Beijing Redux

After docking in the smoggy Chinese metropolis of Chongqing (by some accounts, the most populous city in the world with a reputed 36 million+ residents) early the next day, we took a brief, but harried, cab ride to the local bus terminal. From Chongqing, we made our way five hours southwest by bus to the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, famed for its pandas and spicy regional cuisine.

Upon arriving in Chengdu, we spent the entire afternoon furiously calling local travel agencies in a last-ditch effort to obtain a Tibetan entry visa. After a few thankless hours on the phone, it soon became apparent that the local travel agents were using the present circumstances as an opportunity to gouge foreign visitors. At that point, Kaberi suggested that we simply return to Beijing where our hotel owner friend Shauna was likely to have some local influence and expertise, particularly in the travel agent area. After conferring with Shauna via phone, we summarily booked a flight back to Beijing 30 hours hence.

We had planned to get up early the next morning to visit the Panda Reserve located 45 minutes away. Our plans were sidetracked, however, when Kaberi came down with a nasty and incapacitating stomach bug. Convinced that she had contracted food poisoning from an otherwise forgettable noodle lunch a few hours earlier, Kaberi spent a miserable, sleepless night and day commuting to the aft-located porcelain goddess. After being sedated with a cocktail of Dayquil and Tylenol PM, Kaberi was ushered onto the flight to Beijing. Once in Beijing, she collapsed in a heap at the Cote Cour SL hotel, our newfound home-away-from-home, leaving Vik and Shauna to tend to Tibetan visa and trip logistics (which they managed successfully only because of Shauna). Meanwhile, Kaberi recuperated in style, as Shauna had greeted us with wine, tasty Chinese snacks and an upgrade to a roomy suite with high ceilings and a small terrace.

When she awoke the next morning, highly-motivated and with her mind set on traipsing to the city’s antique fair, Kaberi had to be physically restrained by Shauna and Vik. Resigned to her temporary house arrest, Kaberi settled back into bed to watch reruns of Alias on the hotel TV and Grey's Anatomy on the trusty Slingbox. By nightfall, she had largely recovered, allowing us to pay a visit to yet another of Shauna’s divine restaurant recommendations, the laughably-misnamed My Humble House.

With many Beijingites out of town for the Labor Day holiday (known locally as Golden Week), the city was relatively-quiet, allowing us to hightail it to downtown in record time and have the swanky restaurant completely to ourselves. Blessed with prime seating directly before an indoor water pond, we enjoyed a scrumptious Asian meal of tuna tartare, white miso cod and spicy noodles (from which Kaberi respectfully excused herself). After dinner, we strode to the nearby Oriental Center shopping mall to see the newly-released Spiderman 3. Halfway through the flick, and no doubt the result of having to stomach Kirsten Dunst’s witless performance, Vik started to feel ill. In an hour, we were both in bed, having self-administered generous doses of NyQuil and very much hoping for the best.

The following morning, Kaberi felt close to normal but Vik found himself much worse for wear. While administering a much-needed doseage of DayQuil, we remembered that we needed to start taking anti-altitude sickness pills in advance of our impending Tibet trip. After doubly medicating, Kaberi exchanged places with Vik by hanging out with Shauna and attending to the final details of the Tibet tour. In the interim, Vik stayed in bed and caught up on episodes of Lost and 24 on the Slingbox. Kaberi made her way over to Beijing’s weekend antique fair and refrained from buying anything, so as to not sap Vik’s strength further. From the antique fair, Kaberi moved on to the Na-Li district, boasting one girlie shop after another, where her best purchasing effort was thwarted by the availability of 0 and 2-sized clothing.Vik roused himself in the afternoon, and we had an early dinner at Alameda, an upscale Brazilian restaurant in a hip eastern Beijing neighborhood.

Upon returning to the hotel, we discovered that we had inadvertently taken Kaberi's anti-inflamatory medication earlier in the day. To compensate for Kaberi’s oversight, Vik gave us a double dose of the anti-altitude sickness tablets while concurrently administering a long rant on carelessness and irresponsibility. Exhausted and grumpy, we both fell asleep early at about 9 p.m. The next morning, we were surprised to be awakened by Michael, the assistant manager, who was calling to make sure that we were okay. Puzzled by his concern, we wearily peered at the room clock and discovered that it was almost noon! Apparently, anti-altitude medication is also a strong sedative that is never, under any circumstances, supposed to administered in a double dose. After being informed of this, Vik was astonishingly silent on the matter.

Despite the late start, the day ended up being relatively fulfilling. We first ventured over to Silk Road where Vik used his bargaining skills to secure us inexpensive t-shirts to replace thoroughly worn-out predecessors. When we returned to the hotel a few hours later, we found Shauna and her travel agent waiting for us with Tibetan entry permits, plane tickets and a confirmed trip itinerary in hand. That evening, we introduced Shauna to a fellow Beijingite, Werner, who we had befriended on our Yangtze River cruise. Shauna identified another amazing dinner venue, and the four of us enjoyed an pleasant and authentic Chinese meal at an open-air courtyard table.

Before we left the next day, Shauna told us that we felt like family to her. As we bid Beijing farewell for the second time in two weeks, the feeling for us was very much mutual. Our much-anticipated journey to Tibet was next on the agenda.

Start The Presses

Management is pleased to report that our work stoppage is over and all efforts by any employee or employees to form a union have been summarily quashed. We would also like to make clear in the strongest terms that the timing of the work stoppage exactly correlating with our fabulous two-week holiday in Bali are entirely coincidental.

An Update

Given the explosion of interest in this blog (total readership now stands at 5), an explanation of our virtual absence is long overdue. Truth be told, we are experiencing a work stoppage. Vik has formed the Hindu Blog Editors Guild (Local 99) to collectively bargain and raise awareness of the deplorable working conditions (forced unpaid overtime, etc.) to which he is currently being subjected. Management and labor are currently at an impasse. We are now in the process of conducting lengthy negotiations, with Mssr. Jason Heeney serving as a somewhat-but-not-really impartial arbitrator. These meetings are being held in Bali. We hope to come to an amicable resolution in short order so that we can assume full operations. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused the five of you (actually, make that four of you since Jason is here with us).

Slow Boat To China

After a five-hour ride on a creaky bus – the highlight of which was watching The Matrix simultaneously dubbed and subtitled in Mandarin – we set foot in Yichang, a small city by Chinese standards with only one million inhabitants. A few mundane hours later, we found ourselves ensconced in claustrophobic quarters on an undistinguished tourist ship. We wondered how we would manage to make it through the next five days.

As the next morning beckoned, we found ourselves surprisingly refreshed. Something about the cabin bedding in combination with the gentle rocking of the waves below us made for an extraordinary night’s sleep. After taking decadently-long, hot showers, we decided to approach the day with an open mind. Our newfound positive attitude was almost immediately rewarded at breakfast. We were seated at a table of friendly, gregarious fellow voyagers, including two Californians, Jackie and Grant, in China for a combination of business and pleasure, and two Germans, Werner and his 16-year-old son Gregor, stationed in Beijing for Werner’s official duties with the German Embassy.

After breakfast, we met the remaining non-tour group passengers – the Lees (Malaysian-Australians May and Kwang, Irene and Ming), Malaysian-Kiwi Jin, and Germans Manfred and Hejki. We immediately bonded with our newfound friends, sharing anecdotes about our travels and wisecracks about the current adventure. Seeing herself as the group's de facto PR spokesperson, Kaberi nicknamed the thirteen of us "The Independents." Together, we immersed ourselves into the various cruise activities, and had much fun in the process. Even Vik, not usually a social butterfly in the best of circumstances, took every opportunity to hang out with the gang (even rising early once for 7:30 am tai chi lessons).

Our first shore excursion was to see the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world on a volume basis. Touring the facility, we regretted that Kaberi's father hadn't joined us, given his 30-year career as a globetrotting hydroelectric engineer. Even in the backdrop of a gray, overcast day, the massive scale of the Three Gorges complex -- comprising ship locks, a ship elevator, 16 turbines and various tourist pavilions -- was an eye-opening testament to Chinese ambition. Our local tour guide enthusiastically touted the project's success with regard to flood-reduction, energy production and economic development while glossing over the widespread, heavy-handed relocation of local villagers and negative ecological consequences.

Once back to the ship, we gathered on the front deck to hear Curtis, our outstanding river guide, give a narrated tour of the first two gorges. We sat with the Lees and enjoyed both the company and the scenery in equal measure. Ming and Kaberi took turns venturing outside onto the gusty stern to take pictures of the mist-strewn mountains. Kwang reminisced about visiting the Yangtze River -- the third longest river in the world -- some 20 years ago when the water level was roughly 75 meters lower than the 156-meter mark of today. Curtis informed us that the river will rise further to 175 meters by 2010. The planned flooding has rendered entire communities obsolete. This notion was reinforced for us in short order when we saw a red "175" painted on the side of a modest house. In three years, that house will be entirely submerged.

The desire for a quick nap overcame the two of us, and we skipped an introductory Chinese medicine course. When we rejoined the Lees two hours later, we learned that Kwang had been the guinea pig for the acupuncturist. When we asked how he felt after the treatment, he boasted that he could now hit a golf ball 30 yards further than before. Without skipping a beat, Jin quipped that the length of Kwang's drive was now a grand total of 30 yards. With the jokes flowing in rapid-fire fashion, we lost track of time as our ship bisected the rocky formations passing by on either side.

In the evening, a family-style Chinese dinner lent itself to sharing both platters and anecdotes with Jackie, Grant, Werner and Gregor. Vik's various dietary restrictions were the source of much amusement for the table, particularly because the ship's chef seemed intent on spiting him through the liberal use of both pork and beef as spices. When a tofu dish arrived adorned with ground pork, Vik was beside himself. Nevertheless, our good mood sustained. Our group reassembled to enjoy the ship's Fashion Show, which turned out to be a cultural show showcasing music and traditional dress from various periods of Chinese history.

After breakfast the next morning, we boarded a hydrofoil to coast through the Three Lesser Gorges. While we basked on the stern, Kwang drew upon his experience as a civil engineer to explain to us the logistics of securing bridges into mountainous outcrops and the means of protecting cliffsides from erosion. After taking turns with Jackie and Grant mimicking Leonardo diCaprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic-like poses, we made our way to the Emerald Gorge. With the overcast skies beginning to clear, we were able to enjoy the various vivid shades of green in the waterways. Under the capable direction of our local guide, we were able to discern wild monkeys, mountain tracks and hanging coffins in the periphery. Afterward, we transferred to a small wooden boat to tour the Mini Three Gorges (at this point, Vik mused that Three Mediocre Gorges would be next on the itinerary). Amidst the din of tribal songs and local horns, we enjoyed the remote serenity on a more intimate scale.

In the afternoon, we partook in the ship's two planned activities, Dumpling Preparation and Mandarin 101, with the Lees. That evening, after a talent show featuring the crew, seven of us commandeered the ship lounge for karaoke purposes. May proved to be our fearless leader and, soon enough, all of us got dragged before the microphone. Kaberi's favorite memory of the evening was watching Ming and Irene lovingly dance together. She's hoping that she and Vik can follow in the Lees' footsteps.

On our final day aboard the ship, we joined our compatriates to see the ghost city of Fungdu. Vik was insistent on foregoing the apparent tourist trap, but Jackie and Grant talked him into coming. With a giggly tour guide leading us through the attraction, we found ourselves getting into the spirit in short order. We even participated in some of the silly diversions. Grant and Vik both paid to light candles and incense sticks to please the Chinese god of prosperity. The entire group cheered on Vik as he tried unsuccessfully to balance a four ton ball onto an iron point. All of us successfully performed the local "tests of character" by making our way across a small walkway representing longevity without tripping and standing one-footed on a rock for three seconds. In spite of it all, the outing proved to be a much better alternative than remaining aboard the ship.

The afternoon passed quickly with different configurations of folks hanging out together. Vik talked business with Grant while Kaberi communed with the Lees to hear about life in modern China. After dinner and drinks with our respective tablemates, we all convened in the evening to take pictures robed in the royal outfits of the Emperor and Empress. The camaraderie that we enjoyed as a group, even while participating in a variety of seemingly-ridiculous activities, was a truly affirming and enriching experience. And we were thrilled to have walked away with so many new friendships with amazing people from around the globe during our five strange and wonderful days on the Yangtze.