OK, enough of that. China and is clearly different. But almost entirely in ways that do not gross me out. Let me share you some of the highlights of the last few days:
- Hotel: We moved to our fantastic new hotel which is built around a small courtyard and is on a small hutong (back alley). (Thanks, Amanda, for the tip!) It used to be a prince’s house; our very tiny (but also very cute) room was clearly servant’s quarters (or maybe the lowest concubine’s room). We feel much more part of the “real China” now that we’re here. The Peninsula was nice, but, seriously, I could order a burger and fries at 3 AM. That just ain’t right.
- Art: Our visit to Art District 798: a huge old eastern German factory (yep, the communists stuck together … well, until they didn’t anymore) that has been transformed into a huge complex for contemporary Chinese art. It used to be affordable studios, but it’s now hip, so rents have risen and the artists had to leave and their studios have been transformed into galleries. If I were much cooler than I am that would mean I should write this place off as “too commercial” and seek the new avant-garde setting. But I was impressed and we saw some great art (and some hilariously bad art). We might even buy a piece by Hong Hao from his “My things” series (below).
We’re in negotiations. I told Jacco we’ll have to buy a big house just so it fits all of our art. He told me that wasn’t thinking green. Clearly one of life’s more difficult dilemmas. - Architecture: we visited the Egg, Beijing’s new opera house and theater. Yes, it belongs to the Beijing that is clearly there to impress the world, so it’s huge and , but it’s also beautiful. They were showing off their performers, so there were little bits of operas being sung throughout the building. It gave me chills. And I always expect big voices to come from big people, but these singers were petite and belting it out like true divas.
(This is Jacco touching one of the gargantuan doors that enter a theater.) We were so taken by it all that we’re planning to spend Tuesday checking out the new and amazing buildings of Beijing. Who needs more temples? - Out: Amanda’s friend Jan lives in Beijing (her second amazing tip for this trip, for those of you that are counting) and is a DJ. He invited us to hear him play at Punk, it is in a chic boutique hotel and was voted one of the best new bars in Beijing by the local equivalent of New York Magazine. First impression: there is nothing punk about Punk (it is completely void of rough edges and I’m fairly sure you wouldn’t be allowed in with a flannel shirt and Doc Martens). Second impression: boutique hotel lounge bars are the McDonalds of young, hip, incomed travelers: they look the same anywhere in the world and you always get the same thing (good drinks, good music, and as many foreigners as locals). Third impression (and third drink): this place rocks. Jan played a great set, almost entirely made-up of remixed Michael Jackson tunes as a tribute to the King of Pop. We danced and drank and slunk home around 3 AM.
- Food: We are eating everything, Chinese or not. We had an amazing Vietnamese meal on a rooftop where the French owner ignored us and only attended to his many French guests. Our Chinese waiter was so kind we decided to ignore the slight. We ordered blindly at a little hutong meal and got food for at least 10 people (oops) for under $10 total. It was HOT (those green things you see are not bell peppers but hot peppers)
This morning (OK, OK, afternoon) we had dim sum as hangover helper after our night out at Punk.
Most disturbing thing I’ve seen since I got here:
We were biking along Tiananmen Square and stopped to take some photos when I heard a woman screaming (the photo below was clearly taken before I heard her screaming, but you can see her in the background). She was half-naked (the not the half you’d expect) and holding a large knife to her neck while she screamed. The security guards – always on hand and apparently useless – stood by and did nothing besides yelling at here. Finally, a few citizens (or plain-clothed police?) jumped on her and there was a long, loud, frightening struggle. They got the knife a way from her, but then dragged her to a police truck kicking and screaming and threw her in. Will she get psychological help? Or just get locked up? Unclear. But this was desperate woman and there’s a deeper story there….
My new questions about China:
- Is it sacrilege to say “if you’ve seen one imperial palace/temple, you’ve seen them all”? After visiting the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, if decided I’ve seen enough. Does that make me a bad person?
- Is it illegal to have a gas/petrol scooter here? They are all electric! And if it’s so easy to make them electric, why hasn’t the west adopted the same policy?
And here are the latest photos:
Day 3-5:
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