Beijing for Tourists, Part One

Staying with PL and family in Beijing made us feel like we were at home.  We saw things we wouldn't have gotten to see, tasted food we wouldn't have gotten to taste, and had a Beijing experience we just wouldn't have had otherwise.  But we also needed to do our tourist thing too. We hit the big Beijing sights, starting with a visit to the Temple of Heaven after the wedding on our first full day in the city. 

The Temple of Heaven is a group of Taoist buildings with great names like, "Imperial Vault of Heaven," and "Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests." The surrounding park was filled with dancing and lounging locals, tourists, and touts who wanted to take us on guided tours and frequently inquired if we had been to the Great Wall yet.  (After two days of non-stop offers for tours of the Great Wall, Jeff finally asked one lady, "What is this Great Wall thing, anyway?"  She was not amused, though she did turn around and walk away from us, which was the intent of the question).

We thought the temples of Japan and Korea had us totally templed-out, but new colors (gold-roofed everything!) and fresh architecture and symbolism in China revitalized our ability to appreciate temples.  At least for a day or two...  There were huge crowds and we found ourselves in heat and chaos simply not present in Japan or Korea.  We really enjoyed the impressive scale of the buildings.  Our visit was some time ago, so we'll let Wikipedia describe the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests for us:

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿) is a magnificent triple-gabled circular building, 36 meters in diameter and 38 meters tall, built on three levels of marble stone base, where the Emperor prayed for good harvests. The building is completely wooden, with no nails. The original building was burned down by a fire caused by lightning in 1889. The current building was re-built several years after the incident.

Yep.  That pretty much sums up the coolest building there.  As for observations of our own, we mainly noticed things that we would go on to see more of later.  Some of these items include:

Our first encounter with the giant propaganda screens that show videos about (apparently) how great China is (we saw more of these at most major tourist sights in China).

This screen is in Tiananmen Square, and had a bunch of police trucks parked behind it

Our first encounter with the Chinese military, who also turned out to be at every tourist sight in Beijing, and often in other cities.  They were usually engaged in some activity, whether it be running around in full gear in the heat or following marching instructions.

"Remember: We are everywhere, always watching!"

Our first encounter with the popular pastime of dancing in public parks.  Other popular activities in Chinese parks include Mahjong, flying kites, Tai Chi, and drinking tea for as many hours as possible while moving as little as possible, smoking as much as possible (men only, usually), and talking as loud as possible.  There was often unexplained loud music, singing, and performances in parks.

Dancing!

People flying kites, like everywhere!!

El Kite!

"Look mom, no crotch!"

Our first encounter with with the completely foreign approach Chinese take to un-potty trained infants and toddlers (as well as fully potty trained kids).  First, we saw a young boy, probably 5 or 6 years old, run over to the side of the main, and totally crowded, walkway leading to/from the Temple of Heaven and take a pee on the edge.  We both chuckled,silently thanking him for not peeing directly on the walkway itself.  Even though he went off to the side, we were amused that he dropped his pants and peed in front of a couple hundred people.  We walked just a few more yards and saw a little girl, probably between 1 and 2 attempting to one-up him.  She was squatting in the middle of the same walkway apparently trying to poop.  Mom was right next to her. Actually, mom was encouraging and helping her!  She didn't actually succeed, at least as far as we saw, but we were amazed that pooping, even by a baby, would be OK in the middle of so much foot traffic.  We told PL about the little girl when we got back home.  She said, "Now you know why I asked you to take your shoes off when you come in my house!"

Extra note about baby and child bathroom etiquette in China:

PL went on to tell us that the public bathroom breaks for kids were totally common.  In fact, Chinese people mostly clothe their children in pants with little slits from the front to rear in the crotch region.  Diapers are not part of the equation.  Little kids are encouraged to poop and pee wherever and whenever the need strikes.  We saw a little boy of about four peeing off to the side of the sidewalk in Xi'an with such joy we couldn't help but smile.  He was holding his thing and twisting side to side with a smile as big as could fit on his little face.  We all should take such joy in using the bathroom!

We also saw a mom holding a small boy's thing while trying to get him to go in a raised tree-bed along a sidewalk.  We saw multiple acts of parent-encouraged peeing and pooping through those cute little pants slits that ranged from "hey, that is mildly inappropriate," to "someone will definitely step in that later!"  We also saw, as you can probably imagine, more baby butts (and other baby bits) than we ever, ever needed or wanted to.

The no-diaper, slitted pants approach led us to ask this very important question: "What happens when your baby decides to 'go' when being carried?"  We saw so many youngsters being carried around while outfitted in the slitted pants that things MUST get messy every now and again. The lack of trash and waste created by not using diapers gets a big "LIKE" from us.  The possibility of getting baby bathroom mess on you at any point in your day, on the other hand, gets a big "UNLIKE." Oh, and there is the little matter of leaving your baby's leavings in the middle of the sidewalk for others to discover.  Although neither of us "discovered" anything truly horrible this way (though we're sure we walked through human pee from humans of all ages A LOT in China), we found the "let the potty rest where it lies" attitude toward baby bathroom functions quite inconsiderate.  This would not be the only thing we would find inconsiderate about Chinese culture.  What appears inconsiderate to Westerners is often just the way things go in China.  People push, shove, yell (on cell phones during weddings), hack, spit, and smoke everywhere, and no one seems to mind.  The mentality is, and it makes sense in a way with so many people in one country and super-crowded cities, "You do you, and I'll do me." We will tackle this interesting aspect of Chinese society in upcoming China posts.

Up next:  Beijing for Tourists, Part Two!