Touring hutongs and high rises

Lauren and I conquered Beijing. With only one day left before starting our jobs as FQRs, we ran around the city yesterday, seeing as many sites as we could manage. Our adventure began around 11:30 a.m., when we hopped on the subway to Tianamen Square. The last time we had visited the Forbidden City, we decided against buying tickets to enter. We just walked around the courtyard entrance. This time, we toured the entire palace. It consisted mostly of large, dimly-lit buildings in which the emperor used to lounge, sleep, and change his clothes, according to the English-language signs. The 91-degree weather prompted us to eat popsicles during the journey. Vendors sell ice cream on nearly every corner here, maybe because of the Olympics.

Upon exiting the Forbidden City, Lauren and I hiked to the top of a hilly park across the street from the palace. At the top we could see the entire Forbidden City, its gold rooftops gleaming in the sun, and a panoramic view of Beijing. We stayed on the hill for awhile, enjoying the cool breeze and inspiring view, but finally descended back into the heat of the city. We then decided to see a more intimate side of Beijing and take a rickshaw tour through a hutong.

The dichotomy of the place shocked us. Shacks butted up to mansions on every street. At one point, our tour guide showed us a crowded outdoor gathering area shared by twenty Chinese families (he said) and right down the street stood a large, new house he said a foreign family bought for a few million USD.

The heat and hiking piqued Lauren's and my appetite, so we then ventured to another hutong, one we had shopped at a few days ago. We ate at a Sichuan restaurant. I ordered beef, veggies, and beans wrapped in a taro leaf, and Lauren picked a pork meatball and soup. Everything tasted delicious. We finally got past our craving for Western food and began to again enjoy local food.

After a rest at the Sichuan restaurant, we took a taxi to the oldest pharmacy in China, or so we thought. Our taxi driver dropped us off across the intersection from the place and left us with unclear directions as to how to find the pharmacy. We wound up walking down the wrong road, and it was the best mistake we've made. We found ourselves strolling through the location of a hutong that had been demolished for the building of high rises. The Western media has focused much attention on the issue of the Chinese government forcing out families and razing hutongs. While I do believe the government's actions hurt families, I had a hard time not appreciating the new neighborhood. I've never seen more people in China outside visiting with friends, playing cards, singing, taking their kids to the playground, and exercising on the outdoor equipment found at most parks in the city. The visit wasn't a tour, it wasn't a scene forged to show off "Happy China" to foreigners, it was a real-life illustration of the progress Beijing has made.

Lauren and I both found ourselves saying, "You know, I could live here for more than seven weeks."