I really do have my explorers hat on. I am not sure if this a tactic to fuel my need to procrastinate or if the passion to discover new places and things is just too overwhelming. Whatever motive lies behind these actions it is getting me out and about in the city and discovering some less popular yet still fascinating aspects of Beijing.
There are several hutongs in Beijing that have a cultural and historic ambiance where the characteristic views of life still goes on and I have planned to visit Shijia Hutong Museum for some time. Meeting up with my ex colleagues Stuart and Kaz seemed an appropriate excuse to go and finally discover the relics of the Hutong. I bravely (the air quality was not good) cycled there, with a minor interruption from the police. It is the first time I have been stopped cycling along West Chang’An avenue, perhaps with my mask and sunglasses they took me for a local. They asked for my passport which i only had on a photograph. When they saw my pervious work visa and asked what I did, i explained and one of the police lit up with delight. He had been to UBR and seen the wandkeeper. I was sent on my way. On arrival at Dongsi I discovered that the Hutong Museum was shut on a Monday, a not unusual experience for me, thus drawing friends into my world of chaos.
The whole area is a warren of Hutongs and a similarly lauded alley was Dongsi where there were some well preserved Siheyuan (traditional courtyard residences) and also boasted a museum so we made our way there, giving us the opportunity to take in the buildings and style of this old part of the city. The museum, of course, was closed for lunch but a tea and coffee in a nearby location gave us the opportunity to chat and catch up and witness a tiny child bring the traffic to a stop as he crossed a busy road.
The museum was an interesting mix of courtyards and art instillation you were given a sense of life and history in a hutong residence as well as experience a mirrored room filled with Perspex roof tiles leading us to figures from the hutongs 700 year history sharing anecdotes about their lives.
I continued to put off today what I could do tomorrow on Tuesday by taking a trip to a cinema that Peng remembered from his childhood. It was in the north of Xicheng and on another sunny day I cycled to the Beijing Dizhi Hall to see a thriller, ‘Welcome to the Game’ with many twists and turns that kept me guessing to the end. As I left the cinema which itself was an extravagant example of 50’s architecture, I was intrigued to note that a crowd was assembling outside the hall. I stopped to watch people flooding in and signing a paper. I thought perhaps that the cinema was under threat of closure and this was a protest. I begged Peng to call the cinema to see what was happening and as a result I learned an interesting aspect of Beijing life.
The cinema has always been state owned and state owned companies are given free group tickets for their employees to see a movie once a week. Peng remembered going with his Father on the same basis as a child. The assembled crowd were from a company and there was to be no demonstration, just a group photo and for them a film.
A miserable day on Wednesday kept me indoors and cleaning, cooking and some exercising on the treadmill kept me occupied. The arrival of my new Apple Watch on Thursday gave me an excuse to get out and test it and I travelled to a mall in Fengtai to go to a bakery for Peng have tea and update my vlog, blog and instagram. I was given a couple of books one of which is Beijing Bites, a description, with lovely watercolour illustrations and descriptions of renowned Beijing restaurants. We decided to randomly select a restaurant from its pages and we go to eat there on Friday. We made our first pick which was a Fengtai restaurant famous for its spring bing,
To complement the lunch we found a nearby attraction for me to visit. This was the National firefighters museum. On the surface this seemed an unlikely source of entertainment but once I was inside I really engaged with the museum and its exhibits. The history of firefighting from it earliest dynasty’s to today was fascinating, though the latter stages became a little more politically focussed. I was moved by a father and son tragedy with both men being firefighters and dying young in fires. I was also the focus of much attention from school students who were excited to see a laowai in their midst. I didn’t know there was so much food I liked.
After this I cycled to the ‘Fengyuan Spring cake museum’ (the literal translation of its name) which was very much a traditional Beijing ‘fly’ restaurant; very much like a classic British ‘greasy spoon’. The menu included time honoured dishes, but their speciality is ‘Spring Bing’ We made our order including a delicious mashed tofu side dish and a free bowl of millet congee. The bing is a small wrap which you fill with various dishes, in my case vegetables and egg. I particularly liked the ambience which included the sound of crickets chirping, so resonant I imagined it was a recording. On further investigation they were real crickets kept in jars which amplified the sound. My vegetarian sensibilities were offended but it was too late to object as I had already eaten. It was an area unfamiliar to Peng and to further explore we finished the day with a ride along a river to a cafe.
The weekend included online English lessons early Saturday and Sunday morning. I cycled to the nearby Financial District for tea and to collect some bread for Peng from a bakery on the Saturday and discovered a Coffee festival was taking place. I had an enjoyable conversation in the cafe with an engineer named Jiang. Peng was keen to see what was on offer at the festival and on Sunday I found myself returning to the exactly the same location. We purchased some coffee beans, had coffee and tea and thus the week had passed with me avoiding any of the tasks that continued to lay ahead.
