When my manager asked me if I were interested in going to Beijing for a meeting, I did not have to think twice before saying yes. I have been fascinated by China and India's relations with that country. Having read a lot about the "Hindi-Cheeni Bhai Bhai" era and the infamous war between the two countries, I have been curious about China and its people. My interest in political China was first aroused by the Tiananmen Square episode, which I remember reading about in my school days. Then came the days of great economic progress in China and I was amazed and even jealous at how they could manage all that with such a huge population. In short, I began to look forward to the trip.
I started from Trivandrum on 23rd of January on board the Silk Air flight to Singapore. I had bothered to check the weather in Beijing only the day before the trip and had been amazed to find that the highest temperature in Beijing during the day was 2 degrees Celsius. So I had decided to take along my big jacket, but because it was too heavy to carry and Trivandrum being too hot for me to wear it, I decided to check it in. This was a decision that I would lament the moment I landed in Beijing. The aircraft could not get an aerobridge in a very busy Beijing airport and we were forced to stand on the tarmac waiting for a bus to arrive to carry us to the arrival lounge. The temperature was just one degree above the freezing point.
Our first contact with the local Chinese made us aware how difficult communication was going to be. Conversation with the taxi driver was very difficult and we hoped that he was taking us to the correct hotel. The airport express highway on which we were traveling looked like any other expressway in a western country. The trees bordering the highway has shed their leaves in order to battle the bitter cold they were in.
There were all kinds of cars on the roads; American, Japanese, European. The row of shops along the side of the road contained all the familiar international brand names. There were no signs of communism on the roads; no flags, no posters. The city is certainly gearing up for the upcoming Olympics. It surprised me that there were almost no motorbikes on the road, so peculiar when you consider a country so populous. There were many bicycles, but they were obediently plying through the sides of the roads specifically marked for them. There were pedestrian over bridges every half a kilometer or so on the highways. And everybody seemed to be following the rules. The Chinese were obviously a very disciplined people compared to Indians.On both days following our arrival in Beijing, the meetings with our clients went well. They could read and write English, but had trouble understanding our accent and in talking in English. There was only Chinese tea available during the breaks and this was a milk-less drink that contained herbs and looked more like water than tea to us Indians. During the lunch time, we were taken to their dining hall from where everybody in the building seemed to be taking food, whatever be his/her designation. It was a buffet with chicken, beef, pork and veg dishes. There were noodles and plain white rice. Chop sticks were placed by the side of these dishes; there was no spoon and fork available. The meal was a tough exercise since we had to battle with the food using the chop sticks. But it was good food and I even liked it on the second day in spite of the labor in eating it.
In Beijing, they take their dinner early and our hosts took us out to dinner on the first night at 5:30. We were taken to a Chinese restaurant and this time we got spoon and fork to eat with. The food served included many veg and non-veg dishes and some of these were really hot even to us Indians. The main course was fish served in a big bowl immersed in some plain liquid complete with its head and its eyes staring at us.
A feature of Beijing are the high chilling winds. These winds originate from Mangolia up north and sweep right across Beijing. It is said that the one of the reasons for building the great wall was to act as protection from these winds. The wall is close to 3 hours drive from Beijing and it is said to be very very cold out there during this season. We neither had the time nor will to attempt such a trip. Our guide dissuaded us from even going and walking in the Tiananmen Square because of these chilling winds. Most of the interesting places in Beijing like the Forbidden City where the film "The Last Emperor" was shot were closed by 5:00 in the evening. It was a disappointment that we did not have a spare day in Beijing to go and visit these places.
On my second night in Beijing, my class mate and friend Rajeev came to visit us in the Hotel. He has been in Beijing for close to 5 months. Rajeev goes around with a book in which his home and office addresses are written in Chinese and English. He goes around the city showing these pages to Taxi drivers. He gave us a lot of information on Beijing and the Chinese countryside which he visits once in a while on business. He said that the Chinese countryside was similar to the its Indian counterpart with its poor inhabitants and roads filled with potholes. But after seeing Beijing, it was very difficult to believe. We went for a walk in the cold night visiting local stores and buying some stuff. It was great to find someone familiar in a completely unfamiliar surroundings.We said bye to Beijing early on the 27th morning. Everyone was eager to get back home after a tiring short trip. If there is a next time, I hope it would be during summer when I can dare to go out and see a couple of more places.
