Our Beijing experience had some ups and downs, but the good times outweighed the bad times by far.
We had the priveleged opportunity to see The Great Wall at Mutianyu with a private guide. We had a fantastic day at the wall. The sight of the wall stretching endlessly across the mountainside in the morning sun was magical and we almost had the place to ourselves, which was an added bonus.
Our guide, whose English name is Beryl, added more enjoyment to the outing. She made the 2 hour drive to the wall very entertaining as she told us about herself and shared many interesting insights into Chinese culture. Beryl was born in a rural part of China and had far fewer priviledges growing up than her two older brothers simply because she is female. She was born before the "one family, one child" law, but after the law that made it illegal for parents to check the gender of their baby before birth or, as she pointed out, she may not have been born at all. Her main aspiration in life was to go to university in Beijing, but this didn't seem likely as her parents were not able to fund her as they had already paid for her eldest brother to go to one of the best schools in the country and helped her other brother to get the schooling he needed to become a doctor. However, her eldest brother helped her realize her dream as he paid for her schooling! Beryl marks everything by the date of her arrival in Beijing years ago and her eyes lit up everytime she mentioned it throughout the day. She catagorizes her life into two parts; before Beijing and after Beijing.
Beryl explained to us about the years in the Chinese calendar and the twelve animals that represent them and many other Chinese traditions. Most interestingly, she told us the four wishes of every Chinese person (I'm not sure how she can speak for all Chinese people, :-) but what she said is worth recording). 1. To live in America because we will have freedom. 2. To have a British salary because we will be rich. 3. To have a Chinese cook. 4. To marry a German husband because Germans are responsible or marry a Japanese wife because Japanese women are gentle and caring. I guess, by Chinese standards, I'm lucky on two accounts!
Chinese opera was different than we expected as there was little singing and a lot of dancing and slapstick humor instead. The evening had several mishaps that are better told in person so I won't go into details here.
I have been pleasantly surprised by the warmth of the Japanese people. Although many people do not speak English, they have been eager to help us whenever we are looking at a map or standing clueless in front of a train ticket machine. They are also extremely polite as a nation and whenever anyone walks into a restaurant every person on staff will greet the person with a loud welcome and a chorus of thank yous when he or she leaves. Bowing is also extremely common and even animated figures at ATMs bow after dispensing money!
Today's highlight was a tour of the Geisha districts in Kyoto with a Canadian who has been living in Kyoto for 13 years and is married to a former geisha. We saw several Meiko (Geishas in training) on their way to and from tea houses. Our guide explained their way of life and we learned much about a Geisha's existence and purpose. He said that Geishas are like flight attendants, waitresses and prima ballerinas all in one. Like quality flight attendants, they do their best to make you comfortable and relaxed throughout the evening. Similar to a good waitress, they serve you with a smile and make sure your glass is always filled. They are extremely skilled in music, dance and other traditional Japanese artforms and strive to offer you perfection and entertainment in these areas like a prima ballerina does in a ballet. I'm still working out what I think about the life of a Geisha, but I was excited to see a bit of the ancient traditions of Japan as we walked the streets tonight.
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