version with pictures printable pdf single page March 5 • March 7
Today was one of those super fantastic days that rarely comes along. My day started at 5:40 am and I was in the pool by six for 45 minutes followed by five minutes in an oxygen room. I thought that sounded healthy. Yesterday I had made the mistake of going into the hot tub after the pool and consequently fell asleep in the lecture! No sleep today!! Some housekeeping first. Mila Keren if you think Vladimir Merlis would like these messages please forward and Margaret Wang please send to your mother.
There were two lectures this morning at the same time. Phil went to the one on environment and most found it boring. I went to a one on China and the Media and found it terrific! My panel consisted of Jaime Florcruz who is the Beijing Bureau Chief for CNN, Rui Chenggang is director and anchor for China Central TV, Li Xiguang is affiliated and teaches at Tsinghus University, and Jeremy Goldkorn, expert on new media in China, works for danwei.org. One of them was the man who got Starbucks to move their venue out of the Forbidden City. It was challenging and informative and discussed how China is opening up and how it is still censured. This gives you a feeling for the caliber of people we will be meeting.
We turned out to be early for our day trip so Phil walked for his half hour while I sat in this elaborate underground shopping mall connected to our hotel, which included stores like Gucci, etc. I people watched. Our outing was marvelous. Since we have been here before and have seen the must see historical sights we opted for the different. Today was a hutongs tour of the old China and the way many people still live. Our section was about a 20 minute drive from the Forbidden City. Before starting that we had lunch in a quiet and most beautiful restaurant behind the Forbidden City. The Chinese food was excellent and beautifully prepared, as all our meals have been, since arriving. There is a real flair for the aesthetic as well as the tasty. People can’t help me enough which is great with me but sometimes gets on Phil’s nerves! The day was quite crisp but beautiful blue skies and sparkling sun. How lucky can we be? We drove about 20 minutes to our venue where we boarded pedicabs. Just before we got to the cabs—bingo, the probably unofficial Olympic T shirts showed up and we quickly grabbed 7 for grandsons and Brad! Phil got a cap and off we walked a ways to board our pedi-cabs for the drive through the narrow streets of the old quarter. Totally disappointing was the fact that Phil ran out of battery before we left the restaurant so he didn’t capture any of it. My battery stopped as I boarded the pedicab but luckily I had a spare so managed to get lots of pictures.
We stopped at an arranged house where our hostess was 78 years old and looked much younger. She claimed her youthful face comes from the tea she drinks! She has lived in the same spot for 50 years and it came as a benefit from her job of working for a telecommunication company. She lives alone as her husband died 9 years ago and her two children are married and each has a child. She served tea and through an interpreter talked to us. Her children have been good to her and put in a small bathroom in the kitchen. She has a computer she uses to play mahjong and a microwave. Everything was neat as a pin. She uses charcoal to boil water to go through her pipes. This year we hear the government is providing electrical heat to cut down on pollution for the Olympics and it will continue on that way in the future. A new sewer system has been introduced a few years ago so things were much better than I expected to find them. This was a few cuts above a house or two we saw in 1979. She had her two grandchildren prominently displayed along with their artwork. She had a living room, side room, kitchen/bath. She shared the courtyard with two other families. Originally it was one. When she dies it will revert back to the company.
Next stop was the Museum of Ancient Pottery Civilization — one of the first four of private museums marking the further opening of Chinese policy. An amazing collection of pottery, stamps etc going back to 3.500 BC I think. The artist and calligrapher took 10 years out of his creative pursuits to build this collection. We met him and he did some calligraphy for us. He also had done all the paintings in this small museum as well as carved handsome tables and chairs such as we’ve seen near Big Sur. What a splendid way to end our tour! Our guide for the day, Henry, had beautiful English and answered all our questions.
I need to clear up a wrong allusion I made yesterday. The workers gathered by companies to do construction jobs and other jobs required by expanding business due to the Olympics are well cared for in dorms. We learned in a lecture yesterday that the Chinese have the highest rate of savings (40–50%) of any society. They send money home to support their family in rural areas. Those rural people who come to the city and can’t find jobs either go home or stay on and steal and often starve to death and die. This is the reason that many houses of one and two stories now have bars on their windows which was unheard of in the past.
Beijing is a city of 14 million people and I simply can’t fathom the change that has come about in the 30 years since I first visited. The complexities of running this country are indeed mind boggling! We learned that a new apartment runs about $1500 for a 100 square feet. You then have to buy everything else that goes in for maybe another $10,000. So I think a new 2-bedroom apartment with living room, kitchen and bathroom runs something between $200-300,000. Henry has one along with his one child—a boy who is 8. If you live in the countryside and you have a girl first you may try for a second child. If you are a minority you may have a second child. Otherwise you are fined for more. Rich people don’t mind and will have two but two is the limit. If you have twins you are allowed to keep them and the government will subsidize you. Parents save and help their children afford new housing. The old won’t borrow but the young will. Interest rates are high but I don’t know how high that is.
So back to the hotel around four or later. I was quite cold and knee hurting so a vicodin, a hot shower, and elevating the leg helped a lot. Tonight we had been given a voucher for approximately $80 each for dinner in one of the restaurants in the hotel. We chose the Japanese one and had a marvelous time. A saki martini, a bottle of cabernet, a fixed price for each of us and Phil went vegetarian. Course after course and we added less than $1 of our own. The waiters and waitresses were all rushing around like crazy. Turned out our group gave them so much business they had to hire many extra people for the evening. Dressed in obis they looked grand but a little crazed! We went down to the lobby for a bit to enjoy the music. From breakfast we had the first morning at 6:30 am until who knows how late at night there is always lovely music being played on the piano in the lobby. We heard a violinist with piano, single piano, and last night a group of musicians on Asian instruments with a vocalist. All local talent formally dressed. By the way our chandeliers in the lobby are similar to those at the Dorothy Chandler. A surprise stop in the gift shop yielded the type of presents I wanted for many friends so that’s done. I believe we need to buy another duffel to be able to leave excess weight in the Honk Kong airport when we go to Hanoi but Phil doesn’t think so....we’ll see.
Perhaps you can tell my fascination with China has only increased since 1979. Tomorrow we started going through security at 8:15 am to meet and hear lectures introducing President Bush I as well as his first lecture. Tomorrow night is the fanciest dinner at an embassy or someplace. So ends my most remarkable day. It’s close to midnight and Phil is snoring and I hope to wake up early tomorrow for the last day using this wonderful pool! Love and hugs to all. Peter you must come here!