Tuesday, August 27, 2002
07.28.2002 | china | day three | sunday
Sunday morning and we were quickly ushered out of our room; too soon in spite of the extra hour Brian had pled for as we hadn't checked in until nearly midnight. Fortunately we had time for a warm shower first and then we made our way back to the foreign teacher's dorm to see if any rooms had opened up. This time a different attendant was on duty and, unlike the night before, this one trusted Brian enough to grant us a vacant room. Brian was upset for a few hours afterwards because he learned there had been a room available the night we arrived in town but the kid on duty chose not to give it to us. Brian's goal during his summer in China has been to live on $100 a week, or about 800 yuan, which by the end of the trip I learned was quite reasonable. Blowing 220 yuan unnecessarily on a pricey hotel room took a big chunk out of that 800 a week. We stowed our bags in our new room and left to eat a late breakfast in the school cafeteria. I ate a couple servings of a pita-type bread, one with hash browns, the other with Spam. Rather greasy but filling.
The steady rain that had fallen all morning didn't deter our plans to visit Tiananmen Square. We caught a bus which seemed to take forever but likely only took 30 minutes. Along the way we passed an endless procession of shops - old and modern, hundreds of bikers - many of them carrying passengers (mostly women precariously balanced side-saddle on the back equipment rack - in dresses no less!), dozens of Chinese food restaurants (oh, to dream of tasting authentic sweet and sour chicken - drool, drool), plenty of poverty mixed with prosperity, at least four McDonalds restaurants, and hundreds more cars than I ever expected - many foreign brands I didn't recognize but also recognizable labels like Volkswagen, General Motors, Audi, and BMW.
The closer we got to Tiananmen Square the more the scenery changed. Small shops and cafes gave way to modern malls, expensive restaurants, and massive office buildings. When I say massive office buildings, I'm not overstating the imposing nature of these modern structures. Whereas Korea has it's share of tall buildings, they tend to be tall and narrow; the large buildings in Beijing impressed me as being equally tall but much beefier in shape. The size and the surprising actual number of buildings put a facade on Beijing that it is prosperous, modern, and open. And sprinkled among the various high rises are the occasional ancient temples and royal palaces. Don¡¯t forget to add an endless parade of bicycle commuters on even the busiest of roads and you¡¯ll have a rough sketch of Beijing.
We paused for a tasty lunch of kung pao chicken in an obscure back alley restaurant and proceeded to walk the remaining distance to Tiananmen Square in a drizzle of rain. By my imperfect estimate, Tiananmen Square is a third of a mile wide by two thirds of a mile long. It¡¯s nothing much more remarkable than a flat plaza flanked on all sides by the most imposing of government, historical, and cultural buildings. A simple pillar forms a monument of some sort in the center and the south end is framed by two dramatic stone statues representing and dedicated to ¡°the people.¡± (Of course the plaza is infamous for the "Tiananman Square Massacre" which was a government quashed rebellion in 1989 and the lesser known "Tiananmen Square Incident," a pejorative term for a similar affair which took place some years earlier at the same site, though on a smaller scale.) I was able to take a handful of pictures but they are unremarkable as the day was overcast and we were still battered by inconsistent rain. After an hour of milling around the square with a few hundred other visitors, we caught a the subway to the next site on our agenda: an ancient functioning Lama Temple.
This was the first real touristy place I visited, crowded with buses and camera-toting sight seers, from such unexpected places like Sweden. The pricey admission charge and the crowds made me wonder how it could still function as a temple but I got a few clues as we entered and walked from building to building. At the entrance to each structure lay a supply in incense and a place to kneel, bow, and worship, which we say a few visitors doing. Pictures inside the temples, as in most places we visited, were not allowed so I was limited to taking shots of the buildings which wasn¡¯t a bad consolation prize though I regret I wasn¡¯t able to capture the increasingly larger statues and idols we encountered as we moved from building to building, apparently moving progressively deeper into the overall sanctuary.
At the time (and as I write, now that my trip is over) I regretted not being able to better identify the differences between the various religious strains common in Asia. Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Confucianism, et. al. ran together in a blur and though I knew the many temples we eventually visited did not all belong to the same traditions, to me, as I suppose to most Westerners, I couldn¡¯t help but glob them all together. Brian called this site a Lama Temple which, he said, is associated with the Dalai Lama, though only in name. The Dalai Lama used to be the state-recognized leader of the religion but at some point he neglected or refused to pay some sort of homage to the government leaders and he was banished from China. (Though religion is supposedly prohited under communism rule, some groups are allowed to function as long as they somehow acknowledge the supremecy of the state government.) And although he still maintains his title, party leaders placed another in his stead who now functions as the official leader of the religion in China. (PLEASE recognize that this is a crude and likely imperfect description of a religion that is alien to me. Hopefully though it is putting the sites I saw into some sort of context.)
The Lama Temple was beautiful and inspiring for it¡¯s size, history, mystery but I was relieved to get away and walk down a nearby quiet, undisturbed street overgrown with trees and moss. We found a similar tourist attraction - an ancient government examination compound - that charged considerably less to enter and had fewer than half a dozen tourists in addition to our party of two. The charm here was plentiful - quiet gardens, mostly decaying structures in the midst of a few restored buildings, wild trees with long limbs and vines, and a stone moat surrounding the primary exam building full of green, stagnant water. The rain had ceased but the air was still heavy and oppressive so Brian and I paused for a good hour to soak in the solitude in attempt to appreciate the history.
Dinner that night included a pile of strange but tasty potato strings at a nice restaurant off campus. A stroll back to our dorm room with a pause to buy a phone card and some water completed our day and we were in bed, exhausted from walking, by 10:30.
Monday, August 26, 2002
07.27.2002 | china | day two | saturday
After a peaceful nights rest on the rolling ocean, I awoke and went on deck to view for the first time the vast, watery expanse. Though I knew the distance between China and Korea was great, it was a little unsettling to see nothing but water, stretching far to the horizon in every direction. The morning was a bit overcast and a haze in the air turned into a light fog as the day advanced and made our lone presence feel surreal.
Life aboard the ferry was somewhat mundane. With so many of us crowded into the econmy bunks and everyone stashig their luggage, bags, bulky boxes, and other miscellaneous items in every available corner of the room, I felt something akin to the faceless lower class passengers stowed away in the bottom decks of the Titanic. Though people were happy, chatty, and friendly, it almost would have been fitting if someone had started playing a sad, hardship song on a harmonica or banjo.
For breakfast I had kimbop and some Pringles, both of which I'd brought with me. Food was available, I believe, from the restaurant on board the ferry but I didn't want the hassle of communicating my order as as I wasn't very hungry anyway, it felt good to be frugal.
I passed the day sleeping watching the horizon on deck, writing a letter home, and reading a two-day old copy of the International Herald Tribune I'd brought with me. Occasionally we would pass a large freighter in the distance, otherwise we were alone. The novelty of taking the ferry began to wear thin, much like the way the thrill of taking a long bus ride or airplane flight starts to become dull as you grow impatient to arrive at your destination.
At length we finally did arrive, on time, at 7:00 PM. For an hour before we reached port, we passed dozens of various hulking frieghters, anchored at sea and dormant, I imagine, so as not to crowd the available docking spaces in Tianjin. An hour passed before we were allowed to disembark but after we did, and after a short bus ride to the customs terminal, I officially entered the country.
What a strange but unremarkable experience to finally walk the soil of a land with such a grand history and such a tempestuous present. Korea has been such a unique and enjoyable experience but the sheer size and depth was, for me, quite a leap in magnitude. On the other hand, the sights and sounds and smells were rather ordinary. Perhaps many people have a similar reaction the first time they set foot in a place that for them has figured so prominently in their own educational upbringing.
If I was eyed with suspicion checking through customs, it didn't register. It only took a few minutes. I exited the terminal and found Brian. We took a very long ride in a cramped, dirty red taxi into Tianjin. We bought tickets at the train terminal and as the next train wasn't scheduled to leave for an hour we walked down a side street to find some food. We settled on a small restaurant and ordered potstickers, a sort of dumpling - quite delicious.
The trip to Beijing took 90 minutes on a cramped, dirty train. Fortunately the weather was pleasant and some of the windows were open which allowed a strong breeze to flow through our car.
We arrived in Beijing around 10:45 PM. A short jaunt on the subway and another taxi brought us to the campus of the university where Brian taught for 12 months nearly four years ago. (It's official name is The University of Science and Technology Beijing.) It was quite late but we had hopes of finding a room in the foreign student's dorm. Unfortunately we were told no rooms were available so we had to settle on a room in the nearby convention center hotel at about three times the cost. (70 yuan or $8.75 for a dorm room versus 200 yuan or $25 for the hotel! Yuan is pronounced quickly and sounds like U.N.) But we were exhausted and couldn't afford to be picky so we paid for our room and finally went to sleep around midnight.
Sunday, August 25, 2002
07.26.2002 | china | day one | friday
As I lay in my assigned bed, the ship begins to tremble as we leave port and begin our 24-hour journey to Tianjin, China. The bed is one of many in a large room, built into the walls, stacked bunk-style with only a draw-curtain for privacy. A flourescent light in my 'bed chamber' allows me to read and write. My fellow passengers come and go. A young child with a raspy voice whines incessantly, disturbing my peace.
My day began at 6:00 AM. I woke before the alarm sounded, anxious to shower, dress, and pack, though my train for Seoul wouldn't leave until 9:00. Packing was easy, especially as I was excited to use my new backpack, purchased a few days ago from the underground shopping mall in Myungdong for 25,000 won ($20). "From London," the vendor said as I showed interest in the black Genova bag, thinking perhaps it would impress me to buy it. Plenty of pockets, rain protection built into the design, and a heavy-duty black carrying handle to use when you tire of carrying it on your back are the features that ultimately convinced me to buy it.
I walked out the door at 8:40 to make the walk to the Namchunchon Station. True to form for me, I had to return to my apartment because I'd forgotten something: my Teva sandals. Fortunately I only had to return that once.
I arrived in Seoul at 10:55 with three hours to blow until I had to meet Mi-kyoung. I went to a nearby Chohung Bank branch to exchange won for dollars. Much easier to do than I expected, and rewarding too: I love the look, smell, and feel of American currency. And who can deny feeling a bit of pride that the American Dollar is so universally respected?
The only PC room I could find afterward to check my email and read up on China was a dark, grimy joint several blocks away from Cheongyangni Station. The ick got to me after an hour so I left and returned to the train station complex to wash my hands and eat at a clean place I could trust - Burger King.
What started out an overcast day with a gentle breeze in Chunchon had now turned into a sunny, sweltering day in Seoul. I took a walk to look for a camera shop to buy an extra memory card for my camera. I'd been wondering if I'd exchanged enough money. I hate the idea of being vulnerable in a strange land, carrying around too much cash, but if I run out in that strange land, won't that be worse? I found another CHB branch and traded more won for some American Express Travelers Checks.
I returned for the last time to the train station to meet Mi-kyoung at our pre-arranged site in front of McDonalds. She is the younger sister of Yun-kyoung, Brian's friend in Seoul who has been so helpful getting my Chinese visa and my ferry ticket. She was out of town today so her sister came instead and after she arrived we sat and visited for about 45 minutes before I had to leave to make the journey to Incheon.
The subway ride took a little more than an hour. A short cab ride brought me to the International Terminal #2, port to the Jinchon Ferry, located in Incheon, just west of Seoul. (Incheon is famous for being General MacArthur's landing site when the American Forces helped turn the tide in the Korean War in September 1950. Back then it was a lot of swampy, unuseable real estate but now much of it has been reclaimed and it's home to the new and impressive Incheon Int'l Airport, my own arrival site to Korea almost five months ago.) Several long lines later and I boarded the bus that made the one mile drive to the ferry itself. I boarded at 6:30, found my bunk, explored the ship for 20 minutes, and we departed on time at 7:00 PM.
As I walked to Namchunchon Station this morning, a beautiful white crane with a long graceful neck skimmed and flew along the river that paralleled my path. Though I often see these birds along the river beds and at the lakes, I was touched by it's artful flight and felt it might possibly portend good things as I begin this exciting journey.
