Ladies and Gentlemen, due to unforeseen circumstances, our take-off has been delayed and we are being relegated to no. 17 in the take-off queue. Kindly be patient and refreshments will be served.
- MAS Pilot, Beijing Airport tarmac
Why was the flight delayed? It's because those goons at row 18-32 couldn't sit down despite the pilot's desperate announcement for take-off, (hence sit down you idiots!).
But we got up at a nerve breaking, god forbidden hour to crawl out of bed into the dark, cold streets towards Tiananmen Square. Of course I could dramatize it again but Mr. Lin has been so kind to chauffeur us there and we were kind of surprised to see so many people running towards the flag pole. At 7:10am, the guards came marching in and the flag was hoisted to the national anthem. I never felt as proud as I did that moment being a Chinese, and I admit, I got a bit emotional. The whole affair was touching, beautiful and the whole city was fresh, untouched by the hoards of tourists that will undoubtedly crammed in by 10am later, and we all looked up at the proud flag gently flapping in the early dawn breeze. We saw the Mao's Mausoleum (no pun) and what's left of the ancient wall of the Gugong, built during the Ming dynasty.
Given time was of essence, we by-passed the local Beijing morning gruel by the streets and headed towards the Temple of Heaven park. Here, we saw early risers, young and old, practicing taichi, wushu, and this funny ping-pong kind of "air" table tennis. The best part of this was that most of the gigs are even done in groups. There was a strong sense of unity and life. Even the oldies were gathering in the imperial corridors to sit and ponder, some played cards, others took a stab at belting out old melodies to their mates playing the erhu, whilst some just sat and pondered.
We visited the main temple in which the emperor offered his annual prayers for a good year of harvest during the winter solstice. Apparently the emperor and his retinue will be marching from the inner courts of the Gugong towards the Tiananmen Square, and past the old walls towards the Temple of Heaven. It was a sombre affair and any slip of a foot will harbour a bad harvest for the coming year. Hence, all mere mortals were instructed to stay indoors, and only the emperor and his chosen ones were to make their way to the temples. We went through to the North Gate, but missed the Wall of Echo. It was a good 750m hike and my feet on the last day were giving up on me. The blisters were bad! Enough said...
To top the whole week, we invited Mr. Lin to join us at our favourite local xiaoche joint at the Old Beijing Inn, near Beihai. It was a lovely time sharing the times (albeit short) we had together, Mr. Lin teaching us the finer points of distinguishing a true Beijinger from your accent, and endless amount of Pu Er tea.
He gave us a warm handshake and lovely smile. We will never forget this lovely 50-year old ex-Air Force man. We saw so much of Beijing through him, and in him.
