Beijing, Take 2

While Gered and his parents took a 28-hour train from Xi'an down to Guangzhou and then to Hong Kong, we opted to spend one more day in Beijing. We got in early in the morning...almost too early, because I was still in my PJs and quite unprepared to get off the train. We were probably the last ones off, and encountered a little difficulty when I couldn't find my ticket and they wouldn't let me past the gate out into the station. The lady was quite unforgiving, and told me I'd have to buy a new ticket for 400 kuai before they would let me out! I was sleepy and discouraged and just about to cry when I finally found the ticket folded up in my pocket. Whew. Unfortunately, all these delays meant that we were also just about the last ones to get in the taxi line.

This line was INSANE. Now I know that the Chinese government tried to train people to wait in lines politely for the Olympics, but there is no undoing a national bad habit so easily. The taxi line was cutthroat, with everybody trying to edge you out from different directions. One man waiting behind me was standing so close that he was pretty much just leaning on my back. Uncomfortable situation! Finally I turned around and snapped at him a little bit, and he backed off. This morning was not going in an extra fun way. We waited in that line foreeeeeever, but finally got a taxi and got back to our hotel.

The hotel was extra nice and let us into our room early, so we got to take showers and eat breakfast and everything was right with the world again. After a little rest and recuperation, we were off to the university district! I was on a mission to get an electronic Chinese-English dictionary, but after talking to a bunch of vendors, I discovered disappointingly that none of them include traditional characters anymore. LAME. It's funny how little mainland Chinese know about traditional characters (I think they still use them for some official/ceremonial stuff), whereas Taiwanese people seem to have at least a basic knowledge of simplified.

Since we were in the area, I took my parents around Bei Da, where we wandered around campus and my mom (of course) got a Bei Da sweatshirt. Then we headed back downtown, making a stop at Wal-Mart on the way. Sadly, we couldn't seem to find any Tasty Tuna Tidbits, so we just continued on to the Silk Market to pick up the clothes Dad and Mr. Ryan had gotten tailored. They had to fetch the clothes from somewhere, so in the meantime we went to the Pearl Market YET AGAIN, but I had to leave early to meet my friend Sarah (another U of R Fulbright, who lives in Beijing), leaving my parents to get back to the Silk Market and then home all by themselves. Go Mom and Dad!

I went to Houhai Lake to meet Sarah, and because it was the first day of Lantern Festival, everything was going nuts. I was surrounded on all sides by a constant, deafening barrage of fireworks, and everybody had come out to see them. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to find each other, but finally we did, and went off out of the war zone a little bit to a small Xinjiang restaurant. It was excellent to see Sarah, but she was like a magnet for Chinese dudes who want to make friends. Sketchy times. The owner of the restaurant was extra flirty, plus later a guy came up to our table and started talking to us a bunch, trying to get Sarah's number and asking us to come hang out. We finally weaseled our way out and went back to my hotel, where the staff brought all 4 of us complimentary tangyuan, a traditional holiday dessert that consists of chewy balls with various fillings in a thick soup. (in their uncooked form, they're those floury things that I kept seeing at the market in Xi'an) Yay Lantern Festival! Sarah and I watched some people set off sky lanterns (they just float up off into the air to who-knows-where), which seemed like a big fire hazard. I found out later that some big building in Beijing burned down during Lantern Festival. Whoops.

We went to bed as early as we could manage, but I was still extra loopy when I had to wake up at 5 the next morning to go to the airport. We flew back to Hong Kong, where we noodled around during a 5-hour layover. The best part of the layover was when we found a store in the airport selling (I kid you not) "fruity cutie wife cake." They wouldn't let us take a picture, though.

We were reunited with the Ryans for our flight back to Kaohsiung, plus fellow Fulbright Katie, who was returning from Poland and also happened to be on our plane. I took my parents to their fabulous hotel (In English: the Life Hotel and Resort. In Chinese: Las Vegas). How fabulous was it? Well for starters, their doorbell played a different Christmas song every time you press it. Now THAT is what I call fancy.