Running Out of Time!

November 28, 2008

My time here in Beijing is quickly drawing to an end.  I’m trying my best not to get caught up in schoolwork and am trying to make the most of these last few weeks.  A couple of weekends ago IES had their annual circumambulation (yes that’s a real word) of the second ring road.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with Beijing, the city has five major highways circling the city starting with the first ring road around Tiananmen Square all the way to the fifth ring road in the outskirts of town.  Even though the second ring road is one of the smaller rings, it is still a lot of space to cover.  We started our trek around 8:30am and finished around 6pm.  We did have a two hour lunch break, but it was definitely a long day!  I really enjoyed the circumambulation, because we walked through many parts of town that I hadn’t seen before.  It reminded me just how enormous Beijing is!  One of my favorite parts of the tour was a street in Chaoyang.  Our director warned us before we walked down it, but I was still surprised.  This street serves as the business center for the Russian community in Beijing and looks like little Russia in the middle of China.  All of the ads have Chinese and Russian on them.  The Chinese people spoke to us in Russian because they automatically assumed that we were Russian.  When they realized we didn’t understand Russian they began speaking English but with a Russian accent!  It really was such an interesting experience, just another example of the extensive diversity of Beijing.

There is so much history in Beijing and so much modernization at the same time.  Beijing has experienced so much development in the past ten years alone it will be interesting to see what changes occur in the next ten years.  Part of the development, though, has included destroying some of the current structures such as the hutongs where many Chinese people live.  Even though the government compensates them for making them leave their homes, it’s difficult to find housing as cheap or  convenient as that in the hutongs.  It’s a difficult situation that I think many developing countries have experienced.  I just hope that Beijing doesn’t lose the charm and history of its traditional culture.  As we walked through one of the hutongs we saw an old woman sitting in a chair and our professor pointed out that her feet were binded.  Feet binding is a practice that came in and out of fashion for centuries in China, but it hasn’t been practiced since the early 1900s, which means that this woman was really old and her family was probably very traditional.  I can’t imagine what this woman has seen in her lifetime, from the fall of the Qing Dynasty to the Cultural Revolution, from the Open Reform Policy to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  I’m taking a Chinese history course right now and it was so interesting to see some of the buildings and areas that we have discussed in class.  Beijing is such a beautiful (despite the smog) and unique city, I just wish I had more time to explore it!  I’m torn by my desire to return home to the states to see my friends and family and by my desire to stay and explore more of Beijing and China.

Last weekend was a busy but exciting weekend.  We didn’t have class last Friday which presented a good opportunity for travel.  I visited Nanjing and Shanghai with two of my friends.  It was an interesting and encouraging experience because this was the first time I traveled in China without a teacher.  That means we had to take care of all of the travel plans and hotel accommodations.  You might think that sounds simple, but trust me it’s a lot more difficult explaining what time you want to buy your train ticket for in Chinese.  We successfully bought all of our tickets for the correct time and destination, but we never knew what kind of seats to expect when boarding the train.  We may have had to sprint to the train station a few times, but we never missed a train and made it back to Beijing in time for class Monday morning!  Thinking back now I see just how blessed we were to have everything go so smoothly, God was definitely looking out for us last weekend.  We spent our first night in a hostel in the Fuzimiao area of Nanjing.  We visited the Confucian temple there and enjoyed some local snacks such as pear smoothies and fried crab on a stick.  I really enjoyed just walking around and exploring the city a little bit.  We’ve been so busy with school work in Beijing we haven’t had much time just to relax and enjoy the city.

On Saturday we trained to Shanghai.  The weather was pretty gloomy, but we still enjoyed seeing a few of the major sights.  First we visited Nanjing Lu, one of China’s busiest streets.  We saw so many foreigners there…too many.  Then we visited the Bund and saw what will soon be the world’s tallest building from across the water.  Finally we visited the French Concession area, a very quaint and comfy area of coffee shops, apartments and boutiques.  This area was developed by European traders in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century and retains its European style today.  I enjoyed the city but going to Shanghai feels like crossing over into another country.  Shanghai is such a modernized and westernized city with so many foreigners that I didn’t even feel like I was in China anymore.  Visiting Shanghai made me extremely happy that I chose to study abroad in Beijing.  Beijing is a very modern city as well, but it has successfully preserved many of China’s traditional features and historical buildings.  China has such a unique and fascinating culture which I missed in Shanghai.  I think this is a problem that much of China is facing right now.  Western countries have heavily influenced Chinese culture and many Chinese fear that China’s traditions and values will be lost among the younger generations.  China has experienced such a rapid development in the past twenty years, so it is easy for the older generation to see the many changes that have occurred.  I sincerely hope that China works hard to maintain its culture and charm.  I never thought I could love Beijing as much as I do, squat toilets and all.  Ok, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I do love Beijing and have experienced many things I never could have imagined.  I am ready to go home to America, but I know I will miss Beijing greatly.