being in transit for 16+ hours, it felt like i’d never get here. but here i am, in a large and crowded internet cafe listening to cheesy mando-pop (lyrics to one song: “now i’m really crying”).

internet cafes are scarce in beijing, btw. this is the first i’ve seen all day. and not too surprisingly, photos on flickr are blocked/broken, which means i have no idea how this post will look when it’s completed. sorry.

NWA turned out to be a pretty impressive airline. deese entertainment system – a random but satisfying slew of movies, some music channels, even games. i ended up watching “away from her” (so good and poignant), “4: rise of the silver surfer” (what?! i’ll admit, i always had a crush on the silver surfer), and “pirates of the caribbean 3″ (a tangled mess).

this is what i had for dinner on the plane. i made a chocolate sandwich out of the ghirardelli square and bun. not very successful.

here’s the hostel that i’m staying at, called jade international youth hostel (or something like that):

my first full day here was quite something. it was pouring in the morning, so in an endeavor to avoid getting soaked, i waited it out for awhile and thus got a late start. i mosied (sp?) on over to wangfujing, a spectacular touristy shopping thoroughfare, flanked by shops, restaurants, malls, hotels, and so forth. there’s nothing you can’t find here. it’s definitely comforting to know it’s in such proximity to my lodging.

BUT, in the beginning of my amble, i witnessed a scuffle (to put it mildly) that left me pretty shaken and disturbed. it actually got me all in a lather, almost to the point of tears.

here’s the scene – a restaurant on wangfujing. it was obvious that something was a’ brewin’ by the burgeoning number of spectators surrounding the area:

construction workers are on the side prepping some rusty looking barricade made of bars, as people who appear to be the restaurant owner/staff/friends look on in anticipation. then, the construction workers erect the barricade, encroach upon the restaurant entrance, and the standoff begins:

at first it seems somewhat friendly — there are a few laughs among the “participants” — but before i know it the witnessing crowd swells and my view of the scene is obscured. i hear yelling and women screaming, and things get violent. one construction worker brandishes a wrench rather threateningly above the opposing group.

things get super-ugly, and i’m terrified at this point. a senior man, who’s part of the confrontation, falls, and that heightens the drama. there is a physical war going on between restaurant (resisting and pushing away the barricade) and the construction workers (forcing the barricade onto the premises). the men are fiercely hotblooded, in each other’s grills and on the verge of doing some serious damage.

what truly GAVE ME THE SHAKES?

one of the men was dragged away by four others, USING THE FISH HOOK METHOD. he looked pretty resigned through it all. i’m not sure if they were plainsclothes cops or what…but i’d never seen anything like this. frightening.

eventually, it climaxed and the restaurant folks were taken away in handcuffs. the man, whom i’m assuming was the proprietor, was crying and his shirt was torn. others’ faces were bleeding.

all the while, there were plenty of cops around, but they did nothing and barely intervened, save the occasional crowd control by shooing us away. once the action had subsided, the construction workers carried on.

this really scared the shit out of me. i’d never seen anything like it. i wonder if it’s terribly ignorant for me to default to the thought, “business as usual” ?

anyway, here are highlights of the rest of my day. i am incredibly innervated, both physically and emotionally. beijing is intense, and that baby riot knocked me out of my comfort zone and gave me plenty to think about.

wangfujing xiaochi jie, or snack street. plentiful options in tiny restaurants and food stalls. here i am at the entrance; some sort of delicious custardy crisp octopus balls (japanese, i can’t remember the name); scorpions on a stick (they were still squirming):

this is an underground food court, also in wangfujing. overwhelming and fun, so many choices:

on to oriental plaza, a HUGE western-skewed mall that boasts many non-Chinese brands. i saw some enticing chic fashions, but more impressive were the “gourmet street” and “food forum” in the basement. WOW. i could have dinner every night in this mall alone. it had a prima taste restaurant too.

since i was full and lethargic, i rested and recharged at this charming and modern tea restaurant. awesome menu and tea selection. i enjoyed the pu er chrysanthemum tea and matcha pudding (which was damn good), all for like $5. i rather liked this spot. it’d be the perfect spot for a group of friends. relaxing, stylish, lowkey…

and what beijing report wouldn’t be complete without pics of tian’an men? tian’an men was swarming with tourists. groups were demarcated by their color coded hats, which i thought was kind of endearing. you’re accosted left and right by people who want to sell you knockoff 2008 olympics souvenirs, kites, pictures of yourself in the square, umbrellas, maps, etc.

okay, that’s enough for now.

i’m about to get kicked off the computer and this is exhausting. too spartan of an entry.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 14th, 2007 at 7:08 am and is filed under asia, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.