Beijing

I had to go to Beijing to renew my passport. It would expire this year and without it… well, you can imagine what happens to a waiguoren who doesn’t have a valid passport. I don’t want to be that waiguoren, so renewal is in my better interests. Besides, it just makes good sense to have a valid passport when abroad, doesn’t it?

Sam would accompany on this trip. That promised to be a lot of fun. He likes to travel and is a good friend to boot. There is always an air of wistfulness about him whenever I tell him about my travels and adventures. He has confided that, before getting married he would travel with one or the other foreign teacher all the time. My predecessor, Byron, is often mentioned.

I’ve wanted to invite him several times but felt it would not be proper for mixed gender colleagues to travel together. And, the fact that he now has a family does put a crimp in things. So, using this official piece of business to invite him along to Beijing was the perfect vehicle. We pitched the idea to Dean Tu last year, during the meeting in which he informed me I could stay at this school as long as I wish. Dean agreed to allow Sam to travel with me and would even reimburse some of his costs. My costs are all mine because, for me it is personal business, nothing to do with the school.

By now Sam has confidence that I can manage my own transportation arrangements. Because he was in his hometown, Xi Shui, visiting with his family for the New Year celebration he asked me to buy his ticket when I bought mine. He also recommended a train that would likely suit our schedule. Unfortunately that train was sold out, but I was able to buy a ticket on an express train that would take us only 10 hours to reach Beijing, instead of riding all night, as we would have to do on the train he suggested.

Here is something interesting and new: one has to present ID in order to buy a train ticket nowadays. Especially around peak travel times such as Spring Festival or the National Celebration Week in October, ticket scalpers abound. The government’s effort to stem the tide of scalpers involves each buyer presenting ID, and that traveler’s name or ID number being printed on the train ticket.

In my case, not having an official Chinese ID card I have to present my passport. I did not know about his change in the law when I first started traveling this season, and I did not bring my passport with me to buy tickets. However, I did have my Texas driver’s license, and that was identification enough to allow me to buy my ticket to Shenzhen. Being a quick study, I have learned that, from hence forth I must present my passport to buy a ticket. But only for the train or for a plane ticket. For a long distance bus ticket, you still don’t have to present ID.

Because I did not have Sam’s ID I could not buy his ticket. A flurry of text messages flew back and forth between us. I’m not sure how, but he managed to get a ticket on the same train as me. Remember: this is peak travel season; often train tickets sell out within minutes of them becoming available.

Sometimes I believe that Sam is actually magic. He has a way of making things happen…

We met at the train station; laying eyes on each other for the first time since Winter Break started nearly 5 weeks ago. Other than his hair being professionally styled it was same ole’ Sam: cherubic and cheerful, eyes nearly crinkled shut because of the ear to ear grin he was sporting.

One of the reasons I wanted him to accompany me on this trip was because he attended university in Tianjin, a city on the outskirts of Beijing. Several of his college roommates now live and work in Beijing, and he has not seen them in the ten years since his graduation. They have kept up with each other, though. Going to Beijing would afford him the chance to see his friends, all while serving in the professional capacity of helping one of the foreign teachers.

We arrived at 10PM and debarked to the biting cold northerly wind. I was intellectually prepared for the cold but in no way was I ready for it physically. Beijing is much colder than Wuhan. Sam had made hotel reservations at a house near the train station but, because my consulate appointment was early the next morning I felt it would be better to secure lodging near the embassy. We took a taxi to Embassy Row and scouted for hotels from there.

Scouting was the right word. Almost nobody we ran into spoke Chinese! Being close to the center of Foreigner Country with all those embassies around us, I got to make use of my various language skills while Sam stood idly by. At one point we did find a small store that Sam could ask directions from. While there I asked him if he was hungry and he just kind of went nuts! He wanted noodles and sausage and crackers and a little bit of alcohol to warm himself up with. I settled for some crackers. I had packed food for the train, and double the amount in consideration of my traveling companion, but Sam didn’t want anything I had packed.

Now truly laden we head off in some vague direction that the shopkeeper had gestured in. It took us a while, but we finally found a place to lay our head for the night. Warning, all: hotels in Beijing are expensive! It cost us nearly 300Yuan apiece for a room of shoddy standards. Neither one of us cared: we were tired and out of that terrible, cold wind.

Interesting observation: there were more Chinese at the American embassy applying for a visa than there were Americans transacting any type of official business. In fact, besides the clerk who interviewed me I didn’t see very many Americans at all. There were plenty of people from other nationalities though. Thanks to my appointment and American citizenship I got to breeze right through security and to the head of all the lines. In all I spent less than 45 minutes on official business. After that, Sam and I walked to Long Peace Street, one of the city’s more famous boulevards.

Being in Beijing is almost like being in America. There are plenty of shopping venues like The Gap, Birkenstock and Rockport. Restaurants like Fatburger and Dominoes, as well as other iconic fast food joints, even that ever popular McDonalds. Strangely enough, although in most other Chinese cities you can spot a KFC on nearly every street corner I didn’t see a single one in the capital city.

There are ‘foreigners’ everywhere in Beijing! Not just around Embassy Row but all over town: shopping, eating, strolling.

I had been to Beijing in 2008, the first time I came to China. I remembered it as a vibrant, fast moving place with an undercurrent of desperation. Just like Las Vegas, the people of Beijing struggle to make a life there while the tourists get caught up in the glamour and pizzazz. And, like Vegas, there is a lot of pizzazz to get caught up in.

I remember quite a bit from when I visited this city 4 years ago, so I became the tour guide and Sam the avid tourist. For some reason he was not interested in very much: he did not want to ride through the Hutong – ancient Chinese neighborhoods whose alleys are so narrow they must be navigated on foot or by bicycle. He did not want to climb the bell tower or the drum tower although we did go see them.

He did want to visit Tiananmen Square, specifically the Mao Ze Dong memorial. Unfortunately we only got to walk around the building housing his tomb; the memorial building was closed. We took in the rest of Tiananmen, the largest public gathering place in the world, and then took off for other sight seeing destinations.

The highlight of this trip for me was watching Sam cut loose and have fun. He is mostly a serious young man, family driven and goal oriented. He and I have had a measure of fun, but not to the extent that he had while visiting with his college roommates. Over dinner they rehashed their glory days and poked fun at each other. Sam drank not one but two beers, getting rosy cheeked and garrulous. I got to participate too: I asked them what, as roommates was the most fun prank they pulled on each other. That line of conversation elicited some insane giggling!

We finished our visit to the Capital by eating roast duck, the city’s food of renown. I wanted to treat him to the restaurant I remembered from my previous visit. The duck was indeed delicious but let me tell you: that was one expensive bird! I spent right at 300Yuan for one duck; no trimmings. By comparison the meal that Sam’s friends treated us to the night before only cost 240Yuan and we were served 7 dishes. I got a little angry at being ripped off at a ‘tourist trap’ restaurant but, what was done was done and Sam had leftover duck to share with his beloved Penny. You guessed it: we took not just the leftovers but the carcass home! Wouldn’t you, for that price?

Sam and I parted company on campus. For him duty called even though it was Saturday; he had a meeting to attend. I just wanted to go home and rest from all the traveling I had done these past 5 weeks, and get my thoughts in order to share them with you.

I’ve gotten my rest. I’m still doing the sharing.