China 中國 – Part I (Visiting Mao’s House)

Outward Bound:

My wife and I had a wonderful and brief Experience of a Lifetime during the New Year’s holiday break this year to visit Beijing (北京 once called Peking) in China. We traveled as a party of seven to visit Cheryl’s niece who lives in Tian Jin (天津), the country’s third largest city (having about 11.5 million residents), which is about 150 kilometers from Beijing and its 17.4 million dwellers that make it that country's second largest city.

Cheryl’s sister, Charleene, who recently had both knees replaced was ready to visit her daughter, Carrie, who has lived in the PROC for nearly two years to teach students in English. Three of her other children accompanied her – Cathy, Beth, and Scotty. Not ones to let such opportunity pass by, the two of us naturally found ourselves on the team to join this bunch of adventurers. Not enough people you say? That's why we took along another cousin, Christopher (aka Thor), to help carry the luggage...

Kudos to Cheryl who did a fantastic job of planning for us with many details to be carefully arranged such as car rentals, multiple plane flights, hotels, tour planning, passports, currency exchange and more. We planned our trip for after the Olympics to avoid the extra $Billion in expenses, enjoy a cleaner cityscape, reduce the impact on school schedules, and avoid the crowds. And, it worked! For us, the rate was about 6.8 Yuan (aka CNY, RMB or 元) to the US Dollar (before exchange fees) so a 100元 note is a tad under US$15. I should note that Americans must obtain visas for travel to China, for which we also paid $175 per person! This fee was increased prior to the Olympics and remains high...

Our group met in Newark, NJ at a hotel the night before the departure on Dec 27th. We drove about 4 hours from Syracuse, NY following my trusty GPS to reach an empty lot (where it appeared a building may once have been located) in the heart of that city where smart tourists never go and the dumb ones never leave. Turns out that we had been directed to a spot over 3 miles from the one we wanted, so that MIO GPS now has two strikes against it!

Flight 89 is a non-stop Continental Airlines flight over the North Pole – this route provides a breathtaking view of nothing! This planet north of Canada is nearly devoid of human evidence (from 5 miles up) so one has plenty of white snow and some icebergs to view. The flight time is about 13 hours, but it’s not so long when there are frequent breaks for a hot towel (very nice!) and a pseudo-snack (which is neither Chinese nor American so I was unsure who to blame).

We landed in the late afternoon under the Burnt Sienna skies of Beijing – the absolute worst smog that I have ever seen obscured the Sun more than the Moon would have done during an eclipse itself. Here at last we were in a foreign land (yes, more so than NJ) where things would be so very different for us, having arrived at an airport that looks more like a prison (from the airstrip), yet excited to see a new world, experience new sensations, and hug our DaNiCoSi (daughter/niece/cousin/sister).

Family Reunion:

Not many flights arrived with us so the expanse of the Beijing Airport (whose motto is "Harmonious Airport, Dreams Start from Here") and the long halls to traverse it were open to just our pack of 400 weary travelers. Quickly, the evidence of a culture that is once again undergoing a revolution is clear to us. A display of ancient temple bells greet us in one hall, while my dear friend Yao Ming offers an irresistible deal on a new cell phone as we pass under him on the escalator.

Then, at the baggage claim, we received our first Christmas Greeting (there would be many this week) from the Chinese people to their visitors – a glitzy (read tacky) tree proclaiming “Merry Christmas”. The Communists appear to see no necessity to separate State and Commercialized Religion. It must be genuine Faith that scares the People's Congress...

As we passed through immigration, we are greeted politely and efficiently. A panel of buttons on the counter before me prompts for answers to the question, “How is my service?” I am unsure about whether I have any option but to provide the correct response (“Excellent!”) if I wish to enjoy my visit and avoid prison. I bet that she had a perfect rating every week...

Our tour company, Beijing Xinhua International Tours, was hired to provide three full days seeing the local sights and also ground transportation between the airport and our hotel. So, we were met by our tour guide for the day, Erica, and Carrie as we finally emerged from all the entry gates setup for international arrivals. It was a great reunion for the family and a wonderful pair of smiling faces to greet us!

The Beijing Zhong An Hotel is relatively small and was selected for its price and proximity to the downtown area, railway station and subway. We had originally planned a more conventional packaged tour, but our reservation was cancelled by the booking company when our deposit was not promptly received (although they did not ask for it). So, Cheryl booked the same hotel (as that tour would have used) on her own and it was just marvelous and met our expectations that had been gleaned from the online reviews which were quite accurate. For instance, the mattresses (there and in all of China we must assume) are made from Cinder Blocks as they could be described only too kindly as 'firm'. China is full of Warning Signs for all types of hazards (yet there are fewer lawyers here than in our homeland), but none is posted at the hotel room door about what lies within. I would suggest, "Do not attempt to bounce on bed" for such an undertaking could break your ankles.... Additionally, the pillows come in two varieties, one is fluffy and agreeable, while its mate is genetically linked to its larger cousin, the mattress. A pillow-fight in Beijing would not last long as these are lethal at even a modest velocity. We could have pinned any of our wrestler nephews to the floor with but a half dozen of them placed upon him!

Our room was nice and toasty warm, which is fine if you are sliced bread. There are few options available under Communism, however, so there are not simple conveniences such as a thermostat available to make even slight alterations to the room temperature. Chairman Mao says what is the proper air temp for good health, so why should anyone question his wisdom? We made a mental note to pick-up a copy of The Little Red Book and see if this is directly referenced therein. The windows DO open, however, so we were able to adjust downward to a cooler temp during the night as we (crazy Americans) prefer. The advantage of this method, is that we got to enjoy the sounds and aromas of China even in our dreams (which don't last as long when sleeping on a concrete slab).

The hotel has a 200元 (about $30) refundable deposit on each electronic card-key for the room and only one is issued per room, which adds some challenge when any (but not all) of us were out in the evening (or just down in the lobby on the computer). This is compounded by not being able to take the key along if anyone is staying in the room since the key is placed in a slot near the door to enable the interior lighting. Yes, without the key in place, none of the lights will operate (to save energy). With one exception, that is, being the hallway light that is activated by a sensor, so it turns on when you walk about at night and turns off on a 1-minute timer.

They had complimentary Internet access on a communal computer located in the lobby area. and, although it was shared by all the guests, most of the time, we were waiting on one another for access to our critical email. This PC was restored from a ghost image nightly, so one could not save any favorites or keep a text file on the local drive (I learned this, naturally, after having done both on the first day). Also, being in China, the tendency (of the computer, not me) was to translate my English text upon entry which added an interesting complexity to outbound mail. Fortunately, Google has an English page which seemed to overcome this Mandarin widget.

On our first night, we dined at the hotel restaurant (which most online reviewers had praised quite highly) and Carrie adroitly ordered multiple dishes from the menu. They did have a large bound menu with pictures (and absolutely no English), but I carefully looked at each offering and found none that appeared pleasing - in fact, many were scary, such as the earthworms and shredded cucumber dusted in sesame seeds (you do realize that I am guessing here, but that is what I saw). Our meal certainly tasted far better and looked reasonably better, so the chef outdid the photographer that week. It was a fine start on learning to eat with two sticks of wood!

Like at many restaurants, several tanks with large fish were placed in the dining area to encourage us to order a very fresh meal. Over the week, however, Thor and I noted that several of the residents fell ill, swam sideways, slept upside down, and turned up missing (a Texas phrase) the next day so we decided to skip that delicacy.

First Light of Morning:

It was very cold each day starting at about -10°C (14°F) in the morning and then sky-rocketing up to freezing by afternoon. Although the city had no snow on the ground, the rivers, moats, and lakes were frozen over, sufficiently so that we frequently spotted violators of the warning signs walking across the ice to take a shortcut or simply enjoying the experience with their families. Thus, we are dressed for the chill which attacks us fiercely (especially when the wind gusts hard), such that our ear muffs, hats, mittens, jackets, and (personally) thermal underwear are pressed to keep our bodies warm.

Our group gathered together before dawn (about 7:30) in the hotel lobby to meet our tour guide (he called himself Bruce Lee but I don't think it was really him) for our first full day roaming the city. Since we are located in the KuiJiaChang Hutong – a long alleyway that is sufficiently narrow and twisting for smaller cars to traverse, we walked about 200 meters to reach the main street where our bus awaited us. I should note that our capable driver did pull in front of the hotel for luggage transfer (which saved us considerable work in the cold), but it took awhile and would have been an unreasonable effort on tour days.

After introductions, Bruce talks about our itinerary, the city, his background (neither he nor any of our guides is a Beijing native, but came to the Big City to leave their rural homes). He warned us about buying fake merchandise in the market (imagine that!) and how to avoid purchasing used clothing (ask to see an identical item in another size), find real pearls (the famous tooth test), and negotiate prices (typically, one can easily drop from 1000元 down to under 300元). He described the nation’s dynastic history covering more than 20 centuries and the rich mosaic of its leaders up to the last one in 1911. After further commentary on the revolutions of the 19th century, this comment was addressed to us, “We are a new Capitalist State and just learning how it’s done”. “Y'all are rather good at it already” I think quietly as he explains that the Mao regime was a failure and the recent changes are good for both China and the world. It will just take awhile until they adopt adequate laws to cover all of the new issues that a free-market creates. Still, we will soon see just how this market pays little heed to the concepts of patent and copyright…

Our first stop is at Tiananmen Square, site of the National Museum (closed for construction), Parliament (we are not invited in there), and the Chairman himself. So, we are ready to visit Mao to see how he is holding up during his post-mortem years (since September 1976 BTW) and pay our respects. However, the square is cordoned off to visitors for the day, but we are reassured that he will be greeting guests tomorrow, so we have a date for Tuesday (don't forget). Originally, I had a plan to drive a radio-controlled model tank under the ropes and past the guards, but imprisonment on my second day just does not seem wise (and I forgot to bring it along anyway).

At the northern end of the square is the 500 year-old Forbidden City (the largest ancient Imperial Palace in the world) which has been the home to two dozen emperors. We have two hours to traverse the 720,000 square meters of this royal city from the Tian’an Gate (where Mao first announced the start of his Great Revolution) to the Gate of Divine Might at its northern extreme. This is over a kilometer's distance and brings us through traditional gates, past military troops, under vicious Fu Dogs, over imperial staircases and across sprawling courtyards to reach the innermost palace. It is an amazing place where the common man (and woman) is now permitted to walk about freely, view the (formerly) secret patios, touch the ancient statuary, and sell Russian-style fur hats with a little red plastic star to the tourists, both foreign like us and domestic ones too...

Next..

The day is not yet over, so Part II will be coming soon! For now, check out more photos of the adventure...

P.S. If you cannot (and want to) see 生来 as , then read this page.