Beijing - A new Day in a New Country: Pt Un

April 26th, 2009

So I am back from Beijing.. News flash for those of you who did not know exactly how excited I was to be visiting a country I never even dreamed of going to. And for those of you not following my status on facebook. Many of you have asked me about my trip and how I liked it.

So let's start at the beginning. My adventures began on the way to Beijing itself.

I was meeting up with Kevin, my colleague and friend at Newark airport where we would do the hop to Beijing in a Continental flight. My flight from Toronto came in ahead of his, and we met up at the gate to the Beijing flight. We spent a few hours in the Continental club lounge before heading back for boarding. The flight was not quite full, and Kevin the lucky so-and-so got to board before I did – being the elite flier that he is. I was quite glad that he was on the same flight as I. It’s unnerving to land in a new country and not speak the language, never mind the fact that the 13 hour flight would not be quite so boring with someone to share it with. We’d planned to get some work done on the flight. So a couple of hours after the plane takes off, I decide to walk around and find him. The flight wasn’t quite full, and most of the rows were mostly occupied  in the aisle and window seats with empty center seats. We could easily swap seats and find ones next to each other! Well, my walk around was futile. I didn’t find him. Must be in the bathroom – I thought, and headed back to my seat. A few hours later, same walk around, same result. Where was the man? I was starting to feel like I was in the twilight zone. A kindly flight attendant offered to help me look him up in the manifest. A few minutes later she came back with a puzzled look. There was no Kevin on board. Now I was DEFINITELY in the Twilight zone.. how could it be? Kevin is hard to miss (see pic) and he HAD boarded before I did. Where could he be? And besides, how come he didn’t come by to my seat – I had told him I was in 34A. This was getting weird.

The flight goes straight North – up over Canada for about five hours,  past Greenland, and then curves over the North Pole and drops South into Siberia, Mongolia and China. The ride over the North Pole is a sight to behold. Vast tracts of white – ice as far as the eye can see. I saw a crevasse that looked bigger than the Grand Canyon – you could see the layers of ice in the buildup. I don’t know quite how deep it was. It’s scary and awe-inspiring, all at the same time. Somewhere, we crossed the 0 deg/180 deg longitude and it was the next day – just like that. The landscape changes slowly, oh so slowly. The ground as I see it is dry, jagged. Peaks of green pierce up through the light brown loamy soil, and I couldn’t make out if there were trees or not. Far to my right, I saw jagged, glistening white peaks. As we’re coming into Beijing airspace, the signs of humanity increase. Fields of paddy? Soy? Cut into little squares. In the center of these squares are blue-painted metal building roof-tops. Communes? I don’t know.

The airport in Beijing is to the North-East of the city. As I come out of the plane, I see Kevin at the top of the escalators. You cannot imagine the relief I felt! We walked through an impressive airport, and like most international airports there are a series of duty free shops. We walk out into the sunlight, grab a cab. All around us were little flaky things that look like snow flying around. Poplar tree flowers, Kevin informed me. The Guangdong highway leads into Beijing city and is very like any other international highway – except the signs are in Chinese and English. Green poplars line the highway. But very soon I realized, driving here is like driving in India. It’s a free for all. You got space? My car will nose in. Wow!!

The hotel was about ½ hour away – the Crowne Plaza Wuzhou Park View… overlooking the Bird’s nest stadium. Yes, it’s that close – literally across the street. It’s a great hotel; the staff all seemed to know Kevin – which was a relief. At the desk, while checking in, I heard a name – Eric. I turned to see another American checking in. It was Eric, our new Project manager whom neither Kevin nor I had met before. Kevin introduced us and we made plans to meet up after we’d all freshened up.

The room is like any other room in a five-star hotel. With one exception – there are no religious artifacts in the room. There was one more difference - which Kevin later pointed out. There are condoms in the bedside drawer – courtesy the hotel mini-bar!! Yes, you have to pay to use them. LMAO.

That first day, we went for a walk. Eric needed a cell phone, and I needed a new SIM card. The phone I’d purchased in India was going to come in handy. It was quite the experience. Kevin took us to the cell phone store, and we made our purchases. Then it was on for the walk. The streets are very clean. But quickly you spot the gobs of spit on the sidewalks. There are no beggars; in all my time there, I only spotted one couple busking – not a single other pan-handler. There aren’t that many bicycles either – something I’d come to believe was endemic to China. A lot of cars on the streets, but not many motorbikes. The cars are mostly either newer makes or really old ones. The ones I spotted most were Citroen, Buick, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, BMW, Acura and surprisingly the Mazda6. Crossing the street is desi-style – just run across. Having just come back from Pune, I was totally not surprised.

Single men – especially foreigners – will often get accosted by really pretty Chinese girls on the streets, who get really friendly and are willing to do anything – for money. Yes, you guessed it.. Professionals.

Next to our hotel was a karaoke bar – which was also a place to get special massages…...THAT kind of special massage.

Dinner was a revelation. Kevin took us to this small eatery, which was quite good. The food was good, too. But ordering from the menu was quite strenuous. We learnt that the easiest way to order was to point to menu – written in Chinese and English, and the waiter would write it down. You had to trust that they understood what you wanted. Do not order ice. And always order drinks out of a can or a bottle. Pointing is considered rude, so gesture in the general direction. Speaking loudly and slowly is completely pointless – its just hilarious watching someone try it. I know, one of our team – a big African-American man tried doing it with Diet Coke. Turns out its called Light Coke in China! And hand gestures are considered rude too. So sign language is kind of limited. But I digress.

The next day I got one more lesson in communication. Kevin carries around this card in his wallet and made me and Eric get one each. On the one side is the address of the hotel – written in English and Mandarin. As we hailed a cab to get to work,  he  flipped the card to the side where he’d got one of our Chinese colleagues to write out directions to our work site in Chinese. ‘Shey-shey’ I found out was Thank you in Chinese. And we repeated that – A LOT!! The ride to the client site was interesting. In the distance were the mountains – I still haven’t figured out what that range is called. I must check it out on Google earth. The atmosphere was a little hazy, but not as smoggy as I had feared. And so began my first day in a Chinese workplace.