The last leg of our trip was in Beijing. We completed our visit at Mama Jo's House and drove back to Zhumadian to take a night train to Beijing. We had to split up into different cabins but no one had a bad roommate. We had two ladies and a baby in our cabin but the child slept all night. The train had only a few stops and was a rather smooth train so we could sleep. It was about 10 a.m. when we arrived at our hotel.
The Shan Shui Hotel is not really a hotel for foreigners, but it was perfect for us. It was on a quiet side street, the hotel was quiet and accommodations were nice. After the places we had visited and many overnights on a train, perhaps any hotel would have looked nice. The service was good and the morning breakfast buffet was better than usual. We could get toast and coffee at this one! We usually have boiled eggs (still hot), rolls (many types of breads both steamed and baked) and fruit. For those of us who have been to China a lot, we also enjoy the noodles and vegetables served for breakfast. I usually skip the congee (bland rice soup). Somehow, I don't enjoy the cold or raw vegetables for breakfast. We were the only guests on the 4th floor. I found out that the Chinese are superstitious about the number 4 (it means "death") so Chinese do not want to stay on the fourth floor. They, therefore, put foreigners on the fourth floor. It was fine with us because it was so quiet.
We were a short distance from the subway so we traveled everywhere in Beijing by subway. The Bank of China was nearby and we spent several hours each day handling the banking transactions. They will only let you do so much each day so it required several trips to complete the deposits for the many workers.
We started walking after we checked into the hotel to try to find the Beijing Duck Restaurant. After much walking, we went into another hotel and the clerk at the desk wrote down the address of the restaurant and we took taxis from there. Taxi drivers had trouble finding locations because Beijing is so large so we wandered around for quite a while. We had to take two taxis so Ron and I arrived first only to discover it was not the restaurant we had in mind. We waited about 20 minutes for the others to arrive (their taxi driver didn't know where to go either). It was almost 2 p.m. and we had not had breakfast that day. We ate at that restaurant anyway and it was good. It did not compare to the Beijing Duck Restaurant that Ron and I knew. We finally decided that it was locate at Dong Dan and we were in the Xi Dan area (close to each other but still not the same area). Beijing duck is roasted until the skin on the duck is maroon in color and brittle. The duck is carved at the table and it is served rolled into a thin pancake with chopped onion, cucumbers, and bean sauce.
The two sponsors with us wanted to shop for their families so we took them to the Pearl Market in the afternoon. They were quick shoppers (aren't most men) so we did not spend too much time there.
The first day we arrived, we had nice weather. The next day, it turned cold and windy. We ate at some very good restaurants the rest of the time we were there but I did not go out much because of the severe temperatures.
We had a large shopping mall near the hotel and many restaurants were there for our choosing (including KFC, Dairy Queen, Burger King and Starbucks).
I think Jonathan and David finally felt at home when they arrived there! We see some KFC's and McDonald's in other cities but not as many as are located at every subway stop in Beijing.
Ron completed his appointments in Beijing and we had a delightful Sunday with David and Ya Ning Langley. 
(Pictures were taken before people began arriving for services.)We went to lunch after the morning service with that group and again on Sunday night with the second group. We had twelve people present at each service (different people except for our group). Sunday night, we went back to The Place, the shopping center that has the overhead screen with a power point scrolling the entire time. It is very beautiful to see. We ate that night in a Tiawan Restaurant inside the shopping center. The wind was cold and we had a long walk back to the subway about 11 p.m.
In China, there's no feeling of danger. People are out until late at night and there is no fear of any kind. We have decided that Chinese are party animals because they don't go to bed early any night. With so many people strolling day and night, we wonder when they work. We know they are not poor in Beijing because everyone is dressed nicely. In fact, we see many of the latest fashions in Beijing. The young women try to copy the fashion world of Japan and it's interesting to see some of the things they wear. Even on cold days, we saw short shorts and short skirts.
One day Ron and I were getting smoothies at a fruit shop and a young girl (about 20) was waiting for her order. She had a light blue denium jacket and a layered pink ruffled skirt (very short) and pink boots. She had a diamond stud in one nostril and her finger nails were sparkled with glitter. When she left, I told Ron that she looked like Little Bo Peep. Later, we were walking on the street and Ron said, "there goes Little Bo Peep's sister." I looked around and saw a girl dressed in a short layered skirt with lace stockings but her outfit was black. I would have loved to have a picture of these fashions but felt it too rude to snap pictures of people on the street.
Ronald took one day to fly to Soeul, Korea to renew his VISA. Jonathan left for the U.S. that day. It was a Saturday and Ron did not have any appointments. Dave, Ron and I went to the Beijing Zoo. It was much larger than I expected so we walked for five hours. I did not feel tired until that night and my body felt it the next day as well.
We had to fly coach back to Atlanta. It was not bad for the three hours to Narita Airport (Toyko, Japan) but the 12 hours from Narita to Atlanta was difficult. A very interesting thing happened in the Narita airport. We landed and went directly through security again before we could go to our gate for the U.S. flight. As we came out of security, a young Chinese man hurried up beside me and said, "Excuse me, but are you Ron and Pat Brown?" Ron heard him and turned around. We just stopped and said, "Yes." He told us he was "Dan" and knew us in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Let me tell you what a small world it is. Dan was about 12 years old and in my Sunday School Class each week. I had children from the age of 5 to 12 in the class because I was the only teacher and Ron had all of their parents in his class. Dan's parents were moving to the U.S. about the time we left Canada to return to Nashville and we lost touch with them. Dan told us his parents are still in the U.S. and he had been back to China to visit his grandparents. He works in Washington, D.C. We exchanged cards and promised to keep in touch. I could not believe he recognized us after all these years. We certainly would not have recognized him. We have grown much older but he's grown up from a boy to a very handsome young man.
Ronald returned to do some work at Mama Jo's House to get a water pressure problem corrected. He is now at Pingxiang and ready to begin the remodeling of the next building (at Lu Xi) that will be used as our 7th orphanage. He will have it ready for children to move in by the fall when school starts.
No comments:
Post a Comment