Beijing

Ah, Beijing. Tomorrow we’re finally off to placement. Finally is the operative word there, but I’ll tell that story in due course. This week has been a great introduction to China, in every possible way (positive and negative – see later!) but although this next bit is what I’m been trying to distract myself from thinking about for the last six months, I’m looking forward to getting settled and into a routine. I might come back down to earth and feel a bit more normal again then.

The journey into Beijing train station was one of the most nerve-wracking things I have ever done; time just slowed right down like it does when you know you’re about to fall over or off something and the enormity of the next five months hit me. I’ll admit I had a serious wobble, but then getting off the train, adrenaline kicked in and I remembered that I’d done a triathlon and taken the Trans-Mongolian Express – Beijing metro, how hard could that be? It’s colours and counting, simple. Yes, friends, simple, if you know which metro station you’re going to. I picked the wrong one from  Huixinxiqiao Nankou and Huixinxiqiao Beikou and it took me about an hour and a half of wandering and trying out my best ‘Nihao *points at Chinese address*’ to find the hotel! Once I eventually reached the Huiqiao Hotel, the day’s humidity combined with the stress sweats and six days with only whore’s baths (strategic wetwipes) on the train meant I was a prime candidate for any ‘Most Needed Shower in the History of Desperately Needed Showers’ award going. I checked in by paying my visa extension fee (just short of £200, who needs money anyway right?) handing over my passport for said visa extension, then being forced to have my photo taken THREE TIMES. I’m surprised the lens didn’t crack.

My roommate Laura, who it turns out is also my placement buddy – hold onto your hats, I’m getting to that too – wasn’t in when I arrived. Once I’d showered and life was once again worth living, I hopped online to update you lovely people of my train adventures. That’s right, first thing I did in Beijing was get online; I am truly a child of my times. People were still arriving all Monday evening and into Tuesday, so it wasn’t until Tuesday night that we had our Welcome Dinner. Monday night was mostly meeting people and trying not to bore people silly with train stories!

On Tuesday we had a few orientation things, a tour in the morning and a lecture covering the basics of what we’re here to do followed by a rah-rah session come game show style quiz. The lecture was hard work – it covered lots of things we all already knew and was interspersed by some really frustratingly unnecessary questions, but I got quite into the rah-rah session because I’m very impressionable like that. Did you know, the emergency number for Fire Rescue here (119) sounds, in Chinese, like the words for “need...need...rescue” or that chrysanthemums are used for mourning or that it’s offensive to give clocks as presents to old people? You do now! The cheering to see which group registered the most decibels was a step too far though. I managed my first bit of sightseeing – Tian’anmen Square, and the courtyards of the Forbidden Palace. A group of us popped out between the morning and afternoon sessions because we didn’t have much free time and the only sightseeing planned was Thursday’s big tour. It took about forty-five minutes to get to the centre of Beijing, and as we only had, literally a couple of hours, we decided that to pay the entrance fee into the Forbidden Palace itself would have been a waste, so I’ve that to do another day. Tian’anmen though, that was something else. Indescribably enormous, oppressively hot, stereotypically smoggy and I got stopped by a Chinese girl and asked if she could take a photo with me!

Unfortunately, time constraints and the way that the week has been organised meant that I haven’t seen as much of Beijing as I’d like to have done. On Tuesday evening (after the Welcome Feast) our placements were posted – I’m going to Handan in Heibei province (which is the one surrounding the Beijing municipality) so we should be able to come in for the odd weekend trip and more sightseeing. I was initially a bit disappointed about not being in the south of the country, but as I don’t cope with heat very well I suppose it’s for the best and I can always make my way south once I’ve finished teaching. There isn’t anything about the place in the Lonely Planet, so it’s another mystery, but Laura and I are keeping each other motivated and we’ll take it as it comes. We signed our contracts and had a lecture about what to expect from a Chinese school on Wednesday and got a (comparatively!) early night.

Thursday was epic. We were down in the lobby at 6.30 to go on our day’s tour. Breakfast on the coach was an interesting, but surprisingly tasty, cake/loaf with the texture of sponge cake and the taste of mild cheese. Our first stop was the Ming Tomb, about an hour’s drive from the hotel. It was quiet enough when we got there for the illusion of tranquillity, especially since I darted ahead of the tour party! The tomb we visited belonged to the third Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but there are about 13 tombs in total including a boulevard with giant stone animal statues which we didn’t see. Maybe another day... After that we drove to the Great Wall of China. I’ve been using a lot of superlatives in the last couple of weeks, but the Great Wall was exactly that. It was one of the pinch-me-I-can’t-quite-believe-this moments of the trip, and despite the heat and the steep steps I practically skipped up from sheer exhilaration!

Lunch came next and then we went to see the Olympic complex – the Birds’ Nest stadium and the Watercube. It was only a brief stop, literally enough time to walk from the coach park, take a couple of pictures and walk back again so I didn’t get to see inside in the flesh. At least I watched when it was all on TV, and it was still enough to imagine how glorious it must feel to be good enough to represent your country at something. The next stop on our whirlwind day was a market – everything and anything you could possibly want spread across six floors jumbled up with everything and anything you don’t and never would need, but really want! There were some visor sunglasses that caught my eye and an ‘I <3 BJ’ t-shirt that had me in stitches. I was really hoping for some more comedy souvenirs – ‘my friend went to Beijing and all I got was this pollution mask’ or something, but alas no. Maybe a business opportunity in the making! I was almost sucked into buying two winter hats (on the hottest day of my life!) but Niamh rescued me and I left with my purse intact...this time. I kind of regret not buying the visor sunglasses though! Dinner and an acrobatics show started off the evening. It was incredible – I don’t think my mouth was closed from start to finish, and I didn’t think half of what the performers were doing was physically possible. Amazing, amazing, amazing!

That was the end of our official sightseeing day, but TTC had organised a leaving party for the group which I went along to. The party was alright, but the drinks were free and I finally got a night of dancing in, which is always good. I shepherded a few lost souls back to the hotel and negotiated with an irate Chinese taxi driver, got into bed, decided I still had life in me, got dressed again and took my roommate back to the bar down the road, saw the sun and rolled into bed again after a full on 24hours! Excellent. Laura and I were up, reasonably bright-eyed and bushy tailed for our ‘cultural classes’ on Friday - Mandarin, tai’chi and calligraphy and packing for departure on Saturday. Or so we thought.

We were duplicated on the departure list and there was some serious miscommunication all over the shop, so come Saturday morning we checked out at 9 and sat in the lobby for four hours before TTC confirmed that actually we’d be leaving on Sunday afternoon and getting the train rather than being driven. Hugely frustrating, but there was nothing we could do about it so Laura and I chilled out for the afternoon (too hot for wandering) before finding the local supermarket and heading back into the centre of town a bit later to see a bit more of the place and treating ourselves to some comfort food. Not our greatest day, not TTC’s greatest hour, but never mind. I’ve enjoyed this week, but it’s felt like a holiday and I’m ready to not be in limbo any more so just as well it’s coming to a close. I don’t know when I’ll have internet in Handan yet, but when I do I’ll be a full on teacher...sort of. Oh god. Send me vibes please, I’m absolutely terrified!