The Police Come to Call

Everyday life is generally pretty normal in Beijing and one tends to forget that we are living in a totalitarian society. Well, that realization came to the fore when I got a knock on the door about 10:30 on Wednesday morning. Standing at the threshold were two, uniformed policemen asking for my passport and police registration receipt (when you move into an apartment building, expats must register with the police and you must keep the receipt available for inspection). Of course, I had neither my passport nor my registration receipt at home because my new employer needed both of them to apply for my work permit. I politely said I did not have them and explained why. They asked if I had a copy of my passport front page, which I did. I quickly got it and presented it to them for inspection. They examined it, took my passport number and said they could call headquarters and check if I was appropriately registered. He must have had some voice wire directly connected to the station because he began to verbally check my information without dialing or even using a phone. While this was all going on, I wondered what they could possibly do to me or where they might take me and what options I would have depending on how things transpired. All those speculations came to a halt when it appeared they were going to leave. I guess I must have checked out because, after asking how many people lived in the apartment and where my husband and his passport were, they left looking somewhat disappointed. I think they thought for a moment that they had gotten one!

There has been heightened security throughout Beijing this week, probably due to the big governmental conference taking place at the People’s Hall, near Tian‘amen Square. There have been lots of soldiers and police, seemingly unarmed, walking around the streets and in front of places of business. Later that same day, at my language lesson at the Berlitz Center in the Ritan Park area of the city, two police officers, one man and one woman, knocked on the classroom door, peeked in to see what was going on, and then left. That was the first time in the six weeks I have been going for lessons that an official of that sort was in the building. My instructor was concerned because she, a native Beijinger, had forgotten to bring her ID card with her. Apparently, all residents have to have their documents with them at all times. I suspect once the conference is over things will go back to normal. I’ll keep you posted.

I participated in my second Beijing city bike ride tour. I went with basically the same group of women as last week. This time we were more ambitious and rode round trip approximately 18 miles. We headed to the Muxiyuan Fabric Market which is very far to the south. I didn’t feel as nervous as I did the week before, but I probably should have. We traveled through some very congested areas and had to weave in and out between buses, motor scooters, cars and pedal cars. We had a difficult time finding the market and enlisted the help of a kind young woman who led us by foot through some narrow alleyways to the market. On the whole, a pretty intense ride. The market, however, was amazing. We saw some beautiful fabrics and trimmings. I purchased a few things and got some ideas for other projects. On the way home, we passed by a street vendor who repaired bikes and sold bike parts. His repair kit, parts and accessories were strewn along the sidewalk. He was an older gentleman who seemed to have a nice sense of humor. I purchased a bell for my bike, a real need here, which he installed for me while I waited. He then tried to sell us other parts, like padded cushion covers for our seats and baskets. We declined, but thanked him for his efforts, and pedaled off.

My days of bike trips are over for a while since I begin work on Monday, March 15th. I’ll let you know how it goes.