Well, back in India after a whirl wind trip to China and what can I say except that China took my breadth away! Yes, I got swept away by the commies (literally too, on Tian'nmen square, but that's another story altogether). China is vulgarly showing off. From the moment you enter the international terminal of the beijing airport (a yummy looking building by Norman foster) to the ride through the streets, and the awesome thorough fares that beijing's roads are, its plain - the commies ARE showing off
Beijing International Airport - Its effin' Huge!I'll write in detail about my trip but here's a quick list on what makes china fabulous and why it may also suck sometimes..
Why China is Faaaabulous!
1. The Food! - ok if you're the typical indian who likes getting assaulted by Indian spices then subtle chinese cuisine is not for you, but if you're not, its effing heavenly. I was quite surprised by the variety in their vegetarian food. Trust me folks, this is one country that takes its beans seriously! I've never seen beans being manipulated like these guys do. The taste is subtle, sweet & sourish, crunchy and fresh but NEVER spicy. Thats why its awesome. It never assaults your taste buds. It grows on you with every bite
That's a Fish with its mouth open
More exotic food pics
And oh we had the Peking Duck too, which the locals were very Meh about. We went to a place that was famous for its roast duck and it was soo famous that it had 2 menus!! yes you heard me TWO menus. One for the average crowd and one for the high rollers. I swear its all true. The menus were very corporate brochure type-y and had elaborate images and description. The duck dinner was a 24 course meal! by the end of the 12th course, there even was an effing mid-meal dessert! who's heard of a mid meal dessert. Anyway the food kept coming on a revolving table and I kept sampling everything that came my way in a touristy fashion that clearly amused my hosts.
2. Shopping! - This place has the ability to bring out the maniac in you. Yes you'll be surprised by how easily you part with your yuans because everything is so fucking cheeeeaaap. Soo cheap, that you want to cry that you don't live here or didn't bring a bigger suitcase or don't have a bigger budget or combinations of the the above three. The standard price for evrything is 100 yuan..that about 500 bucks. That will get you a fabulous fake Dolce & Gabana bag, 2 fabulous leather boots, A hot looking Jacket and 2 4 GB pen drives. Almost makes me want to emigrate!
But shopping here is almost like a torrid love affair. You've gotta bargain like crazy and stick to your ground no matter what. The thumb rule I discovered, was 10% of the quoted price - thats generally the OK price. So first they tell you the ridiculous, gargantuan price thats when you gotta put on a zen like face and put forward 10% of the said price (All thru calculator ofcourse). Then their faces bulge out like a fish and they say NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. They then reduce the price by half. but you still have stick to your price. More cajoling and price dropping later, you have to act like you've had enough and pretend to walk out in a huff and thats when they pull you back in and literally hold on to you and assault you. But you still have to be tough and stick to 10%. After all the drama both parties agree to the 10% price, after which everyone agrees that Indians are really good bargainers
Yes its high drama and almost feels like sex, only instead of "Yes! Yes! Yes!" you're saying "100!, 100!,100!"
3. The Heritage - Beijing has the most amazingingly preserved heritage structures. The Forbidden city, Summer Palace and Temple of heaven are breadth taking. Lessons to all indians - no mutilation of any building anywhere. I guess in china they shoot such people
Why China Sucksss
1. No English - Oh yeah, that can screw you up big time. I arrived in Beijing at 2 AM and the cab driver couldn't speak english and didn't know my hotel. Luckily I had with me a woman from WHO who was used such language barriers and put on an expert "Stupid Foreigner Face" that the cop directing traffic at the airport helped us out. All in sign language
2. No sense of service - these guys can also be extremely rude and sadly, do not have a sense of service. Methinks that its more like crude than rude but that attitude is not going to win hearts. My hotel dudes turned out to be cheeky and gave a room far below the standard of what I was paying for. Its only after I complained and showed them their own brochure they upgraded me. It seems like an isolated incident, but most people dealing with tourists like Shopkeepers, peddlers, taxi drivers etc were unusually rude
3. No sense of fun : You know sometimes you get the "Jolly Feeling" from a country...like these blokes are ok? You don't get that in china. People are serious bordering on grumpy and it feels like everyone is wearing the nation's pride on their sleeve when they are interacting with you and not like an individual. Its hard to explain, but it feels like nationality is driving a wedge between two individuals. that is truly sad
But still got some awesome memories - My first authentic chinese meal by the temple of heaven, listening to a chinese opera on the great wall of china (Bank of china - the chinese big kahuna bank was having its annual get together on the great wall and they had the entire shindig - a ensemble orchestra and an opera singer), Shopping at Yashov shopping market, handing out an indian 10 ruppee note to a shop vendor as a trade off, eating sweet spicy apricots, getting swept of the pavement by a marching cadre of the Red army at the Tian'nenmen Square and ofcourse fake Gucci Bag Sellers :)
