Today, I’m sharing about the end of one chapter of my life in Beijing - my traditional Beijing style ‘hutong’ home. After a whole year of living in this fashion I have to say, I will miss it. I’m proud to say that I fulfilled one of my deepest wishes - to have a taste of a totally ground level Chinese experience living among the locals. Something I will never experience anywhere else in the world. However, it also entails having survived the coldest winters I have ever experienced in my life. That says a lot for someone who came from Chicago where it actually snows during winter. Having said that, the uninsulated thick brick walls and tiled floors are truly about my only gripe about the place.
There are a whole lot more things I can think of, things that I will miss about this place.
I’ll miss my bike across town through the thick lush canopy of trees in the older parts of town near Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Jingshan park and the National Center of Performing Arts that I've become accustomed to, every trip I make to work or to see friends who live on the other side of town. It’s always a welcome refuge from the hard grey concrete jungle of the newer parts of Beijing.
I'll miss the extreme friendliness of my neighbors. Starting with the two older couples living beside me who watch my place and seem strangely aware of my comings or goings. ( I was staying over at a friends’ place for 3 days in a row recently, when my 50-something year old grandma neighbor was quick to point out in a casual conversation a few days later that she thought I had moved because I hadn’t been around for a few days!!) Then there’s the guy who lives right across from me who flirts with smiles and those lingering gazes each time he sees me…despite the fact he lives there with another young girl whom I presume to be an ‘other half’ in some capacity! So typically Chinese! (that's a topic for another day) There is a certain lack of privacy with their over-friendliness that looking back is quite funny if taken with a pinch of salt. Like when he stands outside his door pretending to talk on his phone when I have my window open while cooking. The good thing is he’s quite easy on the eyes but still, there’s the creepy factor. I don’t like being watched when I’m cooking no matter how good my stir fry eggplant and french bean smells!
I’ll miss the peaceful quietness of the evenings. The way everything goes silent after 9pm.
I will miss the friendly smiles and easy going nature of people in the neighborhood in the mornings or in the evenings when people stand or sit around to chat or people watch. It's a relaxed, higher quality pace of life compared to the hurried going-ons in the commercial side of town.
I will miss being invited over next door to have dinner every once in a while and lingering to just chat about anything under the sun, including bad bowel movements as of late…yup, no need to be shy about things here. People take everything with stride. Anything goes.
I’ll miss being able to stay up late night with friends, being somewhat noisy, my windows open and no neighbors knocking on my door to tell me to, “Keep the music down or go to bed!”
I'll miss never hearing any English spoken within a 100 meter perimeter of my living space. True 'Lao Beijing' ___ Old Beijing lifestyle.
I’ll miss just walking a few steps around the corner to get a couple bottles of beers back for RMB2 ($US0.20) each. Or in the other direction to get some watermelon, peaches or bananas. Or across for some Chinese vegetable or meat pancakes for a meal costing me barely RMB2.
I’ll miss telling my neighbors to keep a watch on my house while I leave for an extended vacation and knowing they will guard it like it was their own home and listen for the smallest unfamiliar squeak my door makes.
The upside of freezing to death behind these concrete walls in the winter is that it keeps about 10 degrees cooler in the summer. No matter how hot it is outside, it remains sinfully cool inside my ice-box refuge. I love it. This, I know I will reminisce to no end if I'm still here in Beijing next boiling hot summer.
I’ll miss the busy chatter of neighbors outside my window throughout the day starting with the sound of the crisp chirping of the birds at 6am in the morning, a pretty unusual sound to hear in the middle of the city.
I'll miss a million other indescribable things. My familiarity with all the little winding streets and knowing certain parts of this neighborhood like the back of my hand. All the familiar faces; the street scenes and sounds at the turn of each corner.
I’ve always felt safe in my little old neighborhood. Everyone knows everyone. It is not at all uncommon for total strangers to start a conversation with, “How much do you pay for rent?”. I've come to realize it's not because they're purposely nosy like the suburban wars which go on between the desperate housewives in suburban America. These are the local people who live day to day, struggling to make a living where questions like that are as necessary as "Do you have enough to eat?". Whether you agree with it or not, it's a whole different mentality no matter how you slice it. Most of it, quite incomprehensible to us foreigners. Nevertheless, it's an amazing experience to have been this close to it all.
The truth is, I can see the neighborhood changing just in the past year that I’ve lived here. And I'm not sure I welcome it. Lately, people moving in are opening stores, rather than using the space as a primary residence. It’s slowly losing the quaint little neighborhood feel. It's becoming a mish-mash of 'wai di' __ transient migrant population residence. Unlike some who think it unsafe, I have no problem with it. It's just different. Will I be coming back for a visit every once in a while? Yes. Will I feel the nostalgia each time I’m near? You bet I’ll be smiling from ear to ear. Do I wonder about riding by and seeing everything demolished in place of new highrise apts one day? Yes.
For now, it's time to close this chapter and move on. Asta la vista baby. 'Till next time, you'll always be a defining momento of my 'real' Beijing experience.
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