Today was the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident, and it turns out the rest of the world cares way more than the Chinese people do. My roommate and I woke up at 4am this morning to make it to Tiananmen Square by sunrise at 4:47am to see the Red Army Guard raise the Chinese flag next to the monument of the People’s Heroes. I expected way more people and way more tension than were actually there. We were disappointed that the guards wouldn’t actually let us into Tiananmen Square because we didn’t have our passports with us, but we made friends with other passport-less foreigners and watched from across the street, which turned out to be a better view anyways (with my nice 200mm lens!). After the ceremony, some police came up and questioned us-fortunately, a friend that we made spoke enough Chinese to be able to answer their questions. They yelled at us for not having our passports (apparently it’s the law to carry it on you) and later came back and made us show them the pictures we had taken. We fortunately didn’t have any pictures of police brutality or anything so they let us go in the end. Afterwards we walked next door to the National Opera House which was incredibly beautiful. They designed it to rival the Sydney Opera House, and I think they did a good job. There was absolutely no wind, which was a downer for the flag raising but worked out perfectly for the water that surrounds the Opera House and gives the perception of an “egg”. The water completely surrounds the theater-the entrances are all below ground.
This morning was our last actual day of Chinese class-we learned how to ask for internet and hot water in a hotel room. It’s been really great learning, our teacher Joyce has been incredible, and I’m absolutely not looking forward to our “final exam” tomorrow. We have to do a skit with all of the students in our class-5 people total-using all of the vocab and expressions we’ve learned the past eight classes. We’re doing a “Wizard of Oz” skit, with our one girl (Summer) being Dorothy, and everyone else being the other characters (I’m the Tin Man, trying to exchange money at a bank. Somehow that’s similar to finding a heart?). With very limited time and expertise, I think our play’s pretty solid. Now to memorizing the lines…
This afternoon we went to 798 Art Village, quite possibly the trendiest and most liberal part of Beijing. It’s this small district centered around 798 Street where all of the contemporary artists in Beijing hang out and do… art. Everything is incredibly accessible and public, and it’s a major difference from most Chinese art we’ve encountered so far. There are tons of sculptures all over the place, and really beautiful wall art (the less cultured would call it “graffiti”). I spent about 30 minutes taking 77 pictures of a long wall covered in graffiti-the panorama stitch turned out great. Zach and I roamed around, taking pictures mimicking the statues, and made friends with a kitten.
The end of the day was spent at the theater-we went to go see an acrobat show, like the ones that travel the states. The theater was pretty shoddy but the performers were breathtaking-everything you could imagine that a body can do, and some things you couldn’t imagine. Now, we have to polish up our play for tomorrow and start memorizing lines… wish me luck!
My cousin worked in 798 for a few months! Did you go to the Pace Beijing gallery? I was at that opening a year ago!