There are people mopping the street outside. Oh, China.
So yesterday I managed to spend 7 hours wandering around the Summer Palace. That place is huge!! By the end of it I'd wandered so far from the entrance I came in that I left out of a different one (the north gate) and found myself in the middle of nowhere. I walked for like 10 minutes before finding a road big enough to have taxis and went straight home. I get stared at a lot here, but not so much as for those 10 minutes... I guess they don't get a lot of foreigners walking around their back streets so far outside the 5th ring road.
Anyway, walking around by myself in the midst of so many Chinese people at the Summer Palace reminded me of some peculiarities in the behavior of people here that I'd forgotten. First, which I noticed when trying to buy my admission ticket, is their inability to (or inability to see any reason to) wait in line. I remember learning how to say "wait in line" (pai dui) in Chinese class. We actually only used it to say phrases like "Chinese people don't wait in line" or "Chinese people need to learn to wait in line". Riveting stuff. Anyway, they just kind of swarm, or if there is a line new people will just walk up and get right in front of you without so much as a word. Even if you say something it's doubtful they'll move, so you just kind of have to inch forward and actively kind of put your back to them when you see them coming. It can be exhausting, especially if you're new here and too timid to say anything. I've long gotten over that.
Another thing I don't think I noticed before is that people don't stop when someone is trying to take a picture. What's more, they'll get in your picture and start posing for their own. This isn't just me being annoyed that my personless, scenery photos were difficult to obtain because once I noticed it I watched and saw it happening everywhere. There's none of that common courtesy there is back home to pause and wait for someone to finish taking their photo before walking through, or to wait for the photographer to see you and let you pass. Nope, here they just walk right through eyeing the camera the whole time. About 2 hours in I decided to start a 1 person movement to correct this. I made sure to stop every time and try to stop other people or atleast give them looks if they didn't. It didn't take, but I have another week and a half to get this going, haha. In hindsight, maybe that's why it took me 7 hours to get through the Palace grounds. There are just so many people taking pictures all the time maybe it isn't practical to stop for each one. Still, though, I'd at least appreciate an apologetic look or gesture when you're so obviously messing up someone's picture.
ok now on to more positive things. In general, unless they work as waiters in the ex-pat area of the city, Chinese people (mostly older people) are SO excited to see foreigners and even more so if you can speak even a little Chinese. When I first entered the park I was drawn away from the main path to the lake (Kunming Lake it's called) by singing and other instruments playing off to the side. I climbed up a tucked away hill to find a gazebo at the top filled with Chinese men and women all over 50 singing! They had a woman conducting and they were holding sheet music and had separate parts for men and women and everything. I meant to hold back and listen/take pictures when a very old man saw me and smiled and gestured me over and had me sit down with them while he explained to me what they were singing about ("forever love"). Once they were done, he insisted I stay and speak with him and two women about myself, my impressions of China, etc. They kept asking me things like 'what do you think of Chinese old people?' and then 'what do you think of Chinese young people?' I mean... how do you answer that? Anyway, I stayed with them for maybe an hour... yet another reason how I managed to spend 7 hours there yesterday!
Ok it's getting late I need to start thinking about heading out. More to come later!
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