7/1 was the 10th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to the mainland. All around Beijing people were out in force. Near Wangfujing, I heard traditional Chinese screeching, I mean music, and wandered over. There were Yunnan minority people doing traditional dances for a large audience in their brightly colored clothes which are exaggerated for the amusement of the Han Chinese (80% of the population). Then a police officer took the microphone. He was more decorated than I have ever seen an officer before, with multiple badges, bands and epaulettes. Music began to blare and he jumped to attention before wailing what I can only assume was the national anthem (I have to assume, since it is the first time I've heard anything of the sort, even though this is my 6th trip.) It was rather interesting, with a military chorus over the loudspeaker as his backup singers, reminding me a lot of the Soviet Army Chorus singing their own anthem.
I met this British guy Ian, who I hung out with during the day. He just started a 9 month trip around the world. We wandered around Tiananmen for a while and I told him about living in China. I warned him that Chinese people will not approach him unless they want something from him (such as money.) I told him about the art student scam and then we went to get duck. As I was reading his blog I noticed that he said he thought I was "full of shit." A day later he got scammed by some "English students" who took him to a tea ceremony, in which they let him "try" 10 teas (all of which cost almost nothing in Yunnan) and then attempted to charge him 2800RMB (almost $400.) He got away paying only a quarter of that. Sometimes I get tired of being right.
7/2 In the morning I wandered around and went to an internet cafe. That afternoon I was falling asleep but trying to get adjusted to the time so I headed over to the mall to get some Starbucks. I know, I know, Ben and Starbucks doesn't seem to fit, but I needed coffee and had a gift card (which subsequently didn't work outside of the US.) Walking through the mall, I was stopped by a white man with a beard. It took me a minute to realize that it was my Chinese History professor from Colorado. He seemed as surprised as I, briefly introduced me to his Chinese "friend," a very pretty young woman, and left. I seem to recall him being married, but I got an A in the class, so I will leave that one alone.
That night, I went to Houhai - one of the two main Beijing nightspots, with Tim Myers, his friend studying in Beijing, Ian, and this Chinese kid from San Francisco named James whom we met there. After exhausting myself with 5 minutes of circle dancing, we found a bar that served cheap (and expired, though everything here is) beer and got a hookah and hung out for a while.
7/3-4morning Nothing too much, prepared for a trip to Shanghai. I got to the overnight train around 745 and by 815 was asleep. Slept most of the way. I shared a car with these two guys from Beijing, one was an accountant, the other worked in IT. It was a rather uneventful trip. We got in at 7am and I checked into my hostel. Its clean and in a good location and cheap (for Shanghai) but I am a little disturbed that they don't give me a room key, housekeeping has to let me into my room every time. Today I'll be wandering around. It's raining again so I probably won't go too far. These next few days I'll post more as I visit my friends in Shanghai.
Other Notes:
The day I arrived it began to rain. Apparently it had been sunny for months up until my arrival, but monsoon season happened to begin the day I got there. After maybe 5" of rain in a day, the rain stopped and the sky was blue, something I've never before witnessed in Beijing. I guessed it rained out all the pollution. A dy later it was back to grey skies.
"alcoholism, whoring, gambling, drug taking and fighting are strictly forbidden in China" read a sign at my Beijing hotel.
An email with my dad:
Do you see much prep going on for the Olympics?
They've closed down some of the more sketchy places, especially bars which used to have hundreds of foreign students congregate there.
Have they taught the people not to spit?
Surprisingly, yes it seems. I did not witness nearly as many people spitting in Beijing, though neither did i witness any of the "civilization patrols." On top of that, people in Beijing can even now wait in lines (sort of, there's a bit of a learning curve.)
Shanghai for a few days, possibly an interjection of Nanjing (I feel compelled to go for the history after seeing my Chinese History professor here.) I have 3 days unaccounted for before I go to Kunming. I will be deciding between Hong Kong, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Macao and Taiwan.
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