Relocations!

Hello, peoples! I've now been in Beijing for a week and... well, I'm not gonna lie, it's not quite what I expected. I'm feeling pretty damn homesick, actually.

Thing is, the government here is relying on these games as a way of showing the entire world how organised and efficient and great China is. As a result, the security here is insane. And as a result of THAT, they've sucked the life out of the city. Half the roads are closed, the traffic is terrible, and the influx of tourists is making everything crowded. There are police on every corner, there are soldiers patrolling the streets... all that's missing are the tanks, really. Everything is Olympic-geared, which is fun at first, but after a week I'm starting to find it kinda grating.

I'd like to come back sometime when the Olympics aren't on, I guess. But right now? There's a pretty opressive atmosphere, not a party one. And it makes me want out.

Anyhow. Yeah, I'm feeling kinda down. But let's talk about my day!

Today, I changed hostels. Goodbye, Far East Hostel! I'll miss you. But guys, say hello to the Chinese Box Hostel!


It's a nice place, though not very convenient for, well... anything. Nearest subway station is a 15 minute walk away, and there aren't any tourist attractions or cool markets or bars anywhere around here. Ah well. the hostel itself is cool, and I'm only here for a week.

Then today I headed to work, via Wangfujin. There seemed to be a lot of Olympic patriotism going around the place:


Dude, I'm all for patriotism, but seriously? Shirt, plzthnks.

Anyway, then I went to work. But here's what I found once I got there:


This is exactly what I was talking about. They'd blocked off the road to my workplace, so I couldn't get in. The security guys glared at me as I approached, so I backed off and made a few calls. Because I'm only an intern, I don't have a pass, so there was no getting in. I was told to head home and take the day off.

I'll call someone later about this work thing; if that road's blocked off for good, then that limits my options as an Olympic Errandboy. For now, I'll be happy to be an Olympic Tourist, I suppose.

So I did. I've been hanging around in bed for a while, just chilling out. The opening ceremony starts... well, now, actually. I don't think I'm gonna watch it. I'll catch the highlights later. I'm just sorry I couldn't get any cool pictures. I've been feeling down all day, and honestly? All I want to do is lie in bed.

Though I'd be even happier to go home.

ETA: I ended up watching the Opening Ceremony. It was me and the staff of the hostel: when they saw I was still around, they practically dragged me into the lounge, offered me a beer and got me a coke. When they found out I could speak some Chinese, we chatted for a while. The ceremony was gorgeous and hanging out was a lot of fun.

I'm feeling a lot better for it.

Apologies!

Sorry I missed yesterday's post, all, but to be honest, there was nothing to report. I went to work, worked, then got back around 10pm and went straight to bed. So no news, no pictures. It looks like today will be more of the same, but we'll see how it goes. You might get 2 updates today, you lucky ducks!

Aileen left for home today, and I'm kind of jealous. I've been feeling a little homesick these past few days, probably because I'm run-down, and whenever I look at my itinerary I find myself thinking 'Ok, I only X more days to go'. Then again, I dimly remember being this way a week into my last trip to China. I'm sure I'll be fine in a day or so.

Anyhow, big events are coming up! For one thing, the Olympic Opening Ceremony is tomorrow. I won't be in the stadium, but I'll try and get some kickass pictures. After that, things are gon' be CRAZY! Also, tonight's my last night in the Far East Youth Hostel: I leave tomorrow for the Chinese Box International Hostel. It looks like a nice place, so we'll see how that goes. I'll get to meet new people, hooray!

I'll be there for a week, and then I'll be at the Lama Hostel for 2 weeks, and then I'll be home.

Oh, and I'm told that today is Valentine's Day in China. I love all you guys indiscriminately and equally :)

Mojitos!

Another surreal experience today, folks. I got to the media center near the Olympic stadium a little early, so I took a seat outside in the street and pulled out my laptop to pass the time. Doing drafting for 12 Angry Men in the angry Beijing sun in front of the Bird's Nest is surreal enough. On top of that, though, as I was sitting there I became a kind of tourist attraction in my own right. People would sit next to me and try to strike up a conversation. One couple even got their picture taken with me. In retrospect, I should have asked for a picture myself. Ah well!

Nothing much to report on the day's reportings. I was shut up in the Box of Doom and Air Conditioning all day. I really should get some posters or something for that place, brighten it up a little. Got to chatting with Quentin Sommerville, an illustrious reporter person and a thoroughly Irish man.

Then this evening, I met up with Aileen and some of her friends and headed out to - finally - check out the Beijing nightlife! We went to a place called Hohai, and what a place it was. It reminded me of Amsterdam (yes, yes, I know, I've never been to Amsterdam. But I've seen pictures!), what with the lake and the bars and the neon signs flashing 'Heineken' everywhere!


Aileen's friends were cool people, and because I am a bad person, I have already forgotten their names. But we all hung out on a rooftop bar, chatting and - yes - drinking a little. Don't worry, I was the very essence of restraint. I had a Whiskey & Green Tea, which wasn't bad at all!


Hohai is a very cool place with a lot of very cool shops. If I had to pick one word to describe it - and I've decided that I do - I'd say 'trendy'. Also, the places around there have a down-to-earth mentality that's frankly refreshing:


No, no, don't you think. Just down that sucker. Mmmm, you like that, don't you? That's right. Respect the 'to, bitches.

Journalists!

I spent most of today in an air-conditioned box glued to my computer on the roof of a Beijing media building. 20 feet away, The BBC did round-the-clock broadcasts, with the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium looming in the near distance. PRETTY SWEET, MY FRIENDS. PRETTY SWEET INDEED.

I was in there all day, so I don't have many photos for you. When I left it was dark, and the Dreaded Smog had lifted a little, and this was the view we were left with:


Pretty spectacular, no? I felt in pretty high spirits when I got into a taxi to head back to the hostel, and these high spirits continued when I found myself able to carry out a brief conversation with the driver (who actually knew exactly where he was going)! It would seem that my Chinese was improving! So then I got out near my hostel and passed a crowd of people taking photos of a beautiful building I'd seen from afar but never checked out. I decided to make enquiries.

"Qingwen," I asked someone. "Zhege difang jiao shenme mingzi?" What is this place called?

He just stared at me blankly for a minute before nodding and smiling and turning away.

...maybe my Chinese needs a liiiittle more work.

PS: I'm told that I need to give credit where credit is due, so mad props to the pimpin' Jess Pfeffer for helping me come up with the name of this Diary!

Taxis!

Yeah, I know, I kind of cheated with that last post. Alas. But this is my Diary, and I get to make the rules! Mwaha!

Anyhow, met up with the BBC people today, and it was an interesting experience. Fun, too. Went with a few of them in the morning to Beihai Park to film some clips for a segment, and while they did that I got to wander around. (ETA: Photos are up!)


Beihai Park is yet another one of Beijing's beautifully scenic areas: a pagoda surrounded by old buildings in the middle of a lotus-strewn lake. On the surrounding lakeside are people who write calligraphy on the pavement in water...


... and other street performers like musicians and ribbon-dancers. One old woman pressed a streamer into my hand, so I had a go:


It's... harder than it looks.

I ran some errands during the day (yeah, I was totally right with the title of this thing), and at one point we tried to find a hotel near the Olympic stadium. Well, it took us 2 hours and 4 laps around the Olympic Park. It was an utterly surreal experience: the cab driver was convinced it was one place, and we knew it was somewhere else, and watching a well-known BBC reporter argue with a cabbie in Chinese is a spectacle I'll not soon forget ("Why bother running a hotel if you can't tell your guests how to get there?!").

The thing is, though, it wasn't the cabbie's fault. It was a new hotel, with a new name, and even the staff there couldn't give directions. That's the thing... Beijing is literally re-making itself for the Olympics, and while they're doing a lot of stuff right, they're also causing problems. Half of the roads downtown are blocked off for visiting dignitaries or for Olympic Business, so your cab will go halfway to your destination before realising that he can't go any further. That is, of course, if you manage to get him to understand where you want to go in the first place; most of the cabbies don't speak a word of English, and if you haven't got a Chinese translation of your destination, you're sunk. And on top of that, you have the problem of a lot of cab drivers having no idea where stuff is. After living in London, where you've got The Knowledge, it seems strange as hell.

In about a week's time, there are going to be a flood of foreign tourists who are all going to be trying to take taxis for convenience's sake. How they'll manage if they don't speak Chinese, I don't know.

Mountains!

ETA: This post is a wee bit late. I wrote it last night, but didn't have internets to post it up. I still think I've techically kept my 'one-a-day' promise...

So, I might have sounded a little out of it in my last entry. Fear not, gentle readers! I woke up this morning at 6am after a solid 12 hours of sleep, feeling ready to face the day. My inestimable roommate, Aileen, let me take a good long look at something I really should have invested in before: a tourist map. Armed with this new knowledge, a good night’s sleep and a new understanding of Beijing’s (actually quite lovely) subway system, the whole city was my oyster! Mine for the exploring, mine for the taking!

But not today. Today, I climbed a mountain.

It’s thanks again to Aileen, really. She said she was going to this temple an hour and a half outside of the city, and would I be interested in coming? With nothing really better to do, I said yes. It was the best decision I could have made, guys. This place was gorgeous; serene, beautiful, woody and mountainous.

We made friends with some of the locals…

…and headed to a place called the 12 Animals Garden; a long winding pathway interspersed with the animals of the Zodiac. I chilled with the tiger…

…and hung out with the bear!

Then the interesting part: we decided to take a look at the part of the temple a little way up the mountain. Or so we thought. Turns out that ‘a little way’ turned into a good few hours’ steep climbing. It was a tough trek…

…but the views were spectacular.

All told, it was totally worth it. We took the quick route (!) back down the mountain and swore we’d never climb another step. Then we headed back into Beijing, and spent the evening in a very cool place called the Wangfujin district. More on that later. For now, I’ll just say that… well… if anybody ever tries to make you eat a cricket, laugh in their face and RUN. Blech.

Today, I got to chill out for a good few hours in a remote, peaceful place, away from the craziness of the city. Tomorrow I meet the BBC peoples. I’m excited: I think that if today taught me anything, it’s that I need something to do that’ll last the whole day or I’ll be paralyzed with indecision. Hopefully, they can provide some kind of structure for me!

It’s been a brilliant first day in Beijing.

Arrivals!

The hostel I'm staying at has working internet, and I've already discovered one thing to tell you guys: the keyboards in China have half-inch-wide 'backspace' buttons. So, you know, be understanding of typos, is all I'm sayin'.

I'm here! Beijing is hot and muggy and full of the roars of traffic and cicadas. I haven't seen the city because I only just booked into my home for the next week: the Far East Youth Hostel. So far, so good! I'm honestly not sure whether I'm going to wander around the neighborhood or just collapse into bed and sleep. I'm hoping to hold out till at least 9pm.

The nice thing is that Beijing is exactly 12 hours ahead of DC, so there's no need for me to re-set my watch.

I'm so damn relieved I'm here, and I think that once I get a solid amount of sleep, I'll be ridiculously excited. But for now, I'm going to find out where the nearest subway station is. Catch you guys later!