Alive in Beijing
Just wanted to let you all know that I have made it safely back to Beijing, taking a taxi and then the train from Taiyuan all by myself!
Taking a Taxi in China: I’ve decided to share one of my recentl travel tips/strategies. To avoid being overcharged by taxi drivers, which can happen on occassion, (also avoid the taxis immediatly outside train stations, many of which are not to be trusted I’m told), I have a special strategy. In the passenger seat, you will see a photo ID of the driver, which includes his name and number. The number is quite long and difficult to remember, so I choose to try to remember the name. You can either A: Try to read to characters outloud if you recognize one or two, or B: Ask the driver their name. As a foreigner, you can make this easily sound like polite conversation, as you presumably have limited Chinese and this is a very basic phrase. Rough pronunciation of this question is, “Qing wen, ni jiao shenme mingzi?” I like to follow this question with, “What does it mean?” and also compliment their name. Chinese people like to hear that their names are beautiful, since a great deal of effort goes into choosing them by the parents. The end result: the driver feels happy and/or knows that you know their name. I used this on the day that I left since I noticed the photo ID showed a different person than my driver. Important Note: Almost all taxi drivers in China enjoy talking very much.
In the train station in Taiyuan, I chatted a little bit with a couple who was friendly to me. The man was from Japan, and was apparently very surprised to meet an American in Taiyuan who speaks a little Japanese & Mandarin. He had a bag which he had purchased on a business trip to Busan, South Korea, which said “Busan International Film Festival”. I was disappointed to find out he wasn’t a filmmaker or coordinator for the festival. The woman was Chinese, born in Jilin Province but moved to Shanxi Province when she was 4 years old and grew up there.
On the train, another person was very friendly to me, and chatted with me for almost an hour (it felt like 1 hour at least). You must first understand that I was very tired. And this man asked me many difficult questions about history, politics, my travels, etc. He was the father of 2 young children and they were going to Beijing for travel & sightseeing. He asked to take a photo with me, and his wife took the picture for us. Later, he helped me when there was a seat mixup, saying rather loudly in Chinese, “This is my American friend. He is a good person.” I didn’t see him after getting off the train, as I think he was very eager to go out & smoke, a common habit among Chinese men.
My friend Hazel met me in the Beijing train station. It was great to see her and to have a local Beijing-er as my guide. After meeting her, we took a bus to go have dinner with another Chinese friend: Yoyo. The dinner was delicious, and so far, everything I’ve eaten in Beijing has been quite good.
I have many plans for Beijing, so I think you can look forward to some quite fun and interesting pictures, videos, and stories!
Peace from Beijing,
-A.Z.