Wangfujing is a shopping street just east of the Forbidden City, meaning it is southeast of my neighborhood. To get there efficiently involves a bus and two lines of the subway. Me being me, which is to say, about as acclimated to city life as a fish is to the desert, I couldn't actually find my bus station. But, I knew the direction I wanted to go, and it wasn't too far, maybe a kilometer, so I walked.
The weather today was in the high seventies, sunny and clear. It's April 6th, and I'm a Mainer: I left my room with a sweatshirt and no sunglasses. I took the sweatshirt off within five minutes, and only the six flights of stairs between me and my sunglasses kept me from going back for them. Anyway, it was quite a pleasant walk, and I made it to the subway station without any faults. The subway in Beijing is very easy to use -- the map is clear, and most of the trains have clearly enunciated English announcing the stops. I had to make one transfer, but it was easy (and free). On the other hand, taking the Beijing subway is to truly understand the life of a canned sardine. Line 1 at 1pm is beyond crowded. You get so close to the other passengers it's not even a matter of personal space violation anymore. It's something you have to go to Confession for.
Wangfujing is a physical metaphor for Chinese development, in my humble opinion. Approaching from the south, the first thing you see is the Oriental Plaza mall. It is smooth and sleek, all gleaming lines and shiny glass. Inside the shops are all very high end -- Rolex, Cartier, clothing stores with fancy Italian names.
Continuing down the street you see the Chinese bookstore -- celebrating 60 years of being no better place to feel ridiculously illiterate -- and the foreign languages bookstore, where Agatha Christie is in the Best Sellers section, Bill Bryson's A Short History of Everything is in the social sciences section, and Isaac Asimov and The Tales of Beedle the Bard are shelved side by side. It's the little things in life which are most hilarious. Adidas, Nike, North Face -- if it is a famous Western brand, it's on Wangfujing.About halfway up the street is the old pre-Reform and Opening Up Beijing Department Store. It is a study in blocky, Soviet-inspired architecture. Nowadays, it's full of more high-end shops.
Continuing a little further, you encounter St. Joseph's Cathedral.
Now, I could tell you the history of St. Joseph's, or you could just go read the 5 page paper I wrote about it last year. Suffice it to say, having written a paper on it, I felt like seeing in person. It's ... smaller than I expected. Of course, building high-rises on either side of a three storey cathedral will do that. Inside it is quite ornate, and smells just like a church. Some things are wonderfully constant.Around this point, I was feeling hungry, so I ducked into a side street of food vendors. It all looked delicious, but I was too darn hot for hot food, so I settled on a bottle of juice and a spicy chicken and cucumber sandwich thingie. I didn't take a picture, sorry, but I did get a shot of Samantha Brown's favorite:
The day was getting long, so I meandered my way back towards home. I attempted the catch the bus this time, but it turns out the 345express goes north by a different route it goes south. I figured this out, and managed to get off at, ironically, my roommate's university. I knew from her that it was about a 15 minute walk, and from past map-gazing that it was a little west and a little south of homebase.I bought an ice cream from the friendly hole-in-the-wall shop on our street and ate it on the bench in front of our dorm, watching a father and son bat a badminton shuttlecock back and forth in front of the elementary school. It reminded me of summer evenings in the yard playing baseball.
And as the perfect finish to a lovely day, I saw something I haven't seen clearly in far too long.
Well, Hannah, another fine piece of writing! I am thoroughly enjoying the accounts of your travels. Please keep up the great work.
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