Taste of Beijing - 2
During my stay I was lucky enough to participate in a trade fair celebrating continued diplomatic relations between Germany and the People’s Republic of China entitled ‘30 years and the future.’ Attendance was excellent, partly due to timing, as vast crowds of people from all provinces visit their capital on October 1 to enjoy the national day festivities. The Goethe Institute’s contribution to the fair was a stand that gave a foretaste of German language and culture — a highlight in the otherwise economically focused exhibition. Together with a fellow intern I was assigned the task of devising a German crash-course in the form of a brochure that taught every visitor a few words of German.
Famous places of historic interest apart, I was fascinated by the Chinese people’s fundamental love of food and took great delight in China’s night markets and the regional specialties offered there. Where else could one enjoy scorpion or crunchy frog on a stick? As a committed devotee of Chinese cuisine I decided to follow the local example and make eating an essential and ritualistic aspect of my spare time. I particularly enjoyed eating in the animated company of other students from Germany, Japan and China. We would order vast amounts of hot and cold meat, fish and vegetable dishes, and conclude with a glass or so of erguotou.
In addition to teaching and eating, I also took particular pleasure in riding my Flying Pigeon through the urban maze. After a little practice one grows familiar with routes, rules and other vehicles and learns to glide trough heavy traffic. I was never in a hurry when bicycling. I would ride along the streets, stop to take pictures and ride on, only to stop again to look at a store or market, or eat. This is how I came to know what I know of Beijing. I immersed myself in its microstructures. The more I learned the more questions I had and the more my curiosity grew.
Beijing has such a mix of contrasts. I was charmed by the almost rural tranquility of the siheyuan in the hutong area surrounding the Forbidden City, only to be brought sharply down to earth when confronted head on with futuristic multileveled superhighways roaring with traffic. At times I felt like I was not moving at all, and that the metropolis was growing and changing around me at the speed of light.
My internship in Beijing was a wonderful experience, and I felt sad at leaving after only two months. When I think of Beijing, I always recall the odor of its streets: a mixture of exhaust fumes, restaurants and cooking. This distinctive scent - exotic, raw and redolent of adventure almost held a taste-like quality, not unlike that I experienced when smoking the last of my Beijing cigarettes. I know I shall miss it dearly…