BEIJING 798 VISIT#2

DAY ONE

I decide to visit Beijing again and find a suitable time toward the end of November, so I arrange to meet my friend Phantom whilst there. I have recently had a number of stressful experiences so this is a welcome break. I suppose however, because I am emotionally somewhat tired, I feel apprehensive about this. Travel in China (or anywhere for that matter,) tends to have this effect on me, it's mostly anticipatory. I am travelling right after teaching my class in the morning on Friday, so I pack the day before. Unfortunately my old suitcase is nearly worn out from all my travelling so far and will soon need to be replaced. So I finish work, grab some lunch at Jack's, then catch a cab to the railway station, feeling my customary anxiety despite the fact that I've never made an unsuccessful journey to date. The ride on the bullet train passes as normal and I use the subway to get to my hotel which is one I've visited before. On arriving I shower and change. The weather is not as cold as it was in Baoding, something I'm surprised at since its further north. I put this down to its being more of a built up area.

I walk out to Great Leap Brewhouse, one of my favourite pubs in the area, and soon get chatting to an American guy named Jimmy who sometimes works there organising events whilst teaching at college. We send a bit of time exchanging views on Brexit and the recent presidential election, particularly since he declares he is waiting out the coming Trump presidency in China, and we have a good laugh. It turns out that the next day they are having a Turkey roast for Thanksgiving day, I may drop by but have a busy day tomorrow. I then go to my favourite curry house in the area, and have vindaloo with crackers and bread. Delicious! I head back to the hotel afterwards as I'm too tired to go out drinking.

Sadly enough I'm shocked to find that the entire area around Nanloguxiang, once vibrant and full of life, has been boarded up and emptied. I ask Jimmy what's going on, and he tells me that there is some sort of redevelopment programme taking place, many businesses seem to have closed down or moved away. Phantom says later that this is due to taxes but also may be owing to protection rackets.

The room is too warm so I turn off the radiator and turn on the air-conditioning to cool it down. I can't sleep in a hot room!

DAY TWO:

I get up, pleased that I didn't overdo it last night and wake up with a hangover as I've done in the past! It's quite late however, about 8.40. I've slept reasonably well, so I shower and dress then head off out to the Dragon King hostel on my way to 798. They do the best value breakfast I know of in Beijing, RMB 28 for a vegetarian breakfast, a full English for about Y50. It takes me about 30 minutes to get there, and I sit in the bar with a vegetarian breakfast of eggs, toast, jam and tomatoes with a small bowl of cornflakes (I could have sworn they had baked beans last time!) and a large American coffee.

I find this bamboo hat so I take a selfie! Incidentally I know that China has always been famous for tea so the domination of coffee in cities is really quite remarkable!

The Dragon King is a favourite with backpackers, so the bar is filled with American and European travellers, mostly German and Italian so I sit half -listening to the uninteresting conversations these kinds of people tend to have while writing part of my blog. Breakfast is light but just enough, and afterwards I set off on the subway to Lama Temple Road and catch the 909 bus as referred to in Lonely Planet for 798. I know that it takes about 45-50 minutes to get there as it's quite remote and I look out for subway stations on the way. There are adverts playing all the time on plasma screens and I wish I had brought some ear plugs. It is about 12 noon by the time I see the red 798 signs by the roadside and get off the bus. Among other things I've come to join the UCCA gallery as a member for access to their VIP events and private views. I follow the street maps dotted around this enormous complex of (mostly empty) former German electronics factories, until I find the gallery, walk up to the reception desk and obtain my year's membership. I could have done this last year but as I recall felt too lazy and overwhelmed with travelling back to England for summer. There is ostensibly an exhibition on but at this stage it seems to consist of some video installations and this marvellous empty space!  

Just opposite is Timezone 8, which is reputed for sushi, so I go in for lunch and have this sushi platter plus a dish of salmon sashimi both of which are utterly delicious if a bit expensive.

A charming Chinese lady whose English name is Melissa asks me if I'm enjoying the food. She speaks English well and we sit and talk about family, China and art. She asks for a photo so we get the waiter to take this one.

Later Melissa asks a young girl sitting nearby to take another one which leads to the three of us having a lively conversation over beer, gin and coffee. Sadly the poor  girl drinks a bit too much gin and nearly falls asleep. The whole session is very pleasant and I feel my former anxieties dissipating.

I leave 798 at 3pm and soon wish I had left at 2. I'm meeting Phantom in Great Leap at 5 so imagine I have plenty of time. This turns out not to be the case as the city has become completely gridlocked. I sit on the bus for about 15 minutes while it goes absolutely nowhere, so I persuade the driver to let me off and walk away in search of a subway station. Generally speaking the Chinese seem used to this kind of thing and just sit patiently waiting on the bus. I can't find a station anywhere so I hail a cab and ask for the Lama Temple. This turns out to be an even worse choice than the bus as he gets stuck in a bottleneck and can move neither forwards nor backwards. Realising I'm going to have a problem making it on time I call Phantom and explain I'm stuck. I ask if she can get the cab driver to take me to the nearest subway station, and then as he is still motionless, I get out of the car and stop the traffic, using hand signals like a traffic policeman. It works and the taxi moves off, so we wave thanks to the other drivers and set off. It takes about 10 minutes to get to the subway station where I finally begin to feel some hope of reaching my destination! It's surprising the things you find yourself doing while travelling alone abroad. It's 4pm by now so I text Phantom and send regular progress reports. I have to change at two stations and normally I don't tend to hurry whilst travelling on the subway, preferring to give myself plenty of time. However on this occasion I walk as fast as I can, getting hotter as I go as I have 5 layers of clothing on because of the outdoor cold!

Changing at some Chinese underground stations can be pretty miserable at times: I must have walked about a mile at each station between platforms, and I hurry up the stairs as the escalators are packed with commuters. I finally manage to arrive in the area of my hotel at 5pm and let my friend know I'll be late. I feel like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. Anyway she is OK about all of this being quite easy going and happy to wait with a beer. So I hurry back to the hotel where I quickly change and shower, then walk out to Great Leap where I arrive at 5.30!

There is some turkey left over from the Thanksgiving party so I have a nibble while we chat: the atmosphere is lively and I have a good time. have long wanted to try a little seafood restaurant near the subway station for my hotel in the hutong, and we arrange to walk there for dinner. It sells steamed fresh shellfish, clams, lobster, prawns, oysters, crab etc: most things that you can think of so we create this exquisite seafood platter!

You steam the fish over a fish chowder (which you eat later) and add garlic and spices. I have to say this is one of the finest meals I've had in China so far, if somewhat expensive, but I feel like having a special meal.

We enjoy ourselves immensely although the staff keep pushing some promotion deals: fortunately since I can't understand Chinese this goes over my head! The restaurant is fairly quiet so we have a table by the window, although there are lots of nice tables: in many restaurants I've been to there is at least one bad table but I can't see one here!

Following this sumptuous meal we head off to Sanlitun Embassy area which is full of bars and brewhouses so we visit a couple. These turn out to be disappointingly full of expats so we look in 3 or 4 before finding one where we can sit down, and have a beer taster of 3 different brews. I'm not too impressed as I can taste line cleaning fluid in the beer although one of them tastes OK.

We end up after this in Fanglia Hutong, known as the “Little 798” as it has a number of new art galleries in it. It is a narrow alleyway with a courtyard in one part of it where these galleries are located. We visit a new bar there, a hidden bar tucked away in a corner, a secret place (but not too secret) and it's really much more to my liking! It's very atmospheric and lively with mostly Chinese customers mixed with a few expats: it's quite edgy and much more my scene!

  

Phantom worries about her partner so cannot stay out too late: I've had a wonderful evening and a roaring weekend. I've enjoyed every minute except for the difficult trip back from 798. I feel my spirit has been restored by this! Finally we walk to a spot where I can easily find my way back to my hotel and say goodbye for the present, hoping to meet again soon.

DAY THREE: RETURN

Much the usual routine. I have breakfast in a bar near the hotel, a full English with honey ginger tea.

I can't eat it all but it's what I need. I pack and check out at 10 am, then travel to Beijing West station, arriving at 11 am have plenty of time so I sit and write these entries in note form.

The stewardess on the train actually reminds me charmingly when the train is approaching the station. I arrive back in my flat at about 1.15 pm, go for a beer and light lunch as I have stew for dinner in the fridge.

THE DARKNESS

I will write this part in allegory: I think it's meaning will be clear to my loved ones, others will have to guess! But it's an important part of my journey.

In olden times, a knight left his castle, his family and his land in search of the fountain of youth. He travelled for years over many leagues and many lands, and saw many wondrous things, but never did he find what he was searching for.

One day in a distant land, he came to a splendid castle. He was hungry and weary, and so he decided to stop and seek shelter for himself and his horse. When he went inside the castle he entered a magnificent hall in which he saw a large group of beautiful people around an enormous table on which was laid a sumptuous feast. They dined amid jaded opulence with marvellous tapestries and lanterns. The knight humbly asked if he could have shelter for the night, for he was tired, weary and thirsty.

“Please join us!” the people replied. “Eat and drink with us, for you are welcome!”

The knight ate and drank and shared many wonderful stories. He remained in the castle for many days, and rested well in a comfortable bed, while his horse was well-fed and stabled. One day he walked into a hall laid out for a wonderful feast, but there was no-one there. At one end of the table was a magnificent golden chalice set with marvellous jewels, filled with rich wine. Looking at the goblet the knight remembered his quest, for he had forgotten it whilst in the castle. “I wonder if this is what I have been looking for all these years?” he said to himself.

He raised the goblet and looked into it. The wine was rich and aromatic, and the flavour of it stimulated his nostrils with anticipation. The knight drank from the cup, but when it touched his lips, to his horror and amazement he found that the cup was empty and the wine was gone! He lowered the cup in disbelief and when he did so it was full again to the brim with rich red wine.

“What kind of magic is this?” the knight asked himself. He raised the cup a second time and again as it touched his lips the wine disappeared. Worse still, as he put down the cup again, he saw that the food on the table was putrid and rotten, and the meat crawled with maggots.

In terror the knight fled and mounting his horse, rode away from the castle as swiftly as he could, for he knew it was accursed. Years passed and as the knight travelled endlessly, fighting in many battles on his way, he gave up his quest in despair. He had become older, emaciated, because often he could find no food other than berries and no drink except from a stream. Desperately weary from so much travel, he rode across war-ravaged lands to his own kingdom which had sunk into a state of poverty and misery because of wars and disease. Finally he came to his own castle, and found it was dark, cold and deserted. His family had gone. The knight found an old man by the roadside who had with him a dog, a gourd of water and some bread. These were all the possessions he had in the world.

“Old man,” the knight said, “What has become of the people in this castle?” The old man replied, “I don't know, sir. Perhaps they went away. The master of the castle disappeared a long time ago, so he is probably dead.” The knight felt desperately sad about this. “I am thirsty,” he said. “May I have some water?”

“Certainly,” the old man said and poured some water from his gourd into a wooden cup. The knight drank. Suddenly, he felt his youth and vigour return, and all his weariness vanished like melting snow. Astonished he said: “This what I have been looking for all my life and travelled to the ends of the earth to find! Wherever did you find it?”

“Truly master, this is only water from the well in the castle, which I took for I was thirsty and the castle has been empty all these years.”

“But it has restored my spirit! Someone must have worked some magic on it!”

“Nay, master, it is only water, and I was glad to give it to you because you were thirsty.”

At once a voice hailed from behind the knight. He looked around and saw his wife and children just as he had left them so many years before. The knight wept and held them in his arms for a long time.

And so the knight remained happily in the castle for the rest of his days. And the old man was always welcome there.

WINTER ARRIVES

The temperature has dropped suddenly and though there is the occasional warm day and the climate is generally sunny, it is clear that winter has arrived early. It becomes bitingly cold and I take to wearing several layers of clothes. Along with some of my colleagues I sometimes still wear light clothing however this is either denial or bravado, I can't make up my mind which. Eventually I give in and go out well insulated: one of my Chinese friends reminds me by email to wear extra clothes! I still cycle as much as I can except for shopping trips as the buses tend to be overcrowded (this is China remember?) and the taxis can often overcharge. I remain quite health conscious and decide to cook for myself as much as is reasonably practicable. To this end I have defrosted my freezer and run it down so that it's empty and I can restock on groceries. I make a trip to a Chinese supermarket, they are all quite good for meat and fish, and fill up with chicken, fish and meat, along with various other products. There is the export supermarket nearby where I can get pasta and barbecue sauces, so this time I spend more than I usually do as I have emptied the pantry! The freezer doesn't seem to freeze things properly following my having defrosted it, I later learn that this is due to its being partially empty. Now that it's full again, it gradually returns to normal.

I have long wanted to start making art again whilst I am here, but as you may imagine, obtaining the materials is a challenge. After months of scouring shops last year I have obtained 30 square metres of heavy canvas online with the help of some of my students. Near the campus there are some art shops which I visit with a student to try and order some stretchers. This is surprisingly easy although the lady at the shop is very friendly and talks too much so it does take about half an hour to order what I want. I order four large stretchers and the shop makes these up for me. They are very good with a bevelled edge and tongue and groove joints. What is more its less expensive than it would have been to make them myself, at least in the UK. I buy a staple gun and staples and set about stretching the canvas. This turns out to be far from easy as it's so heavy I can't get the creases out of it even though I stretch it tight as a drum. I try wetting the canvas which works for a time as it shrinks, but when dry it becomes slack again and I end up taking it off and re-stretching it. Also humidity affects the canvases so that they keep slackening and tightening according to the temperature. I realise this is as good as it's going to get , so eventually wait until I can get paint for priming and dust sheets.

This turns out to be an almost insurmountable obstacle. I need a tin of ordinary white emulsion which I mix with PVA and it makes a successful primer. I can't buy acrylic primer as I need gallons of the stuff. So first of all I try local markets, but cannot find any paint, so then on the advice of Iris I try a big interior design market near the campus. It's enormous and fascinating as it has hundreds of showrooms filled with opulent furniture, lighting and décor attractively arranged. There are 5 floors which you move between on escalators which are stationary when you walk up to them, provoking the assumption that like many things in China, they don't work, but they move when you step onto them which is quite interesting. However, guess what? No paint. I wander around a number of areas in the city without any luck and ask a Chinese friend if she knows where to look. I get the impression this kind of material isn't generally on sale to the public because as far as I can make out DIY seems unknown in China. Finally I find what I need online and decide to enlist the students' help (again) to get started.  

I make a few nice meals at home, seafood pasta, paella, bolognaise and chilli. As I have at present, to begin my social calendar from scratch again I find myself frustrated with a lack of diverse contacts, which I guess is a consequence of being in a foreign land.  

I can occasionally go out to the Route 66 bar but it's quite distant so I can't do it too often. I develop the habit of hanging around the shacks near the campus where I can have a beer and the occasional chat with a colleague.  

I realise eventually that the source of my frustration is not having Sarah with me: someone who is there just for me alone and while I can enjoy the company of others now and then it simply isn't the same: you need that special someone at times! I guess this is just another facet of having come to China at the age of 50: one needs these ties more than one would at say, 24, or then again maybe that's always been a part of my character. I remain sad that I haven't heard from the Chinese associates I knew last year: it feels like a closed chapter in my life. I feel the loneliness of the outsider: at times it is a self-imposed state of exile.

I become depressed and lonely, longing to hear a message from someone, but rarely doing so. Perversely, you may feel, there are odd social occasions that come up but they tend to be the “wrong” sort: semi-formal university events or large gatherings. Fortunately there is a quiz night at Route 66 but owing to my current state of mind I feel too lethargic to go: I try to go online to talk to Sarah but I have so many problems doing this that I give up in frustration and go anyway although I turn up late, I'm still welcome to join in which I manage to do and have a good time! Following this there is a Halloween party, and I think about costume but do not have the time to make anything that works: in my experience fancy dress needs a lot of effort to pull off successfully: however it does make for a fun evening.

I invite a few friends from the bar to my flat where I make a Mexican dinner, with fajitas, home-made guacamole, salsa and refried beans and jalapenos from the export shop. This makes for a very pleasant evening and we have a very good time.

However this is an occasional treat, afterwards I return to my old local haunts wondering what to do with myself. Everything seems too much effort. Finally after a particularly miserable evening I decide I've had enough and that the only person who is going to change anything is me.

So I email all the Chinese from last year and wish them well, expressing sadness that we have not spoken for a while. This prompts a return from Seven and Christine who invite me for lunch, so we have an enjoyable time together and I hope to see them again over Christmas. I also arrange to visit an Italian pizza place in town with a friend, go to a bar where the barmaid is an old friend, who I haven't seen for ages and forgotten about, visit the student bar, invite some colleagues to dinner at my flat, cycle out to Route 66 on Sunday for a beer and bump into a couple of friends. It makes for a much better week. I decide to be kinder to myself. One of my problems is that I expect too much of myself and of others at times: it's not realistic and leads to unhappiness. I also arrange to visit a friend in Beijing and begin to realise I don't have to be lonely and isolated.

As the weather becomes colder a hideous, Ripper-esque smog descends on the city and I find myself walking around in a phantasmagorical seascape as if the entire area has become like some nightmarish city under the sea, and an eerie silence has descended over everything. It is the worst I have seen since coming to China. Every sound is muffled and ghostlike figures wander silently through the fog, like the shades in the land of the dead.

  I host an Indian meal in my apartment and in typically overambitious style I make a selection of Indian starters: I make my own popadoms which are surprisingly successful: not quite like the ones in a restaurant but Ok, onion bhajis, samosas and salad. I serve these with some pickles Sarah has sent me in a package of supplies from England.

I follow this up with Thai chicken curry, a madras-style vegetable curry and Malabar prawn curry which is a bit hotter. The evening goes well and everyone has a good time! I have become aware though, that the creative energy that should be going into making art seems to be going into social planning and my cooking.

I do enjoy the odd bottle of beer in the shacks but to my dismay I find that many of them are being pulled down: I wonder if they will all disappear soon? Weather forecasts among colleagues portend a savagely cold midwinter ahead: it may be time to plan a shopping trip for warmer clothes again.