Life in the Future

Visiting Beijing was a great break from the routine of life in Chengdu. With the plane leaving on time and uneventful flight we were happy to reach a destination which we really hadn’t expected to visit in our lifetime.
The terminal in Beijing just opened within the past two months. From our understanding it’s the longest building in the world. It’s enormous. In order to save money we took a bus from the airport to the train station, (at least that was the plan). A man who spoke English advised us to get off at a different bus stop as the train station would be packed with Chinese tourists and it would be difficult to catch a taxi. We got off and were offered a ride on a three-wheeled passenger bicycle which was powered by a combination of leg power and the smallest little gas engine you can imagine. Kathy advised against it and wanted to find a regular taxi. We took the bicycle.
Our understanding was that the ride would cost us about 50 RMB, (close to $7 US). When the ride was finished I handed the ‘driver’ a 100 RMB note expecting him to give me 50 back. With great indignation he told me the price of the ride was $50 US. Since the taxi ride from the airport would have been about $20 and he had only taken us a couple of miles I was upset. Eventually he gave me some change, (not enough), and I was reminded to listen to the wisdom of my wife once more. Some people take longer to learn.
Our hotel was a short walk from the Forbidden City and we looked forward to getting up in the morning, going to the breakfast buffet and beginning our tour. An important part of this trip was connecting up with some friends from the Holland area who are studying English in the Beijing area. We called, we called, and we called … no contact. By morning, after making many calls we had about given up when our phone rang, it was one of our friends and we made arrangements to meet him in Tiananmen Square after breakfast. The breakfast buffet was Chinese in style, but, we found plenty to fill our plates. Off we went to find our friend.
What we didn’t know was there were roughly half a million other people also wanting to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City at the same time. First we had to walk past the wall of the Forbidden City to get to the other end of it where the Square is located. We had to call our friend twice just to figure out how to get to the square. When we finally saw the square we were on the wrong side of an extremely busy road with no visible place to cross. Finally we walked through the crowds and found a tunnel that led under the road. Along with several thousand other people we crossed to the other side. One more call and we found our friend.
It was a great day of getting to see two significant historical significant sites. It was also special because we got to share it with 1000’s of other people. In the evening we took a subway to Friday’s where we met up with another couple from China and had a great time enjoying western food and telling stories.
The next morning we, (our friend from the day before), hired a van to take us to the Great Wall. Again, we shared the experience with thousands of others. After a long, tiring climb up the mountain we were filled with amazement at the effort involved with building a defensive wall that spreads over 4000 miles. Although it was overcast and visibility was very limited, we did take many pictures. Getting down was an adventure also. We rode down on small ‘toboggans’ on a sort of bob-sled run. We returned via a country road, often on the wrong side of the double yellow line to get around traffic jams, and arrived back in Beijing in time to catch the subway which took us to a spot near a Sizzler’s restaurant where we enjoyed the best salad bar we’ve seen since we got here.
The return trip was uneventful and we were happy to return to our ‘home’ in Chengdu.
We’ve had some difficulty with banking here for the past few months. But, with the help of our son and emails to the bank they’ve been solved. Yesterday I was checking my bank account in Zeeland using the internet. Attempting to figure out the latest information I changed the date on the activity page to the current date. The computer came back with the reply that they could not show record from the future. So here I am, living in the future and enjoying it very much.