Beaches, beers and buses

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go on an office trip to the coastal community of Beidaihe.  It is a beach community about 3 hours from Beijing (5 with traffic) where a lot of people go to get away from the city. About 40 co-workers climbed onto the bus at 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning and we were off.  The bus ride was pretty eventful between the constant breaking and honking as our bus driver weaved through traffic, and the fact that one of my colleagues, Pan Li, was almost left on the highway. Pang Li, a short man with classes and a huge smile, is quite a character. Since the office paid for everything over the weekend, everyone indulged in as much food and alcohol as they wanted. Pan Li started early on the bus and after three beers, got off on the highway to relieve himself (we were stuck in traffic anyway).  But before Pan Li was back on the bus, traffic started moving, and I looked out of my window to find him running next to the bus screaming for it to stop.  This was probably the funniest experience I have had since I have been here. I couldn’t stop laughing.  He finally was able to get back on the bus, sweating and smiling like nothing had happened.  About four hours later we finally got to the beach where we walked around and hung out for a few hours. Then we went to our hotel and ate a huge meal.  One huge difference between a Chinese meal and an American meal is that everyone shares. You can’t go to a restaurant and buy your own meal. You order a selection of plates and the center of the table rotates and everyone gets there fill.  This is a prime example of how the U.S. is more individualistic and China is more collective.   

The following day we got up and went on a ferry ride, which was pretty dull (it was raining and there wasn’t much to look at except for cargo ships) until Oscar and I got attacked by locals. In Beijing, two women have asked if they could take a picture with me, but the ferry was a different story. Approximately, 20 to 30 people were in a line to take pictures with us. I felt like I was a celebrity. All of our co-workers were laughing at us since we were such a spectacle. I guess that the beach was far enough away from Beijing that the locals rarely see foreigners.  It was a fun experience and my face hurt from smiling when we finally got off of the ferry, but at the same time I felt bad for getting so much attention for nothing. The same was true in Uganda where white skin is rare, but no one owns a camera, so no pictures were taken there. It is a funny experience since no one would ever do that in the United States where there are so many ethnicities/nationalities. No ethnicity is a novelty. All I know is that if you ever want to be famous, traveling to Africa or Asia is a good test run to see if you like it. My family better get ready for some picture taking since the average male height in China is 5’ 6.7’’ and the average female height is 5’ 2.5’’.  My mother is the shortest member of our family at 5’7’’.  If Oscar and I stand out like we do, my very tall, 5-member family is going to stand out everywhere we go.  

We ended the trip at the beginning of the great wall (where the great wall goes into the Pacific Ocean), which is near Shanghai Pass.  Shanghai Pass is a pass through the mountains that enemies had to get through in order to get to mainland China. Thus, there is a military town at the base of the mountain to protect China from invasion. Now, however, it is a tourist site and there are dozens of vendors in the streets of the revitalized town. It was a great weekend, and it was also a great opportunity to go somewhere other than a stereotypical tourist site. I feel like I really experienced China, and now I can call a lot of my co-workers friends.