The Chinese on the move are an irresistible force: Chinese New Year has been called the greatest mass migration on earth. It started weeks before the actual Spring Festival (7th-15th Feb) all around the campus and the city, you would see streams of people with wheeled suitcases walking to taxis or bus stops. There's something ant-like about it.
At the last minute I realise I'm likely to miss New Year's Eve in Beijing as I booked for the 8th: I discover this at a function I have to attend, so I decide to see if I can alter my plans at this late stage but don't expect to be successful. First of all I catch a bus to the train ticket office in town which is, unsurprisingly, closed. So before giving up I decide to try the railway station to see if can get one there. I catch a bus from my flat and with my passport, to my surprise I manage to get a trip that same day. Buying rail tickets in China can be something of a challenge involving long queues and risk of no availability. Walking around the now-deserted university area of the city I am alone in huge empty boulevards surrounded by the distant crump of shells exploding everywhere around, as the Chinese start letting off incessant firecrackers on a huge scale. I feel like the character in the film The War of the Worlds as he walks around the deserted city while the Martian machines encroach destroying everything in their path.
becoming anxious to catch the train I get a taxi and am overcharged as usual (they're all shysters but then again its Chinese New Year) and he goes to the wrong entrance to the station meaning I have to walk 500 yards to the door.
I realise that every action or decision seems to trigger some irrational fear, like I'll miss the train, get on the wrong train, won't be able to find my hotel, there will be an accident etc. etc. It's hard to deal with this: I have to try and stop my mind from working like this.
I have the whole carriage to myself!
Once there I take the subway to my hotel (the same one as I stayed in before) and have an Indian nearby. The fireworks have already started.
It feels cosy anyway. Following this I go out for a beer and watch the fireworks. Some US expats in a bar tell me some of the best places to go. Here are a few images I managed to get. The fireworks are quite prolonged and spectacular, seemingly scattered around the whole city. They are also incredibly noisy!
The atmosphere is electric though. I have people coming up and hugging me wishing me Happy new Year!
Following this, I end up in some bars and have too much to drink: I get someone to make me a Black Russian (the real McCoy not the Tia Maria/Coke version) after which memory doesn't serve me too well. I think I get back to my hotel at about 2 am, good night's sleep though!
Day 2: New Year's Day 8th Feb
The next day I transfer to my other hotel. It's near the Lama Temple which is great until I realise that on New Year's Day thousands of people go there for a pilgrimage! First the nearby subway station is closed and I have to stay on the train for another 30 minutes to get to the next nearest one and change. The whole area is shut down, there are police officers everywhere and I can't move! Thousands and thousands line the streets and I try to follow them but give up in despair. I feel like the character in Close Encounters of the Third Kind when he tries to get to the mountain! I decide to try going through the hutong but sans map I become a bit lost. Fortunately I bump into some Italian tourists who point me in the right direction.
I check in: the hotel is a renovated courtyard and really doesn't have much charm: spotlessly clean though! It has windowless rooms however which feel claustrophobic! Back to Houhai on the subway for lunch (dumplings) and then I walk back to the hotel which is both quicker and easier, but so crowded it's hard to describe: you wouldn't believe you could get so many people in one street!
Exhausted, I have a doze and then go out for the evening. No sightseeing on the agenda this time, I just want to experience the atmosphere. I go back along the hutong to Houhai and the area is full of expats (They are nearly always blonde!) I drop into a dumpling shop again then to a couple of bars and have an early night.
Day 3: Confucius Temple
I decide to to go out and explore and maybe have some breakfast. Walking along the hutong I come across the Confucius Temple and Imperial College, so decide to have a look around. It's peaceful and filled with history.
Here students took lessons in Confucianism. You can see a jade statue of Confucius and the Stele Forest: this hall holds hundreds of giant stone pillars with Confucian writings on them commissioned by the Emperor. Behind the jade statue of Confucius are some paintings of his disciples made by modern artists as copies of ancient paintings.
Inside the Imperial College
This is the nearby Cafe Confucius where I have a late breakfast. I'm tired from yesterday and feeling a bit anxious, so I decide to have a relaxing day. Walk around the hutong, a bit of shopping, light lunch and chat, then in the evening I have a good curry, and bump into some French tourists, who I take to Great Leap Brewing and we have a good time. Back at the hotel the manager buys me a beer!
Next day back to the flat, hoping for a rest!
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