My stated reason for traveling to China was to help Yuhong, my sister-in-law, clear out her mother’s apartment in Beijing. Su Ying is now a resident in an aged care facility, and wants to rent out her apartment. My other reason was to finally make it to the Asian continent, and to be a limited tourist in Beijing. Limited by my commitment to help Yuhong, and planning on staying only six days. Also limited by not speaking Chinese, which is why I told Yuhong I would staple myself to her side as soon as I saw her in the Beijing airport 😅 Fortunately both Shanghai and Bejing airports had plenty of English signage, so my fears about traveling through two Chinese airports without an interpreter were allayed.
I arrived the day after the New Year, and the celebration continues for 10 days. The shops, the restaurants, the streets, EVERYTHING was decked out in red and ready to have fun! After a bit of shopping, we headed to crowded, nearby Ditan Park to enjoy the celebration: dancing, singing, street food (I chose BBQ squid), all despite the chilly winter weather.
And we did settle in to the task of clearing out Su Ying’s apartment, where we were staying. We started with her many wardrobes of fabulous clothing. As a singer in the China National Symphony Orchestra Chorus, she had to maintain a professional look. We tried on two of her fur coats, and took one to her – we’re all about the same size! In the end we filled 49 huge rubbish/trash bags of clothing and linens (mostly for donation) and actual rubbish. But when I left at the end of the week, we looked around and sadly concluded that there was very little evidence that we had worked so hard. There is so much more to be done – another trip for me?
We took breaks on our clearing-out mission to visit the Temple of the Earth and other temples, the ancient Great Wall (on their busiest weekend of the year, right after the New Year!), a nearby well-known and upscale Peking Duck restaurant, and local restaurants. We also visited a Chinese medicine shop where the practitioner gave me a remedy that cured my common cold symptoms overnight (thankfully!)
Something I found a little unnerving was the almost constant presence of surveillance cameras and soldiers in public places, but Beijingers seem to take it in stride. I was shocked but not entirely surprised to find that my debit and credit cards, gmail, Google app, Facebook and Messenger apps were all shut down. The only means I had of communicating with my family was FaceTime, because they also use Apple products. Yuhong fortunately was able to cover my expenses while we traveled around and enjoyed ourselves.
From a ministry path perspective, I was surprised at the extent to which religious practice is permitted in China. There are active religious activities and practices in some of the temples we saw. We saw several Christian churches in Beijing, which are all government-sanctioned. Needless to say, I had no contact with the readers of new religious writings in China.
The different kinds of personal transportation were fascinating to me. We often walked to wherever we were going, but if not, the subway system was wonderful and taxis/ubers were plentiful and inexpensive. Many people rode e-scooters with blankets to protect them from the cold. There were also traditional and motorised rickshaws.
Finally, in the last few days of my stay, we went just outside of Beijing to visit Su Ying in her aged care facility. It was in an amazing and brand new centre for health care services, spread over many blocks like a small town. We stayed in a hotel for visitors in the complex. When we got on the elevator, R2-D2 joined us on his way to deliver something to another guest (maybe food?) Yuhong and I enjoyed our own tea ceremony, laid out for us in our elegant hotel room.
I was very grateful for the opportunity to visit with Su Ying again, as she and Yuhong’s late father had been to the USA several times to see Yuhong and her family. They had definitely become part of our extended Taylor family. On the way back, we had to show our passports and state where we were going when we crossed the border of the city of Beijing. Visibly and intimidatingly armed soldiers were posted at the border crossing. We got through without incident, and with appreciation for my Australian passport, and headed for the home of Mao Rung (not sure of the spelling!). She is Yuhong’s cousin, who is a lawyer who looks after Su Ying’s financial and legal affairs when Yuhong is not there. Several other family members were gathered there for a lovely afternoon tea.
I ended up getting an extra day in Beijing, because my seat had been canceled on my non-refundable, full flight to Sydney! Very thankfully Yuhong was with me to talk at length with the kind customer service people, and to pay for another flight to Sydney, since my bankcards were still inoperable. That flight left at 1am, so we went back to our clearing-out mission and celebrated with one final dinner out. Late that evening, I bravely took a taxi to the airport on my own, after Yuhong had instructed the driver where to take me 😊, and found my way to check in, send bags, and get on the plane for my next adventure – Australia 🇦🇺
