Me Ol' China (week 13)

Hi Folks!

here we go for week 13. Since I am back from Europe I have not being feeling too well. However this week has been a very intense one, work wise, even if we enjoyed of an extra day off for Sweeping Tomb day, a new public holiday added by the government this year, replacing one of the days that used to be attached to May 1st. I was asking all my colleagues where they would have gone with a long weekend and I was really surprised by their answer stating that a long weekend it's not a long weekend for Chinese. 3 days off in a row is not considered enough to go anywhere. So 3 days off are not enough to go through a 3 or 4 hours flight and it's not enough to go 2 hours drive from Beijing. This is something that I thing will change in China in the coming years. It used to be the same in Italy when I was younger. My days people used to go on holidays for a month, two or even three. The weekend away was very rare and the short breaks even less. I think it's part of the economic and mentality evolution. However I bought a book showing weekend trips outside of Beijing. It's a book destined to foreigners and there are some breaks requiring 800 Kms travel!

Not much has been happening this week and I have been focusing more on details rather than big pictures. On Monday morning I decided to stop to my favourite breakfast place for a Baozi and a glass of warm soy milk. 5 people were at the place. Two People Liberation Army soldiers and three civilians amongst which a very old lady eating eagerly a bowl of noodles. The soldiers, sitting with a civilian, were puffing away while lazily waiting for someone or something, and a man with the thickest glasses I have seen over here was looking at me while I was trying to make myself understood with the old waitress.

It was nice to look at this people and realise how interesting they are in their moves, whether scatty or extremely calm, whether shouting on a mobile phone or diving their faces in a bowl or rice or noodles. You can see the differences between "them" and "us" even in the smallest actions. Their smiles are bigger than hours and their faces radiate when they smile. Old people have an all-smile face and even the wrinkles seem to smile, opening in a dozen of smiles every time the mouth gets the signal from the brain to show a bit of teeth.

They love people smiling at them and, this week, I have been told by a few people that they love my company because I am always happy. I am generally a happy person, it's true, but I never expected someone to find me very happy all the times. I don't think I have ever smiled a lot in the past and I think that they are either confusing my expressions of cracking wind for smiles or I am realy changing beyond my own expectations.

I was at the Opera this week. I took some pictures of the place that you can see in the Me Ol' China shots in the side menu. The place is fantastic. I haven't done any research to verify whether this is the biggest Opera House in the world but it is certainly a fantastic piece of architecture located in the biggest square in the world, Tien An Men. A huge building with so much space but with a arguably sensitive setting. The stage room is far too small and there are too many stairs, escalators and elevators and plenty of empty spaces. Indications on how to reach your sit are very poor, queues to give your coat (an cameras) in are endless and going through an airport-style metal detector is rather annoying. The acoustic is excellent and the permanent museum and photographic exhibition are really nice to look at. Overall a very positive experience and my first time to view "Le Roi d'Ys". I have been told by my company that evening that the side titles were funny to read because most of the dialogues they were translated directly from Ancient French to Modern Pekinese. The behaviour of people at the Opera is far from being European-like. Their behaviour is more the one of teenagers in Italy rather than old Opera fans in Milan. They talk no stop and the burning glances didn't have any effect on them. I had on my left two young girls talking about their own business during the whole two hours event. Behind me when they stopped chatting was only because one of them started snoring. On my left there was the person that invited me and by her side a young lady, visibly bored, that was trying to engage into conversation. In front of me a couple of old people, husband and wife. The husband was reading to the wife the titles, to make sure she understood what was going on. 10 minutes after the show had started there were still people coming in and taking place. Some people had occupied some seats abusively and were asked to give them away and move to their legitimate seats that were occupied by someone else. 15 minutes the show had started and still people were swapping seats and flocking in while a theatre member of staff laser was pointing out the empty seats to the late arrivals.

The Management company of the place where I live sucks great times! Gym equipment has not been working for a couple of weeks reducing the walking machines from 3 to one. Just this morning I found them fixed. A letter from the Embassy has been kept in the post office for 10 days without them informing me. I prefer not to go through details as I will spoil my Sunday.

On Friday I was at one of the most interesting and popular Hutongs in Beijing, Hohai. Many restaurants and bars around one of the many artificial lakes of Beijing. Plenty of people, packed but still relaxing. I realy do not understand how it can be possible that despite crowds all over I still find walking around very relaxing. In Europe I would feel stressed, over here the feeling is the opposite.

Saturday has been just a relaxation day with some gym, some lunching and evening out to a local disco... The most famous club in Beijing: Suzie Wong! Let me tell you about this and then I go to the gym.

The World of Suzie Wong is not up to its name: the movie is much much better. The bonfire of vanities, the supermarket of bartering, love versus money or versus status. Sex in exchange of anything that can be useful in everyday's life, from money to a car to a title of taitai (Chinese for Mrs.). This is Suzie Wong for all those Suzie Wongs waiting for the right man. For men, Suzie Wong is just a place where admiring local beauties is the favourite sport. They indulge in unpretentious conversations telling and listening to all possible lies the human mind can possibly make up and pretend to be whoever they are not. It’s so evident that this Fair of Vanities is unreal like Pamela Anderson’s breast. The environment itself, without the Chinese Sheilas and the Western Bruces would be pretty nice with some colonial style and a hint of erotic charge but without them all will be left would be some Chinese men, very few and engaged in some sort of business or some western ladies that do not stand a chance with their competitors in the race to fool some westerners. A little too little to keep it open.

I have been looking at the behaviours of the people there and I realized that:
Suzie Wongs, they are always in couples or groups and all they do, keeping their glasses at mouth height, point at possible candidates or clients. This if they are not talking to any Big Nose. When they are in company of one or more Big Noses their behaviour is rather childish and they seem gay and cheerful at whatever thing is said by Mr. Big Nose and Thick Wallet. They laugh constantly and the Big Nose seems to be enjoying it a lot. There are some Suzie Wongs that are pretty bored. These are those who are shooting high and are a bit more aged and understand that the local fauna of Big Noses doesn’t have much to offer.
Big Noses. The male ones forget to be married and have grand children, if they are Mediterranean they tend to show a bit of their hairy chest, if they are Nordic they have their hair gelled up and their blue eyes sparkling. Older men with bellies tend to play dandies and look athletic despite their aching joints. Ladies… The Female of the Big Noses is restless, she doesn’t rest a second, she goes around, cruising like a whale, trying to make herself noticed. She dressed either in a very conservative way and try to attract the males with sexy glances or try to look 20 years younger and laughs pushing the head backwards to show her long neck and let some of the 2 liters of perfume go towards the nose of the male sample. She normally drinks Vodka and Tonic or a more sophisticated champagne. The younger one looks more uncomfortable in this set because has to face competition of the locals. She is generally accompanied by other own similar in terms of age. There is always the ugly one in the group that dresses up to look sexy but is visibly uncomfortable and either the high heels or the sexy shirt are visibly too much for her. She wishes she was somewhere else and she is always the one at the end of the line when they start cruising after there has been no acknowledgement towards them.
Male Small Noses. These are those that shouldn’t be there. There are some in their 40’s that are there for some sort of business, surrounded by young Suzies and there are the young ones that are there accompanying some male Big Noses working as translators. They do not really care about the local Suzies and the Sheilas and they are the only people I would define normal.

Anyway, it is an experience, it’s a pick up place where vanity finds its natural location.

Sorry guys, must rush, I have to go out somewhere really nice. You will find the pictures already on Monday but., I will talk about this place I am going to see today in next week appointment. Till then, ZaiJian!