Ni Hao Beijing

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  Beijing, China
Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Here I sit in the Wang Ba Internet Cafe in Beijing. Dozens of fans are intrepidly fighting off the summer heat as dozens of Chinese heroically fight off level 70 monsters in World of Warcraft. Next to the computer gamers are dozens more Chinese ensorcelled by some sort of virtual chat room of dancing avatars. And outside, dozens more enjoy games of badminton and table tennis. So, how did I get here?

I took an early morning flight to Newark that lifted off at 6:30 in the morning. Working on two hours of sleep (my friend had called me from Beijing at 2 in the morning), I struggled to stay awake during my four hour layover. So, I turned to the strong Stern tradition of people watching. I was particularly struck by a  Chinese mother-daughter duo who sported matching PDA gadgets, Gucci purses, and pink outfits. Clearly, I was not about to visit Mao's China.

The flight was largely uneventful. One book read, one movie watched, one nap enjoyed and it was over. About halfway through the flight, the man next to me leaned over and asked me if I recognized the passenger in front of me. After a fair bit of ogling and eavesdropping, I realized that it was David Stern, the NBA commissioner. I decided to play it cool by not approaching him but instead watching and analyzing his every move. For anyone interested, he snores...loudly.

I was a little disappointed with the views from the airplane. As we traversed the North Pole, I opened my window only to be blinded by the sun. So I'll just assume we still have ice down there. I also looked diligently for the Great Wall as we approached Beijing but to no avail. Too many clouds. I guess I have no choice now but to go see it on the ground. Besides, Mao said that you are not a man until you climb the Wall. And I rather not disagree with him, at least not for the next few weeks.

In any case, I arrived in Beijing early Monday afternoon.  After breezing through customs, I found Adam waiting for me outside of baggage claim. Like a native speaker, Adam easily navigated the bus terminal, learned which bus we needed to take, and paid the fare. It was the first of many times I've been impressed with how well he speaks Chinese. From the 30 minute bus ride alone to Adam's apartment, I quickly learned several things about the city. Peering excitedly out the window, I first saw little more on the horizon than the dimming haze of smog that cloaks the entire city - this on a day that Adam said was one of the nicest this summer. But soon enough I was able to make out buildings as they peered through the pollution. Similar to the cities in Eastern Europe,  cement relics of the hardcore Communist era stood interspersed  with McDonalds and flashy modern skyscrapers. But in Beijing, traditional Chinese architecture adds to the melange of clashing architecture styles. And unlike  other large cities, there seems to be no rhyme or reason why certain buildings stand where they do. There is no downtown and few homogenous neighborhoods -everywhere in the city looks the same. This homogeneity contributes to the sensation that Beijing expands endlessly in all directions. No matter how far you have traveled, it is as if you remain at the same place.

Somehow we arrived at Adam and Rachael's apartment. Climbing several flights of grungy stairs, I was amused to realize that it was still far cleaner than my fraternity house in Ithaca. The apartment has three rooms: a kitchen and two bedrooms. But all together, it is smaller than my garage at home. A portable laundry machine sits conspicuously in the kitchen  (it has to be moved to the bathroom to be hooked up to water to work). The closet sized bathroom is actually nothing more than a closet sized shower with a toilet in the middle sitting directly in the line of fire (or water?). Adam tells me this apartment would normally house an entire family and would be considered nice. Certainly, it is comfortable enough for our purposes.

After hiring a local key grinder to make a copy of the apartment key (he works in essentially a hovel that doubles as a bike repair shop), Adam and I headed to Ya Xiu market. Ya Xiu is actually a brand new outdoor mall with Western stores but it also features one large building of stereotypical Chinese storefronts with rip off brand names and painfully rendered English slogans. The market also houses the most flamboyantly gay tailor China has to offer, according to Adam. So nervously fretting my in seam measurement, we headed towards his storefront. Unfortunately, because of the Olympics, his prices have increased significantly and he had no time to fit me in. Oh well. Many things in Beijing are different now because of the Olympics.

As we were leaving the mall, we were approached by a Chinese man. I mentally prepared myself for my first touter trying to scam me but was taken by surprise when he casually asked "Hey, you guys from the States?" Turns out, he was an NBC Sports employee and was curious about our opinion of the mall. As we talked with him, a camera crew slowly crept towards us and quietly set up shop. Adam and Rachael intelligently backed away, but I decided to go for it. So look out for my uneducated opinion of Chinese modern architecture and the Olympics from the Los Angeles NBC office.

At this point, jet lag finally hit me. I struggled to stay awake during dinner before heading back to the apartment. The next day, I would begin touring the city.

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