Some people stay with the ship for the trip by sea to Hong Kong. I go north by air with a group of nearly 100 students and faculty/staff to Beijing, where it will be even colder than in Shanghai. Everyone is bundled up to the eyes, except for the occasional crazy student who insists on mere T-shirts and shorts. (Nearly all of the latter wind up buying hats, gloves and coats in Beijing—at bargain prices, I might add.)
Our first stop in Beijing is at the Temple of Heaven, surrounded by a large public park near the Forbidden City. Many Chinese have taken early retirement with pensions in order to make room in employment positions for the next generation of young people now coming out of the technical colleges and universities. They spend a good portion of their days in the public parks practicing Tai Chi, singing, playing musical instruments, taking care of pre-school grandchildren, and engaging in chess and checkers games. A number of the retirees are terrific in a game whose name sounds like “hotze” and that involves keeping a large shuttlecock in the air without using hands—kind of like soccer “in flight.” Only one or two of the students manages to pick up the skill despite a lot of efforts on their part.
Our guide explains that the constant barrage of fireworks will reach a peak tonight because it is also the first day of the first lunar month when Chinese celebrate their Spring Festival and welcome the gods of good fortune into their homes. That proves true when we divide up into trishaws (3-wheel pedicabs) to go into the narrow lanes of the quadrangle hutong neighborhoods. Our visit allows us to meet and eat dinner with families in this centuries-old housing in the heart of Beijing, learn how to make traditional dumplings, and hear more about the great changes and struggles of difficult times. The families, many of whom have lived in the hutongs for many generations, in tight-knit communities, are very welcoming and the meal is delicious. Proceeds from the tour help them build resources and raise consciousness of their cause in support of conserving their historic neighborhoods, threatened by the development proceeding at breakneck speed all around them.
The evening is magical, with fireworks exploding all around us and above. Several times I thank any gods listening that the cabs are powered by men and not horses.
