2 October

Today I awoke with a start at 0530 and then realised I was going to head out early. So it was up, shower (and the shower doesn’t leak!), dress, and then grab the GPS and wander out. The first problem was getting out. The interior lobby door was still fastened. One of the receptionists opened it and then, after handing the key over, I was out. Soon I was on the main road (heading south) and there wasn’t much traffic. That augured well. Then I was on the main road heading west to Tiananmen Square and there still wasn’t too much traffic nor too many pedestrians. With my fingers crossed I approached it and found … although there were many people there (I would have said about two hundred thousand) I could still get in. It was a matter of finding a way to cross the street (first an underground crosswalk and then an above-ground pedestrian crossing segregated by police lines) and I was at the square (but still not in it).
There was a police security checkpoint, with detectors and x-ray scanners, and even with my camera, I went straight through. This was the same as at the Kremlin and makes me think that if both these places can do it so easily, how come the US makes it so hard?
Now I was in Tiananmen Square. First impression – huge! Second impression – so many people, yet so organised. Banks of public toilets on the approaches, food vendors and other salespeople in Tiananmen Square with their vans or other transport, guards on all the important places and people generally so orderly (except when it came to taking photographs of family members and friends with the (floral) displays as a backdrop. Here civilisation ceased and primordial urges took over (as well as elbows, feet and words). No such thing as taking turns or letting others in.
Third impression – people so friendly. Many said hello, one took a photo of me and then got his mate to stand beside me, and took another photo, and then one little boy said, “Hello, welcome to Beijing,” and then shook my hand.
After I had taken a lot of photos and looked around a lot, I left to come back to the hotel for breakfast. It didn’t take too long to get back (it was abut 0830), and when I went into my room, it had been “done”. I posted some photos and did some emailing, including answering a question from an ex-student. I find it amazing that people find it quicker to get an answer from me, wherever in the world I am, than from some others. Perhaps that’s good.
Then I went to breakfast. At first I was the only one there, but soon two from Germany came in (not Esther and Sebastian – they are flying out to Berlin and may have already left) and we had a little chat about travel, then a father and two children (who spoke French and English) came in. I had toast (with VEGEMITE again, at last), but the bread was very sweet. Oh for a loaf of ordinary white Australian bread!), scrambled eggs with bacon, chocolate cornflakes, orange juice and REAL TEA with milk! After that repast, I took it easy for a few minutes, photographed parts of the hotel (but not my room yet, as it is strewn with clothing drying and waiting to be washed) and then went out, determined to see the Forbidden City.
How things can happen + traps for young players.
In summary, I was met up by three younger Chinese who spoke reasonably good English. I went with them to a Chinese Medicine Centre for a diagnosis (accurate). Then one of them offered to accompany me to the Forbidden City and show me a silk factory after. I said, up front, I didn’t really have the money to pay him (my Chinese currency covers food and a few souvenirs, but no more and there isn’t any money in the account I can take cash from). However, he continued with me but when we left the silk factory and I said I was walking back to the hotel [as I couldn’t really afford the taxi fare], he then asked for money. The amount I gave him – more than I could really afford, as it was food for me for two days – didn’t please him, but I reminded him I had already told him I couldn’t pay him. He went off with a pained look, but my resolve had to stay firm as I had not made any promises and I didn’t have the money anyway. The trap for young players was for him, as he should have negotiated upfront if he wanted money. I felt no real pangs of regret.
While walking along the alleys of the Houtong (where I am staying – the single-storey area of Beijing), many people smiled at me and greeted me. One was an elderly lady who is a volunteer guard and sits on the alley, keeping an eye out to make sure all are safe and no-one is misbehaving. I asked her, she said yes, so you can see a photo of her.
After I had met Richard and his two female friends, had a look at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Centre and Richard and I walked from there, I saw my first traffic accident. At first I though there had been a collision, as two people were yelling at the driver of a small motorised tricycle. As I went further, I saw a man down on the ground, not moving, with obvious injuries. This was a quandary, because I felt I should have assisted, but how would I do so and then communicate with those around and any further medical treatment practitioners? One woman was on a mobile phone within seconds and before we had crossed the road (about thirty seconds), a police car had arrived and what looked like an ambulance was turning the corner. My conscience was salved, because with blood around and no gloves (they are in my pack, and I wasn’t carrying it), I had another reason not to participate. It looked as though he was getting medical treatment within a minute and half of the accident (which would have been the time for me to access him anyway).
So Richard and I walked to the Forbidden City and I paid the entrance for him and me. It was lower than normal, because with the public holiday many parts were closed (too many people). He walked me through, faster than I would normally have gone, but I did get to see quite a lot in a short period of time. Interesting parts were – the cauldrons, which held water in case of fire, incense burners, the number of animals carved on the roof endings (up to ten for the emperor), the size (960 by 720 metres, with a moat around), the treasures and the calligraphy. I got shown some areas obviously off-limits to most Chinese, but westerners were being shown them on the assumption they would most likely buy something. However, many of these traders don’t understand that many tourists have saved all their lives to pay for trips like this and don’t have a lot of free cash. The way sums of AUD1000 and up were bandied about, it was assumed we were all rich.
Outside the Forbidden City (which was crowded, as you will see in the photos, but not overly so) we caught a motorcycle taxi – a driver with an enclosed cab and room for two seated passengers. This took us to the silk factory, where a number of people showed me the process for getting the silk and then making the items from them (silk clothing from single cocoons, quilts from double cocoons). I would have loved a silk quilt, but the cost, the weight and the inconvenience of getting it home was too much, so I settled for a tie. After that I parted with Richard and walked back to the hotel, about four kilometres.
At the hotel I wrote up my blog, processed and uploaded the photos and then went for a walk to get some night shots of the streets which are now so familiar to me. Along the way I got cornered by yet another artist who has a teacher of English from Woollongong (so either there’s a lot of them or noeis very busy). I have learned to say no, so I saw the paintings but walked out with nothing. As I left (the paintings were being exhibited in a spare room in a restaurant), the girl out the front, trying to entice diners in, looked so much like another of my ex-students that I did a double-take to check (but I knew she was in Australia as I had emailed her this morning). Then I walked home to my hotel, uploaded the new photos and updated the blog, then did some shoe cleaning, washing and resting. I walk the Wall tomorrow and my legs and feet need the rest.