This place is heavily guarded. I'm not sure if it's normal or if there is some sort of commie big-wig paying a visit. Either way, I'm just going to walk in straight lines, not make any sudden movements and avoid contact with anyone in a uniform.
Ok, these are the dudes you have to watch out for. The Chinese police, called gung on in Cantonese, have a reputation for abuse of power and being more crooked than the crooks around here. Their word is law, whether it corresponds with the actual law is a different matter. Of course, not all policemen are crooked here, but the percentage is a lot higher than what we know back home.
Before hitting the actual Square where the Chinese government sent in tanks to roll over tons of protesting students in 1989, we went into the Great Hall of the People. It's basically a large convention center for politcal heads to hold meetings and so forth.
They made us wear little blue baggies on our feet so that we wouldn't mess up the marble tiling.
This is it. The famous Square. It's hard to believe that so many people lost their lives here in an attempt to protest oppression. But you don't want to fuck with the Chinese government. Unforetunately, life is cheap here and if you are perceived as a threat then you will be taken out quickly and, often, in quite a gruesome manner.
Other than its rather bloody past, this place is pretty interesting. It's like meeting David Letterman. You've seen him a million times on TV but it's different when you're standing on him. Or something like that.
This is Faye from Shanghai. I was taking pictures of Mao when she came up to me and asked me to take her photo. I did so and we got to talking a little. She spoke decent English and seemed to understand my Canto-Madarin melange well enough (though I gave up after a few minutes of this). It was nice to hear English again.
After walking around for a while and snapping each other's photos, we stopped some random guy and asked him to take a shot of both of us. Random Guy must've caught her accent and asked where we were from. "Shanghai." "Ja na da." That drew a funny look from people around me.
"Ja na da? Ni?" Then he said something else, motioning to his face. I looked over to Faye for help. "He say you look like Japanese."
I had to get back to the tour, as our time here was drawing to a close. As I was trying to explain this to Faye, she stopped me and said, "I'm stay in Beijing Grand Hyatt. I go home this afternoon. You see it?" Goddamn it, she's rich too. Why doesn't this sort of thing happen to me back home?
The thought of abandoning the tour crossed my mind, but then the thought of my aunt calling my mother back home came racing in after it. Faye was quite charming and attractive, but not enough to start an international incident over. Besides, I was spoken for at the time.
Reluctantly, I jogged back to the bus, and got lectured by the guide for being late and talking to strangers in China.
Next stop: the Imperial Gardens. Is it just me or are there a lot of Imperial Gardens around these parts? This one was something else. Bigger than all the others I've seen, it even has its own lake.
The lake's so large that it earned it the (incorrect) name the Northern Sea. What a let down. Columbus must've felt the same way about the natives when they proclaimed North America as India, but couldn't find any Hindu temples or elephants around.
A quick lunch and we're off to the Forbidden City. All the restaurants have girls like these in the front, welcoming you. And the waitresses in this city all smell really nice. I like that.
Finally, we're at the Forbidden City. The first exposure to this place for me was the movie the Last Emperor. I have no words for this place. It's just spectacular.
The Emperor prohibited any trees in the Forbidden City. See, the Chinese character for "trapped" is written as a square, with the character for "wood" in the middle. Hence the existence of a tree in the square city walls would mean the Emperor was trapped in his own city.
If you can find a relatively deserted part or ignore the other tourists, this place really takes you back to ancient times. Never mind the fact that the British looted the place, strolling down the top of the battlements, you feel like you're hundreds of years in the past.
This is a three-level theatre.The Emperor would sit opposite this building and the actors would jump between the floors while performing for him.
The more I see of this place, the more I realize that I'm leading a sucker's life. How do you get into that Emperor bit? That's the life for me.
As I sit outside the Imperial Jewlery museum, the guide strikes up a conversation with me. "Brian, how do you say {something in Mandarin} in English?"
"Huh? I don't know what that means."
Soon everyone is around me trying to explain the word to me. In the end, I get it. "Yesman," that's the word she was looking for. She was trying to tell me that the Emperor had lots of yesmen. Thanks. I want the last 12 minutes of my life back.
Nothing like thin rods of bamboo to protect the people beneath from 2 ton slabs of rock that might come tumbling down during renovations.
Whew. I'm tired. What a long day. We're heading to a restaurant for dinner and then that's it for the tour. But I'm still not done yet. Gonna hit the city center after everyone else retires to their rooms.
After dinner, we went back to our hotel pretty early (7pm). I banged out a few postcards and a $3 cab ride later, I was at Wang Fu Jing. Well, let's see what this place has to offer.
The street is full of people, foreigners and locals alike. All out for a late night stroll. The main part of the street is shut down, so that no cars can go through. There are lots of alleyways that I'm scared to go down and there are security guards everywhere.
Nortel networks? What the hell are they doing here? I guess screwing Canadian investors just wasn't enough.
Pedestrian traffic is starting to thin out somewhat. It's getting close to 11 and everything is closing.
I turned the corner at a major intersection and came across this street, full of food stands. (click for video)
Finally got the nerve to turn into a side street, figuring that if I got lost, I'd just wander til I found the main street and grab a taxi back to the hotel.
I'm glad I came down this street. It's a totally different experience from the main street, where all the big commercial vendors are. This place just had more of a local feel.
This eating establishment even had a guy singing to lure customers in. Check the clip by clicking the pic above.
Cool, a sculptor. I was watching him creat life from clay when his pretty assistant said something to me. "Sorry, I don't speak Mandarin. Do you speak Cantonese*?"
She shook her head, "English?"
"Perfect."
*in Cantonese.
She convinced me to sit down and get my head done, so I sat down and tried to keep still while every gathered around to stare at the foreign boy. The sculptor took one look at me and said something to his assistant.
"He say your face look like Japanese. You very handsome." I hope she wasn't translating that "handsome" bit.
It was late when he finally finished, all the tourists had left and only the owners of the other stands were still standing around watching. turned the head over to me - it was bizzare, holding my own head in my hands. I paid him his 50 yuan, signed my name in poor Chinese penmanship and went back to the hotel.
Great. My narcissism has graduated to the third dimension.