So Cheng got back to Beijing last Thursday, hurray! I still haven't been to his campus though, because he came here for the weekend. On Friday after class we met up at a shopping center... and when I say "met up" think lots of phone calls like "Um our bus just got hit by a car, we'll be there soon" and "You're standing on a bridge that says Beijing Welcomes You? Wow, that's helpful" and "Zhongguancun gouwu zhongxin! It says that in big red characters at the top!" and "I don't see a big screen TV... keep walking" etc etc. Needless to say, it is not easy to meet up in Beijing (especially when a certain someone can't really read Chinese signs... coughcough).
Anyway later that night some friends had met this music guy and we all went out to Wudaokou to catch a live music show. At first we were told the music was going to be heavy metal, but then no, it was supposed to be indie rock, and when we got there it was somewhere in between the two. Luckily the band (don't remember the name, but they were from Norway... think long blonde hair and everything) was basically done by the time we arrived. Afterwards we chilled at the bar, Cheng and I played some foosball and a Chinese drinking game with a German guy and a Chinese saxophone player. Good times, good conversation.
The next day I definitely didn't get motivated till two, and then the plan was to meet up with Cheng at the Summer Palace. Again, the whole "meet up" definitely backfired when our bus took us to the North Gate and he was stuck down at the East Gate (with no money because he forgot his wallet. Nice.). So Pre (from my program) and I rushed through the beautiful palace on the hill and went to the gate to rescue Cheng, and then the three of us chilled by the lake and decided we had to come back on a day that wasn't so smoggy and when we had enough time to rent a boat.
The next morning we got up early and went on a "hutong tour" provided by our school. See, the flier told us we'd be guided by an expert into the hutong neighborhoods to chat with the people who lived there. Only, we got on the bus and were first dropped off at the Lu Xun museum. Well, this is cool, I thought, I mean I wanted to come here anyway. We had an impromptu lesson from our tour guide about Beijing's development and cities in China in general. What did this have to do with the writer Lu Xun? I'm still not sure. Then we wandered around the museum and saw Lu Xun's old home (which was a hutong, so I guess we were sort of on the right track).We got on the bus again and this time it dropped us off at a Buddhist temple. Ummm ok this is definitely not relating to hutongs, but still interesting, I thought. Maybe there are hutongs located near this temple and we will be seeing them soon. But no, we were led into the temple for another impromptu lesson, this time with a monk. He seemed to be deeply respected and wanted us to ask him a lot of questions, but didn't seem so inclined to directly answer them. For example, as he was talking to us about his recent visit to Taiwan, he was fiddling with a very nice looking cell phone. And at one point our guide was translating and the monk actually took a phone call while he was sitting there. Um, what?
So I ask, trying not to pointedly stare at his phone, How do you balance the strict rule and regulations [of religion and monastary life] with modern technology and advances? Seems like a fair question, right? Worthy of an in-depth response... but no. He said, Well I make sure I find myself a good teacher. When I have a good teacher to guide me, I'm ok. Or something to that effect. Very vague.
The monastary people were nice enough to guide us around the temple and show us some things that the normal people don't get to see. For example, around the back of one of the altars was the huge huuuuuuge painting done entirely with the artist's right hand pinky finger. That's right, a wall-sized finger painting. It was actually very beautiful, and during the Cultural Revolution someone built a wall in front of it so it wouldn't be destroyed. No pictures allowed though.
It was slightly odd walking through the temples, yesterday being the Mid-Autumn Festival. This is one of those days where EVERYONE goes to the temple and offers food and incense to the ancestors. So we were like walking in front of the lines of people as they bowed and made their devotions. And after that, guess where we went. Home, of course! The end of the Hutong tour, in which nary a hutong was seen. False advertising, I tell ya. I would have been more satisfied with the tour if they had told us what were we actually going to see. As it is, I still want to see the hutongs! When is that tour leaving??
