As Beijing
is becoming an oven, my two semesters here are nearing their end. Just a few
more Chinese lessons and weekends spent in Wudaokou or Sanlitun and I’ll depart
from this place – most likely without returning for a greater amount of time.
I’m surprised how unfamiliar I am still with this city, at night I barely
recognize the streets that surround my university. There are a couple places I
know inside out and then there are the ring streets and metro lines connecting
those with each other.
My mistake probably is having been to Taipei
before. Once you’ve experienced Taiwan, every other place in East Asia pales in
comparison. Did I mention I went back yet another time? No? Well I did, from
the 1st of May for five days, making use of the labor day holiday
from Wednesday to Saturday (funny side note: When there are holidays during the
week, China often shifts the weekend so that workers have more than a single
day off – you might get Thursday and Friday off too if Wednesday is a holiday,
but then you’ll have to work on a Sunday instead. I still don’t know if there
are exact rules for these occasions or if it is decided on a case to case
basis). Do I have to tell you again how great it was? I don’t think so, but I’d
like to show one picture that showcases one aspect I admire about Taiwan.
This
picture is taken at a IKEA restaurant tray-return counter in Taipei. Usually
your task as a customer is restricted to placing the tray on a conveyor belt, but
in this branch people have to separate the trash, put the cutlery in designated
boxes and then put the tray with the remaining tableware in shelves. Because
this process is rather laborious, queues often build up. Nonetheless, everybody
I observed precisely acted out on the instructions and I don’t think it’s
because of an obedient way of thinking they did so, but out of empathy with the
staff. The same is true for the streets of Taipei. There are virtually no public
trashcans. While this would cause Berlin to look (even more) like a dumping
ground, Taipei’s streets are so clean you could spill milkshake on them and
lick it off the ground.
Besides the
accent – Beijing Mandarin sounds vulgar to Taiwanese, Taiwanese Mandarin sounds
gay to Beijingers – I always have to readapt to the local manners. Beijing is
straightforward, loud and darwinistic, Taipei is polite, unintrusive and
empathetic. So when I rush into Taipei’s metro with no regard for the queue I
feel just as embarrassed as when I receive and annoyed glance from a fruit
seller in Beijing after wasting his time with unnecessary phrases of civility
(“I’d like to ask” “Please”).
After an
estimated 5 days of spring weather, the relentless summer heat renders daytime
outside activities infeasible, but sitting outside in some Hutong bars in the
ancient city center at night has become a great way to spend a Friday. Ever
keen to travel and see more places, I stopped myself from booking to many
trains and flights for the last weeks here so that I can spend more time with
the many great people I met and befriended here. That’s the one part I really
hate about constantly moving, as great as it is to have new acquaintances and
friends all over the world, leaving a place, particularly the people there
behind sucks, even more so if that place is not a city you can come over to for
a weekend visit, but one that requires you to sit in a plane for 10-hours.
What’s a bit different in Beijing is that up to this day, the number of
mainland Chinese, let alone Beijing locals I know is deplorably low. The people
I am around are a wild mix of foreign born Chinese, people from Macau and
Taiwan, Germans, other Europeans and Americans. Most of those will move away in
foreseeable future as well, less than a handful actually has long-term career
or life plans in Beijing.
Is 10
months long or short? It’s long enough I think, I’m happy to get a break from
my environment here (not just the city, also the classroom-style studying and
student dormitory). That being said, my fascination for Chinese and China won’t
wane, it just needs to replenish after a year of full-time, high-intensity
studying of nothing but that stuff.
