Over Peking Duck tonight, I posed the question: What’s one thing you have learned over the last five days?
Ellie said she learned how to use a “squatter” toilet, say “watermelon” in Mandarin, the best way to eat Peking Duck, and all about Chairman Mao (who still lies in state in Tiananmen Square).
Brad said he learned about the circular mound altar at the Temple of Heaven. It’s where the emperor would stand on the winter solstice to pray for his family and his country.
Although I didn’t say it in front of our tour guide, I learned again what a country of contrasts China is. Here are just a few examples.
This is our hotel bathroom. It’s completely modern in every way, except for one thing. You can’t drink water out of the tap. You can’t even brush your teeth with the stuff.
The mix of old and new, lavish and humble continues.
Here’s a man hauling…recycling? He doesn’t look too out of place against the current backdrop. The next building on the street, however, is this hotel. In case you can’t read the sign, it’s the Beijing Peninsula.
The pedestrian zone a few blocks from our hotel seems to be the “Times Square” of Beijing. It has the largest Apple store in Asia, along with Adidas, several Labubu pop ups (look it up…it’s all the rage!), and other brand name shopping. Yet, the view out our hotel window is of a traditional hutong, one of the few remaining in Beijing’s center city. Yesterday we ate lunch in a place like this. We learned that this kind of enclosure usually houses 5 – 6 families and has one “public toilet” in the neighborhood.
China is not unique in its contrasts. As a foreigner, they are simply easier for me to see. I suppose the challenge is to see them in my own hometown.
Today we are off to Xian. Thank you, Beijing, for another enjoyable and thought-provoking adventure.
Blessings to you all!
Caroline
Wander Tales by PC, PB, and Ellie 