The Courthouse Residency (Beijing, China)
I chose to bunker down in Beijing for a while and found a
traditional courtyard to stay in. This is an almost decrepit building in an old
alleyway part of the city, with a big enclosed central area and two levels of
rooms around the perimeter. A private room with an ensuite cost me the grand
total of $12.70 per night, so I couldn’t complain, nor was I surprised, when I
found a tied off plastic bag holding the shower head together, which was so
insufficient that having a shower made me colder, or when the staircase shook
as I walked up it, or when I patted my bed plumes of dust floated upwards (the
smog gets in everywhere and then the shit settles, making everything dusty with
a grey tinge).
So why would I bunker down so long in the one spot? A few
reasons; firstly because travel is exhausting, especially when you’re not being
led around with thirty other sheeple on a coach tour. When you gotta do all the
work, the day to day planning, it’s more spontaneous and more real experience,
but it’s obviously harder work to get around, communicate, not get ripped off,
getting to know a place and seeing all there is to see, etc. So it’s good to
just settle in one location and take it slower. Another reason is to get to
know a place thoroughly, which you can never do with a couple of days. That’s
why I think after 28 days I can say I know Beijing fairly well.
The final reason to bunker down is to keep my costs low.
Obviously, I’m on a budget, and if I can punctuate my trips with stops like
this where I lay low for a while and curb my spending, I’ll be able to travel
longer and further. It’s very easy to spend less than $20 a day here (including
accom), but you gotta eat in grubby restaurants with the locals, do a lot of
walking, and catch a lot of public transport (no taxi’s). And of course, not
get ripped off, because people are trying at every opportunity.
The little local restaurants, with maybe four or six tables
in them, where my favourite way to see the real China. They obviously love
their food, and so do I, so it was a match made in heaven. By the end of the
month there were a few local places that I had frequented every day or two that
I was sad to say goodbye to.
Here is a quick rundown of some things I did in my month in
Beijing;
Tian’men square: Big, open concrete square packed with
thousands of Chinese and international tourists all looking at the front gate
to the forbidden city and the big portrait of Chairman Mao. Here, lots of cons
come up and try to talk you into going for a beer, or a tea, or to see some
art, and end up extorting you for large amounts of money. They obviously trick
lots of tourists because there are plenty on the prowl; from old ladies to
teenage girls. By the end of the month I knew all their tricks so I would play
them, pretending I was interested to go with them but just had to go get a
friend and see how far they would walk with me. I called it ‘Con Conning’, and
yeah, probably not the smartest or safest activity for a lone traveller but I
was bored and wanted somebody, anybody, to talk to in English.
The Great Wall of China. I visited the wall three times
during my stay, three different sections, hours apart by car; First the ‘Secret
Wall’, which was covered in snow when we went and we were the only ones there,
the Jianshaling Wall, the most epic and picturesque part of the wall, and
Mutiya, a more touristy though impressive stretch of craggy peaks. There is a
reason it is one of the wonders of the world; its mind blowing how extensive it
is, and the mountainous terrain it snakes across adds to the grandeur.
Peking Duck: Whole restaurants dedicated to the national
dish of China. I ate a whole duck more than once (It was a struggle but I had
to; you can’t get single portions and I was by myself).
Snow Appreciation Days: In my previous blog I mentioned the
smog. It’s bad, but luckily it’s not perpetual; a strong wind or rain or snow
will get rid of it for a day or two, and miraculously there will be blue skies.
And yes, it did snow, and walking around the old parts of the city and the
parks and looking at the heaps of powdery white snow on everything was a
highlight (Seeing as the first time I ever saw snow fall was last December in
Korea).
Food Markets: from scorpions to starfish and everything in
between. I had some snake, and on my final night in Beijing, some dog meat. So
mum, tell Toby I ate his cousin and he is next. And if I’m still hungry I’ll
drive up to Newcastle and have Murphy. And if I’m still hungry after that I’ll
head up to Port Macquarie and have Mojo. Mmm…I’m salivating just thinking about
him.
Temples, Parks, Ruins, Markets, Museums…Bookstores. An old
theme park which has been sued time and time again by Disneyland and Warner
Brothers, and which half the rides are out of order. It was a ghost town – just
bizarre. There’s the bootleg DVD’s and the ‘made in china’ junk all over the
place. There’s poor people and beggar’s, and rich people with merc’s and the
best fashion. Two men might be walking down the street next to each other and
one might have on sunglasses that are worth more than the other man’s house.
That’s China, 2013.
Skype: I must say that one of the highlights of my stay in
Beijing was being able to see a beautiful, albeit slightly pixelated face from
all the way around the world. Modern technology blows my mind, and the fact I
could talk to Erin at any time, face to face, for free, just amazes me. Talking
to her helped me ‘maintain the rage’ for the trip at times I felt I was
beginning to wilt. Another highlight for me was talking to Nan and Grandad,
Uncool Mark and Aunty Deb, Kels and Mah and Pah, all up at Port Macquarie for
Easter. Being bored with no one to talk to in English really made that
conversation something of a special occasion for me.
So what else did I do? Apart from sleeping, eating, seeing,
doing, reading, writing, walking, not talking, con conning, snow gazing, being
glad to be on the road, being homesick, being excited, being discouraged and
lonely, being bored, being exhilarated; not much really.
I just lived a simple, slow, easy and mostly happy life for
a few weeks.
And then the next phase of the trip through Mongolia and
Russia came to mind, and I started to wish I could enjoy the calm before the
storm a little longer…
