Beijing Belly
September 25th, 2005 by Greg
I arrived in Beijing yesterday morning at 6am by train from Qingdao. Didn’t get much sleep on the train as I felt quite dodgy – I must have eaten something in Qingdao which didn’t agree with me as I’ve spent the last 24 hours in considerable discomfort. Arriving at Beijing station desperately needing a number 2 and unable to find a single taxi driver willing to use the meter I felt pretty annoyed. I took the underground (地铁）to Chaoyangmen, thinking that I’d be able to get a cab from there but found the road was closed and taped off for some parade so had to walk with 2 heavy bags until I could find a cab. However, after checking in at a hostel and getting a few hours sleep I met up with Tim (a friend from the old Qingdao days), who’d been spending the last couple of years studying Chinese and sub-editing propaganda for the China Daily. Did some shopping, went back to have another rest (was feeling rather weary and weak), and then went out again for Tim’s leaving do as he’s just got a job in Hong Kong. Also bumped into a Leeds friend, Katie, briefly. Met a nice bunch of people last night. After a bit of travelling I might try to find a job in Beijing for a short while as it could be quite fun.
I’ve spent today wandering the streets of Beijing. Not going to say much about Beijing just yet as I’ll probably be here a few more days and will be coming back in the future.
Qingdao has changed so much – the old town is still there if a little run down, but the new section seems vast, modern and clean. I took a walk from the train station along the coast to No.2 beach and its really quite different. Saw lots of foreigners in bikinis, and was able to walk along the beach without anyone coming up to me or shouting “hallo laowai”. Very relaxing with a perfectly clear blue sky to boot, but perhaps lost some of its edge. Not that I have a problem with places changing. I think its rather arrogant to expect places to stay the same. Its a terrible attitude to be content with people’s standard of living staying low so that it looks authentic for western tourists. Its all “real China” – in many ways the modernity is more real than the faux authenticity of places like Lijiang. However its too soon to make any judgements as I wasn’t there for long and will definately be going back.
Having said all that I’m now kind of going to contradict myself. I’m thinking of going to a place called Fenghuangcheng (凤凰城) – Peacock Town , which is “a wonderful example of what villages were like prior to the onset of modernization.” It sounds like quite a cool place but I’m going to have to prepare myself for the 22 hour train journey. Its been a while since I’ve done one of those.
