Day 1 January 21 Changchun (DEA)
We flagged a taxi at the intersection
across from Ji Da north gate and were swiftly transported to Changchun north
railway station. It cost less than 30 RMB and the trip in total was about 45
minutes, at the beginning of rush hour.
The station is enormous with four
pagodas on the departure Hall and enough seating for everyone and their
luggage. We may be the only people of obviously European descent in the place.
So people are watching us with tolerant good humour. Nice.
The Hall is long. There are ten
pillars speaker perhaps 20 meters apart running the length of the building on
each side. The rows are perhaps 80 meters apart. The ceiling is maybe 25 meters
above There is a mezzanine on the long sides with some food concessions: more
are coming this year, according to the hoardings. Seats are numerous and
comfortable Very clean and modern.
As E had predicted, many people had
one or more cartons of noodles needing only hot water to make a tasty
meal. There was, of course, a hot
water machine and seats near it for eating the noodles.
We boarded the penultimate car and
found our compartment 5_18/17. The soft sleeper is a little bedroom with two
sets of bunk beds with clean sheets and a duvet and pillow provided. Very
modern. There was a family from Changchun in the other two bunks. We all
settled in for the overnight trip to Beijing.
Elizabeth is amazing. Within 20
minutes she managed to communicate that we are teachers on vacation and managed
to found out that the family less 4 kilometers from our school, it costs 7 RMB
to travel by taxi, and that the son (English name is Tiger) is eleven years
old.
Train departed promptly at 6:14 and we
all bedded down at around 8:30.
Day 2
January 22 Beijing (DEA)
We slept well until 5am and learned
more about our roomies. He is a long distance trucker who specializes in
automobile transport. The were travelling to Beijing to pick up a truck load of
cars, then the whole family planned to drive in it to the south of China, visit
grandparents and have a holiday.
By 6:30 we were in the station
McDonalds drinking coffee and listening to Greenday being played loudly on the
PA. First step done! Outside the station the sky was getting lighter. The large
plaza in front of the station was filling up quickly with families and individuals
carrying parcels and pulling big bags. This was our first sign of the famous
Spring Festival human migration.
Elizabeth got us onto the subway with
perfect aplomb and found the appropriate stop. Afterwards we walked a bit
farther than the directions, basically because the landmarks were missing.
Lesson learned: don’t rely on landmarks. Things change quickly in China.
So we back tracked for about twenty
minutes and arrived at the Red Lantern Hostel We are in a courtyard in a sweet
little room with private bathroom. Had a light breakfast at the Hostel and then
ventured out onto the byways of Beijing.
Elizabeth bought a local map for a
few RMB so she navigated is through the hutong and down to the lake. Lovely
late morning and early afternoon ramble for us both. We saw skaters, ice
sledges and ice bikes and even a Dragon Boat fitted out for ice! There were
also people swimming---crazy
Visited a national museum marking the
life and career of Soon Ching Ling and a lovely Chinese garden with elements
from the Ming dynasty. At around 2:30 we paused for lunch of dumplings and
salad then walked back to the music stores where Elizabeth got a lovely bamboo
flute for about 80 bucks. It sounds really really nice! Retreated to our room
to store the flute and figure out what we are doing next.
Of course we are
cold. There is not a lot of central heating in old Beijing and we aren't near
the stuff that has it. But we are managing to stay warm enough.
7.00 out to dinner for a combination
of beef stew with a bunch of different spurts of mushrooms. Yummy. Then back to
our little courtyard that time forgot.
Elizabeth had a pretty high
performance day. She started quite excited and upbeat, had a bit of a moment of
existential doubt which was assuaged by chocolate, and of course her late
afternoon blahs. But she seems generally resilient and in good spirits. It will
be interesting to see what tomorrow brings...
Day 3
January 23 Beijing (DEA)
We woke at around 6 am happy with the
room, which had warmed up quite nicely. Breakfast was delightful hot tea,
toast, and egg Yum!
We conferenced back at the room.
Elizabeth is still experiencing some problems with Google and Facebook, so
what's some emai to manage. We also telephoned friend E, and got our departure
date from China confirmed. Now I have to talk to Janet and arrange travel plans
for the Island.
We wandered into the morning haze and
after a suitable interval treated ourselves to a second breakfast of coffee and
donut.
Thus fortified we December for Tiananmen Square.
Elizabeth is Queen of the Subway! We
entrained at Ping'anli station and transferred onto line 1 to Tiananmen East
station. I was hopelessly befuddled but she was in complete control. Quite
reassuring. (E: The subway is well labeled in English as well as Chinese, and
very well laid out. Lines on the platform show where to stand to get in when
the train stops, and there is a separate lane marked for exiting. This is
another result of he Olympics.) We first walked up the east side of the Forbidden
City perhaps half way and then skirted the wall southward and along the front,
talking pictures as we went. To be frank, I really never grasped the magnitude
of the place until that moment; think of the entire old city of Jerusalem and
you won't be far off. But Beijing 's centre has a formidable coherence that is
hard to grasp on first introduction.
We paid a tiny fee of perhaps 3 RMB each
to enter the Zhongshan Park installation just west of the Gate of Heavenly
Peace. Lovely place with a museum dedicated to Sun Yat Sen in the former Temple
of Earth and Agriculture for an additional fee of 2 RMBI managed to break my
sunglasses but was so engrossed by the exhibit that I lost my sell-annoyance in
about 30 seconds. We walked south and west to a lovely garden by a pond and
along some covered walkways with exquisite paintings along the beams. There
were depictions of rural life, a bit from Journey to the West, Daoist saints,
red birds, and much, much more. We exited on the south side of the installation
and walked eastward past the Mao Zedong museum and onto Tiananmen Square. On
the way I nearly managed to fall headfirst down a long flight of stone stairs
but managed to grab a handrail and was hauled back to vertical by a kind
municipal worker who seemed to have teleported himself to the scene just to
rescue the baffled foreigner.
There is quite a lot of security
getting into the Square, but the people doing the job are efficient without
being officious, which is a nice change from the way things are done in North
America!
On the north of the square is, as mentioned,
the Mao museum and Forbidden City. To the west is the Great Hall of the People
and on the east Chinese National Museum. On the south stands Mao's mausoleum.
We left on the southeast corner after taking a picture of the Chinese Railway
Museum and were back to our hutong in about 20 minutes. There is an alley just
west of us with lots of good places to eat so we stopped for coffee again, a
healthy light meal of cold beef and rice and then home to the Red Lantern for a
shower.
At 6 pm we were met in the lobby by a
driver who skillfully got us to the Chinese National Acrobatic troupe show.
VIP treatment! Our seats were first
mezzanine centre and were brought in through a side door and therefore missed
having to wait outside or be herded in with perhaps 700 excited locals.
Show started with a clown who
wandered into the audience making balloon animals for all the kiddies. I tried
to project my inner juvenile but somehow didn't quite manage. But it was still
a lot of fun to watch. [Note in October 2014. Some of my EFL studetns made balloon animals as part of an oral presentation and gave us an armful of balloon poodles and flowers. so david got his wish after all.]
Tumblers leaping through hops! A rope
walker! A brilliant contortionist balancing glasses on a tray! A juggler
managing ten balls while walking backwards up a set of stairs! A woman
balancing on one arm looking like a giant tree frog! A troop of climbers
leaping on to vertical poles with the ease of capuchin monkeys! Twelve women on
a single bicycle!
It was awesome.
Afterwards we took the tube back home and walked about 10
minutes to our hostel. A lovely night.
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