January 2009 (by Pat)
I left LAX Wednesday morning and arrived in Beijing Thursday afternoon. Yk, who was flying in from Seoul, said she would find me at the airport, but it was I who found her, 4 places ahead of me in the same immigration line.
Xuesong and Aihua picked us up at the airport. We had dinner with them, their two little girls (ages 3 and 5) and Xuesong’s parents, following which, we were treated to foot massages.
The next morning they picked us up at the hotel and drove to a river recreation area about 2 hours southwest of Beijing. It is still quite cool in Beijing and the place was largely deserted. The place features boat rentals (none were being used), a gondola ride across the river and up the mountain, and a bungee jumping platform jutting out over the river gorge.
We unanimously agreed to skip the bungee jumping, but we took the 2 person gondolas up the mountain and climbed the steps to the summit. Along the way one can don costumes for picture taking.
The last set of stairs led to a bell pagoda at the summit. In keeping with the Chinese tradition that everything costs something, we were informed by a woman at the foot of stairs that she would be listening and we were to pay 1 yuan (about 15 cents) for each time we rang the bell. We rang it 9 times which, according to Xuesong, will bring prosperity to our business.
On the way back to Beijing, we noticed a dozen or more couples, in wedding dresses and tuxedos, posing for pictures along the river. Apparently, photographers arrange to bus them down to this area for photos. It was somewhat puzzling to me as the area was not particularly attractive.
After dinner, there were more foot massages.
The next day, Saturday, we moved from the Shangdi area, the techie area, to a 3 bedroom apartment, closer to the center of town, where we were joined by oj, Ahn Sook and Dr. and Mrs. Lee, all arriving from Seoul. This brought our group to 8. Yk, the organizer, had carefully planned the weekend activities of meals, shows, cocktails and massages, but, as it turned out, some of these activities had to be eliminated in order to accommodate the necessary shopping.
We had dinner that night at a North Korean restaurant in a hotel. The 8 of us were joined by Dr. Kim, the president of Yanbian and Pyongyang Institutes of Technology, and three other gentlemen, one a real estate developer, one a Chinese government official and the other a finance guy from Seattle (yk does manage to bring together groups of people).
After dinner, several of the guests had to leave to catch planes, but the fellow from Seattle noted that there was karaoke equipment in the room and said that he would skip his flight if we were to start to karoke. One of the waitresses set up the equipment and performed a song while the song books were being examined. It turned out that most of the songs were North Korean and unknown to the group, so the karaoke was short lived.
We next went to xuesong and aihua’s home where several in the group were treated by xuesong’s father who is some kind of mystical healer.
By this time it was getting late and I was exhausted. I fell asleep in the car, thinking we were heading back to the apartment but awoke to find we were at a massage place. I was too shot even for a massage and yk walked me back to the apartment. Knowing how much she likes her massages, I know this was a major sacrifice.
Sunday morning, Ahn Sook and Xuesong went golfing and Aihua took oj, yk and me shopping ending up at a “high-end knockoff” store, where oj did some serious shopping.
We met up with the group in the early evening outside the Chaoyang Theater for the flying acrobatics show. While waiting outside the theater I saw something I couldn’t quite believe – a young man reading a book while pedaling his bicycle through Beijing traffic. Fortunately, I was able to point him out to the others, thus verifying that I wasn’t hallucinating.
The show was quite stunning, ending with 12 women fanned out on a bicycle, causing Ahn Sook to remark that Beijing doesn’t need so many bikes.
After the show, we went to yk’s favorite Peking duck restaurant where we were joined by two friends of Xuesong. I again became fatigued and after dinner excused myself, intending to take a cab back to the apartment, but xuesong insisted on driving me. Once again, I missed the nightly massage.
The next morning, having inspected oj’s purchases, Ahn Sook and Mrs. Lee wanted to go to the knock-off store, so Xuesong took them there, along with oj who wanted to sure she hadn’t missed anything.
Yk and I took the opportunity to visit an ex-pat bookstore – café she had read about. It turned out to be somewhat disappointing – more café than a bookstore.
That afternoon we had drinks in a 20th floor hotel cocktail lounge with a view overlooking the Water Cube and Bird’s Nest stadium.
We had dinner that night at what was supposed to be an Italian restaurant, but the restaurant had apparently changed to a more eclectic, Asian centered menu. We were joined by Iris, a friend of oj and yk, who is curating an exhibit of a Korean artist in Beijing, and a colleague of hers who referred to himself on his business card as the Art Master.
After dinner, Xuesong took oj, Ahn Sook, and the Lees to the airport for their flight back to Seoul, while the rest of us ordered another bottle of wine. After we received the wine, a waitress brought us several dishes of nuts which she said were complimentary. Behind her was the manager who approached me and said I was the first westerner they’ve had in the restaurant and would I mind answering a few questions about the food.
We spent the night in a hotel back in the Shangdi area and I was put to work the following morning, recording promotional video clips.
After lunch we met our friend John who had just returned from several days of tree planting in the desert of Mongolia. We met at a Starbuck’s and if anyone would like a map of the Starbuck’s locations in Beijing, I have one for you.
That evening we were taken to the Laoshe Teahouse in the heart of Beijing, where we were joined by Iris and the Art Master. In the lobby, there are statues of Deng Xiaoping (I think) greeting Bush senior, a meeting that took place in the teahouse.
The teahouse puts on a show which consists of a collection of eclectic acts, reminiscent of the old Ed Sullivan show with an oriental flavor. There were comedy duos, dish spinners, long-spouted teapot acrobats, a magic show, an aria performed by a drag queen, and, my favorite, a Sichuan face changer.
After the show, Xuesong insisted I sit for a caricature portrait at the teahouse. It’s somewhat disconcerting to sit there and watch numerous Chinese lean over the artist’s shoulder and giggle.
We had a late dinner at one of the few restaurants that stay open late. Xuesong ordered a small bottle of 112 proof Chinese whiskey. We wound up going through 5 of them.
As we walked to our room, back in the hotel, we passed a man passed out in the corridor. He was snoring so loudly we could hear him from our room, but I was so tired it didn’t matter. He was gone in the morning.
My last adventure was the trip to the airport Wednesday morning. My flight was at noon, yk’s at 2. We left the hotel a bit after 9 with a side stop planned to pick up a dress Mrs. Lee had left for alterations. Traffic was heavy and Xuesong wound up taking a round about route to the ring road which also had heavy, but moving, traffic. It was about 10 when we got to exit for the dress shop, but we had no sooner gotten on the exit ramp when traffic stopped completely. After a few minutes, passengers started exiting the buses ahead of us. Aihua decided to get out and walk to the dress shop. She called shortly afterward to say there was an accident on the road ahead and all traffic was stopped. I decided it would be best for me to take my bags down the ramp, cross to the other side of the street where traffic was moving somewhat, and get a cab to the airport.
Crossing the street involved lifting my bags over a center barrier, an awkward process. Once on the other side, I couldn’t find a cab. Most had passengers and those that didn’t wave me off, an odd occurrence in Beijing. I finally decided to walk to the corner and finally found a cab on the next street.
I wasn’t fully sure, however, that the driver had understood where I wanted to go (feijichang = airport) and became more concerned when he passed the entrance to the airport expressway and remained on the rather busy street.
He did finally get on the expressway, however, and we made it to the airport without further incident. Now all that remained was check-in, tram ride, exit immigration, secondary document check, and airport security.
The check-in line was longer than usual and slow moving. When I finally reached the front the agent said, “Did you know your flight has been delayed for four hours?” So much for rushing.
I navigated the rest of the checkpoints and finally reached the Air China lounge. Yk was already there.
Small Wide World 