Sanlitar

Tuesday, Ben and I decided to take the subway to downtown Beijing. We met at 5:30 PM on the street corner in Haidian District, where we usually split ways when coming back from the restaurants. We walked about thirty minutes to the Wudaokou subway station, which is near our school. This was my first time at the subway in Beijing so it was a little confusing. We got two one way tickets for six kuai (75 cents) and headed upstairs to the train. The first train we got on was packed full of people like everything in Beijing. The first thing I noticed was how bad the B.O. smell was. It wasn’t like the busses where they have windows to keep air flowing. After about five minutes, we realized we were on the train going the opposite direction we intended to go. So, we got off at the next stop and changed trains. We took this train towards Xizhimen, where the line ends, and hopped on the next subway line towards Jishutan. After about four stops, we got off at Dongsishitiao. It was already dark now, and the downtown was all lit up for the night. We started walking down the road for about twenty minutes. I then realized that this was the really nice part of Beijing. When you hear things about Beijing being really great, they’re probably talking about this area. I was really surprised and a little disappointed because it takes about an hour and a half to get here from my place. We were in the heart of Beijing and it made Haidian District look like the ghetto.

Ben was sort of familiar with this area and showed me some interesting places. We were both starving. I had only eaten a muffin and a pear the whole day, and skipped dinner with the family to come downtown. This area is very close to all the embassies and a lot of foreigners. So we decided to get something different for dinner. We went down the road a little more and turned down a dark alleyway to find the restaurant, which is called “Fish and Chips”. The alleyways reminded me of the old Hutongs that used to fill Beijing, until they were all torn down for new, modern developments. The alley we walked down was actually a very popular place, filled with bars, clubs, and restaurants for the high class. It was certainly different. We told the Chinese man at the “Fish and Chips” that we wanted two plates of fish and chips. It was one hundred kuai all together ($12.50). That’s a steep price to pay in China for a meal that’s not even very big. But that’s how you get the western delicacies here. Not like it’s a lot of money for foreigners. For me it just means I have to go to the ATM machine again to refill my wallet. Anyway, the food tasted really good. The restaurant played two songs the whole time we sat there, and the cook kept singing along saying “We will, we will rock you!” while inserting random English swear words.

Foreigners don’t get any weird looks in this place either. When we sat outside the “Fish and Chips”, I saw as many foreigners as I saw Chinese people. There aren’t any beggars around here either. Instead you get salespeople asking you in English to buy their things. We must have had at least five people ask if we wanted to buy the same pair of gloves from them. It’s not even cold here yet. Then there’re the Nigerian drug dealers. Apparently, they do a lot of business around here. As you walk past them, they appear interested in conversing with you in English. Last year Ben talked with one of the guys, but the dealer lost interest in the conversation and got straight to the point. It’s great. All kinds of shady characters.

Speaking of shady things, which I’m learning is never far away in China, is the pirated media business. This was a really interesting experience, it being my first and definitely not last. We walked into a music store filled with all kinds of CDs. The only one I recognized was a Yanni CD though. We walked up to one of the workers. Ben had been here before. She saw him and asked if we wanted a DVD. That’s what we were here for. She happily led us out the back door, through the emergency exit of the shopping mall, through the stairwell, down a corridor, and took a right turn. It looked like there was a storage closet here. She opened the door to a room about the size of a walk-in-closet filled wall to wall with Chinese pirated DVDs. They had a great selection. I bought the 9 DVD box set, season one, of “Lost” for 72 kuai. That’s nine dollars. Best deal I made in my life. The quality is perfect too. I’ve been watching them for the past few days, and I have to say “Lost” is really, really good. When I finish the first season, Ben already has the second one lined up.

Our last stop was a library. It was a library full of English books, rich foreigners sipping coffee, and a café and restaurant. It was a really nice place. I was just wearing a sweaty t-shirt and jeans, and felt a little out of place among the high rollers, but it was okay just because I was American. It’s weird and sometimes uncomfortable being privileged because of where you come from. This is the type of place in China, where people can come and live like kings even if they aren’t rich in their home country. I don’t know how bad it is, but I could really see this going to some people’s heads thinking too highly of themselves. I bet some people just become very spoiled and egocentric here.

We took a taxi back to the train station and waited for the next train. We were tired and wanted to sit down. Getting a seat on a Chinese subway is like a game of musical chairs though. So when the train arrived, we stood in front of the door on our toes, before it opened up. It opened and we dashed inside and got seats. The train got completely full about a minute later. Instead of walking with the queue at the next station, we jumped the fence and ran up the stairs past the packed escalators. I get the feeling most Chinese folks don’t like to do things physical unless they have to. Nobody else wanted to walk up. So we got on the next train early and got back to Wudaokou station. We got a cab back to the street corner and arrived at about 10:00 PM.




This is what my homework looks like everyday. Mostly just writing Chinese characters (Hanzi) for three hours or more each day. The picture above it is one I took at the Lhama Temple this weekend.