encouraging experience. There were other small groups in the public cafeteria where we were, their Bibles open in front of them, conducting Bible studies openly. One Chinese lady we talked with had chosen the English name, "Faith" years ago, long before she became a Christian.We heard from a Chinese believer that the unofficial estimate is that one in every 10 Chinese is a Christian, and that people are hungry for the gospel and for Biblical teaching and training. The government does not interfere in terms of doctrine; they are more concerned about political instability that is caused by large groups meeting together without government monitoring. But families will often put enormous pressure on Christians to turn away from faith. It was really interesting and encouraging to have these conversations with Chinese believers and expatriate believers living in China, to discuss what God is doing here and how his hand is evident. It was definitely the highlight so far of our time in China!

Monday, we visited the imperial palace museum (more commonly called the Forbidden City) and the Summer Palace. The Imperial Palace was in the centre of Beijing and is full of buildings, parks, and temples. The Summer Palace is in the far north of Beijing. It is where the Imperial families would go for the summer months, and has many absolutely breathtaking walks over hills and beside a huge lake. Both places were absolutely gorgeous, though also saddening in some ways. We could see how absolute power (in any country) leads to excess and the abuse of power and wealth.

Tuesday (today) we took a bus to the Great Wall. It is incredibly massive! It was a beautiful fall day, a little chilly out but sunny, and there was barely any smog at all so we could see the blue sky. The Wall winds up and down over rugged mountains, and the leaves of the trees covering them have all changed to orange, red, and yellow with the cooler weather, making for a breath-taking sight. Another thing that takes your breath is the climbing. When they say that you "climb" the Great Wall, they are not kidding one bit. You are walking up and down mountain ranges, basically, and there are different-sized, narrow stone steps everywhere, constantly going up and down. It was a really neat experience! (One more thing checked off my "to do before I die" list!)

Tomorrow we head out to Xi'an, which is roughly a 13 hour train ride from Beijing. When we went to book the train tickets, there were only hard seat tickets left (basically the peasant seating) so it will probably be a long, stinky, noisy, uncomfortable, people-filled, ridiculous experience. I think it'll be a really interesting adventure and make for some interesting stories! :) We're both pretty ready to be out of cities and into the more rural areas of China, doing some bike rides and exploring, and practicing our Chinese phrases some more.