1/4/2011
Another Friday at last! I now remember that I’m in Beijing. Strangely, my parents also went to Beijing when I was a 3 year old kid, and I recall asking them to take them with me.
Fast forward 14 years and I’m here on a school trip without them. Time does strange things to people. In the past my mother would not let me out of her sight, even for a short while. Now, she’s perfectly fine that I call/text back every 3 days or so.
Speaking of that, I need to do that more often. I think it’s the texts I sent to my parents that make them smile, even at work, their jobs look really stressful, and this is the least I can do.
Visited a bird’s nest as the first stop. When we reached the place at 740 am in the morning, there were already hawkers peddling goods towards us. And I thought no one would come this early. Boy, how wrong I am. As we walked in the compound, no less than 5 of them approached us, asking us whether we were interested in any of the souvenirs they had, and they were willing to sell it at a lower price to us. Even though we walked away and ignored them, they still tailed us, hungry to earn money from us. I think I need to dress more conservatively so that I will be mistaken for a local Chinese and not get myself approached by people. It worked for me the past few times when I visited china.
After narrowly avoiding any of these vendors, we clambered up the bus, afraid that any of them would go up and make a final sales attempt (It happened before to me, and it’s not pleasant), we left the car park and got a taste of the “famed” Beijing traffic. At 8+, the traffic congestion is so bad the cars are not moving. According to my math lecturer, heavy traffic = cars still moving. Traffic jam = cars not moving.
I think we were caught between heavy traffic and a jam. The bus did seem to move. Strangely, nobody had their hands permanently on the horn, and the roads were quiet (or is it because of my earphones?), and they didn’t horn when there was congestion or something blocking their path, they only horned when they needed to.
Beats shanghai hands down. The sound of car horns there is 24/7, even at 3 am in the morning.
Forbidden City was our 2nd stop. Old palaces are interesting places. There are so many tourists groups inside, and you can count the number of tourists groups. And then there’s the part where the speaker comes in, and you start to hear the explanations about the same places in different languages and dialects, and it’s hard to hear what your guide is saying. Not to mention trying to catch up with them moving around the place. This visit to the Forbidden City only allowed us to cover the emperor’s residential area, study, gathering hall, etc. the emperor’s living area is so huge, I don’t see how can one person live in an area which can accommodate a thousand. Doesn’t he feel bored? i don’t know how anyone can stand it
I’m going to get an audio tour the next time I go. It’s easier on me as well.
When we walked out of the Forbidden City entrance by the main gate, we had unknowingly entered the 天安门 square, where student protests had once raged against china’s reputation abroad. There were people who approached us, asking whether we would like to take a photograph against the memorial statue. I’m starting to admire their persistence. They don’t mind asking the same question over and over again, and face rejection every now and then. I would have gotten tired by the 10th try. Also, competition here is cut-throat. The vendors fight tooth and nail against other vendors to get as much business as possible, to the extent of fighting over a potential customer. Even though they may sell the same things, each vendor tries his/her best to package it differently, attracting the most customers possible.
Live and let live. I need to pay more attention to them in the future.
And stop throwing them dirty looks when they approach me for business
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