Playing in the Park
Look closely and you’ll see in the bottom left a sort of ball that the kid has just thrown. These balls were everywhere — dunno if they’re showing up back home yet or not, but when they get kicked or thrown, they expand to the size shown, then when they stop moving, they contract again into a little compact ball. Kids were having great fun with them everywhere.
Tai Ji in the Grove
I’d heard from friends and other sources that Tiantan was a good place to find tranquility…and I admit that upon seeing the massive crowds there to enjoy such a gorgeous day during the National Holidays, I wondered if I’d succeed in finding any quiet spots. But sure enough, once past the famous buildings and the well-trodden paths, I found benches where I could sit and relax, and groves where people pursued their own thoughts, such as this man doing some tai ji on his own. After this are two shots of older ladies enjoying the park…sort of my “old friends” cluster of photos, I guess.
Playing with Bubbles
This was a fun group to watch — the older brother or cousin was doing the bubbles first, then the little guy took over. In the next shot, note that the young lady snacking is around the back of the Vault of Heaven, where you saw SO many people in the earlier shots: just goes to show, if you find the >right corner, you can be pretty secluded even in a crowd.
Public Guards in the Park
Guards in these uniforms are virtually omnipresent in Beijing. It seems they’re always male, usually young, and usually pretty friendly — none of that Buckhingham Palace reserve for these guys. I’m not sure quite what their title or function is — they seem more public security than police per se, and I’m pretty positive they’re not military. At some point perhaps I’ll engage one in conversation and find out where they fit in the organization of public order and security here in the PRC. For now, enjoy this shot of several of them standing proudly on duty during National Week at one of Beijing’s major attractions…followed by two shots of different groups of them being a bit more relaxed.
Beijing Hutongs: National Holidays
After exploring Tiantan Park, I wandered through some of the small streets just north of the park. The street pattern in Beijing is basically large through streets set fairly widely apart, and large city blocks of small alleys and little streets in between. Far fewer cars, and it’s mostly on the little streets that people live. These are called Hutongs (translates as lane or alley), and on them you see aspects of Beijing you’re less likely to see on the big streets. With urban renewal going on and the city preparing for the 2008 Olymic Games, many of the old streets and houses are being bulldozed to make way for newer buildings. The critics — which seem to include most of the Westerners I speak to, who claim it’s only in the Hutongs that you see the “soul” of the city — say Beijing is losing its character. Others – myself included – note that the new buildings will likely have better plumbing(meaning residents won’t need to walk down the street — in winter, even — to the odorific public toilet), and probably be somewhat cleaner and better built in general. Yes indeed, Beijing is losing some of what used to define it as a city…but isn’t that the nature of cities since the industrial revolution? And how can I, at heart still a New Yorker, criticize Beijing when I think of all the great and historic buildings we tore down in the 50s, 60s and 70s? In honor of the fact that it’s the national holidays here (anniversary of the founding of the PRC), I’m kicking off with a patriotic shot of a flag and plants on the roof of a small hut. Then you’ll see shots of blankets hung out to dry — it was such a clear day I guess everyone thought it was a good day to air out the laundry before winter socks in. After these, you’ll see shots of urban renewal in my own neighborhood, where the Hutong buildings are already being marked for destruction.
(so much world, so little time....) 