My Short March To And From Tian'anmen

The front of Tiananmen (from the outside)

Tian'anmen, The Forbidden City, The Palace Museum, And Lunch
Hello, everyone!

I went to Tian'anmen and the Forbidden City yesterday (Beijing time), the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Mao Zedong. I was told that the event of his death has been all over the news throughout the last week, or so, but I don't really watch the news. My current roommate, a Sudani named Omer, watches more television than I do, but I don't think that he watches the news. Anyway, I knew about yesterday being the thirtieth anniversary not because of the news, but because I know a little bit of history. :P

Anyway, I received a call on Friday, 08 September, from my friend Mike B., who I know from Waterloo. He's in China for about a month, and he arrived in Beijing, from Tianjin, on Thursday. He said that he wanted to go to Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City on the morning of 09 September, and was wondering whether I wanted to meet him later. I told him about the anniversary of Mao's death, and that I would like to join him at the Forbidden City. We then made plans to meet some time around 8:30 in the morning.

The Great Helmsman

The morning was cool, but anyone who's known me for any significant amount of time knows that I'm undeterred by what others call 'the cold'; I embarked upon my adventure clad in a t-shirt and shorts, and equipped with many litres of water. I took Beijing's subway (with two transfers) directly to Tian'anmen Square's front gate. I snapped a couple of photos in front of that area. After snapping a few touristy photos, I decided to solve some Sudoku puzzles while I waited for Mike. I attracted a lot of attention as a stocky, bearded white guy wearing a t-shirt and shorts while holding a clipboard. Many persons took a look over my shoulder to see what I was doing (I'd been warned that that's not rude here, so I was prepared for it). Some persons even came to meekly say 'hello', not because they were afraid of the lao3wai4 (as I'd heard myself be called earlier in the morning), but because they wanted to say 'hello' to a foreigner. (Thanks to Kate's blog for the heads-up on that one!) Those persons who did that were really sweet, especially the first one (a fifty-some-year-old man; he was soooo cute). Also while I was waiting, a woman came to ask me whether I was cold, but I didn't understand her until after she left. Ah, well.

The Great Helmsman with the Gretag-Macbeth Colour Checker

When Mike arrived, we entered the gate and were almost immediately accosted by a man trying to sell us packages of post cards for 'one dollar'. We told him 'bu2 yao4' (we don't need it), and proceeded to ignore him. I went to a kiosk and purchased some 'Kodak' batteries for my camera. I write 'Kodak' because each pair of AA batteries I purchased allowed me to snap about five photos. I'm pretty sure that someone hijacked the name and packaged phonies. I bought some batteries much later, from a real Kodak store inside the Palace Museum, and they're still working well. My advice, on batteries, is to refrain from purchasing them in an area outside of a tourist attraction, and to purchase them inside the attraction.

Mike B.

Mike and I paid the 60-kuai entry fee (as of this writing, the exchange rate is ~7 kuai per Canadian dollar), and rented headsets for 40 kuai, with a 100-kuai deposit. While we were paying for the headsets, I observed a sign which had some 'Chinglish', which I see all over the place in China. I'm really sorry to see that the government can't pay to have a native speaker of English edit their signs.

Spot the typos

Here, I feel the need to digress again. My university is touted as being a university for the study of language -- not just Mandarin, but the world's major languages. Anyway, I see 'Chinglish' all over my university, including inside the text books published by, and used at, the university. I'm not so impressed.

Anyway, Mike and I spent almost four hours going around Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. While I was looking for a washroom (I had to go six times, if my memory serves me correctly), we were approached by an 'art student' who wanted to show us an exhibit in another part of the Forbidden City. I had read about such 'students' who want to lure unsuspecting foreigners to their art exhibits for that they may sell their pieces, but I didn't expect to see them in the greater palace area. After I went to the washroom, Mike and I went to see the 'exhibit'. While we were walking thither, another such 'student' accosted us about going, and that convinced me that they were going to try to convince us to buy some of their works.

We entered what looked like a small portable from my elementary school and we were shown many traditional and non-traditional pieces of artwork. The second student we had encountered showed us some pieces of calligraphy, as well. One piece, which I thought was not particularly well executed, was evidently written by their instructor. I may only be a novice calligrapher, but I didn't like what I saw on that piece. At that point, I thought that it was high time we'd left the 'exhibit'.

While I was 'appreciating' those pieces, the young woman tried to talk prices with Mike, who was not showing any interest at all in buying any. I guess that the woman took Mike's lack of interest as only an apparent lack, because her price for one particular piece fell from 200 kuai to 100 kuai then, finally, to 60 kuai.

The Palace Museum

After that, we decided not to go to the Maosoleum to see Pickled Mao (tm). We returned our headsets, we gathered our deposits, and then we went to find something to eat. I must admit that the place wasn't quite the zoo I was expecting, given that it's the thirtieth anniversary of the death of the Great Helmsman. It's bascially what I'd expected to see on any given Saturday.

We decided to go to a vegetarian restaurant approximately a ten-minute walk from the northern gate of the Palace Museum. While we walked thither, we were accosted by many persons who drove sedan chairs with their bicycles, as if we were passing-up the opportunity to ride with one driver to go to them. After encountering these drivers, we stumbled upon the Beijing School Of Calligraphy; I should remember to go thither in the Winter term, once my Mandarin has improved. We walked all the way to the restaurant, only to find that it was out of business. I guess that that's one of the dangers of using guide-books.

While we were investigating that situation, we were approached by two women who told us that the restaurant actually went out of business two months ago. They told us about a Shanxiese restaurant across the street which also had good vegetarian stuff, and that they also study calligraphy in a studio right above the restaurant. Like rookies, Mike and I went with them for them to give us 'souvenirs', of our names written with mao2bi3, the calligraphic brushes. Of course, they wanted to sell us some of their master's works.

The woman who wrote my name didn't write it well, although I told her that her writing was better than mine. She wanted me to look at some pieces to buy. I told her that I am a Buddhist, and that I had taken some precepts which precluded the buying of silk. At first she didn't believe me; then her mind hit-upon the idea of selling me something without silk. While that woman was looking for something silk-free, the other woman gave Mike the hard-sell. We both left with our 'souvenirs' and with the words 'bu4hao3 yi4si' coming from our lips. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the only other customer in the shop at the time was a white man who spoke English.


Korean Barbecue

After I returned to my dorm, I decided to chill for a while. I sent a message to some of the other Canadians to ask them whether they'd be interested in going for dinner. We finally organised ourselves and left the school at approximately 7:15 for a Korean place. I didn't know ahead of time that it was Korean barbecue. If I'd known before I left in the morning that I'd be going to a Korean BBQ place in the evening, I'd have invited Mike to join us. He's one of the regulars in our trips to Toronto. (Mike currently lives in Toronto, but usually the majority of attendees travel from Waterloo specifically to go for Korean barbecue.)

I have included a number of photos to show those who are interested how the Korean barbecue was executed at the restaurant to which we went. A charcoal-powered brazier is put in the middle of the table, and the meat is cooked on a grill atop the brazier. This is different from what I've experienced in Toronto, at which one would use a gas-powered grill for cooking the meat.

Before


During


After

One of the most amazing things I've seen here, which wouldn't fly in Canada, is the replacement of BURNING COALS while the barbecuing is happening. We saw the fu2wu4yuan2 (waiter, attendant, service person), using tongs, carry live, hot, burning coals from the kitchen to a couple of braziers. I have a photo of it here.

Great Balls Of Fire!

Here are two photos of the inside of our brazier (taken with and without flash, respectively) after we finished eating.

Here is a photo of the lovely ladies who ate the grilled meat, along with other dishes, while I had vegetarian bibimbab (and a bit of soup). From the left, they're Debi, Courtney, Conchita (Australian), and Cheryl.

Other (mostly) Canadian International Students

After we finished eating at the Korean place, I saw a wonderful sign which, I must admit, made my day.

A sign for a cafe, the name of which makes reference to camels