Day Two in Beijing

I’m up early, though moving slowly. I take a walk outside in the neighborhood, past local small store front/restaurant/homes. In India, they might be called dubbas. Everything is “on the street”. This is a small part of old Beijing. Chickens in cages, fish in a shallow tank, beautiful vegetables, dumplings being made, a tailor stitching clothes. These folks sleep in the back and have their businesses in the front.

On past the entry to a large residential compound and a newer grocery store; a few blocks on to a small river/canal. It has cement lined banks with walkways on both sides, filled with green algae, tree lined – beautiful large weeping willow trees. It’s 8:00AM, people are out; some fishing, some doing tai chi/chi gung, some walking to work, some jogging, some engaged in a group exercise I’m not sure how to describe. They were clapping their hands together for a very long time, and then some well placed shouts, some wiggling, massaging the face, head and shoulders. It looked enlivening.

I am walking then sitting, looking; before long, I become aware of how not alive and not in my body I feel. After a time, I find the courage and begin to my own blend of tai chi, bioenergetics and Kundalini Yoga exercises. I am alone in my movement, yet aware that I am a part of the “Morning at the River”. How funny that I required the permission in everyone else’s activity to find my own movement. How good I feel being in my own body, waking up to the new day, recovering from the long journey and sight seeing from the day before. How nice it feels to be (for this simple moment in time) a part of a very foreign community, each finding his/her own way into this new day; yet a very tangible sense of being together.

Back home, Siri Dyal and Carla are waking up. Pancakes are being made. We have a big, late breakfast, then relax. I work on my blog. The writing is so enjoyable, but the technology gets so frustrating. As I try to upload pictures, I loose half of what I’ve written, then I can’t access the blog site at all. Siri has told me that many sites are blocked in China and he has not been able to access my blog. Could my blogging be subversive to the Peoples’ Party? :>)

Carla rests in the afternoon. She has been fighting off a cold and woke up this AM without a voice. Siri and I head out to explore the Confucious temple and school, a part of town that is very Buddhist. It is a sweet, quiet, relaxed afternoon. There are beautiful old trees, peaceful buildings and open space. Father and son. Fellow travelers. His mastery of the language and interest in the culture continue to impress me. He says that he is not a Sinofile (I took this to mean that he is not so interested in everything Chinese, but nonetheless, seeks a certain mastery of the language and the culture. We talk about the complex subtlety in both, how context and relationship changes everything in the language, in the medium (spoken, written, inflection). We are looking at old pictures of old Chinese gentlemen and old writing. He tells me, "this is modern, this is old, this is Cantonese and only 1 or 2 people in the workd can still read it...

We return home to hot Columbian Cocoa, cheese, cakes and croissants. Carla has been busy. Eric and Joy arrive as we do. They join us for “high tea”. We play classical Chinese music that we purchased at the temple. Siri talks about his plans to facilitate the importing and distributing the Columbian Cocoa and Coffee. He has given packets of both to Eric and Joy. Eric is an editor of “That’s Beijing”, a “what to see and do” for tourists & expats. Siri, working with a Columbian, also plans to set up Columbian Cafes in Beijing. Eric talks about an article in his magazine to help promote it. Again, there is much laughter.

Tonight we plan to go out to a “Hot Pot” restaurant, then walk through the narrow alleys of Hu Tong – old Beijing style housing to Hou Hai – an area of lakes for night time paddling and fun. Stay tuned.