| China has made itself known to the world as the great Dragon of Asia. The largest country in the world, China is now flexing it's economic might, and opening itself, for better or worse, to the West. Westerners tend to see China first as a Communist country, a natural enemy to the Capitalist West. But China is growing into something more than just that, and at it's center, leading the way, is the great Capital, Beijing. |
By
Todd Fong
September 1999 |
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My first thought of going to Beijing for the first time was Fear. Fear that I didn't speak a word of Mandarin Chinese, but it would be assumed otherwise. Fear that once they found I was a foreigner, I would be taken advantage of. Fear that I would say or do something wrong and get arrested. As is usually the case, fear is grounded in ignorance, and once I came to the city, I found my fears were ridiculous. |
| Beijing doesn't feel like the capital of the largest Communist country in the world. It is sprawling, like Los Angeles, with wide boulevards that stretch for miles. There are upscale shopping centres and streetside vendors. There is a Hard Rock Cafe, numerous cafes and bars, and big name hotels. There are rich people and there are not so rich people. But nobody's fighting to get a roll of toilet paper nor are there soldiers with machine guns standing on the street. It's just a big city, with the same problems and conveniences of any other big city in the world, Communist or otherwise. | "Beijing drivers are quite content to drive with chaotic abandon, honking their horns and flashing their headlights every 10 seconds or so." |
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Since we were there for only two days, we didn't see very much. The staff of our office were gracious hosts and treated us like visiting royalty. We had the equivalent of a wedding banquet for every meal, and they hired drivers to take us to all our destinations in the city. Those of us who learned to drive in the West wouldn't last five minutes on the road in Beijing. Apparently the term "defensive driving" has never been introduced to the drivers of Beijing, and they are quite content to drive with chaotic abandon, honking their horns and flashing their headlights every 10 seconds or so. |
| We did a little shopping, finding roadside markets rife with grey market goods and excellent copies of brand named items. Watches, clothing, leather goods, and the favorite of the Americans in our group, Beanie Babies. We also went to the Friendship Store, a huge mall filled with quality items ranging from cosmetics to very affordable Chinese art. But the favorite, of course, was our side trip to Tiananmen Square and just inside the gates of the Forbidden City. We had just finished a long day of work, so we didn't get to Tiananmen until near sunset, which turned out to be great from a photographic aspect. In the Square itself, hawkers selling kites, postcard books, stamps, and other trinkets approached the Americans in our group, speaking perfect English. For some reason, I, although as American as the rest of them, was left alone. Imagine that! |
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"All you Americans can recall about Tiananmen Square are the demonstrations of 1989!" accused our guide, albeit playfully. Sadly though, we couldn't deny it. |
Tiananmen Square is not as imposing in person as it has appeared on television or the movies. Sure, it's a large square, but it's size is relative to the huge buildings surrounding it: the Forbidden City, Mao's Mausoleum, the Great Hall of the People, and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution, all built to a huge scale so as to dwarf the individual (which is the idea of Communism, right?) "All you Americans can recall about Tiananmen Square are the demonstrations of 1989!" accused our guide,albeit playfully. Sadly though, we couldn't deny it. Tiananmen is the People's Square, and the people were happily flying kites and relaxing in the heat of the summer. |
