Stories on the Bus

So, I spent a good amount of time riding the bus in Beijing. Mostly because I am cheap, and I can read Chinese, and it makes it fairly easy to get places. One thing I've noticed in China, is the way they employ people to do things that are normally automated in America. For example on most buses, there are two people working on the bus. One is the driver, and all he does is drive. There's another person in the middle of the bus usually, who you buy your ticket from. In this way, sometimes it's more convenient, because you don't necessarily have to have exact change. And also they watch everyone who comes in to make sure that they're buying a ticket. And this also means the driver doesn't have to split their attention, to dealing with the people getting on and off the bus, as well as driving. Also the person in the middle of the bus will also announce the stops as they're called, and tell the driver when to close the back doors, making sure that everyone has a chance to get off. In some ways, I feel that perhaps this is a more efficient system, since humans are more adaptable and flexible then machines.

I've also been impressed, considering that their job is a more intense and in your face version of working at the DMV, how professional and cheerful the people working on the bus are. Not the driver, but the ticket seller. Honestly, I think job security is pretty good in China, because there are plenty of places I've been so far where people aren't really doing their jobs and they don't particularly care that they're not doing their jobs. However, these guys work damn hard, and they're usually pretty competent and cheerful.

Anyway, the day before yesterday, my friend and I were leaving Beijing for Wuhan. Where I am right now. And the bus was packed. Our hostel was near the Beijing Train Station and we needed to go to Beijing West, so I suspect there were a lot of people transferring. Anyway, the bus was packed, literally packed, and the station attendent was climbing all over rails and practically hanging from the ceiling in order to get people their tickets and their change. I could barely reach him, and someone actually took my money and handed it to him, and I ended up doing the same thing for another woman. It was actually pretty cool.

Also, I was the only one on the bus with a backpack on. As my bio says, I'm short, and the backpack is about as big as me. The ticket seller was trying to get as many people as possible to put their bags on this sort of table near him, to conserve space and also let people who needed to get off get through, Usually you have to go to the back to exit the bus, however, when it's packed full of people that's well near impossible.

Anyway, he tried to get me to take my backpack off, but I didn't think I could do it on the bus, so I ended up having to rest it sort of on the ledge just so that I wasn't taking up the space of two people. Everyone around me tried to help me, and finally when I did get it on the ledge, uh, the ledge kind of made the backpack higher than I was so I was sort of hanging off. Anyway, everyone around me laughed, but in a good kind of way. I guess when you're in an uncomfortable situation together, everyone would just rather laugh.

However, I have to say for me, it was a pretty unique experience.

Things I did Today Part 2

So I'm in Beijing for a bit longer than I anticipated due to the fact that we couldn't get train tickets at a convenient time. On the upside, it's been pretty awesome. We went to an antique market today, we took two buses and a long walk to get there, and then when we were leaving found that there was a direct bus that took about twenty minutes that stopped opposite our hostel which was pretty funny, in kind of a smack yourself on the forehead kind of way.

The market, Panjiayuan, was pretty awesome. Essentially a giant square full of stuff, cheap and expensive, new and old, to buy. I've never really bargained before but I did manage to talk a couple people down from their original prices. Although the other favorite thing is to continue to lump more and more things together with a discount. It's kind of hard to get out of that. However that said, I bought a ton of stuff, mostly small things and jewelry, for $30-40 RMB or less, there were a couple exceptions that were above that, but there were a bunch of exceptions that were below that (to the tune of $5 or $20) so all in all I think I came out ok.

There were tons of things to look at that I'm probably going to never buy. Giant chest of drawers, and old boxes and other things. I'm trying not to weigh myself down. Also, I don't really need to buy more stuff overseas and ship it home. It's still pretty interesting nonetheless. And there was stuff that I bought there, that I don't think I've ever seen anything else. So I'm happy, in a consumer kind of way, but still pretty happy.

Is the past a foreign country?

There's the famous quote about how the past is a foreign country and lots of interesting studies have been done about how we exoticize the past, and selectively remember it and manipulate it to suit our present day needs.

When I was in the Forbidden City yesterday, it was kind of hard to shake that feeling. Everything was newly painted and brightly colored, and to me, it was really difficult to believe that the whole thing was as old as I knew it to be. Today I went to Beihai Park, which is possibly my favorite place so far. But then yesterday, the Temple of Heaven was my favorite place, so I should probably wait to judge things. Parts of Beihai Park have been restored, but a lot of it is still old, and for me it was much easier to see the presence of history there. It was much easier to imagine that someone once lived there. For me, the Forbidden City really didn't give me that impression at all.

Possibly this also has something to do with what goes on there. Beihai Park is a hang out of many retired people who were using it for eating, dancing, playing musical instruments, and sleeping on park benches. So the space was really being used for what it was intended to be used for, relaxation and a good time, and also hanging out. No one really hangs out at the Forbidden City.

At the same time, I wonder if I'm kind of exoticizing everything, wanting to see dirt and grime as some evidence that this place is ancient. To "feel" the weight of history.

I actually came into Beihai Park through the back door, so it was a very small rather unimpressive path that gradually got bigger and bigger and opened into a courtyard which opened into a bigger square and another bigger square and then finally I came out of the front door, and realized that "Damn, this place is huge!" I actually think it's even more beautiful than the Forbidden City, I hope I still like it as much when they finish restoring everything.

Things I Did Today

So I'm in Beijing. Mostly in one piece. The train ride was pretty painless, except for the not showering for about 36 hours and the horrible train food. I got to talk to a lady in the car, who was fairly nice, despite her rants about Mexicans, gay men, and Canadians. All of which I felt compelled to object to.

I got in, the taxi driver attempted to get me to settle on a fixed price of $90 which I eventually refused, mostly on a hunch rather than anything else. And the more low key cab driver I hailed, ended up charging me $16. So hooray for me for avoiding being cheated?

My impressions of Beijing so far are fairly good. The traffic isn't as bad as I thought. And the people are surprisingly friendly. I've had several conversations today, pretending to be Taiwanese. I think I might have to change my story though, I had a rather extended conversation with a student I met in the Temple of Heaven, where I think my story started to wear a little thin. However, I didn't particularly want to come clean because he already told me he hated Japanese people.

Anyway, I went to the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven today. And walked to both of them. I've been on an island for too long. I'm used to everything being close and convenient. By the time I'm halfway to a place I feel like I should be there already. The Forbidden City was surprisingly easy to get into and rather painless. Admittedly I was there at 8:30 in the morning when it opened which probably helped. I thought I was kind of jaded about Chinese art, I mean I've seen the National Palace Museum in Taiwan and countless others, so I wasn't really sure if the pieces in the Forbidden City were going to be anything new. Well, apparently the KMT took a lot of stuff when they went to Taiwan, but they sure left a hell of a lot. And most of that stuff was heavy and rather spectacular. There were things I think I had never seen before and probably will never see again. Actual Qing dynasty armor, sculptures made out of jewels, incredible carvings. It's pretty eye popping. And the building itself is also pretty spectacular, although it just got renovated, so sometimes it felt a little bit too new. Also, for my misanthropic self, there were too many people. The Imperial Gardens were probably some of my favorites because they had the capacity to contain a lot of people.

Beijing is incredibly dusty, but thankfully less hot, and I sweat less. Which is generally good. Just things are a long ways away and I can't use my ATM card. I got a tip about that from this Norwegian kid I met. I'll give it a try and hopefully it will work this time.

The Temple of Heaven was pretty cool. I mentioned about I got into a conversation with a student. Which was kind of interesting, although I was nervous because I felt bad about lying. (I'm a terrible liar.) Some of the sights inside were kind of a rip off, but the park itself was really nice. Very peaceful. You almost forget there's a giant city outside of it.

Anyway, that's all for now. Strangely enough the food here is much easier on my stomach than the food in Hong Kong. Perhaps it 's 1st world food I'm going to have trouble adjusting to?

Over and out

Racist Toothpaste

So, I'm writing now from the Hong Kong Central Library, which has the nicest library bathrooms I have ever seen. Seriously. They're nicer than some fancy restaurant bathrooms I've seen. This is probably the last time I'll have internet access for another couple days. I have to check out at 11. And the train leaves around 3 o'clock, and I'll get in at 3 o'clock the next day.

Hong Kong's been an interesting place to be so far, although I still say it resembles a giant mall. I'll say that the food is very good and the people are fairly nice. This is quite a bit closer to being a first world country than Taiwan. Even if you still can't drink from the tap.
Why?
1) I've seen people not finish everything on their plate. That never happened in Taiwan, everyone always finished all their food. Whether you were hungry didn't really factor into it.
2) The people are a bit bigger. There are a lot of people who would be classified as fat in Taiwan, but they're pretty normal sized here.
3) It's clean. No wild dogs, no hawking and spitting in the street, no urination in the street etc.
4) It's expensive. This place is eating a hole in my wallet. Quickly.

I've noticed that of all things to be openly racist, the most racist thing I've seen in Asia is the toothpaste. There's the Darkie toothpaste, Whiteman toothpaste (sometimes I buy this one, I feel some odd kind of feeling of revenge, I'm not entirely sure why.), and today I found Chinky toothpaste. My work here is done.

Alright, I'm off. I might poke around a little more on Hong Kong Island. The last couple days I never left Kowloon. Then I've got to go buy some food for the 24 hr train ride. I expect there's probably food of some kind to be found. But on the off-chance there's not, I want to prepared. I could fast for 24 hrs without any major health risks, but it probably wouldn't be pleasant either. Nor would getting off the train in Beijing be made any better by doing this. When/If I get the chance I'll let you know how I like Beijing. Although don't expect anything terribly profound. I find it difficult to write when I'm being timed.

Oh yeah, and Taiwanese public transit ain't got nothin' on Hong Kong's! I take anything nice I said about Taiwanese mass transit and apply it to Hong Kong's. It's really quite awe-inspiring.

Being a believer in postcolonial theory makes it damn hard to shop for gifts

It's true! Gaudy silk, cheap and touristy, made for the western consumer, a simulacra of culture.

Those 30s Shanghai style things, false nostalgia and exoticism.

The recreation of a nunnery, a selective recreation of the past.

And don't even get me started on the fake folk art.

Taiwan vs Hong Kong

One of my Taiwanese friends once said that she didn't like Hong Kong very much because it was just like Taiwan. There's some truth to that. There are many ways that they are similar. When I walk out my door, I am inevitably sucked into a giant mall.

Hong Kong, or where I'm at, really is a giant upscale mall full of things that I can't really afford. Which is ok as far as it goes, but it only goes so far, you know what I mean. I went to a museum, and a reconstruction of a nunnery. Those were fairly cool.

That said there are some ways in which it's different. Hong Kong is a lot more cosmopolitan and multiethnic. People here don't bat an eye to see foreigners. And also the weather is much better, not so goddamn humid.

I said before that I only knew Hong Kong from the movies. But you probably shouldn't take the movies all that seriously. If I did, I would have come expecting men in black suits shooting the crap out of each other. However, if one took the movies seriously, I would have just come from a place where people live in sculptural urban isolation and make out with watermelons.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm off. I have my visa and bought my 24 hr. train ticket to Beijing. Hopefully my stuff doesn't get stolen.