2: from the far side...

it's been impossible to post to this blog since i've arrived in china: something about "beta versions" and a changeover. now that i'm back in business, there's a lot to catch up on. hope i can get most of the high points down before i forget...

i departed from lax on saturday night, the 29th of july. probably two thirds of the 90+ people in the program were on the china southern airlines flight to guangzhou. we began to pick each other out from the photo sheet that had been distributed by email; it's a pretty young crowd, mostly new college graduates, but i had been assured i wasn't the oldest fart in the group.

fifteen hours from lax, we landed in what looked like a dense fog in early-morning guangzhou, guangdong province, china. we were to clear customs and board another plane for a flight to beijing. now i might of heard of guangzhou before, but i was certainly unprepared for the airport there: it's closest rival would have to be the new lord foster hong kong airport. and that's exactly what it is- mainland china's response to the nearby rival: huge, dynamic, and heroic in scale, lots of tensile fabric and glass curtain, aeronautical styling and high-tech detailing. my friend pete drey complains that walking anywhere with me is like walking the dog: i have to stop and sniff everything. true to form here, i sniffed my way right out the transit lounge and into the main airport traffic; instead of a quiet, controlled plane change, i got to experience the pathways and concourses of the entire airport. which is really what i wanted anyway...

there was still plenty of time to connect with the flight to beijing, which was delayed an hour on the ground in guangzhou, then extended another hour while in the air. once landed in beijing, it was another hour before we could get a spot at a gate- welcome to china. once regrouped in the terminal, we sat on our bags for nearly three more hours waiting for busses to arrive; our noontime arrival was stretching into late afternoon. seems there had been a rainstorm just before noon, and there were some big puddles on the airport access road that the busses couldn't get through. another plane arrived in the meantime, this one from newark and bearing another 20 or so east coast americans from our group; our meet-and-greet was with clenched teeth, and talk of mutiny. my worst fears of travelling in a group were realized...

late afternoom brought two busses; after a forced march thru all the terminals, each with all of our possesions on back or dragging behind, half of the group was loaded up; the rest of us were left standing on the steaming pavement. it was a bit of time before some other busses were commandeered, a mountain of stray luggage loaded, and we were off.

first impression out of the airport was quite positive: beijing has planted a gazillion trees, i assume for air quality improvements for the 2008 olympics. the airport access road is like driving thru sherwood forest; look closely, and you note that the trees are planted like cornfields in the old days. with discernable rows orthogonally and diagonally, no hand of nature in this sherwood forest... our destination was on the fourth ring road- fourth orbit of the forbidden city, and quite a ways out, but maybe 120 degrees around from the airport; along the way we passed the unmistakable new birdsnest stadium, by herzog and de meuron. pretty spectacular, even as a construction site.



we arrived finally at the furama hotel (far right edge in photo above), several blocks from peking university (for some reason, it keeps the old name, while the city is now beijing) and our home for the next few weeks. i was assigned another old fart (one year my senior) as my roommate: james cisar, a part-time gerbil from gary, indiana. everyone crashed on arrival; our first meeting was set for the next morning, tuesday in china.

the gerbil began his rituals at about 4:30am; an exercise and health food enthusiast, james brought rice cakes to china, yes, you read that correctly- lots of rice cakes. and protien powder, and vitamin supplements, and enough pill bottles to cover the only desk that he staked out as his own. in fairness, this routine was to work to my benefit: i was usually fleeing the premises by 6am, and got lots of early morning walks and study in before classes, a new approach for me.

at 8am, we gathered as an army and were marched to a classroom at the university; our initial approach was thru the back gate of the walled campus- thru the bicycle racks, past the laundry and bedding racks for the student dorms, and along the truck delivery road and several soviet-inspired feeding halls. it was pretty grim: a route only an efficient american would choose; that afternoon, a few hundred feet from our destination, i discovered the main ceremonial gate to the university. i mustered out of the army and walked on my own after that; this was then my morning experience:

from the street...



thru the main gate...



over the pond and into the main quad.



there was no mistaking this for someplace else...

next: plebe summer revisited