Wow! Four weeks in Asia, come and gone, in the blink of an eye. Our plane didn't get lost off the coast of Malaysia but, somewhere along the 12 hour flight to Beijing, we lost 12 hours. Gone, obliterated, evaporated into thin air over the Pacific Ocean. The morning sun, always at our tail, followed us as we lifted off in Vancouver and greeted us again in Beijing. Exhausted on arrival we slept the daylight away and awoke at midnight, ready to find our yin and yang on the streets of a Beijing night.
It's hard to describe our experience without including the smells, sounds and general all-around sensory overload that met us along the way. The smells of the food markets were rarely inviting. Not like a barbecue on a sunny afternoon at home. Some smells I recognized: fish sauce, lemongrass, coconut, days-old raw meat in the noon-day sun. Many were just....pungent and at times almost nauseating. But, to an adventurous soul, a test of what a conditioned nose and pallet might explore and learn to appreciate.
Our first encounter with unfamiliar fare was at the night market, abuzz with street vendors hawking their wares. Scattered among the chinese lanterns, jade buddhas and silk dresses the food vendors lurked, calling as we passed by, tempting us with skewered vermin awaiting their deep-fryed fate. One can't stand at a distance, nose curled, eyes wide. You must approach and see if it's true. This is an invitation, creatures thrust into your face, cooks delighted with your response. It's immediately apparent. Anything with 4 or more legs doesn't stand a chance here: live scorpions squirming on sticks, milipedes, snake, tarantula, even dog and cat! Yes, it was all there. Still a little squeamish we settled for fried noodles, dumplings and a cold beer.
Almost as unsettling were the stares we evoked...everywhere. Yes, our skin's a paler version of alabaster and yeah, Al's a white-haired dude with a ponytail. But, really? How did we come to be the center of such blatant gawking. Some pulled us aside to take pictures with us. Like a good-humored freak show, we complied. Soon enough we would become the poster faces of foreign money and seekers of cheap Chinese souvenirs: "Hey lady, you come hea. Cheapa fo you!"
But the visual smorgasbord was all around us, all the time. China is a land of color. From the natural, blossoming landscape to the vibrant colored buildings. From the giant electronic billboards to the eclectic dress code of the people. I discovered, here in China, that I love color! Canada, we can use a little help in this area. The Chinese culture knows how to accost your vision and hold you hostage with its visual delights. My eyes were so busy with input that my brain couldn't keep up with the processing.
But of course, we'd come to China on some important bucket list business, and so we focused ourselves on the daunting (and rewarding) climb of the world's most famous ancient wall. Yes, that's right. Our feet felt the history beneath them and our hands grazed the stones of hundreds of years of construction that blows the mind.
And we were warned to respect these ancient "relics" and...oh yeah...the toilet's over there, just over the ledge. Practice good aim.
Then on to Tiananman Square for some people watching.
And sharing some translation technology with the locals.
A week goes by so fast in China. Too quickly we were whisked into another airplane on to yet another adventure. The pagoda roofs erupted from the Oriental architecture as we lifted off and bid farewell to a wonderful, sensory, friendly culture and people. Already I want to go back, drink Jasmine tea for breakfast and Chinese line dance with the locals every night at the town square.
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