We said goodbye to Trish, her family and Shanghai, loaded on the bullet train and set out for Beijing. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with Beijing.  Old memories of Olympic past came to mind when I thought about this city, but in recent years it has told a different story. And oh did Beijing have a story to tell.

When we got to the city the first thing that struck us was the air quality. This city is so smoggy!  The sun could barely break through.  It lived in a perpetual state of gloominess.  After being there 4-5 days we could really feel a difference in our physical well being.  Our throats were scratchy, noses were stuffed, and we just didn’t feel great.

The second thing that struck me was the cultural differences of the people.  There was such a disparity between what some people would perceive as appropriate physical space and how I would define it.  We heard the phrase “if there is space it will be filled” and this was very apparent throughout our visit.  Whereas in other parts of Asia queuing is a big thing, cutting in line is part of the culture here.  Walking down the street, standing in line, sight-seeing.  And the number one perpetrator? Women over the age of 60.  They would push and shove to get where they were going. Honestly though, can I blame them?  Typically standing 5 foot nothing and weighing 100 pounds soaking wet, these gals were feisty and probably needed to be.

When we finally asked why this culture was so “pushy,” we received some sobering stories of times ago.  The government would distribute food and goods throughout the cities and towns and only had so much to give.  When supplies were out they were out.  Therefore, being forceful was impartive.  It appears this attitude has perseverated the society in more ways than one.

The other interesting behavior we noted was constant staring.  It’s unlike anything else I had experienced.  Just a constant staring from strangers.  Sometimes people would randomly take a picture of Julia and I.  Walking down the street and cell phone snapping.  During this time Julia and I perfected our “awkward smile” pose.  We would use this whenever the staring became a bit too extended.  We aren’t total jerks, so this isn’t something we would do straight away if someone was looking at us.  It usually only came about after a certain number of looking back and forth at a person who wouldn’t break the stare.  Finally after 3-4 look backs, Julia and I would make eye contact with the person and give a tight-lipped, closed mouth awkward smile with a non-verbal “Hello.  How are you?” look.  Sometimes the person would smile back, sometimes they would look away, other times they would keep staring.

Our best day in Beijing was visiting the Great Wall.  We decided to take a bus about 3 hours outside of the city to a place called Jinshanling.  This part of the wall had both sections in ruins and parts that were restored.  We spent about 4 hours climbing over the wall and it was just remarkable.  Unlike other sections that can be packed with tourists, our group of about 20 were the only ones there.  People quickly spread out, walking at different paces and so there were times Julia and I were nearly alone. It was without a doubt one of the best experiences of the trip.

On one of the last days in Beijing we went to the Temple of Heaven, a beautiful temple in the city.  It was a gorgeous sight but even better was what happened in the park leading up to the temple.  This place was a like a senior citizen block party.  All these people congregate in the park chatting, playing games, and socializing.  Even Julia and I got in on the fun!

Then Julia takes the win: