Beijing - One Last Time - Part Two

Truly the last time:
November 21st, 2009
Our phase of the project draws to a close and I am looking forward to moving on to something new. A few weeks ago, I broke the fifth metatarsal in my right foot. I was down for a weekend in Austin visiting Joy and his family whom I hadn’t seen in years. It was also a chance to see Thomas’ three kids. So it was quite the joyful reunion in Austin. Except on the Saturday night, we three, Joy, Minnie and I went out to check out the jazz lounges in the entertainment district. I realized that the one time I had been to Austin, I hadn’t really seen downtown Austin. We walked by pubs, some that I recognized from the Real World: Austin episodes. They did not cater to people of our age group. We went to a bar, I ordered a tall glass of Long Island Iced Tea, and sat and listened to the live band. It was fantastic. Then we moved on to the next. But the streets of Austin are cobbled, and the tiny, slim heels in my ‘Roach-killer’ Stuart Weizmann’s were my downfall. I thought I had a sprained ankle. It turned into a broken foot the next morning. Ah well, I couldn’t go back to T.o., but I could work from my laptop, and work I did. At the end of the day, my butt hurt! And there was no question, I would not be traveling anywhere for the next week at least.

A week later, I flew back to Toronto. And as the politics of the project grew heated, so did our collective frustration. Kevin, Matt, Eric, Yaw and I would be traveling to Beijing – potentially one last time, along with Charlie our engagement partner.

With a broken foot encased in a knee high air-plaster boot, I boarded my flight to China. It was packed. Of course, I had wheel chair access, and that helped a lot. People watched me limp, and hurried to help me with everything. It’s extraordinary how caring people get when they see someone else in pain. It holds out hope for all of mankind. And I will certainly be more considerate of people I see in wheelchairs. Limited mobility is an awful thing.

The flight was uneventful, except that in the 13 hours elapsed time, I went from noon to night to day to night again! Weird does not begin to describe it. But it did help with adjusting to the time difference. I landed in the dark. It had been raining earlier but had now stopped. It was cold and I could see my breath in little puffs! I lit up a cigarette. It didn’t really feel that good. Did I mention that I am now on Champix trying to curb my nicotine addiction? I took a taxi to the hotel. Everyone was very kind. Of course, at the desk I got the “Welcome back, Ms Routh” followed quickly by “Is Mr Kevin coming in today as well?” Ah, Kevin, Kevin… you have won the hearts of the people here. But unfortunately for the people at the Crowne Plaza, Mr. Kevin would be arriving only the next night. Turns out – they were full, but held a room for him… talk about service!

I dumped my bags in my room. It was already happy hour, and I was on the 17th floor. Might as well check to see if my other buddies had turned up - and where else to look for them but in the Club Lounge on the same floor? I was right – they were there! Hugs all around and we all sat down and chewed some fat. Of course, work always comes first, but this time, we had the sense of this being our last few days here. We were all unsure of what we had to do beyond our daily dosage of work. Plans of action were made.

The next morning dawned bright and SNOWY!! There had been around 5” of snow on the ground overnight. Clearly Beijing is not as prepared as say Toronto or Detroit or Pittsburgh where we come from. The driveway in front of the hotel was being shoveled by the hotel employees, using whatever they had to hand. It was cold and bright as I headed out to breakfast. The others were already down with the exception of Matt – who walked in a little later. Charlie, Eric and Yaw decided to head out first at around 8 am. Matt and I were still at breakfast. Sometime later, Eric showed up. Evidently there were no taxis to be had. But a few minutes later, they found a taxi. Matt and I waited for 45 minutes and then got one. Traffic was a mess usually describes something in LA or T.o. during rush hour. This was worse, much, much worse. The roads were not shoveled. It had been wet snow falling, and there was slush absolutely everywhere! Yet people were still out in droves going about their daily grind. Ugly, dirty snow lined the sidewalks and the streets and people waded through it. By the time we reached work we had been sitting in traffic for over two hours! Did I mention that Eric’s cabbie was actually able to get out of the cab for FOUR cigarette breaks? Yes, traffic was that bad! Of course, we didn’t spot a single winter tire anywhere. Evidently all you need are all-seasons. We left at 3pm – tired from our morning commute, and jet lag, and sojourned to the 17th floor – where Yaw and I worked through some of the outstanding issues.

Kevin’s flight was due in around 10 pm. I was not expecting to see him till breakfast the next morning, if at all. But around 11 pm – he pinged me. He was already at the hotel! He wanted to stop by to drop off a laptop camera for me. Too fun! He came over, and we sat and chatted of inconsequential things. By the next day, a sort of routine set into place. Breakfast, work, etc. etc. etc.

Of course, the first thing we had to do was book one last meal at the Made In China. We’d tried Peking Ducks elsewhere, and this is really the best place that we’d had so far. So that was decided – we would be doing our Peking Duck dinner on Friday. It was exactly as beautiful as I remembered. The flavors still exploded in my mouth. Good company, good food, good wine… what more could one ask for?

The next thing I had to do was have the chorizos at Churrasco’s, the Brazilian restaurant at the hotel. They were just as succulent and just as good. Yum!!

And of course, there were the caipirinhas at the Palm Lounge. I kept my limit to two. I was being a really good girl.

Now, there was one thing that I had been dying to do ever since we first went to Beijing - that was to go for a hutong tour. This time, the boys decided they wanted to go cycling through it. It might have been unfair of me to have been incredibly put off by this decision – considering a) I don’t bike, b) I couldn’t even if I had wanted to and c) I’d been requesting them to do it for months – and they decided to do it while I was out of commission. So I came down really hard on them. I was feeling abandoned and sorry for myself as well. That morning, I was unfairly bitchy to them – but, in my defense, they should also have had a bit of compassion for me, I think. In any case, I watched them take off on Saturday, and went off to my room. A shower and I wanted to catch up on sleep. They had promised to come back and do something together. I fell asleep and woke up around 2:30 pm when the phone went. It was Kevin telling me they were headed back and would be back in about half an hour. I went down to the restaurant – starving. They had stopped the lunch service – which was strange – I had had lunch at the Palm Garden late in the afternoon in summer. So I had to make do with a tea service instead. Coffee, scones, petit-fours…had to suffice until I could get something more substantial into me. When they came in, they were frozen! It had been brutally cold outside and cycling had to have been tough in that weather – sunny though it was.

Eric and Kevin are the ones I interact with the most, they are my Beijing family, and I guess that’s why I'd been feeling so hurt and so left out. But I realized that it was really not fair of me to expect them to curtail their excursions simply because I couldn't join in. And something so trivial and silly was really not worth losing their friendship over. I swallowed my pride and decided to apologize. That evening as we walked to the massage parlor, I walked with Kevin and we talked about it. I apologized to him. I also caught up with Eric and apologized to him. I was glad I did it!

The next day, we decided to go to the Silk Market. I decided to be brave about it, and do it. Kiran – our new found friend joined us. Two of our clients were also in town, KevinA and Mike. Eric was going to show Matt the Forbidden City and then they would be headed to the Silk Market. Somehow – other than Charlie, we all ended up at the Silk Market. I had no plans to buy anything, but watching Kevin buy “Ugg” boots, I decided I wanted a pair too. I also needed a new case as my duffel bag was already filled to the brim. Silk Market was just the same – confusing, crowded, chaotic. I also wanted some pictures of the inside. Kevin wanted a particular trinket and I did want some silly artifacts as well. We wandered up to the floor where these could be found. As we walked through different stores, I was looking for some kind of organizer for my desk. I found some lacquered boxes that looked like I could use them as something-or-the-other holders. I picked one up. It was beautifully painted. I opened it, gasped in shock and slammed it shut. On the bottom was an exquisitely detailed illustration of a man and woman in Kama sutra poses, as was the inside of the lid. Giggling hysterically, I called Kevin over and showed him. We quickly snapped pics of the box and put it down before the store owner walked in.

We finished up at the 7th floor, where we decided to have lunch. It was an enormous buffet and for a market restaurant quite okay.

At this point, I have to interject with the story of the goatees. Matt and Yaw had goatees. Eric and Kevin decided to grow a goatee as well. Although Kevin was quite certain that he wouldn’t be able to grow a decent one, since his facial hair takes time to grow, plus its light colored. Eric was happy with his growth – it was working. However, it wasn’t until the second week that Kevin’s beard really start showing. And suddenly Kevin the perfect gentleman was less visible, and Kevin the (slightly) bad boy started coming out. Personality wise too, it started to show! But it was fun to see him drop a few of those inhibitions and being more free.

The week flew by – mostly with work and Club Lounge and Palm Garden and massages. On our last Friday, Eric wanted us to go have a meal at this hutong restaurant that he had been to with Allen. Of course, he did not remember which restaurant it was, so he had to make a guess, and guess he did.

On Thursday, we had been invited to dinner by the hotel’s Customer Service Manager at the hotel’s Chinese restaurant. It was a sumptuous meal – but there was a shrimp dish cooked with what Yaw called numb. These peppercorns literally numbed your taste buds – they were so hot.

That night I figured I was allergic to them. This was the second night in a row I had had this reaction and this was the only common factor in the two meals. My skin was flushed and dry and hot – almost feverish. I could walk out into the bitter cold and not feel a thing. I opened out the windows to my room as far as I could, turned the heat off and eventually fell asleep.
Friday afternoon, we left work early. Kevin and Yaw headed back to the hotel. They would be going to Tea City – an underground tea market, so that Kevin could pick up tea for friends and family back home. Eric and I headed to Silk Market directly. The Silk Market was not that far – at least not where we come from. We were tired and fell asleep in the cab. An hour later I woke up – we had still not reached the market! This was ridiculous! But it was traffic all the way. Ugly, congested, stalled. Beijing in the rush hour. I realized that a couple of places I’d been to earlier were actually within walking distance of Silk market – including that one structure that Eric so loves. It was an hour and a half before we finally got there.
Our chores at Silk Market completed – we headed back to the hotel. Eric had to give Yaw the restaurant information. They didn't speak English, and Yaw would have to be the translator. We were told that we would have to reach there before 8pm – the kitchen closed then. Wow!

We hurried out and got a cab, with Yaw providing directions. The cab driver was not sure which hutong we were going to. We drove down this main road which we’d been down many times before. Hutongs took off every so often from this road that was lined with small shops. We missed the hutong we were going to and take a u-turn to drive back up the road. The entrance was across the street. We crossed the street and entered the hutong.
For anyone wondering what a hutong is – in India, it would be called a gulli. In America – you would call it an alley. But I think gulli is more appropriate. The same unevenly paved narrow roads; scooters, cars, parked in front of tiny dimly lit shops; wires dangling from dim lamp posts; pot holes. Oh yes, this feels totally familiar to me. I could have been in Parsudih, Jamshedpur for all I knew! Only difference? no stray cows or dogs around.

We walked for about a 100 yards and there in front of us was the restaurant. It was built typically in that “palace” style only scaled down. The door to the “Princess” restaurant was flanked by two men in traditional Chinese costumes. Of course, right about this time, Eric also realized that this wasn’t the restaurant he had wanted to take us to. But we were already there, and we decided to try it. It might just be a happy accident. And it was.
The place was old – a few centuries old. We entered the main foyer – if you could call it that. Yaw talked to the people at the desk while we looked around us. A group of girls dressed in long red cheongsams, suddenly stepped out from a room to our left and ran across the inner courtyard to the next building. We followed them but through a different set of big doors. The room beyond was set in below the level of the steps. To our right were tables full of diners. To our left, a large cleared area strung with red lanterns. At the far end sat a woman dressed in traditional Chinese robes and head dress with two “attendants” behind her. A young man with a pig tail stepped onto the stage, and announced something. Yaw wasn’t around to translate. Kevin had his DVR out and recording and so did Eric – like an idiot, I had forgotten to bring my camera. The girls who we’d seen earlier stepped out onto the large area – I guess you could call it a stage. They started dancing, small delicate steps, flowing, weaving, undulating. Pretty girls with smooth faces. I looked closely. The last one in the line was definitely well into her late twenties – if not older. But they didn’t look it! They moved in time to the music, evidently dancing in the Princess’ court. Formations came and went. It was all very pretty. And very surreal because it was so similar in style to Manipuri style of dancing. I noticed that they didn’t have much of the finger movements that are so intrinsic to Indian styles of dancing. Once that was over, we were led to a large round table in the back room. All the furniture was heavy, wooden and intricate. The menu was a set menu. We let Yaw do the ordering. The table was set quickly. Tea was brought out. One of the girls came over and asked if we wanted to look around the rest of the place. We jumped at the chance – well the guys did, I kind of pushed myself off my chair – as I still favored my leg. The next courtyard was also surrounded by rooms. They took us to the first one and asked us if we wanted to try on the dresses. Of course, we did! Yaw and Eric went first. Yaw being Chinese totally looked the part. He looked like he’d just come off the battleground – especially with the goatee. Eric strangely, also looked the part – perhaps because of his coloring. Unfortunately for Kevin – they didn’t have any robes in his size, so he had to make do with a hat and pigtail instead. I stood still as two women worked me into a robe, with an intricate collar. I could hear Kevin saying behind me that I was playing the part to the hilt, being waited upon. Thing is, all that acting I did back in the day, was coming back to me. Especially the getting dressed part where you stood still while the costume designer dressed you up and handed you over to make up. They tied a “hat” on my head and gave me a silk kerchief for my hand. I was ready. Princess Gim Pi! Okay – I came up with that one right now. We went from room to room. I saw wedding robes – gorgeous, vibrant colors with intricate gold and silk thread embroidery of dragons on them. I really wanted to try one on. The furniture was also intricately carved. We took pictures, with me doing my best ‘off with his head’ impression.

I was so glad we’d come here. This was a totally novel experience for us, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Hopefully, the food would be as good. We changed and got back to our table. Another routine was starting up. This time the girls were all dressed in green, and their skirts had jagged edges like the leaves of a tree. They signified the coming of spring, I think. Their dance was joyous, and bubbly, faster with more spins and twirls, and criss-cross configurations as they danced for their queen.

Our dinner arrived. In the center was a big pot of duck soup. On the lazy Susan were small plates of food. Some we recognized some we didn’t. There were fish fry-ums, and chicken, prawns, tiny eggs colored green, bok choy, raisins, pistachios, and oh! A ton of things. The tea was served with palm-sugar – another familiar food for me. Our attendant ladled the soup out for us – evidently that was the etiquette of the house. You don’t serve the soup to yourself, the rest of the dishes you pick up with the chopsticks. She added shrimp balls to the soup and then finally vegetarian dumplings. It was a satisfying comforting meal on a cold winter’s day. Perfect! We were the last ones left in the restaurant. We realized why we’d been told 8 pm. We walked back to the main street and then it was a quest for cabs.
I walked back with Kevin to his room to pick up my laptop bag. This was the last time I’d hang out with him on this project, and that last hug felt kind of sad. But we did have our video cams – so we’d see each other soon. Besides, we still had our daily calls. We were all flying back the next day, but he was out first, Eric and Yaw were next and I was last.

The next day, Eric and Yaw and I met for one last breakfast at the restaurant. They were going to Tea City. I still had around 150RMB in the massage parlor kitty – I asked them to pick me up some Oolong cha for my friends back home. I still had to finish packing. I packed, slept and waited for them to get back. Eric came back around 1 – we met in the Lounge for one last cup of coffee. He’d brought my tea for me. Our conversation centered around this whole experience and became vaguely nostalgic – and yet forward looking, too.

I can’t finish this tale without speaking of the kindness of strangers. These people in my blogs are my friends. This time, with a broken foot, I had to depend on them sometimes. Kevin got me lunch – almost every day – he went out for food in the cold, so I would not have to walk on the icy pavements. Every time, I put out a hand for help to get over stairs or uneven pavement or something – I felt another hand come into mine for support. Mostly it was Kevin or Eric or Matt or Yaw but sometimes it was total strangers. Anyone from the wait staff at the Crowne would rush to grab my laptop bag as I came in for breakfast and help me up or down the slope – especially Rosie. Taxi drivers would open my doors for me and even agree to go in the wrong direction, simply so I would not have to cross the street to get a cab going in the right direction. Everywhere I went, I met kindness. The flight attendants on my flight back were especially good to me – it’s their job – but they went beyond it. All these strangers helping a person – its hope for this world – surely.

I don’t think any of us will ever experience anything like this ever again. Would I have done some things differently? Absolutely. But some things – I would not change, not for the world!