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October
11, 1999
This is
Todd Borgie speaking. Today we spent the day in Beijing
Beijing is
an interesting city. There are thousands of people, bicycles, and
buildings here. Check out the bicycle video to the right. It's a
15-second movie that will give you an idea of Beijing rush hour -- a sea
of bicycles. The pollution is pretty bad too. Beijing sometimes smells as
if it were burning. But I can't get over all the traffic. There is so
much traffic here, when crossing the street you sometimes feel like you
are a participant in a video game, dodging and darting to the faint tune
of Frogger. Click
here to play the good ol' game! NOTE: it takes a minute to load.
This
morning we left the hotel early because we wanted to see the
practitioners of Tai Chi in the park, nearby at the Temple of Heaven. The
sun was up, and I think we left the hotel before 7:30 a.m. (early for our
new traveling schedule and the Baggarlys’ appetite for sleeping in).
Doug, Chanda, Nick and I left on foot and made our way to the park in the
crisp morning air. Walking down the street, we saw people starting their
day. They were stretching and performing Tai Chi exercises on their front
porch, on the sidewalk and in their storefronts. Inspired by exercise,
Doug and I did some exercises in our hotel room. Someone snapped a
picture of Doug lifting Jeff's day pack, which easily weighs 70 pounds.
As for me in that picture, you can call me red-back Borgie.
Sure
enough, the park was populated with exercise enthusiasts. People were
practicing everything from ballroom dancing to the ancient Chinese arts.
It was remarkable. This place is so alive!
During our
stroll we met some fellow Westerners, the Wonder Bra Women. These women
tour the world sporting their wonder bras and raising money to battle
breast cancer. Wow, who would have thought that we would run into the
Wonder Bra people in China. They were fun people, a combination of
Europeans and Americans. You can see our picture on the right.
This brings
up an interesting point that Chanda and I were talking about. There is a
strange dance that occurs when two Westerners cross paths in a foreign
land, especially when white folks are the exception rather than the rule.
They seem to size each other up, determine where they are from, and try
to imagine why they are here destroying the other’s exotic vacation. For
the most part this is the rule. Once in awhile the ice will break,
contact will be made, and if neither party is overly obnoxious, a very
pleasant conversation ensues and perhaps a general "hanging
out" will follow.
We shared
our adventure with the Wonder Bra Women, as they shared theirs with us.
It certainly would be nice if our paths would cross in the future. If any
of you Wonder Bra Women read this and need a place to stay in the Bay
Area, please contact us.
When we got
back to the hotel after the morning outing, Nick and I headed to the
Iranian Embassy to pick up our passports and Visas. On the way back,
while sitting in traffic, we noticed a roadside market. Rather than sit,
we hopped out of the taxi and did some shopping. North Face coats, gloves
and equipment were everywhere at bargain prices. Whether they were
officially licensed items was another matter. Nick and I wheeled and
dealed and came away with a pair of gloves and a couple of nice
lightweight jackets. To begin his 4X4 Vehicles Around The World series ,
Nick snapped a picture of a Chinese 4x4. Our guide calls this vehicle a
"Beijing Jeep." Nick remarked that they are similar to Land
Rovers as they appear to share the same configuration. They appeared capable
of interchanging different tops and parts depending on the application or
environment of the vehicle.
Driving,
walking and interacting in this city is most fascinating. In many of the
shopping areas there seems to one store after another that sells the same
things at seemingly the same price. This was completely foreign to us and
I wasn't sure how it worked. What would persuade me to go into one place
versus another? Was there something I wasn't seeing? Everything seemed to
melt from place to place, one person to another seamlessly. How could I
tell anything or anybody apart?
In the
Chinese culture, what spawned creativity and how was it expressed? In the
past how did China become so technologically advanced and unified?
Probably because the West was solely concentrated on beating one another
up. China introduced the world to silk, paper, gunpowder and printed
books by the 9th Century, just to name a few things. China had a city
with over two million people before the first millennium.
How was
China able to become unified? How were they able to mobilize the masses,
yet be a creative society? China has an uncanny ability to fuse disparate
ideologies, or enable them to live side by side. For instance, how can
Confucianism and Taoism live together? Confucianism has a very legalistic
ideology, stressing relationships and virtue through education. It
promotes humanism; however, it is devoid of mysticism. Taoism on the
other hand embraces nature's model and promotes relaxed harmony within
it. Taoists believed civilization had corrupted man and forced him to act
contrary to nature. It suggests that man should withdraw from society
with its formalities and ceremonies, and fit himself into the natural
pattern. To oppose this only led to misery. Imagine yourself as water flowing
in a river, or a blade of grass bending in the wind.
From an
economic point of view, this is perfect. The managers and leaders are
Confucianists and the workers are Taoists.
We met our
Chinese road guide today, Mr. Lee. He doesn't seem to speak much English,
but he carries a nifty pocket translator. From a distance he looks like a
stereotypical Chinese secret agent man: quiet and impassive. We all began
to speculate what the trip would be like with this fellow; after all, he
was going to be riding inside one of the Rovers. We had grown so attached
to our Beijing guide King, we wondered if we could make the switch.
At some
point today, Nick and Chanda met a couple from the U.S. in the business
office of the hotel. They knew Mr. Lee and explained that he has quite a
reputation in Xining City and Qinghai Province. Apparently he is the best
guide you can get. Earlier Nick asked the manager if an English-speaking
guide could be arranged, but after this conversation he recanted.
So I
suppose that's it for today. This is Todd and I'm off to bed. Goodnight.
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