We’ve been in our apartment now just shy of one month. The newness of being in the city has passed, although I still don’t feel like a resident yet. We had a quick trip to Hong Kong for work and visa related missions and as we re-entered Beijing and came though immigration, Steve asked me if it felt like I was coming home. It did not.
Hong Kong is a fascinating city; a collision of Western modern, t
raditional Chinese and colonial British. Hoards of people, skyscrapers and markets everywhere. We stayed at a hotel on Hong Kong Island and spent most of our time there. The streets are narrow and hilly. Thank goodness for the escalators and stairs which are available inside and outside of office buildings to assist with the steep terrain. In addition, covered walkways connect the sidewalks two and three stories in the air to take pedestrian traffic off the sidewalks and out of the cross walks. It is maze-like in that not all the covered walkways connect to a building or a sidewalk. Many times I found myself backtracking to get to my desired destination.
We visited the “Peak” which is a high point on the island where you get a view of the downtown business area and further onto Kowloon, which is the p
art of Hong Kong on the Chinese mainland. Because we went there at night, we saw the lights of the city and missed out on seeing views of the China Sea and other natural terrain. The weather was not particularly cooperative during the daylight hours, sun but lots of haze. Maybe another time.
On our trip to Kowloon, we had a chance to visi
t with fellow Crotonite Ally Goldberg, who is in Hong Kong teaching English at a local university. She took us to markets in Kowloon which were even more crowded that the ones on Hong Kong Island! Bird market, goldfish market, ladies’ market, flower market. Lots of shopping going on for the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) which begins on February 14th. We had dinner at a restaurant near the ferry terminal with beautiful views of Hong Kong Harbor and then watched a laser light show that is presented daily at 8 pm. (It reminded me of the light show at Epcot.) We then ferried back to Hong Kong Island.
We went to a Tea Museum in Hong Kong Park that has a wonderful collection of tea pots and other tea related items. We learned about the various types of tea, how they are prepared, the different types of pots, the health benefits of the various types of teas, etc. The Park also has an aviary with many spectacular bird species. They attract the birds for public viewing by hanging fresh fruit near the elevated walkways in the aviary. The birds would swoop by, fill up, and fly off. It made for good viewing.
I can get around Beijing pretty easily now. I have learned to use the subways and found a street map that has the subway stops marked on it. Steve and I have both begun our Chinese lessons. Our tutors have very different approaches. I have learned how to introduce myself (wo jiao Diane), to identify my family members, and how to count. He has learned counting, food and restaurant vocabulary. Between the two of us, maybe we’ll have enough to get by soon. So far, in a pinch, I haven’t had words at my fingertips what would have been useful. But, we’ll get there.
Let the fireworks begin! Well, actually they began almost a week before Chinese New Year with firecrackers and little displays going off randomly around our neighborhood at dusk. The US fire marshals would have fit if they saw how fireworks were stored and used here. Everyone is entitled to purchase fireworks. (In our apartment foyer a notice states that you can store up to 60 lbs. of fireworks in your unit.) About one week before New Years, little government-sponsored huts appeared on street corners that sold a variety of firecrackers from sparklers to quite extensive displays. 
The largest variety we saw came in box about the size of a records storage box filled with canisters connected to one fuse. You light it and run. They cost about 2000 RMB which is about $250 USD. People bring their explosives to any street corner, alley, or open area they choose and set them off.
After having New Year’s Eve dinner in our apartment (I made sweet and sour chicken), we had a great view from our apartment window of some of the displays. We then went outside around 10 pm to check out what was going on. We found some of our apartment residents (primarily French citizens) with their young children setting off all kinds of fireworks right next to our building! New Years revelers began setting off fireworks late in the afternoon on February 13 and continued without stopping until well past midnight. We fell asleep to the sound of fireworks and woke up to some in the morning about 8 am. They will continue for the next week or so until the Lantern Festival which marks the end of the New Year holiday. 
The Spring Festival is a family holiday and, as such, it is a big travel holiday in China. People travel to their hometowns to reconnect with family and friends. There are noticeably less people in Beijing the past couple of days. On New Years Day we went to a older neighborhood in Beijing called Liulichang at the recommendation of my Chinese tutor Lucy. We saw the old hutong type houses and wandered through the narrow alleys and streets. It was quite cold so we made our way back to our apartment to warm up. At the recommendation of Steve’s work colleague, we went to dinner at a restaurant called China Grill on the 66 floor of a Central Business District office building. It was fun to see the lights of the city and the fireworks displays dotting the panorama. The food was great too! 
