TravelZIN

Its almost like it was in Jakarta. You step out and you will become all wet immediately.

Last days in Beijing was rainy. When it rains the weather is very similar to the European climate. Especially in the early morning. When I arrived to Beijing it was 5:50am. Time of sunrise. It looked like a yellow disc on the sky but its mirror-image was deep orange in the risefields and on the roofs of some buildings.

When I left Beijing it was early morning, too. It was strange to see that huge city being so silent and moveless. Just a few people were around walking with their dogs or preparing to open their stores. Due to the rain we had last night, the air was fresh and very nice cool.

In the controversion arriving to Shanghai where the population is like 17 millions I faced the mass immediately. Gosh...almost two times more inhabitant then in Hungary...and it is just a city.

Shanghai is exaclty like I expected. In some terms its the city of the future. When I saw the downtown first time leaving he subway at LUJIAZUI I felt like: Ohh I arrived.

In front of me I could see all around large glass palaces with the strange light blue sky in the background.

The Shanghai sunset creates this blue which fits very well to the high-tech feature of the downtown. The gate I left the subway was to the east and when I turned around I almost felt down.

The huge Tower....called Oriental Pearl TV Tower was in front of me. With its lighting globes and with the loud music from there it seemed to be a temple inviting people for celebration. And people seemed to accept the invitation. Within minutes it became dark and the lights of the downtown became even more active. Thousands of people were standing along the river HUANGPU in front of the very European buildings of the Bund witnessing the night-lights of Shanghai. Looking at them I felt like in Budapest at the firework of August 20. But in this case the background looked like Geneva in Switzerland and the attraction which brought the thousands of people there were the lights of Shanghai.

Some later I was thinking why big metropolices affect me like this? The lights? The clean environment? The modern features and gadgets like huge lighting adds, modern air-conditioned subway, cars, cameras, cellular phones, ipods? The mass itself? I dont know the answer...maybe all of them and none of them at the same time.

Some says malls and modern downtowns with their lighting adds are all about to force people to buy, to spend...destroying the ancient cultures in the name of the new God: MONEY. Those by saying this are usually concern about the people who are excluded from all these. For example about the 500 millions Chinese living in the rural area dealing with agryculture with a yearly income which is likely not enough for a dinner on the top of this Oriental Pearl Tower.

So what if the tower doesnt exist? What if no lights in the downtown, no malls, no good cars, no cameras? Just next 500 millions poor Chinese living on a few yuan a day. The square in front of the tower was full of people who most likely couldnt afford the entry ticket to the Oriental Pearl. Why they were there?

Because they wanted to take part in it.

In Budapest I recognized long time ago that McDonald`s is full with teenagers who doesnt have any money. They are just sitting there over their schoolbooks with a Coke for hours at times. Why? Is it good for them to face that they cant efford the huge bigMac? is it good being frustrated? Actually they are not. They go there just like the people on the square at the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai....just like me....

To take part in it.

All these people belive what they see is their future or even their present. And they do it with a good reason. Some elder people...even some mothers with their children were standing there at the fence trying to catch some moments, to see what is going there at the tower, looking over the bushes with a realistic believe that what they were seeing was their future. Because they knew exactly what was here just 30 years ago. And who knows what will be here in 30 years?

So because of this belief I think Shanghai is the city of the future.

And you know, I love my city. I love Budapest which looks in a similar summer night like a part of a fairy tale. But being here I understood something again about our Eastern-European culture. Nice to show and being proud of our XIX. Century features.

And here I mean not only the surrounding historical buildings in the city but the whole little regressive culture we have, too.

But where is our future? I had to come to Shanghai to see it. I have created a short video of Shanghai:)

I was standing like a lost little boy at the Jianguomennei Dajie trying to find this road on my map. The huge avenue was flowing like a wide river collecting all the small streets around. She was standing beside me with a very similar map which showed with Chinese characters the same avenue. To rely on the map was not enough to her. She went to an old man who had a maybe even older black bicycle and asked for the direction.

Seeing that I am taking photos she approached me asking with a wide smile about my photos maybe, but to be honest all I understood was that it was trying to be a question in English. I said YES hoping this is a proper answer whatever the question was. It seemed to be a proper answer because though I didn’t ask back she said to me that she was a `middle school` student and at the end of her sentence she nodded like saying: yes, these are the words I was looking for.

I nodded also showing that I understood and I asked if she had found the place on the map. But I realized it was too difficult she didn’t understand it at all as she was standing there trying to repeat my words catching their meaning deep in her thoughts.

I stopped to take photos and I turned to her with a smile again making it more simple:

-`Tian` anmen Square?`

She nodded like 1000 times being happy that finally she understood something from my strange speech. And this success give her more energy so she informed me that it was summer holiday and now she had a little free time. Her mom sent her to Beijing for an excursion. While I took some more pictures I tried to say that there was a holiday in my school also and my mom allowed to me to come to Beijing to look around, too.:) But the light became green at the cross and she was running to the other side waving bye-bye with her hands to me.

I didn’t cross the road yet rather I turned to the right taking some more shots and when I faced the red light again I saw her running back to me with her little green backpack..

-`I decided to go with you…because I am only 17 and I still don’t have the……` - she didn’t find the right English word but she was drawing something like an ID card in the air.

-`Ohh you mean ID card. Ok not a problem though I don’t go directly to the Tian` anmen Square I wanna find a street before which is full with stores. So, Lets go together for a while!`

I guess she understood `lets go` only but it was enough and we crossed the road finally. We were just walking but at times when she recognized something interesting she started to run there shacking her green backpack to the rhythm of her fast move.

-`My mom and my dad said I am old enough to try to come to an excursion alone. This time is summer holiday for students so everybody is traveling`.

-`Yes, I could recognize it at the railway station` - and I recalled the incredible mass I faced with just 30 mins ago at the Beijing Railway Station where I wanted to buy tickets to Shanghai without any hope.

-`Yes, yes. I came with TIELU. My mom and my dad are teachers and during the school-time I have to learn so so much. But now I have some time.`

-`You mean you came with train?`

-`Yes, yes with TIELU`.

She just kept talking. When we walked along a sport center where people were playing football, and basketball she mentioned how it was in her city. I tried to understand and especially to remember the name of the city but I couldn’t.

Arriving to the Wangfujing Dajie she asked again an old man with bicycle about the direction toward the famous square. She explained to me, that it was much better to ask older people because they were more nice. I said to her that I was going to stay in this street for a while because I wanted to buy a book. She reacted immediately:

-`I go with you`.

And she kept talking and asking again.

-`Which places are you going to visit in China?`

-`From Beijing I try to get to Shanghai and then I plan to spend some time in Qingdao.`

-`Ohh Shanghai…and Qingdao. Qingdao is very nice place. There are a lot of German houses and the sky is blue not like here in Beijing.`

We both looked up and really the sky was like yellow. I don’t know….maybe because of the humidity but it was the same in Kuala Lumpur or in Jakarta. Very hot weather but when you look up there is no blue sky with innocent white sheep-clouds like in Hungary.

-`Have you ever been to Qingdao or to Shanghai?`

-`No, I am first time even in Beijing, too. But my mom and my dad are teachers and I have read everything in books. When I will be bigger I would like to go all over the world.`

-`This is my first time in Beijing, too. When I was 17 I wasn’t able to go to Budapest all alone from my city. So seeing what a brave girl you are I am sure you will explore the whole world one day.`

-`What kind of book do you want to buy?`

-`You know I am searching for an English book about Chinese calligraphy.`

-`Calligraphy?`

-`Yes, the beautiful way they `paint` the characters`.

-Ohh, I know, I know. My grandfather can do it very beautifully. And my sister does it beautifully, too.`

At the bookstore she ran away again. She was just shouting back that she was searching for my book while I was exploring the shelves with Chinese language course books.

We didn’t find anything about calligraphy. I said it was not a problem maybe in Shanghai I will find it. But she opened her green backpack and took a small Chinese book.

-`I wanna give this to you. Its not about calligraphy but has nice essays inside.`

And she pointed to the only English word on the cover: `Essay No. 317`.

-`And this signature is my name on it. Chao.`

After I said thanks we continued our walk toward the Tian` anmen Square together.

-`My mom and my dad gave me 200 yuans for food and for costs in Beijing. Lets buy something.`

And she started to run to one of the buffets choosing a stick having grapes on it which had covered with some caramel. I got scared a bit as I never buy any food on the street in a country where you are sweating after 5 seconds on the street.

-`No, thanks. I cant eat this stuff in this hot.`

-`Ohh…I understand…….`

And without finishing her sentence she ran away again to an other place asking for mineral water. When I arrived there I pushed her hand with her 100 yuans gentle away.

-`Keep your 200 yuans. Your mom will be happy that you didn’t spend too much and she will let you to go to more excursions like this in the future.`

I paid the 6 yuans for the waters and we explored the forbidden city together. Around 6 pm I guided her to a bus stop and after we said good bye to each other I felt like maybe Saint-Exupery`s pilot might felt when in the desert he met the Little Prince.

Maybe I would have to write first about Forbidden City, Bei Hai park, Hu Tong and about Summer Palace but the most impressing to me (until now) was the former(?).....ok lets say recent.....industrial area, an old factory where are several art galleries mostly for contemporary art.

When the taxi arrived there I thought the driver again misunderstood the address because we found ourself in the middle of an industrial area. But it was the paradise of modern Chinese art.

I had an opportunity to take photos there but it was hard to discover and to document the name of the artists. So here I just refer to them showing the logo of their galleries giving such way a little publicity of them and encouraging you to visit that place (its name `798space`) in Beijing if you visit there one day:)

I wouldn`t say that I am too much into contemporary art. But this place gave me a special impression with its half factory half exhibition center look.

In many aspects I tried to compare the recent China to Hungary in the late 80`s when I could experienced how is the characteristic of a communist country. But I have to admit that China is totally different. One little aspect. They touch more bravely their symbols here then I experienced 17 years ago at home.

Here was forbidden to take photos. But I took one:) And believe me these sculpture very extremelly impressing.

And some photos, paintings

Its a sort of culturshock.:) In a good sense.

Everything is soooo Chinese here. I have just short impressions now. And I try to get used to the fact how is the feeling being lost.

If you dont find something the narrows can inform you:) :

But not a problem. If you cant walk just rely on busses:) Very easy to get informed.