Added by Miguel Libre on November 17, 2009 at 9:30pm

Kakaibang bansa talaga ang Tsina, at makikita natin ito sa kanilang kultura, disiplina, ugali, at pagkikilos. Naging sarado ang pintuan ng Tsina noong unang panahon sa buong mundo, at dahil dito, nahuli sila sa mga ideya at kultura ng Kanluran. Makikita natin na kailan lamang sila nagtagyo ng sistemang kapitalismo sa bansa at kailan lang sila tumanggap ng mga dayuhan at turista. Kahit sila ay nahuli sa mga aspeto ng teknolohiya, makikita natin ngayon na ang kanilang bilis sa pag-unlad ay hindi mapantayan ng anumang bansa, at pati na ang Estados Unidos ay kinakatakutan na ang kakayahan ng Tsinang umunlad. Para sa natatanging bansa tulad ng Tsina, siguradong ibang klase rin ang kanilang pamumuhay. 

Mahigit isang linggo na ako rito sa Beijing at patuloy pa rin ang aking pagmulat ng aking mga mata sa kakaibang katangian ng mga Tsino at eto ang iilan sa marami kong obserbasyon sa pang-araw-araw na buhay ng mga Tsino: una, hindi sila masyadong gumagamit ng mga magagalang na ekspresyon tulad ng “excuse me” tuwing naglalakad sila, ngunit babanggain ka nila kapag ika’y nakaharang. Sa Pilipinas nasanayan tayong gumamit ng mga ganoong ekspresyon tuwing nakikiraan. Nasanay na tayo na kapag nakakita tayo ng mga Tsinong nambabangga, isip natin na bastos sila, ngunit kung tutuusin, sa ating pananaw lang ito nakababastos, ngunit para sa mga Tsino, normal lamang ito. 

Ikalawa, maraming mga “sign post” sa Tsina ay may barok na Ingles, at mahihinuha ko rito na hindi binibigyan ng importansya ng mga Tsino ang wikang Kanluran kahit ito pa man din ay ang pangunahing wika ng mundo. Para sa akin, ang mga Tsino ay may mataas na pagtingin sa kanilang wika at kultura, hindi sila masyadong tumatangkilik ng mga aspeto ng Kanluran. Dapat maging mapagmalaki rin ang mga Pilipino sa kanilang wika at kultura. Ang kolonyal na pag-iisip ay isang halimbawa sa mga Pilipino: mas mataas ang pagtingin natin sa anumang bagay o ideya na nagmula sa Kanluran, ngunit ang mga mula sa bansa natin ay hindi binibigyang importansya. Ikatlo, napansin ko na wala ring mga tila-MMDA sa daan sa Beijing. Ang mga tao rito ay mapag-isa at responsible sa kanilang mga gawain, hindi na sila kailangang pagsabihan kung ano ang bawal. Sa Pilipinas, puro babala ngunit ito naman ay hindi nasusunod. 

Kung ang mga Pilipino ay maging mapagmalaki, mapag-isa at masunurin tulad ng mga Tsino, tiyak na uunlad tayo dahil kapag naisabuhay natin ang mga ito, gagawin ng mga Pilipino ang makakaya nila upang gawing mas magandang bansa ang Pilipinas.

boyofdestiny:

Beautiful Pilipinas. All 7,107 of it.

There’s no place on Earth like the Philippines. I <3 PH

More fruits.

Fresh fruits on a chilly sunny day in Beijing.

Silk Market

We walked past the embassy areas, a couple of stores, and a Thai restaurant. Seeing the main road really gave us hope, since we were about to lose it again for the second time. We headed East-ward to Jianguomenwai DaJie (Jian Guo Men Outer Main Street). It was a long walk, but we saw some hilarious stuff along the way, one of which is the “Smoking Mushroom.” There was an exhaust near the sidewalk that looked like a mushroom with all the colors painted, and the funny thing was, huge amounts of smoke were rushing out from it. That hilarious sight reminded me of those fancy drugs people would call “shrooms”.

Anyway, we finally arrived to the station, even if we haven’t been expecting it. We went down, but as soon as we were about to get into the supposedly correct entrance, we turned our backs to explore the opposite path just for the sake of checking it out. My friends and I lifted the thick and heavy cloths blocking the way, and we continued forward. As we were getting closer, I saw this woman with her child, crying “Xie xie ni (Thank you)” as she begged for food and money. I said to myself, “I swear I know this place, I have been here—I am sure about this.” The surroundings really rang a bell, and as we entered the door, I knew we were already in the Silk Market. I knew I was right, my group and I ventured in this place a couple of days ago and we made use of our Mandarin skills to bargain for things (as well as befriend the vendors). It was in this place where I first bought my first fifty pieces of Popobe Bears, and also where Nicanor was called s*** by the vendor. For first timers in this place who can speak in Mandarin, befriend the vendors first before you bargain. Also, if you look like Chinese, tell them you are a Beijinger, and you will surely get a wallet-friendly price. Just remember, bigger items tend to have bigger percentage of discount compared to small items like key chains. As Tof and I were shopping for more Popobe Bears in the stall where I was already a suki (a frequent and loyal costumer) we stumbled upon Archie and Kleiner . What were the odds? I bet that if we have headed straight to the right path earlier, we would not have seen them and of course, we have not been able to buy more Popobe Bears. Charles Kleiner was actually bargaining for some headphones, and he got really decent prices for two. (Maybe I’ll post a guide on how to bargain sometime.) With the shopping checklist checked, we headed to Xidan to accomplish our second shopping checklist.

Joy City, Xidan

The six of us rode the subway at last as we headed West-ward to Xidan, the shopping district of Beijing. As soon as we got out of the train station, Charles received a phone call from his group mates that they would be meeting up in some fancy German restaurant back where we just came from. So choosing the fancy restaurant over non-stop shopping in Joy City, Kleiner and Archie rushed back to the station and went back where we initially came from. Just the four of us left, we hurried inside Joy City to shop in H&M and Jack & Jones. Buying clothes was relatively fast than I would usually do since the purple long sleeve shirt I was wearing came from the exact same store, so the tag on my shirt spared me from fifteen minutes in the dressing room. We headed to Yishinoya to feed our stomachs and we decided to head home, instead of going to Nike since we were all really exhausted.

Going Nowhere

This part of the story is the most hilarious actually because instead of heading West back to Fuchengmen, we were going farther from our destination and even our origin. In the bus, Alistaire was just sitting as if the cat bit his tongue. Time to time, he would monotonously tell us, “Mali [ang] direksyon natin. (Our direction is wrong.)” and we would just laugh about it since initially, we thought it was a joke. After five stops, we found out that we really were heading the wrong direction, and Alistaire, still looking reserved in his seat reiterated, “Sabi sa inyo mali direkyson natin e, ayaw niyo maniwala. (I told you guys we were going in the wrong direction, you didn’t believe me.”In the next stop, we quickly headed down and we absolutely did not know where we were, but luckily, there was a subway station nearby. It took us a few minutes to get back to Hua Wen Xue Yuan in Fuchengmen, then once there, we all decided to call it a day.

It was a tiring, yet an adventurous day after all. Even though our plans weren’t originally followed, the acts of simply keep walking really added thrill to our experience. There were a lot of things we would have not done if we had not taken time to explore the other options and attempted to get lost. I guess life is like our journey today, sometimes, you will never know what is in store for you unless you take the risk and initiative to simply take a step forward.