Week 1 China
Beijing: literally translated means "northern capital." It's hard to believe that a city with over 22 million people now is only one of two capitals of China. And it is one of over 100 cities that have a population over 1 million people. The US has 9 such cities. About 23% of all the people on earth live in China. Although it was very much as I imagined (crazy, bascially), there is something so new and exciting about being in such a monumental city in the scope of where our world is heading. Even as my plane landed at the airport, I could see the layer of pollution that infiltrates the air like a haze that just won't go away. It's both subtle and shocking. What is so interesting about this city is the fact that despite the obvious environmental affects due to the fast-paced development and growth occurring (approximately 7 skyscrapers are built per day!), there are significant signs of environmental efforts everywhere. For example, from the metro you can see entire apartment complexes with solar panels covering the roofs. Even simple things such as their metro cards are evidence: unlike the little paper metro tickets they use in Paris that are thrown away as soon as they are used, in Beijing they use plastic metro cards to pre-pay to "check in and out" of the metro. When you use your last of your allotted number of trips, the machine eats your card when exit the last time. You can tell the cards are re-used, for they look scratched and worn. Some things are so simple, yet make so much sense you wonder why we're all not already doing it.
My first experience with Chinese food upon my arrival was a complete contrast with the food of Spain. First of all, if you were not already aware, Spain is lacking in anything you may consider "spice." Upon realizing this one day in Salamanca, a fellow Moore School classmate of mine said "Didn't Columbus set out in search of spices? Apparently that was the Spanish's last attempt to find them..." It's something you don't realize how drastic of an issue it is until you go somewhere like China, where spicy red pepper and other items that put your mouth on fire are put into your food without a request. In addition to the spices, food in China is certainly one thing that is not what we Americans know as "Chinese food." Although it looks somewhat similar, the tastes are nothing what we know. At least in the non-American districts. The only things I can think of that we have in the US that are similar, but not the same, are kung pao chicken, dumplings and fried rice. There are no spring or egg rolls. And certainly no "sweet and sour chicken." Luckily my boyfriend Cooper, who I came to visit, had been in China for 2.5 months doing nothing but learn Chinese, so he was knowlegeable enough to get us around and get us nourishment. I quickly learned his trick: only eat at restaurants that have picture menus! Without which, even remotely knowing what you are eating is nearly hopeless. I quickly learned that there are several rules my boyfriend and his fellow Chinese trackers had adopted: "Don't ask questions about the food. More than likely, you don't want to know." Or, my favorite: "Be a noodle, not a chopstick!" obviously meaning don't be difficult, just go with it. This was not an easy motto to adopt in practice, but I soon realized you don't have much choice in a city where you would think most people speak English...but they don't. Surprisingly true. Luckily my first night we participated in Korean BBQ, which was an interesting array of tables with grills on top which you proceed to cook your strips of meat and vegetables yourself. It reminded me of the French "raclette" which is a pan on a grill at your table where you cook meat and potatoes. Being without cheese, the Korean version is much less messy!
Over the course of my first week only in Beijing, I was able to visit most of the major sites: the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Summer Palace, Lama Temple and of course the silk market. All of these sites were equally impressive and spectacular in their own way. The Forbidden City is so big it would take someone days to see the entirety of the grounds: it consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8707 bays of rooms. It's seemingly neverending! What is also surprising about Beijing is that everything is SO far away, even with the metro. If you were to walk between metro stops, it would probably take you between 30 minutes to an hour. Beijing is so big (and polluted), that from the top of the hill of the Summer Palace (which is located on and overlooking the edge of the city), you can see probably about 10% of the city. While your sight is obviously hindered by pollution, it is just mind-boggling to think how big the city is.
Amongst other items of note, I tried both Peking Duck (of course) and a Chinese version of fondue called "hot pot." I'm not actually sure "hot pot" is the technical name for this meal, but this is what it is referred to as amongst my boyfriend and his friends. It is essentially a little furnace/chiminea with a bowl around it consisting of water, which if you can imagine fishing for your food, this would be it. You can actually have two kinds- they have a divider for the water, on one side we had plain, and the other had spices like red peppers floating around in it. You order very thinly sliced meat and vegetables, and simply drop them into the water to cook. You fish around in there with your chopsticks, pull something out and check to see if it's ready. They give you several sauces (including a delicious peanut sauce) which you can dip the food into after it's ready to eat. The peking duck is not as interesting... for all they do is have someone carve the duck for you, then you wrap the meat in a special wrap and dip it into the special sauce. Very delicious all the same!
Some other quick observations on the Chinese:
-Rickshaws in China are like little aluminum boxes with 3 wheels, consisting of what looked like a motorcycle. No bikes were to be found.
-People spit everywhere. and when i say people, i mean everyone- ladies, men, you name it. on buses, trains, anywhere. They are not afraid to do what they need to do.
-People are always walking around and doing some sort of exercise at the same time: for example, while walking to the metro along the road, I saw a man with his arms out moving his hands up and down. I asked Cooper, "What is he doing?" he replied, "His exercises. That's actually a new one for me..." Apparently squatting at any particular time: on the sidewalk, on a bus, etc. is also completely normal. Perhaps they are practicing for the toilet, since everywhere excepted "westernized" areas of town only had squat toilets.
-Milk comes in bags
-You can buy a roasted duck or chicken in a bag almost anywhere, including the airport. They also
-Everyone is in a rush. All the time. Be prepared to push when going anywhere in public, specifically the metro station. Apparently we are all in a race, and I think the Chinese are winning...
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