Ni hao Beijing!

Ok. So I was showing off my linguistic skills just a wee bit. But as far as Cantonese is concerned all I know is “Ni hao” = “hello”, “ni hao ma?” = “how are you?” and “shishye” = “thank you.” That’s it. So humor me a little. You learnt something in the process didn’t you?

When I was almost dragged to Beijing I was pretty jaded and bored. Had just quit my job and thought, “hell! It isn’t one of those places I have been dying to see, but it’s a holiday. So, whatever.” And so I end up in Beijing, a city that took me completely by surprise.

It was around Christmas time. The temperature was between 3 to 5 and I was sure I would freeze my booty off. But as it turned out, the season was the highlight of our trip. We got to see, the aptly named, Great Wall covered in snow. The winter sun was at its peak, the jet-setting tourists were in another country, and we had The Great Wall almost all to ourselves. Even the jaded part of me was melted by the rare sight. I, like the rest of the world, had seen innumerable screensaver-style pictures of the Wall. So I doubt I would have been as moved if we had gone during tourist season. In fact I am certain I would have come back with typical postcard pictures from a foreign holiday. Instead I was treated to rarely seen vistas of the Badaling (no jokes please) area, which is where The Great Wall is located. The Wall is actually 75 kms North-East of Beijing and on the way we went to the Sacred Way and Ming Tombs.

The Sacred Way is a long stretch lined with statues of the royal priests, knights, animals and other things that were considered important to the Kings. Sort of like the equivalent of being buried with the things you love. The Kings are buried along the endless path and we didn’t bother making the supposedly 30 km long walk. A short drive from the Sacred Way are the Ming Tombs. This is large area with an underground site where many items from the period have been preserved. There’s also a museum here which displays the lavish costumes, jewels and more of the Mings. Reminded me A LOT of Indian Maharajahs and our museums.

In fact, this wasn’t the only time I found china similar to our country. It’s similar in many ways like both countries are historically very rich. You can’t turn around without bumping into a grand monument. Like if you want you can cover all the historical sites in Beijing in 1 day. The overwhelmingly beautiful Forbidden City, which is about a 2-3 km long walk, is connected to the Tiananmen Square. So as you exit one massive monument you enter another. As you walk away from Chairman Mao’s painting you head towards site of the student massacre. I really wanted to stand in the middle of the road and get a picture clicked ala the tank-stopper style. But clearly, that wasn’t going to happen. Our walk took us to The Temple of heaven. This is essentially a huge garden with a traditionally styled temple. You cannot go inside the temple but its history is rather fascinating. History has it that the King who built it, was rather arrogant and thought himself above the Gods. So instead of painting the topmost layer of the temple blue, which was a sign of heaven, he had it painted red, the colour of Chinese royalty. Soon after the temple’s completion, lightning struck it and the King feared he had offended the almighty. The temple was immediately repainted. And as you can see for yourself today, it is as blue as the sky above.

When the Kings weren’t busy crossing Gods, they were living it up in the Summer Palace. The palace is right on the edge of Beijing and is simply heavenly. There’s a huge lake embraced by mountains perched upon which stand the palace and a temple. When we went the lake was frozen solid, and personally, I think that added to its beauty. There’s an enormous marble boat which stands still on the lake. It’s actually so massive that it cannot be moved. Smaller boats are very much available for a ride around the lake.

A recent addition to China’s history-making character is the Bird’s Nest Stadium. It’s quite unique and intriguing. A classic example of how the country likes to do things differently. There was a frozen lake next to the stadium as well. And standing on it to have pictures clicked, made some people yell out funny things at me. Perhaps they were asking me to “Get off!” or for all I know maybe there saying “nice shoes!” The people often seem like they’re yelling for some baffling reason. Even the shopkeepers who are trying to persuade you to buy their VL bags (sic) seem to be cross with you, which they clearly aren’t because they’re giving you a big, warm smile. A little baffling.

But I suppose that’s china for you. Baffling but somewhat familiar. And a paradise for shoppers and particularly knock-off lovers. But that’s another blog and I’ll save it for another day of avoiding writing headlines. If you read till here, Shishye. If not, meh! Look that up in slang.com.