Beijing

Beijing. It had been over a year and a half since I’d last seen China’s sprawling capital. It was here that I first saw China, in all its complexity, pain, and beauty, and here that I first became fascinated with the world’s largest country. I made wonderful friends here, and it was here that I learned most of the colloquial Chinese that I know. When I first came on a Light Fellowship in 2009, I had no idea that I would be back in less than two years. After landing, I headed to a youth hostel across the street from Beijing’s central train station. It had been a grueling 24 hour flight and I needed some rest.

The first thing I did the next day was hop on the subway and visit my old stomping grounds by Capital Normal University. The familiar streets, restaurants, stores, and buildings brought back a flood of memories. I visited the 三虎桥南 Sanhunanqiao where I used to go often for cheap food and clothes. I bought a belt for 10 yuan and ate 煎饼 jianbing , a delicious wrap filled with egg, hot sauce, and lettuce. I had a hard time remembering where the Mongolian baker I used to get buns from was, but as I was walking down the street he spotted me and called me aside. I was shocked that he recognized me as I was wearing a hood, a hat, and heavy clothing to weather the cold. We chatted for a while. He was pleased to hear that I was heading to the Northeast, where he was born and bred. I tried to pay for the buns, but he repeatedly insisted on giving me them for free. I promised to be back next time I come to Beijing.

Capital Normal University is in the western part of the city, north of Gongzhufen and south of Zhizuyuan. From there I took a bus southeast to the Niu Street Mosque and surrounding area. I was struck by how beautiful the thousand year old mosque is. I saw the tombs of several Muslim clerics and passed by old men and women chatting in the courtyard. After visiting the mosque, I went to the aging though dignified Fayuan Buddhist temple. I also explored the nearby hutongs (what’s left of the old neighborhoods) and the nearby Halal market where I was struck by the sight of two lambs tied up and shivering in the cold, waiting for slaughter. On a happier note, I managed to see a horse pulling a veggie cart on a crowded Beijing street, which was pretty cool.

That evening, I met up with my former teacher and good friend Xu Liang, who I bonded with in 2009 and whose home I visited that summer. He’s been finishing his masters and teaching at a program in Beijing set up by Middlebury. He would love to find a job teaching Chinese in Singapore. It was good to catch up. I gave him a gift my mother had picked for his family. A made in Massachusetts fine China bowl in the shape of a heart. He invited me to visit his family in Dandong for New Year’s.

The following day I slept late and went to the train station to try to get a same day ticket to Harbin. It was Chinese New Year season, and that meant that hundreds of millions of people around the country would be trying to make it home to celebrate with their families. The yearly migration of hundreds of millions of people means that train travel can often be a headache. The situation is made worse by scalpers who buy up tickets in advance and then sell them at jacked up prices. I had been told that a portion of each train's tickets are not sold until the day of the train's departure, and so I arrived at the station with the hope of buying such a ticket. What a sight! Thousands of people (maybe tens of thousands) trying to buy tickets while scalpers weave in and out offering tickets. Police officers and soldiers also weave through the crowd by the dozens trying to catch the scalpers. At one point I noticed a scalper selling tickets just inches away from a soldier. My guess is the officers and soldiers were not trying very hard and were taking bribes from the scalpers. After 20 minutes on line I made it to a ticket booth and got a seat on the midnight express train to Harbin!

At the hostel I was staying in across the street from the train station I got to meet some interesting people, including two Pakistani students who had just arrived from... Harbin! They had just spent five years in Harbin studying medicine, and while they loved their time in Harbin, they were looking forward to going home. After getting my ticket, I met up with them for Pakistani food in Sanlitun (a neighborhood in Beijing with a lot of ex-pats, foreign restaurants, and bars). Over delicious Pakistani food, we chatted about life in Harbin, in particular how much colder it is than Pakistan.

The two doctors headed out to catch their plane home and I took the subway to Beijing's famous and beautiful Capital Museum. I'm not usually a huge fan of modern architecture, but I feel the museum's modern architecture is truly beautiful. The epic and grand building is free and full of exhibits on Beijing's history, folk customs, calligraphy, and Chinese painting. There was also an exhibit on Beijing's development, with models of the city describing its changes over the past fifteen hundred years. Groups of high school students stared at the curious looking foreigner. Four or five times, several of the teenagers came over and asked to take pictures with me. Finally, I tried the expensive though lovely tea house on the third floor.

That night, I boarded the midnight express train to Harbin.