Well, it's been a day of exceptional highs and lows. Some moments were sublime, and some moments were me wandering through a strange city, tired, hungry and stressed.Here's my route (Factory 789 excluded), for those who care to follow:
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Overall, although I certainly have loved parts of the city, I don't know how into Beijing as a whole I am. It's just too big, too much of a pain to walk, too noisy, too crowded. The smog is irritating and there have been moments where, surrounded by crowds of Chinese, I've just about lost my mind. But there are nice moments. I'm just glad I don't have to stay here for three months.
I started today by walking out to the Temple of Heaven, a temple dating from the Ming era that the Emperor used to perform the annual harvest sacrifice (today, I found out that afterwards, in a hilarious collusion of bureaucracy and religion, he would issue an edict saying that the sacrifice had been done). I really loved the Temple of Heaven. The park is absolutely gorgeous, beautiul slate and pine, and the temple is the first piece of Ming era architecture that I really took to. Once again, the crowds of Chinese tourists here for the New Year kind of hampered my enjoyment of the space, but there was one part of the park, the Fasting Palace, that was completely empty. I don't know why; it might be because it was an extra ten yuan and there's nothing really famous there. But it was so empty and quiet and just absolutely gorgeous; probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in. Walking around the Fasting Palace, I was just so happy. It's beautiful places like that which make you happy to be alive so you can see things like that. The Hall of Music Administration, however, which is included in the ticket can be skipped, unless you're really into Chinese musical instruments.
A few odd experiences I had at the Temple of Heaven. First, the issue of separate entrance fees. You often pay a general fee to get into the park, and then another fee to access certain buildings. On one hand, it's the kind of thing that would get my dad grumbling about nickel-and-diming, and quite rightly so. On the other hand, when you're talking about an extra 10 yuan, it literally is nickel-and-diming, and it feels silly to not go somewhere on principle when you came all this way in the first place.
Also, I had a brief conversation with an American from Texas. It was thankfully brief, because he was one of those Westerners I've been seeing a lot of lately, old white men (who clearly have no background in Chinese or in China) with young asian women. It's really, creepily prevalent.
I had a five minute, frustrating but pleasant conversation with an old man on my way out of the Temple of Heaven park, half in English and half in Mandarin. My encounters with the Chinese tend to be rather polar. Either they're delighted that I speak even a little bit of Mandarin and actively engage me, or they're annoyed I even exist. I've been called "waiguoren" (foreigner) a couple of times, but occasionally, the Chinese have been really nice to me, like that old guy.
At this point in the afternoon, I was delirious with hunger and realizing that I haven't had coffee in a couple of days. I wandered into a local restaurant and ordered some pretty gross boiled beef and rice, but I was so starved I didn't care. On a whim, I decided to head up to the Lamaist Temple, which is the most important sanctuary for Mayahana Buddhism outside of Tibet. I was tired and grumpy at that point, and put in an even worse mood by the mobs of Chinese tourists around the temple. But once inside the temple, my mood immediately picked up. What's different about the Lama Temple is that it's an active sanctuary, and so I got to watch the faithful offer incense and pray in front of the statues of the Buddha. It really felt like a spiritual place (even the Chinese didn't take pictures, so I didn't dare) and I was almost tempted to join in, but figured that it wouldn't be right. I also got to see the fascinating mix of business and religion that is the temple: monks in full gear selling incense and collecting donations. The statues here are quite lovely, and there's also a freakin'two story high Buddha carved out of a single piece of wood. So there's also that.
After that, I worked up the courage to trek out to the Factory 789 Art District, out near the 4th ring road (Beijing has several concentric ring roads, think the Beltway). This trip required me to take the bus, which was a white knuckle experience: I crammed in there, listened to a conductor yammer on in Chinese, and hoped to God I read the map right. I've always hated buses, and when you have only the smallest idea of what's going on, it's even worse. Once there, I walked a few blocks (a few blocks here is more like a mile) and ordered some coffee at a Starbucks ripoff chain endemic to the city. Once I had coffee, I felt like Birdman returning to the sun; it was really amazing.
To my chagrin, Factory 789's galleries were all closed due to the holiday. The district is monumental, however, like pretty much everything in Beijing, filled with galleries. The area itself looks pretty nice, and I'm glad I went anyway, just to see Beijing's take on artsy-type areas. Also, it gave me a sense, again, of the sheer sprawl of the place: I was technically in the suburbs, but it was just as urban as any other place, and urban for miles. Overall, I'm not entirely comfortable with the deal the artists here have made with the state. It's incredibly discomfiting to watch soldiers patrol the streets of an arts district. On the other hand, it's not like artists in China have many other choices. I am reminded of Yu Hua defending his friend Zhang Yimou's embrace of the government; you either make compromises, or you get squashed.
From there, I headed to the CCTV building. When I emerged from the subway and saw the building, I almost weeped. Probably part of it was how tired I am, but also, the building is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen, certainly the most beautiful contemporary building I've ever seen. It's simply thrilling and awe inspiring, dramatic and gorgeous. The building is not open yet (to my knowledge), but I'm glad I was just able to walk by it. It's incredibly magnificent, and one of my top experiences so far.
I planned to buy an early morning ticket to Chengde, at the train station, but quickly abandoned that idea after wandering around among the throngs of people. It's not something to do unless you absolutely know what you want, and since I wasn't prepared, I was just stressed and disoriented by the crowds, and headed off to dinner without even seeing the Ming City Walls, which was the secondary purpose.
The restaurant where I planned to get Peking Duck had been unceremoniously displaced by a government renovation of the street, so I ended up wandering around for a while, hungry, tired and miserable, so desperate for roast duck I started seeing it everywhere, like a mirage. Finally, I gave up and ate at a crowded restaurant near the hostel. This worked out. I had some delicious beef prepared on a red hot iron plate, and made friendly conversation with the waiter (who hilariously had to wear a fake queue) about learning Chinese and reading Dream of The Red Chamber. Eating at these restaurants alone is just crazy, since all Chinese dishes are made for about two people. I feel awful not being able to finish my food, but that's the way it goes.
One thing that really stood out to me today is the presence of the state. Some foreign visitors say that they forget that they're in an authoritarian state, but I don't see how. Soldiers are everywhere, and security checks are ubiquitous. The subways are filled with videos telling you what to do, and the big character banners are still here to a certain extent. One particularly disturbing element is how the party has used the Olympics to promote its aims. The Olympics is used everywhere as a device to push the Chinese into a nationalist stupor, whether through the insipid Öne World" song that is heard everywhere, or banners instructing the Chinese to accept the spirit of the Olympics and conform with the state's mission.
In a lighter note, if I had to make a sweeping generalization about the Chinese, I'd say that they all love KFC and fancy haircuts, since this city has the biggest concentration of KFCs and hair salons per capita than any city I've ever been to. Also, having an outrageous haircut seems to be the main requirement for getting on TV.
In general, I have to watch my fatigue. The punishing pace has taken its toll on me. Tomorrow, I'm going to try and get more sleep and make fewer stops. I'm going to try and see both the Summer Palace and the Marco Polo Bridge. We'll see how it goes. Till tomorrow.
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