This morning, I hopped a taxi into town, and landed at the Far East hotel and Hostel. Being as it's the major hostel in Beijing, there were (still are, it's where I am now)lots of pepople from all over the world staying there (here). By the time I goit settled in and all, I had just the afternoon to cruise the hood, which is quite a hood indeed (see pictures I took this time around). I ended up finding my way to Tiananmen Square and surrounding area of the Arrow Tower, Zhengyangem, Chairman Mao's memorial hall, the Monument to the People's Heroes and Tiananmen Gate.

What a scene - the better part of a square kilometer of open "square" dedicated to a political movement, lots of people coming to visit and celebrate, people flying kites (at one point, I counted 25 larger dragon kites and an equal number of the multi-teired ones as well), other hawking cards, watches, books and the like to the foriegners (Nancy would have been proud of me, cuz I got "just say no" wired right off the bat), soldiers standing at attention for hours at a time - I guess they were watching over the masses, but the plain clothes security guards were there too to keep all safe from protests (the standing part reminds me of a Rumsfeld quote from July I read yesterday - something to the effect of he didn't understand what the big deal with making prisoners stand for four hours was, cuz he stands for 10-12 hours a day on his watch), and so much more going on.

But I think the best part of it was not feeling lonely on my first day in a foriegn land. I tell you what, these people sure are fascinated with a tall, white guy with a bald head and a beard. It was like being at the zoo, and I was on display!!! Very fun, very wierd, very unsettling, very inviting. And then there were those that wanted to have their picture taken with the tall white guy with no hair on his head but a bunch on his chin. I'll bet it happened at least every half hour someone wh\ould come up and ask to have a picture with me. Whole families, kids, couples, you name it. I thought about setting up a booth, but figured the plains clothes cops would frown upon that.

Then came one of my favorite parts of my whole trip thus far - when Wang Dan came up and asked if she could talk with me cuz she wanted to practice her English. She was definately my heart throb for the day. A 14 year old girl from the northeast, she had been studying English for a year now. She was there with her grandmother to see the taking down of the flag at what I figured must be the national flagpole (a nightly ritual that draws a crowd every night - or at least in the warmer weather). Wang Dan and I talked for about two hours, through the entire ceremony - which she was torn about what to do - go join her grandmother who had gotten her seat at the front of the crowd of now what was probably hundreds if not a thousand or more people gathered to see the national flag come down, or continue her time to hang with the tall white guy with hair on his chin who speaks English. She hung with me, and had I though it appropriate I would have offered to put her on my shoulders, but I didn't know...???

At anyrate, With my notepad and pen, a limited phrasebook at the back of my Beijing guide, my spelling things for her, and the age old practice of pointing, we talked about many things - some having to do with China, some the US, some her home town, some my trip, some the people around us, so I don't even remember. People came up to talk with her about me, and ask if they could take my picture, to look at my book and writing, to just watch two worlds collilide (sp) in Tiananmen Square. All of this was going on as the sun set over the square, the crowd waited with great anticipation for the flag event, the soilders put on their show, and the lights came on at Tiananmen Gate to highlight the VERY big picture of the Chairman. It was splendid, and brings a very fond memory to mind as I write about it.

Wheil heading "home" across the square, another couple came up to me that wanted to talk with me and practice their English. She was a 23 year old English teacher, and he a 40+ year old history teacher in middle school in Beijing. They had an electronic translator, and it made our efforts to communicate much easier. They asked me if I wanted to have dinner with them, and so off we went to have my first ever meal of Peking Duck in an alleyway of the hutong on the way back to the hotel. Although not as impactful as my time with Wng Do, I did enjoy the meal and talk with them. However, jet lag, food and beer had me falling aslepp at the table, so after some confusion of who was paying for dinner (I could have sworn they invited me to dinner, but then again a wildlife conservationist on a not-for-profit salary in the US is a wealthy man compared to their reality), we parted ways.