Beijing

NYU took us on a three-day weekend trip to Beijing. It was fantastic, significantly different from Shanghai in its architecture, mannerisms, culture, etc. We took a ten-hour overnight train there and a two-hour plane ride back. As you'd expect, both the airport and train station coming and going were impeccably modern.

The Great Wall. We took the three-hour bus ride from Beijing on this cool, misty day which formed a perfect backdrop for the Great Wall. I was surprised by the range of languages people were speaking as they walked, every people seemed to be represented except the local Chinese. Surprisingly the wall was exactly what I expected - grand, in the middle of nature, serene, awe-inspiring. It isn't incredibly high, maybe two or three stories above the ground. However, the natural beauty of the trees around it (at least the part we explored) was majestic.

There are some incredibly steep parts of the wall, and it's quite a strenuous walk at times. Of course, the incredible aspect is its construction. It has a long history from the 5th century BC, though the majority was built during the Ming Dynasty in the late 1400s. Ironically, the very next dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, which ruled until 1911, originated in Manchuria and was able to invade past the Great Wall. So I guess the Mings' concern about the North was well-founded.

As you know, the Great Wall is a collection of barriers, both man-made and natural, attempting to protect China from invasion. Even on the part that we walked (of the over 5,000 miles of wall), you could see different slopes and styles based on the geography. Therefore, it's certainly not as consistent and monolithic as the name the Great Wall suggests.

One of the shirts the street vendors were selling. Without a doubt, on the route from the Great Wall to the parking lot, a bevy of street vendors were positioned with shirts, Chinese art, panda bears, bags, Mao statues, etc. (What else would you expect besides naked capitalism in communist China?) I haven't talked about bargaining yet, but these vendors were worse than normal, obviously because they can get away with it. For a sweatshirt, the starting price was 280 yuan, she told me the student price was 180 yuan. I said 50 yuan, she said 150 yuan, I said 50 yuan, she pretended to put the sweatshirt down, I started to walk away, she said 100 yuan, I kept walking, she kept chasing me yelling 80 yuan (I didn't end up getting the sweatshirt, I opted for a T-shirt but not the one above)

At times when I was bargaining, I felt bad due to the desperation that would fill the vendors' voices, especially when they started chasing you. However, like someone said in Istanbul, they wouldn't sell it to you for a loss so they're still making a profit off of whatever price you pay. To be honest, my opening bid of 50 yuan was too high. One of my friends got a seal that you use to stamp your name on paper down from 280 yuan to 30 yuan. If you're curious, most negotiations took place on paper to overcome the language barrier.

The communications tower of the 2008 Olympic site. The site was incredibly expansive (hopefully the fading light posts convey that impression) and pristine compared to the rest of the city. A separate subway line was built to accommodate Olympic athletes and spectators, which is still in use today. One of my Chinese friends was saying that the entire area around the site was built up with office buildings, real estate, etc. in two years (compare that to how long it takes NY to build a subway line on 2nd Ave).

As you know, the story of the Beijing Olympics is telling in itself. Traffic in Beijing is terrible, especially due to its structure of concentric ring roads around the city. Pollution is supposed to be bad though the air was quite nice the weekend I went. Constructing world-class structures in such a crowded, polluted city in such a short time span is incredibly difficult. However, that's the power of the Communist Party. If they want to host the Olympics or improve automobile fuel standards or build a city where none existed ten years ago, they can do it, in ways that the US, India, and other democracies can't. They can cut through the bureaucracy, change their promotion structure, etc. to achieve results. Obviously that may not be a good thing if you get someone like Mao driving the country into the Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolution, but it is something to consider when Americans talk about progress, technological or otherwise.

The Bird's Nest, or the Beijing National Stadium. This stadium hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies though it hasn't found much recurring use since the Olympics. We didn't go inside (Wikipedia says tickets are 50 yuan), but as you can see, it's certainly impressive.

A pavilion in the Summer Palace. Built in 1750 for the emperor's family, the site is picturesque with a lake, stony hills, architecture fitted to the landscape, etc. Obviously, it stands in contrast to the rest of the city. Along with the Forbidden City (the emperor's family's residence in the heart of Beijing), it raises interesting questions about the position of the emperor. If an emperor was overthrown, popular belief said that he wasn't fit to lead and the peasants accepted the new emperor (granted, accepted probably meant peasants were militarily forced to submit to the new rule). However, the fact that traditional Chinese history, customs, art, etc has survived so many dynastic changes and revolutions astounds me whenever I think about it.

The Forbidden City. It housed the families of emperors from the Ming and Qing Dynasty from the early 1400s to 1911. The buildings never seem to end (there are 980 surviving ones) and this site, if explored thoroughly, can certainly take up a few hours of your time. The Forbidden City was built to be the center of the ancient walled city of Beijing. Large squares exist between the buildings as seen in the picture above, I'm not sure what their day-to-day use was. The architecture is incredibly ornate on each building. The roofs are golden since yellow is the color of the emperor, according to Wikipedia.

The level of artwork on each building of the Forbidden City. This picture is from a nearby park, Zhongshan Park, but it captures the attention to detail.

Tiananmen Square. The square itself is large and standard with impressive buildings surrounding it, including the Mausoleum to commemorate Mao. However, I couldn't help but notice the level of security on each light post. Obviously, the square is central to modern Chinese history with the origins of the May Fourth movement, Mao's declaration of the PRC, and the 1989 student massacre all occurring in and around it. However, it seemed to be quite a lively and relaxed place, besides the overabundance of security cameras.

The daily flag-raising in Tiananmen Square. It occurs at slightly different times, but we arrived at 5 am only to realize it occurred that day past 6 am. We got a front-row standing spot, but the amount of people present was incredible. The military marches out from across the street to the tune of the national anthem, raises the flag, and marches back. It's similar to the Changing of the Guards in London. Even though it's early, I'd recommend going at least once.

A street in Beijing that is known for selling odd animals and meats. My friends ate scorpion, snake, silkworm, seahorse, octopus, etc. One of the vendors wanted me to try some meat so I told him I am vegetarian. Without a moment of hesitation, he assured me that silkworm is vegetarian. Really? Do you think you're going to trick me? I thought it was funny nonetheless.

A book I read for class mentioned how Chinese streets will offer exotic meat in one stand and household pets a couple blocks down. Since the same animals are probably sold at both stands, it doesn't seem to make sense how one people, one mindset can accommodate them both. However, this example points to the naked capitalism of China, as I mentioned earlier. Whatever sells at whatever price to whomever for whatever purpose, is sold. If your morals limit your entrepreneurial ability, someone else will probably fill the gap. I'm not saying China is morally bankrupt (after all, India's naked capitalism is similar, although cultural views would condemn the exotic meats, at least to the scale of China), but I'm saying that it's a dynamic that isn't seen as readily in Western countries due to laws and cultural views. Even though the US prides itself on capitalism, it makes you wonder what about capitalism do we have that China doesn't. Concepts such as human rights and rule of law come to mind, but capitalism and the entrepreneurial spirit - at its core, at the grassroots level - is booming in China to the same level that it does in the US, though it takes different forms in both countries (exotic meats, bargaining vs. technology, Internet. Of course, that balance is not permanent, and China is actively working to change it to its benefit)

This post is becoming too long, but I'll briefly mention the differences between Shanghai and Beijing. Where Shanghai is flashy and foreign, Beijing's architecture is monolithic, imposing the government's immensity upon your eyes. Where Shanghai is hot and humid, Beijing is noticeably cooler, probably colder during the winter. Where Shanghai seems associated with the future and enforces some government laws only as it deems necessary, Beijing seems associated with China's rich history and uniformity throughout the country.

If I haven't made it clear, Beijing was incredible. Three days (one day at the Great Wall) was entirely too short to explore the city. Many students said they were happy that we were studying abroad in Shanghai and only lived in Beijing for a weekend. I'm not sure if I agree with that statement, but the two cities are certainly unique. Visit both of them!