Immigration to China

Okay. I was warned about not traveling in China during the holidays, but I guess it didn’t really sink in. Until these October holidays, which is the time for Mid-Autumn festival in China and the whole country celebrates for the entire week. I promised my good old Chinese friend that I will visit him in Beijing and decided the holidays would be the best time to go. Wrong!

I thought taking an airplane would help me escape the train station madness, but the airports were almost as packed. It was hard to get around anywhere and the waiting line to pass security check took over an hour to get through. In Beijing itself though, the streets were fairly empty in the preparations for the October 1^st parade to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Of course, ordinary people were not allowed to get anywhere near the real parade and we watched it on TV, just like the rest of the country…

The real craziness began after the parade was over and people were finally allowed to flock to the center of the city. I have never seen such huge crowds in my entire life! It was nearly impossible to navigate around the center of the city. All of the central subway stations were closed too, so that people would not get crushed by the masses. This insanity continued day after day after day for the entire duration of the holidays. It seemed like there was no escape from the cacaphonic flows of humanity in the city. Until I found one!

The best place to get some rest in Beijing is the Beijing Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. It is located right next to the Qianmen subway station (to the east), not too far from Tiananmen Square.

The peace and quietness inside this huge modern museum-like building is hard to describe in words, but let me try to point out some details:

– this place is a huge new office building with 4 floors, designed to accommodate probably a thousand people at a time, yet I never saw more than a couple dozen during my several visits there

– each floor contains exhibits relating to the past, present and future development of the city. There is a gigantic cardboard model of the city on the 3^rd floor and also an IMAX theater on the 4^th. You will not be bored!

– very few tourists (or locals) visit here, since it is not a historic place and therefore not on must-see list in Beijing. It seems like one of those show-off projects to please foreigners, and it does its job well!

– there is a cafe and lounge to drink tea/coffee & eat some ice-cream. Prices are reasonable.

– it is really cheap to get into (regular ticket only 30 yuan, and just 15 yuan for students)

– toilets are spacious and clean, the visit is worth the money even if you just go to the bathroom

– lots of comfortable chairs and couches to rest or take a nap. In fact, it’s not just the visitors but the staff too who are taking naps. Can’t blame them, with so few visitors there is not much to do. Talk about a comfy government job!

Definitely the best place to escape the crowds in Beijing. Just don’t tell anyone about it

I posted this message in the Shanghai Jiao Tong University online forum (English section) and got about a dozen responses in the first week:

TITLE: An American looking for language study partners

Hi,
my name is Andrei and I’m a new student here at SJTU (Xuhui campus).

To complement my language studies, I want to practice conversational Mandarin
Chinese. In exchange, I will teach you how to speak American English.

It’s a win-win deal.

If you’re interested, please call me 137-6443-0514 (or email a*****.g*******@gmail.com) to schedule a meeting on campus.

Thanks,
Andrei

Why are language study partners such a good idea? 

Well, firstly, it’s a great way to practice all of the textbook material that gets poured at us in the classroom. To tell you the truth, the classroom environment itself is really boring and predictable. Instead of having alive face-to-face conversations, we are confined to practicing pre-written monologues and dialogues. Of course, you can always hire a private tutor to help you along, but it is fairly expensive (RMB 100/hour) and too business-like. Language exchange involves direct exchange of value without money being involved, making it more informal.

More importantly though, language exchange is a great way to meet new people and get to know real Chinese people and culture. What I’ve noticed a lot in interactions with my classmates is that they tend to hang around people of their  origins. For example, Russian students here mostly socialize with Russians and other westerners. As a consequence, they do not become immersed in this country’s language and culture. This is not really what I want from my China adventure.

As a result of my language exchange search, I’ve already met several cool people who are likely to become good friends in the future. They pursue various degrees, have different interests and hobbies, and come from all corners of China. I’ve learned a lot about their life and their aspirations. This is the kind of invaluable learning that you can never get with a textbook or a classroom. Staying on course!