Magic in Beijing
Trip Start
Jul 05, 2008
1
27
30
Trip End
Aug 30, 2008
Beijing,
China
Monday, August 25, 2008
p.s. this is all out of order. tough bananas!!
Tianemen Square Fireworks, August 24
I can't believe that the olympics really are winding down. I headed off to see the fireworks. I got off the subway and wandered to the square, where literally thousands of people were just sitting around waiting for something to happen. The Chinese love fireworks. Though fireworks are an integral part to many of their festivities (as anyone who lived in Taiwan knows!), they are banned in Beijing. Hence, a huge crowd of very excited people crowded between Mao's Masoleum and the Gate of Heavenly Peace in breathless expectation. No one seemed to know which way the fireworks would come from. Then suddenly, a small burst to get everyone's attention. It was truly magical to hear everyone gasp, jump up, and turn around to look. The fireworks display began, and I was floored by it. I never knew a firework show could show so many changes of mood. Sometimes there were soft, glistening shimmers all over the sky. Sometimes they were booming fireballs. The echo off of all the buildings in the square was deafening. The show was stunning and brought people to tears (me too? you get one guess). Watching a 10minute firework show, at the close of the Olympics, with thousands of people, in Tianemen Square?? Can't be put into words. Nothing short of poetic. I was paralyzed. Way up there on my top 10 moments of this trip.
Olympic Waterpolo, Canada vs China, August 22
Aaron and I were deleriously tired on this day. We had far too many 4hr sleep nights in a row, and basically drooled and fumbled our way through the days. In the morning we were too concerned just with getting there on time, and too exhausted to let it all sink in. However, I was still very excited to see this match, but it didn't really hit me until I was actually inside the venue. I could hardly believe that I had Olympic Waterpolo tickets in my hand. Once I was inside the pool, bam!, it hit me like a brick to the face and sucked the air right out of me. There really is something about the Olympics and seeing the pool all olympic-y. I was sooo lucky to be there. I couldn't look at Aaron or talk because I was crying (I know, I know....but they were happy tears!). Imagine if I had seen synchro? Woulda lost my mind.
The Great Wall of China, Badaling, August 21
We went to the tourist bus depot by Tianemen Square early in the morning, in the pouring rain. If you've been following along, it goes without saying that we were so tired we were going cross-eyed. We got to the bus, but there was hardly anyone there because of the rain, and they were waiting for the bus to fill up. We waited an hour and no one would give us a straight answer about when the bus was leaving. We realized what was going on, and opted to take a taxi to Badaling with a random American named Doug. It was over an hour there but not too expensive. The rain turned out to be a blessing. I can hardly imagine the hordes that would have been there otherwise. Plus the rain turned the mountains all misty and cloudy and kept the temperature down. The thing about the Wall is that it goes up, not across. You have to clamber up very steep steps, and each step is quite tall, requiring you to bring you knee up past your waist. It is not easy. It took us over an hour and a half to get to the top, where we were engulfed by clouds sweeping through the mountains. The best part was the other people going up the wall, a very diverse crowd because of the Olympics. The olympic mood was very much present, with people stopping to chat and encourage each other along. Everyone kind of shared in an atmosphere of comraderie and accomplishment once they got to the top. It also helped that there were Olympians crawling all over the place. Beautiful, fit, attractive Olympians. Most of them skipped past us mortals, but some were struggling. I got a picture with a gold medalist in weightlifting! He was a big guy and he was not finding it easy. Aaron and I spent the day climbing the Great Wall, twice, having eaten nothing, barely slept, and having very little to drink. By the end of it we were blobs of goo and slept the whole way back to Beijing (poor Doug). Still though... damn... Great Wall!!!!!!!!!! I've been blessed by some divine spirit, it's just too much! So lucky.
Scalping madness, all day every day, 2008
Aaron and I bought some scalped tickets when he was here, but to tell you the truth I was so outrageously tired that day that I can't remember anything about it. But I do remember Scalper Land after he left. Madness!!! Tons of people were trying for scalped tickets at the end of the Olympics. By this point everyone realized that it didn't matter what event you were seeing, even if it was something you've never heard of it's still going to be awesome and the ticket will still get you on the Olympic Green. So everyone was really looking at the ticket prices.
You get off the subway and once above ground, you are in Scalper Land. Basically this is a small area under a bridge and between a fence and the road where there is a huge mob of people buying and selling tickets. None of the scalpers can speak English, which adds to the magic. I went once in the morning looking for synchro, but scored waterpolo tickets for the following day instead, very cheap (the venue isn't on the Olympic Green). I went back later in the afternoon and was amused to see how Scalper Land had organized itself. It was like everyone realized that business would go more smoothly if things made more sense. At the beginning of the day, it was straight-up chaos. Too many people in too little space going too many directions all at once, yelling at each other, holding out tickets which disappeared if a cop was around. In the afternoon the scalpers had arranged themselves into a sort of guantlet. When you got off the subway, the cops had written signs that said "This way if you HAVE Olympics tickets" and "This way if you want to see the road". Kind of like a truce had been made, I guess. I saw cops walking the scalper guantlet, and they only interfered with the madness if they saw a scalper holding up a sign (they'd rip it up). People looking for tickets walked up and down the narrow guantlet in the same direction. It was a nice mimic of the hyper-organization of the Games themselves.
I tried to get tickets to synchro finals, but they were way too expensive. No way am I paying $400 to sit at the opposite end of the pool from the event. Once the event started, the scalpers started dropping the prices. However, knowing something about synchro, I also knew that this was still a bad purchase. There are only eight teams and the event can't be more than an hour long. If the event is already 20 minutes over, and then you factor in 30minutes to get through security and 15 minutes to get to the Watercube and into your seat, it becomes totally insane to spend the $300 they were asking for at that point. That's okay though, I will reserve this Olympic moment for 2012. See you soon, London.
My Big Fat Greek Waterpolo Game, August 24
This game was for 8th place, between Greece and Australia. I was expecting it to be kind of lame. Last day of the Olympics, meaningless non-medal game, who cares, right?? Oh how wrong I was. The fans made this game for me. The stands were packed. I'm guessing 80% of the people there had bought scalped tickets off the street like me, for one last hurrah before it all ended. The Olympics are kind of infectious, and people just get into things more. So even regular non-Greek and non-Aussie spectators where happy, chatty, and cheery. It's so awesome, I freaking love it.
And then there were the Greeks.
During warm-up they played that stereotypical "Greek" music over the speaker system, the one that starts slowly then speeds up. The Greeks got up and started dancing. They danced with each other, with bewildered Chinese spectators, and random fans. The entire place started clapping slowly, then speeding up with the music. Eventually the place was thumping. Everyone was so happy and exploded into cheering, it was amazing. During the games the Chinese and Greeks would chant together, the Chinese yelling "Jia Yoh!" (Go!) and the Greeks echoing "Hellas!".
Jia-yo! Hellas! Jia-yo! Hellas! Jia-yo! Hellas!
I don't think either side had any idea what the other was saying, but they didn't seem to care. There was also a loud Australian contingent yelling "Auzee-auzee-auzee-auzee-aaaaaaaaaahhhhzeeeeeeeeeeee!". Bloody fantastic.
Tara fights with a child, August 24
At the first waterpolo game I went to with Aaron, they gave out these noise makers that were shaped like abacuses. We didn't get any, but wanted them and were sorry for it. So when I went to the second game, I was on a mission. I asked all the Blue Shirts (olympic volunteer helper people) outside if they had any, but they were all out! They saw that I really wanted one, so they gave me a present, a Chinese charm. Still though, I knew I had to get me one of them noise makers!
After the game I went around asking all the Blue Shirts, doctors, and janitors if they had any, but they didn't. New tactic: I'd go back into the stands to see if anyone had left one inside. Problem: once you're out of the seats, they don't let you back in. I saw a janitor that found two of the noisemakers and put them by the door in case anyone wanted them. Someone else got to them before me. So I went to the janitors and Chinglished-out what I was looking for. One of them down the aisle found one, score! I ran up and got it. I was giddy, and left.
Problem: a Chinese boy, maybe eight years old, ran up to me and started gesturing wildly at the noise maker. He couldn't speak English, and I told him (in Chinese) that I couldn't understand him. He gave up and ran off, I assumed to find an English speaker. I took off. No way was this kid getting my noise maker!! I was nearly gone when him and his mom ran up to me. Again, more gesturing to the noise maker. I didn't know if it was his, or if he thought it was, or if he wanted me to give it to him. And I really didn't care. Exasperated by the language barrier, mom went and got a Blue Shirt (they speak English). It became clear that mom thought I had 2 noise makers in my bag, and her son had left 2 in the stands. Mom demanded to see my ticket so that I could prove I was sitting near where the noise maker was found. I mentioned the two noisemakers that the other janitor had found, explained this, and hoped that this exhonerated me. They were looking for two noisemakers, someone else took them, and I found a single one. I am fully aware that the nice thing to do would be to give the kid the damn noisemaker, I mean after all, I'm supposed to be a teacher, right? Too effing bad. I politely apologized and left with my noisemaker. Victory!!!
Olympic Green, August 22
Despite the above entry, here comes an entry about the Olympic Green. We had tickets to see handball at the indoor stadium. Who the hell knows what handball is?!?! All of Europe, apparently. When we went into the venue, halfway through the first game, we were stunned by an absolute roar from the spectators. They were losing it!!! It turns out that hand ball is basically land-waterpolo. Very fast paced half-court playing, which keeps things interesting. Very very excited fans. Spain was playing in the second game, and it was obvious just from looking at those guys that they were going to lose their minds. Decked out in flags, wigs, and colors, singing and carrying on like madmen. Love ya, Spain! And as for everyone else, like everything else at the Olympics, once you're there, you just get into it. The energy is so contagious.
We only had this one opprotunity to be on the Olympic Green, and we were determined to make the best of it. My god we were tired, but once inside the Green it's just so exciting that you wake right up. It was kind of surreal to be upclose to the Bird's Nest and the Watercube. Don't those things only exist on TV? We peered over the fence by the Bird's Nest into the practice field and saw all the track athletes warming up. They aren't gods after all, they're real people!! We also saw the NBC area, which is right on the Green so that any yahoo can jump around like a lunatic to get themselves on American TV. The Olympic Green turns out to be huge. It is 4 subway stops long. Walking end to end takes some time, but is very fun. It seems to be the happiest place in the world. And it's all decked out in olympic goodness. I don't know if it comes across on tv, but the Chinese beautified every square inch of that place. The street lamps have these glistening lights. The sidewalks are edged with engravings. There are ornate benches and green space, and a beautiful walkway by the water, everything is very tastefully ornamented. Lots of architectural sculpture too. And of course, it all lights up at night and glows. There are goodles of pavilions and stuff on the Green, kind of an endless amount of things to see and do. There is a huge Olympic store which was a total jamboree at night, thousands of people in a big warehouse that sold every kind of olympic memorabilia known to man. I bought stuff!
I was pleasantly suprised by the pricing of everything Olympic related. I was expecting price-gouging, but it didn't happen. Everywhere in Beijing, including the venues, food and drink is very very cheap. None of this $2 for a coke business. Try fifty cents. And the merchandise is very reasonably priced, in my opinion. Official t-shirts are about $12, and non-official ones off the street are $2 to $6. I think this is because so many of the visitors in Beijing are from other parts of China. No point in charging prices most people can't afford. I truly hope that Vancouver and London are just as honest.
Closing thoughts on the Olympics
The Chinese did a crazy good job. Good luck to anyone who has to follow them. Everything was well organized and easy. The venues are stunning and memorable. Sure, there were police everywhere you went in the city (even in quiet residential areas there'd be 2 or 3 per street corner), but it's not like they were restricting movement or confiscating pictures or anything. They just sort of stood there. Go ahead, doesn't bother me.
What's notable about the Olympics are the atmosphere and the people. By atmosphere, I mean the giddy feeling you get at the base of your spine when you walk into an Olympic venue or onto the Green. It feels exactly like being a kid again. It's thrilling, it's exhilarting, it's breathtaking, it's all of those adjectives that they use on TV because they are all true. It's also addictive and I'm totally looking forward to Van in 2010 and London in 2012. I am planning on marrying several rich doctors to finance this addiction!
The people are the other half of this awesome equation. Firstly, the volunteers. The Blue Shirts are generally right on the ball and very eager to help you, no matter what question you ask. Those at the venues have great English. And even though they are battered with ridiculous requests and crazy spectators all day long, they are always happy. They smile to you, they joke around with each other, they play with kids. They are all-stars.
The people in Beijing who've come from all over the world are also awesome. People are in such good spirits, despite the crowds and the heat. Everyone is quick to chat and help each other out. I've noticed it even more now that I'm on my own, as people are always being so friendly to me. Even the British!! Toursits are so friendly to each other, it's almost unbelievable. Where am I? Is this Shangri-La? Candyland? Heaven? I never want to leave! And when people are watching an event, whatever it is, you can't measure the positive energy. It's off the charts.
The last group to consider are the athletes. Beautiful happy healthy people running about Beijing enjoying their down time? Sure, I'll put up with that!
Thank you Beijing!!!
