Jam packed day

Olympic Park, Tiananmen Square/ Forbidden City, Tea House and Jamm’in

Today was “jam” packed with excitement.  We started the day at the Olympic park where we got up close and personal with the “Bird Cage” stadium as well as the “Water cube” where Michael Phelps dominated for U.S.A.   In general it was nice to see the post-Olympic facilities still yielding attractions for tourists and jobs for locals.  As we all know other former Olympic centers haven’t produced the ROI expected, namely Greece.  The stadium cost $423 million to build and I admit that it was disappointing to see that it looks like it hasn’t been used since.  I was quick to point out to my classmates that the creative consultant on this project was Ai Weiwei a very famous Chinese artist who I had heard on NPR that he was recently detained in early April and placed on house arrest by the Chinese government due to his social activism against the government.  These bits of information and perspective were starting to bother me a little. 

The Water Cube was really awesome; the architecture on TV during the Olympics gave the impression that all the funny geometric shapes on the exterior were glass.  This was not so, the building essentially is a frame and the walls are made out of plastic inflated bags… essentially the same principle as a kryovak bag except inflated….yup, it was a lot like bubble wrap!  I thought it was brilliant, what better way to insulate than using air, right??  Beijing is certainly getting its money’s worth out of the Water Cube too; they have converted almost half of the facility into a really neat water park!

The 2008 Beijing Olympics were absolutely the most important games of my generation, the spirit and nature of sport can really be powerful between cultures and nations, I know it sounds cliché and NBC tells you all about it every couple of years but it’s TRUE!  I really felt the spirit of the 2008 Olympic Games even three years after the fact.  This was the one place in Beijing that I felt like I’d been to before, having watched the games on TV there were little things about the facilities and storylines about the events that came back into my memory.  A friend of mine is a Chef for Aramark and worked for the Olympics in Beijing, during this tour I couldn’t help but truly gain the appreciation for the once in a lifetime experience she must’ve had here during that special time.  I think that same “once in a life time” emotion was really starting to hit me, ironically at the same time the social repression that exists in China was becoming more and more obvious to me as well.

Tiananmen Square was vast, with a cold feeling intentionally looked like it meant business.  China’s communist ideals and Chairmen Mao’s authority are both highly palpable in this place.  There were trees of cameras symmetrically placed EVERYWHERE, I couldn’t help but realize the enormous steps the country has taking for such strict surveillance.   My personal political views are not in line with such policies as America’s “Patriot Act”, however this tour made me think twice about my overall rights as a U.S. citizen.  We saw some special security officers marching through the square, this was the icing on the cake….. or should I say mortar on the brick.  I wondered as I was taking pictures of Chairman Mao’s most famous portrait about how he might have felt to see his “vision’s” headquarters turned into such a popular attraction for people from around the world.  China only recently in the past few years stopped charging people to enter the square, even if you were a natural Citizen of China up until 2006 it would’ve cost you.  I thought it was amusing that in America’s capital not just monuments and parks, however even museums are FREE to the people, however in China they charged…. Solid revenue plan though! 

Into the Forbidden City:  This place was a fortress, it seemed almost too Fantastic to be real.  I couldn’t stop thinking about that Oscar winning movie The Last Emperor the whole time, what an amazing it would have been to see this city when it was functioning!  The legend says that the Forbidden City has 9,999 and ½ rooms, this is to show respect to Confucius who is believed to have 10,000 rooms in Heaven.   The official number isn’t actually that far off, with 8,704 rooms this city within a city (and then within a city again) was my first glance at China’s rich and ancient history on the ground, standing in it, and breathing it.   The architecture was a marvelous mixture that gave both the impression of power and strength, as well as beauty and art.  Because the style of architecture is just so different than western styles it was important to me as an amateur historian to compare the dates and age of the buildings as well as the eras in which they were built.  I tried my best when I saw a sign in English explaining a certain statue or temple to put things into perspective, for instance the second gate was built around the time of Shakespeare, or the throne for the emperor was erected around the time of Napoleon’s reign.  I used this trick throughout the trip to really help me gain the sense of how old my surroundings really were (in America our concept of “old” does not do world history justice).  The Forbidden City’s gates were essentially one giant square after another, followed by beautiful gardens, temples, living quarters and just what seemed to be rooms and spaces for the sake of it.

* Interesting fact, just prior to the Olympics in 2008 the Government commissioned for the Forbidden City to be excavated and for most of the walls and such to be painted and touched up.  Well they did a really good job, too good in fact…. It was said that the Forbidden City looked too new!  I’ve heard of this dilemma from art historians before, it’s a funny irony that exists for curators.  Trying to please the Chinese Government I’m sure isn’t exactly the easiest task either!

For entertainment tonight we went to a traditional Chinese Tea-House nearby.  This was a blast, although the translation for the show was pretty much non-existent I was lucky to have our guide Vivien sitting right next to me.  Between watching the “variety show” of sorts and the fun snacks as well as great tea being served this was an all-around fun event, and apparently it is an absolute must if you are a visitor to Beijing.  Walking into the theater there are pictures everywhere of famous and important people that have come to this Tea-house, it was like a famous deli in New York or one of those Hollywood restaurants with people that patron the facility.  Most of the acts were comparable to old Vaudevillian routines, with music, comedy, random low key acrobatics and just plain fun it was an exciting show even despite the language barrier.  If for nothing else it was fun because all the other guests in attendance were enthusiastic and excited to be there. 

Hoi Hai Park is famous for its shopping, until midnight and later.  Just northwest of the Forbidden City it is a lake surrounded by shops, bars and entertainment.  After a taxi ride that rivaled a James Bond scene we were there.  Tonight I didn’t have the shopping bug everyone else did, keep in mind I was in China with 20 girls… our itinerary necessitated shopping like life needs water!  After trying to be convinced that I needed some random piece of junk about 50 times (by the way it’s mostly the exact same junk from store to store) I found something…. But it wasn’t something you could haggle.   Down a narrow doorway in between two shops read on a small chalkboard sign the most inviting words in the English Language for anyone who has ever played music….. “Jam Session Tonight”.  At first glance this didn’t look like the type of doorway I should wonder in by myself, however like I said before I was building my confidence with this town.  The tourist and traveler warning tips I had been inundated with were valid, but not all that much more than other major cities I’ve been to.  So there I was in the Center of Hoi Hai Park with the most glorious and inviting sign I’ve seen in this market place, so I went for it.  I love playing the drums and collaborating music with others, it feeds my soul…. So you can imagine the elation I felt literally sitting halfway around the world when I sat down behind this beat up old drum set in this dive bar with a couple of guitar players and made some music.  We started out on neutral territory blues, reggae, and some rock n’ roll…. It wasn’t half bad!  What made this jam session special was when the better of the two guitarists played one of his own songs (or at least I think it was an original…. Keep in mind I was only able to communicate through music…. and pointing on the menu what beer I’d like to try next!!!)  I must have played for about an hour and the bar was starting to fill up, I could tell by the look on some of the guests faces that they were perplexed on how I ended up on stage.  To finish the night I ended up meeting a couple of American students from St. Louis, MO.  AS my Grandma Helen always says, “It’s a small world”.  Pittsburgh to St. Louis is about a 10 hour drive, but when you’re both in China?? It seems like next door.  We chatted for a while and and they were kind enough to take a couple of pictures of me playing as proof that I’m officially an international rock star (at least in my mind).  I rode a taxi back to the Hotel by myself tonight….  It was a liberating experience, I felt like anything was possible…. But for the first time really believed it…. Maybe it was just the positive messages Jay Z was spitting on the Radio but I really felt alive.  The cab driver was pretty funny, without a common language we communicated on a pure human level…. He saw my thumbs up and smile so he cranked the radio up and we jammed out the rest of the way back!

I told you it was a “JAM” packed day!!!!