2007-07-22 - Beijing so far:

July 20
I arrived! It was pretty good, as far as arrivals go. In the afternoon I saw an acrobat show, and that was pretty awesome. There was lots of flipping and balancing and hanging upside-down. The best part was when a troup of tumblers did their routine to the Air Wolf theme song, with electronic howling noises dubbed in. Seriously, it was awesome.

July 21
I got up early, then went to Teinanmen Square. I wanted to go to the Chairman Mao Mosoleum, but it was closed for reonovation. No waxen corpse viewing for me! Alas! While I was legitimately looking forward to seeing the body, I heaved a sigh and trudged onward, to the Forbidden City. Did you know that the Forbidden City is totally huge? I guess that's why it's a "City" and not "village" or "building". In truth, it was much bigger than I expected. And much more spectacular! I spent the whole day walking around, and came back to my hotel very sweaty and with aching feet. I showered and then marched around looking for a place to eat dinner.
Did you know that Chinese people eat dog? Koreans do too, natch. And I know Chinese cuisine can involve a lot of random animals that the average Western person wouldn't eat. Be that as it may, I'm not going to judge, and you can certainly eat whatever it is you want, I can't stop you, although I choose not to partake. That being said, I'm not keen on seeing dog being all cooked and prepared. So imagine my delight when I saw a Chinese restauranteur sitting outside with a bucket of (boiled?) dog feet, clipping off the nails with plier things. Said dog feet were about the same size as my family dogs' paws, so there was that. But, moving on, I stopped in at a restaurant that served some lovely duck cooked in beer and various spices. It was damn good!
After dinner I went back to my room and watched TV, but was practically narcoleptic from walking all over the place, so I fell asleep.

July 22
That's today! So today, I rented a bicycle and rode off to the Temple of Heaven. It's a series of royal buildings surrounded by a huge, gorgeous park. I arrived early (probably due to falling asleep at the chamion's hour of 8:30). Picture stone walkways curving through lush lawns home to 100+ year old trees that need to be reinorced, or else their heavy boughs snap off completely. Dewy mist rises off the city, and the park's thick stone surrounding walls block out the sound of traffic. Elderly people meet for Tai Chi clubs; they set up a portable cassette player of traditional music, and move as though hypnotized, arms slicing the air in slow motion, eyes closed but in perfect sync. Some lone practicioners stand off the paths, beside a tree to hang their belongings, and go through their own Tai Chi, ballet, or general morning excercises all their own. Around the bend, a waltzing club meets, and with their own radio playing a traditional European waltz with Chinese singing over top, twenty or so elderly couples dance together, gazing into their partners' eyes. I'm starting to realize why Chinese people have good longevity: they never seem to say "I'm too old for this." People in their 60s and 70s meet to play traditional games or excercise. A man of 90, dressed in slacks and shirt, bald as a billard ball, jogs past me at a steady pace. Everyone around me is obsessed with fitness. And it's working.
I spent about three hours walking around, taking gratuitous photographs, and enjoying the park's natural beauty. Then, I biked around for the rest of the morning, stopped for lunch, and cycled some more! I stopped in at a book shop to pick up a couple novels, and planned to spend the remainder of the afternoon with a beer and a book.
But the place I rented the bike from was also a small tea house. With rental, you can have free tea, either before or after your ride. I chose after, so when I returned the bike at 3:00, i was ushered in for tea of my choice. I then spent the next two hours talking with the tea house's employee couple, sipping a variety of tea and talking about anything and everything, my hosts pausing intermittendly to look up English words in their dictionary. Bladder bursting, I finally made it back to my hotel for a shower, and now here I am, debating on what I want for dinner. Hooray!

Tomorrow I'm going to the Great Wall and Ming Tombs. Tuesday I'll spend the day at the sprawling summer palace, and then Wednesday morning I set off again, regrettably back to Korea. I wish I'd planned for more time here, as I'm enjoying myself so much. But then again, I was going to use this trip as a litmus test, to see if I was up for a grand tour of China in the next year or so. I'm already listing the things I'd like to see next time...