Back

Hey folks, I'm back from Beijing, a.k.a. Peking, Peiping, Yanjing, and Yuan Dadu. It's very cool up there now, chilly enough to need a light jacket at night. I understand I won't need to wear a light jacket until January in Hong Kong.

I think I miss Beijing less and less. It was very difficult for me to leave Beijing in June since I really enjoyed living there. Although Beijing can be considered a hostile and inhospitable environment to most, I quickly found some pleasures that made life in Beijing a bit more tolerable. I especially enjoyed riding my bike and buying very very cheap popsicles and pirated DVD's. Unfortunately, I have yet to find their equivalent(s) in Hong Kong, where most things are quite costly and where any mention of cycling is met with puzzled stares.

Anyway, my last three visits to Beijing in the last three months were not as enjoyable as the year I spent there. Compared to Hong Kong, Beijing is dirty, messy, crowded, congested, and noisy. There seems to be disagreement on the concept of the 'queue'; budging seems to be a national pastime. Even simple everyday events can be quite uncomfortable. Take riding public transit, for example. I'm almost never able to get a seat on buses in Beijing, whereas I've always been able to find seats on buses in Hong Kong. Most buses in Beijing are not air conditioned (and to make things worse, not everybody in northern China bathes daily!), whereas the vast majority of buses in Hong Kong ARE air-conditioned. Even short bus rides in Beijing can be quite exhausting. Well, at least I could still enjoy the bargains in Beijing - unfortunately, I have to take buses to FIND these bargains.

In a way, I'm a bit glad that I haven't been re-living the joy I've had during my year of living in Beijing - that way, I won't miss it as much, and I'll be forced to love Hong Kong by default.


As for the wedding, I didn't have to be best man after all. My friend asked his brother to be his best man. I'm so glad I didn't have to do any work or prepare a speech. I did give a brief speech, though. Anyway, the couple had an elaborate Chinese ceremony that few people in China have these days. I think this was done for the benefit of the caucasian groom and his family. The bride was carried in a covered sedan chair around the outer western wall of the Forbidden City, followed by a procession of family, relatives, and friends. The groom had to go through some rituals (there were too many spectators - NOT GUESTS - standing in front of me, so I can't actually describe any of them) before the bride got out of the sedan, and again before she uncovered her face. Nope, I don't have any pictures. I don't have a camera, remember? Anyway, this type of wedding is so rare these days that many local bystanders were wondering what the ceremony was all about.