Parklife

I'm in Beijing now, which means I've made it all the way from Dunhuang to here with only two posts on this blog. If I was a parent I'd be charged with neglect...

So this is it, the throbbing heart of "China", that most abstract of entities. This is where I'm living. Well, not literally on the street, I'm sure you know what I mean.


I'm enjoying Beijing, or all one day of it so far. The people seem quite friendly, a drastic contrast to their rivals down in Shanghai that I spent some time with a few years ago. The city is enormous, but wandering the hutong (the laneways that honeycomb the city's inner blocks) is quite interesting and allows one to take everything in, flaneur-style, at a much more human pace.

On a basic level, it is simply nice being in a big, cosmopolitan city, which is full of people doing
things. Much more interesting things than the yokels in the town I just came from (Sorry Datong, nothing personal), whose favourite pasttime seemed to be, 'stare [slackjawed] and/or try to rip-off the foreigner'...

The weather is clear, cool, and windy...also known as 'kite-flying weather'. As I took this photo, the guy in the red hat said, "Hey, the foreigner is taking our photo!". Everybody laughed...and wouldn't you? Crazy foreigners...


No, not a bird, plane or crime-fighter. A kite.

Can't work out how to keep those pesky songbirds from flying away when you take them with you for a spin around town? Consider string! (look closely)

Really, people do all kinds of things in parks over here, unlike back home where they are reserved for kids (of all ages) kicking footballs. In Xi'an I was surprised to see a guy warbling out a very strange take on "Runaround Sue" in a park around the corner from my hotel. He even had a PA system and had drawn quite a crowd. Though falling down in the street and not being able to get back up is enough to draw a crowd in China, admittedly.

So 10 days in Beijing. At the moment the art galleries are calling louder than the Forbidden City, though I suppose one does have to head over there, paying one's respects to Chairman Mao along the way. I'll (try to) keep y'all posted. While I'm at it, I hope to recap some of the other places I've passed through on my way here. But really, that might be getting a bit too ambitious...