There has been a problem of sorts. You see, I was planning on getting caught up on my journals while I was in Chengdu. I was doing well, and on the first day that we were there I spent about 2 ½ hours writing my journals. It was good for me to finally get caught back up, as I was missing writing my journals as well.
However, the next day, when I got up to write in my journals again, the power in the hotel surged. I couldn’t believe it. This was an exact replay of what happened the last time that I went on a tour with the last language program that I was enrolled in. My power cord was completely shot, and I had no way to even turn my computer on, as the only people who I knew with computers on the trip had theMacBook (65 Watt) and not the MacBook Pro (85 Watt) (I later learned that one of the people on the trip had a MacBook Pro, but that was right before I left to come back to Beijing. Most of these next few journals are second-time editions, as the first ones were lost when the computer lost power.
I say all of this to say that I don’t remember too much of what happened on this day, which occurred almost two weeks before I wrote this entry (on the 29th). Please bear with me, dear reader, as I do have some interesting aspects of the day that I would like to share.
After I got out of one-on-one class with Teacher Shi, I saddled up and rode southeast through the city. If I have not been sufficiently clear, there are 5 (or 6, depending on who you ask) roads that encircle the city of Beijing. They run from 2nd Ring Road to 6th Ring Road (or 7th…?), and the first three are aligned on a grid. These ring road are the main arteries of traffic throughout Beijing, and I didn’t realize how traffic flowed through the city until today. I attempted to take an eastward path in between 2nd and 3rd ring road (at a point north of the inner city, while they run east-west) and I couldn’t find a path to get through. The ring roads are designed to be the only places that traffic can flow easily in some parts of the city. I can see how this design would be useful in a state of crisis, on in a situation where the government might need to control the flow of traffic from one point of the city to another. Want to stop cars from moving? Block a ring road, and the main thoroughfare is completely blocked, with very few other options for cars.
I noticed these things as I rode north of JiShuiTan, and I made my way over to the 2nd Ring Road and up to ride past the ancient DeSheng Gate. As I learned from the Beijing Museum, DeSheng Gate was the point at which the Mongols attacked Beijing some 400-500 years ago. The Mongols were repelled by the city wall and the archers in the DeSheng Gate, and the DeSheng Gate has managed to escape unscathed from the massive demolition efforts of the CCP over the last 50 years. It costs 20 Yuan to enter the gate proper, and I didn’t feel like getting off my iron steed. I encircled the building once or twice, as cars whipped past me, and I was on my way.
I wove my way across 2nd Ring Road and decided to swing past Rear Lake (which is a much better translation than Back Lake, as I wrote before). I was a little sad – albeit not surprised – to see the ice melted and the trees beginning to think about blooming on the lake. I rode my bike around the lake, and then rode through the peaceful Hutongs. I noticed several new things about the Hutongs that I hadn’t before I started reading The Last Days – like the old architecture being replaced by newer artificial architecture, the construction of new Hutongs made of concrete (and not wood), wealthy businessmen buying up several Hutongs and making houses, and the smattering of different people living in the Hutong. Pigeons flew overhead, and immigrants from the western provinces set up shop in the streets. The Hutongs by Rear Lake are not the real deal by any stretch of the imagination, but they are much better than the Hutongs that I saw after heading over to NanLou GuXiang (Old Drum Tower Hutong).
Old Drum Tower Hutong has been completely renovated by the CCP over the last decade. A large shopping street runs north-south through the middle of the Hutong, and there is no telling how many people were displaced while the road was being built. Most Hutongs run east-west, and a north-south construction very much goes against the traditional Hutong building style. The older, outdated Hutongs have been replaced with two-story constructions, made of concrete and steel. They look similar to the old Hutongs, but I have to agree with the rest of the Hutong fans in Beijing; the new buildings don’t capture the charm of the old Hutongs.
I rode through Old Drum Tower Hutong for a little while, looking at the government-issued plaques identifying the “certified” Hutongs in the area. I shudder to think of the amount of demolition that occurred to create a “certified” Hutong, and how many people were displaced in doing so. I must be careful about how much I write here, however, as I may soon find myself unable to send emails from my computer for the rest of my time in Beijing!
I then traveled back towards the dorm, again attempting to take an westward course through the Second Ring. My suspicions about traveling outside confines of the Ring Roads were confirmed: I couldn’t find a single course running east-west. I resigned myself to traveling along 3rd Ring Road back towards the dorm, which took me through a large section of residential Beijing.
I would make up something about what I did for the evening, but I truly have forgotten. Rest assured, dear reader, that I made it through the evening safely, as I have survived to write this journal.
I’ll write soon!
Love,
Jamey
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