M-whY

But since I'm here anyways, I might as well go see what the buzz is all about. The hutong my hostel was located on was quiet enough. You couldn't tell anything was up with the way people went about their usual lives. Even the road the hutong ran off of seemed normal. Then I reached Chang'an Rd, an east-west artery running through the center of Beijing. I don't think I've been surrounded by so many people since Times Square on New Years Eve. Underpasses were jammed, guards were strategically placed at intersections to direct pedestrian traffic, and more and more kept arriving in buses. Even the Chinese, who must've expected this, were in awe of the crowd density.

One figure I read estimated that 300 million Chinese were travelling this week. To put that figure in perspective, the population of the entire US is only 350 million. If only a fraction of that figure came to Beijing, that's still a huge influx of people. Yet somehow, there was a chaotic order to it all. Yes, there were some pushing and shoving, and personal space was encroached upon. But somehow, as long as you stuck with the flow, getting to point B from point A was manageable.

Tiananmen Square was just as packed. Seriously, if crowds aren't your thing, you wouldn't want to be here. I felt like just a small fish in the sea. Everyone was a tourist, and the patience exhibited by those trying to take pictures... had I nonchalantly walked in front of someone taking a picture back home without saying sorry, I would've expected to get an earful. But again, it's a culture difference. People just held their poses until the line of sight was clear. And somehow, the 'system' worked. (As a tangent, I wonder how many photos I'm a part of now. Chinese tourists are really attached to their cameras and will take pictures of everything, not really caring if there are random people in the background. I must be going home with a lot of people)

An hour of milling around brought me to the conclusion that I wasn't going to accomplish anything today. I plowed my way back to the hostel and passed time reading and playing video games. I don't think I've ever had so much fun playing solitaire.

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!