Red Square, Human Face

My sleep in China was very comfortable, owing to the fact that I slept in a large bed, dressed with satiny sheets. On my first day of arrival, I got out of bed later than I planned. I still needed to contact my friend, LZY, about meeting up for dinner and drinks. I had tried to call her the night before, but the fone numbers I had were a bust, for two reasons: first, because I had written her cell fone down incorrectly (rectified by a quick trip to the business centre on thursday morning) and next, because her home phone number, while the correct one, is actually her parent's number too. Linda asked me," did you try to call last night? My father said some foreigner called, and he couldn't understand what was going on." The foreigner was, indeed, me. So, after a brief conversation, she and I concluded that I should go to the Great Wall on Friday, and the Forbidden City and TiannMen that day. It was a good choice, and the weather cooperated.


I set out for the former Ming Palace in the northern Capitol of the middle Kingdom, which can only be described with understatement: huge. It is probably only bested in size by the Vatican, for being a world within a world. You can get lost for two days there, and not see it all. It has an outer and inner part, a separate garden (separate admission price, as well), and endless rooms for servants both civil and personal, wives, soldiers, concubines, and of course the Emperor himself. Having not had breakfast, I got some food to eat at the "food corner", which was not meant for foreigners, by any stretch, but for the Chinese toursts who want a good, filling cheap meal. I am accoustomed to "down home Chinese cooking", due to the fact that I know so many Chinese people in Baltimore, and have eaten their food. This meal was good and hearty, and only 25 yuan, which is about three dollars. The vendors were a little skeptical about serving it to me, but took my money nonetheless, and were about to try to show me how to use chopsticks, too. Once I had started eating without gagging they must have figured I was either totally nuts or totally attuned, so they left me alone after that. Then,I walked around for a long time, and saw the exibit there, which housed, in about ten rooms equalling the square footage of probably the ground floor of the Walters Museum in Baltimore, of only the smallest fraction of items owned by some of the Ming Emperors. It became bewildering after a while, jade after jade piece, rows of poetry written by the differenent emperors on large sheets, incredibly intricate pieces of wood, made into small boxes, and ceremonial objects and clothing. I had originally wanted to go to the Bejing Art Museum, but, what could compare after that? I was overwhelmed by the grandeur and beauty, and, don't forget, I am the guy who spent twelve hours in the Louvre, and still wanted more. After I had my fill of all this, I decided to go to Tian Men Square.


I have wanted to visit the Square for a long time, especially since the student uprising that was mercilessly squashed in 1989--on my birthday, June 3, to be precise. Now, the People's Army is omnipresent, as it is in the whole city. No matter where you go in Beijing, you cannot be three minutes without seeing a soldier or group of soldiers, standing or marching somewhere. Tianmen is huge, and very concretized. It is actually pretty boring to go to, as any vendors are scared away, and there is not much to do exept take fotos of the monuments, and try to get into the Mao mausoleum. Of that, my guidebook said that it was open to 5.30 pm, but, for some curious reason, they closed it around 3.45, which was just as I wanted to get in line. But, I did get an opportunity to see a very Chinese, well, human, really, thing. The plainclothes guard turned not just me away, but many others too. He started to shut down the cordon, and as soon as people saw this, they raced to get into line in a crush. I thought about doing this myself, but I stick out like a sore thumb there, and would have been pulled out and probably yelled at, but, the Chinese faces melted into one big mob, and until the guys had it shut off completely, you would not tell who was there legitimately or not. Well, that was my cue, I figured. I got into a cab, and went back to the hotel to rest up for the next day.





I wanted to get as much sleep as possible, because I would embark on my greatest dream: to climb the Great Wall of China!

Next: Steps to Success.