The Olympics is approaching. My time to leave is coming. Everyone in Beijing’s excited, but not as madly ecstatic as we perceive them to be. There’s a price tag attached to the privilege of hosting the Olympics. Sure we see vast improvements in Beijing and in certain parts of China but there are the other parts of China that remain neglected. It has become increasingly difficult to travel within the city despite efforts to reduce the traffic congestion. Cars are allowed to drive on certain days depending on the last digit of their car plate numbers. The subways and public buses are crowded no matter what time of the day. Entering the country has never been harder for most of us.
Still, I can feel the quiet energy tingling in the atmosphere. It really is infectious. Everywhere you turn, you see someone wearing an ‘I <3 China’ Tshirt OR a Beijing 2008 Tshirt OR a volunteer’s Tshirt. Chinese sportsmen endorsing commercials on TV are a dime a dozen, not to mention the many Beijing 2008 songs that have surfaced. Sometimes it features Chinese singers who mispronounce their way through English lyrics ONE WORLD ONE DREAM. We try our best to holler along with it no matter what.
Speaking of the volunteers, they are extremely zealous and too happy to help you find your way around the city (probably because it’s their first week of volunteering). Even the 60+ year old aunties and uncles in our estate are volunteer guards. Really, you can virtually hear them screaming ‘BEIJING WELCOMES YOU’. Say what you will about communism and propaganda, but I reckon the patriotic spirit here is admirable and we Singaporeans have a lot to learn from.
Oh yes I’d like to seize the opportunity here to dispel the common misconception that the Chinese are hostile and inhospitable. Most Chinese are very nice when you bother to talk to them! They especially love to hear the story of how our grandparents were from the Guangdong and Fujian province.
You guys see the happy snippets of our adventures in (and out of) Beijing. It looks fun and we truly have a lot of fun! But life over here isn’t always a bed of roses (we try to limit our complaints on the blog). It’s not funny when you desperately need to use the toilet and you know there’s one near you because you can smell it from 10 metres away. I used to get so frustrated when people jumped my queue and all I did was open and close my mouth like a goldfish then imagine a scenario where I’d scold them ‘Is this what you call an Olympic spirit?! Is this your way of welcoming guests? Jumping queue!’. I have ever since gotten braver and I’d tell them to get in line.
In just 2 days’ time our stint in Beijing will be over and in another 8 days’ I’ll be home. I am excited to go home to my friends (A.soh, friday nightsters, taitais and misc friends: it’s been too long), clean toilets, fixed price tags, sterilized food and proper queuing system. I will impress all of you with my new found proficiency in Mandarin!
Honestly I’m really sad to leave Beijing. All of a sudden there are so many places that I need to see for one last time and so many that I haven’t had the chance to see. Who knows when I’ll come back here again? Who knows how much Beijing will change? Will the Hutong hustlers still be around? I’m not sure if I’m capable of muttering a proper ‘goodbye’ to this city without choking on my tears. Serious.
So long Beijing, it’s been good.
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P.S (This is not the end of Hochoy yet. We’ll try to update in HK!)
4 Comments
July 30, 2008 at 11:23 am
pauwool! you got me super hooked onto beijing welcomes you! hahaha and i got a lot of people hooked onto it! hahahaha beijing huan ying ni.
July 30, 2008 at 4:37 pm
hahaha! should i put it on Hochoy and force more people to watch it?
August 1, 2008 at 12:45 am
hahahha why not?
September 3, 2008 at 7:23 am
sooo gorgeous your photos! i like the one with gay and lauren hugging