After four months of studying in Beijing, I thought I had some understanding of the place, but as soon as I got out of the airport, I knew that I still had more to learn. Lesson one: Beijing is cold. Even though I've been to Beijing in winter before, I still didn't pack enough clothes. It just doesn't ever sound like it's going to be that bad.
But the more interesting lesson of the week was about Chinese business. That's a side of China that I had never seen before. Along with three coworkers, I spent the last week wandering the city and planning the activities we will do with the kids who come on our Mandarin learning trip. This meant that we went to tourist attractions like the Great Wall and Tian'anmen, but also that we met with a lot of locals about entry fees, tickets, and other planning details.
If you ever want to travel China on a budget, I recommend calling a few locals and telling them you'd like to do business. Everywhere we went, people ordered us elaborate meals and offered to show us around. They showed us dishes that my Chinese teachers probably deemed too crazy for Westerners the last time I was here (who would have known that deer ligaments are a Beijing delicacy?). One woman even had her driver pick us up in her Mercedes.
Granted, this also meant that we had to make conversation with our hosts. This was usually no problem, but we did spend two hours listening to a monologue about the importance of working together. At least, that's what I think it was about. My lack of Chinese ability (and, honestly, of interest) meant that I slept through most of it. Luckily, one of my Chinese coworkers is really good at faking enthusiasm.
After a full week of meetings and wanderings, we spent last night on an overnight train to Xi'an, home of the famous terracotta warriors. I look forward to more planning and, of course, more business dinners. Yum. I'll keep you guys posted, and I'd love to hear from you. I won't have facebook until I get back to Hong Kong, but feel free to e-mail me!
