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Well my lovelies, I find myself once again in that tarnished pearl of a city, Beijing, where I have spent a most excellent two days with Her Excellence Queen Arfiya of the Most Exalted and Multicultural Nation-planet of Arfinia. As a royal guest I was treated to sumptuous feasts by the Queen Mother, Mamleget, herself, and entertained by the wild antics of the new Prince Szarilar (Arfiya, please do forgive my translation), who runs and pinches and giggles his way into the hearts of all around him.
The trip commenced with a ride on one of the modern passenger trains of China, known as a Dongche, that travels at speeds in excess of 220 km/h, and which stewardesses provide water fresh from the springs of Tibet. Aboard this lovely vessel I was educated by a wine salesman from Harbin and a culture education (something like the Chinese equivalent of motivational speaker without the weird Farleyan vertones) professor on the finer points of Chinese society: parenting, education, philosophy, and government. Upon arrival in Beijing I rode with one of the many gregarious cabdrivers (fortunately this one was comprehensible!) to the Fuyuansha / Somerset / Fortune Garden apartment residence of our fair and noble Queen. In keeping with tradition, we talked of everyone and everything until the wee hours (read: 4 AM) thereupon collapsing of exhaustion and with high expectations of the day to follow.
And what a day it was! I thoroughly envy Arfiya's family, which at this point included a visiting aunt and new brother. It was wonderful to see that, on the other side of the world, with people from completely different backgrounds than my own (indeed, it would be hard to find more dissimilarities!) the value of family is as high as in my own rural North Dakota. After the draining experience of solo travel and hours of lonely study in the soot-and-snow environment of Harbin, this exposure to a happy family recharged my humanity-batteries. I hope you all have the opportunity to meet Arfiya's brother one day. That, and being stuffed to the gills with delicious Uighur and Japanese food, milk, bread, butter, and more Central Asian Chai than should physically fit in the body is a pleasurable experience quite like yet still different from the European and North African gastronomic adventures described elsewhere in this intrepid travelogue.
Taking advantage of the opportunities in Beijing, Arfiya and I visited the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium, where we encountered hundreds of Chinese celebrating their nationalist achievement in the most Chinese way possible: lounging around in the sun and watching inflated masots dance awkwardly to pseudo-Western, nostalgic music. Though China may have departed from its Communist ways (50 kuai to get into the stadium!) the Chinese people themselves will never abandon their cultural and behavioral roots to the relentless march of advancement. Quitting the stadium we explored the more commercial side of Beijing, stopping at the (in)famous Silk Street Market to be accosted by young Chinese girls from Hebei looking to sell Uggs (real leather, see, when I put this lighter to it??) and other sundry knockoffs. A futile search for a specific coffee shop, a visit to an indoor skating rink, and the lack of return calls for clubbing from Japanese high school students placed us back at the Royal Residence for the evening, once more to enjoy the presence and comforts of Uighur family life, once more to talk until the wee hours of the morning.
Now I'm waiting in an overpriced Starbucks knockoff outside the horrendously crowded Beijing Main Train Station to head back to Harbin. After my last visit I never thought that I would willingly come back to Beijing, much less want to come back again and again, but I suppose one's position in life and the people with whom one passes the time do make the difference.
Soon to comment on Harbin, with Stalin Park, bronze Communist stars, Mao statues and all... Love and wealth to all of you!
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