Its A Small World After All

I’ve mentioned feeling a bit disillusioned with many of the ‘historical’ places I’ve seen so far in China, primarily because those I’ve been fortunate enough to see were ‘restored’ in the 80’s during the Cultural Revolution and much of the sense of history swept away with the dust of new concrete.

My new contract means that I’ll be back to a semi nine to five resulting in a more restricted travel time line, so I figured why not make the most of Beijing, being only an hour away.

So, I spent some time putting together a wee spreadsheet of everything off the beaten track in and around Beijing. I want to see something that other travellers might miss, something that the government may not have gotten to, something authentic.

In amongst all of this included the World Park and 798 Art District. My friend, Mark, was heading back to Ireland so I thought it a good way to say farewell by taking him to some unusual spots, and a nice way for me to start 2017.

Unfortunately, Mark and I decided to go out in Sunlitan the night before our World Park tour and Mark was defeated by the evenings activities… much to my disappointed and don’t you worry, I had a right go at him the following evening AND following day, and we have come to the conclusion that when we catch up we either go out, or we have an outing… this is the second time my itinerary has been cast aside by one too many vino’s and smidgen of dancing.

I, however, dusted off the night before, met up with Robyn, grabbed a hearty breakfast at the Book Worm (with a sneaky hair-of-the-dog) and headed off for a three train, an and a half journey to the outskirts of Beijing in search of an off-the-beaten track experience.

Finally emerging from the underground Robyn and I looked around at wat can only be described as a deserlet abandoned construction site.

“Where’ve you brought us this time?” asked Robyn

“Hrmmm”… I muttered and started to walk in the direction that the sound of traffic was coming from, assuming this would lead us to civilisation.

It was a bright, strangely pollution-free day… it reminded me of days in Perth when my ex and I would sometimes draw the blinds just to hide from yet another delightful sunny day so we’d not feel guilty spending a few hours watching telle and staying in-doors… now, a pollution-free day is like the first rain-free sky after a long Winter, every molecule in your body pulling you toward the door and out into the sunlight… or in this case, breathable air.

So… twenty minutes walk, a few missteps, some choice words about China and Google and why we cant all just get along (a functioning Google Maps would have been particularly useful in this situation) we came to a long row of international flags infront of a Disney-Cinderella-style faux castle… There wasn’t a person in sight, I was anxous… is it happening again? Is everything going to be closed? I’d checked and double checked and checked again… it said it was OPEN!

While I stumbled about taking happy snaps and trying to remain calm, Robyn headed to the ticket box and hollered back at me:

“Wooo! Open!”

She’d seen a sneaky person sneaking behind the bars at a cashier desk and after some Chinglish and charades had purchased two entry tickets at the low low… actually, at the full price it would be had it been peak season in Summer. But who were we to complain? We were off to see the World in 80 minutes… or thereabouts.

The World Park is a unique attempt to enable people to see the wonders of the world without having to leave… well… China. Opened in 1993 is covers over 46 hectares and includes… well, a little bit of everything!

This may be as close as I get to Disneyland (I hope not, my sister and I have a pact to get to Disneyland and New York together at one point in our lives), maybe the Disneyland of the Zombie Apocalypse… the park was empty – I think we came across five other visitors in the time we were there. The moats were empty of water, the rides silent and creaking, the scent of animals in the barns remained, but only a sole horse standing sadly tied to a golden princess carriage remained waiting for a rider.

I am glad to have been able to see the place, devoid of other visitors, gives an interesting perspective and it was just a bit of a giggle, truth be told. You can imagine it during the busy Summer months with dressed up Centurion’s at the Colosseum, Cleopatra and Antony wandering about the pyramids, some soldiers marching around Buckingham Palace… maybe a pretend seagull near the Sydney Opera House?

The two of us be ventured between the towers and through the gates to the park, and were immediately transported to Renaissance Greece, staring up toward what we eventually discover are actual marble statues.

We ventured left and found ourselves at the foot of the Taj Mahal before popping across to Angkor Wot, then a tribute to Vietnam… Thailand and Taiwan… But then… within a heartbeat we were staring across a frozen lake at Easter Island! Conveniently located a stones throw from Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House (apparently the main sites to see in Oz).

Next thing I knew we were trekking through Africa, skipped across to Egypt and took some time to traipse the continents and spend some time in Florence and Vienna at the same time!

The models were pretty impressive, and I imagine what they might have looked like originally… the upkeep was somewhat lacking.

Walking across London Bridge, even a fake one, gives me a heart-yearning… a missing of that place that I still call my home away from home. Big Ben was about as big as my brother, and it stared incredulously across the way at Notre Dame and a replica of the Eiffel Tower.

The leaning tower of Pisa was leaning, the Vatican sprawled, and suddenly, leering over Western Europe was what I thought was Mother Hubbard’s Giant Shoe… but was infact the Trojan Horse – I didn’t see Troy, but glad to see the Horse was represented.

Did I forget to mention America? Remise of me… America was there. Period ;-) No… lets not be crass, there was the White House and the Washington Memorial, the Grand Canyon (which apparently has a water fall during peak season) and… strangely… the Twin Towers, still standing there… an eerie site to see.

The sun was sinking as we wandered by the quiet kids corner and ghost trains (WHY?! WHY weren’t the Ghost Trains running!!) and the cold was getting to us both… my chin had frozen to the point that speech was impaired, Robyn complained that her butt had turned into an icicle, not to mention last nights antics were finally catching up with me… we decided to head back to Sunlitan and see if Mark had recuperated enough to come out for dinner.

I have to say some of the replica’s were astounding, maybe not the dinosaurs and fairies at the kids section, but the German Castles to Notre Dame, those beautiful marble Grecian statues and the Egyptian gods… I could almost hear the reverie of visitors in the summer months, see the fountains rise and fall with light shows, the acrobats and animals… there was a left over festive feeling that I hope will be revived again and again for many years to come.

I must say if you couldn’t see the certain parts of the world, there is nothing bad about having a World Park like this.

798 Arts Area

Next day Mark was up and about and the three of us went on the hunt for some arts and culture… or, Robyn and Mark followed my itinerary and we hit the tube for another hour and a half trip  a somewhere off the beaten track! Colour me happy!

798 Arts Zone is getting to be the place-to-be, but was originally a military joint factory that was decommissioned some years ago. Originally it was part of the Socialist unification Plan when the Soviets and China were still friends… This area has had a rich and sometimes controversial history since the 1950’s and architecturally its reminiscent of Soviet / Russian style.

There is actually a long and fascinating history to this area, so I’d encourage a spot of further research if you’re interested… but we’re not here for history… lets move to where we are now…

In the 80’s the contemporary artistic community wasn’t overly embraced, so the community sought out places where they could come together, work, create, collaborate… they found 798, a forgotten area with ample space for sculpture, art, performance and general creativity.

Over time this area become THE arts area for contemporary expression. In very recent times with the help of open borders and increased international visitors the area is now a vibrant arts-orientated place for those seeking a look at modern Chinese art and performance.

It was pretty empty when we eventually arrived, again – Chinese and Winter have never been fond of one another, a lot is closed, quiet… silent. But we wandered through different independent galleries, observed a spot of performance art close to one of the main original factories, an open space where people were donning different outfits from Spider Man to a Communist Soldier, groups stood in circles doing some strange clapping business followed by hugs and others, like me, were wandering about mesmerised, entertained and in love with just the concept of such a place.

I will be returning, possibly in the Spring, in the hopes of seeing more performances, displays and avant-garde. I felt at home wandering the streets and popping in here and there. All it was missing was a decent coffee house, which I think exists… but not in the months of Winter.

On the tube back to the train station I said my goodbyes to Mark. I have a sneaking suspicion this is not the end of our friendship and there are many a mad nights and entertaining days to come!

So… not a bad way to start the new year and start ticking off my ‘Off The beaten Track’ Beijing list. Hoping for Longting Gorge at the end of Feb… but we’re still waiting on our visa.