Getting Around

So I’m pressed against the window of the passenger compartment, feasting my eyes on the back-alley world of a crumbling hutong neighborhood, when it occurs to me that I willingly chose to spend my school night viewing the streets of Beijing from the back of a penny cab.

For those who don’t know, a penny cab is basically a small motor bike with a 5X4 covered wagon attached to the back seat. The passenger seats are back-to-back with the driver’s seat, so customers look out of the back and side windows.

A couple of decades ago, you could probably catch a ride in one of these at the cost of a penny; but China has experienced some inflation in the past few years. Tonight, we agree that 15 yuan (a little over 2 bucks) is acceptable.

This is the vehicle that I am stuffed into, together with my friends Will and Matt, as we are in the final leg of our journey. Our driver seems oblivious to the fragility of his motorbike taxi and boldly defies oncoming traffic by crossing the wide intersection when it is clearly not our turn. Just when we reach the other side and I think the danger is past, the cab makes a sharp turn, causing the overloaded compartment to lean a bit to the right.

 

Of course, I’m in the right window seat, normally a favorable spot; except now it means that, if this motor bike contraption topples over, I’ll be pinned between the cold street and two relatively heavy young gentlemen.

“So, are we gonna die tonight then?”

“Oh, I think this guy knows what he’s doin’,” says Will.

“I told you guys I’d get you there… by any means necessary,” says Matt from his perch atop my right knee and Will’s left knee. He has to lean forward into the back window since the ceiling is too low for him to sit up.

By any means necessary… I’m sure that the past hour has seen us use every means available in Beijing’s transportation arsenal, short of taking the bus. When we left Bei Wai’s campus, we took a taxi (a real taxi) to Ditang Park. After deciding that we should meet the rest of the gang somewhere else, we hailed our third taxi (the second guy didn’t want to take us) and got as far as Jianguomen Rd. before getting stuck in traffic. We then paid the driver, got out, back-tracked a bit to the Jianguomen subway station, and got on the train. Of course, the train was not stopping at our stop that night, and we had to get off the train, leave the station, and walk until we were able to hail this little treasure of an automobile. All so we can get to…

“Where are we going again?”

“Tiananmen Square,” answers Matt. “I told them to meet us at Tiananmen Square.”

Ah, that’s right. Tonight is the last night of the Spring Festival. Though most Chinese celebrate this night with lanterns, Beijing opts for setting off fireworks… I should say “even more fireworks.”

Since the first night of Spring Festival, or Chunjie, it seems that every family in the city has been setting off their own storehouse of fireworks to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The first night was an awesome sight, as everyone, including children, took to the streets to light fireworks, firecrackers, sparklers, and what could be considered minor explosives in a non-stop, city-wide block party.

That was the first night. Then a week went by and loud booms and rumbles could still be heard, even during the day, when the colorful explosions aren’t even that visible. Many of us foreign students began to feel annoyed by the 8:30 wake-up calls of the little morning firework shows. However, the promise of seeing Chunjie literally go out with a bang has tempted us off of the campus.

But we were not at all prepared for the chaos outside Tiananmen.

No, it was not another riot or protest. It was just a mix of restlessness, the presence of half of Beijing’s population of 12 million, and the futile attempts of the security officers to enforce the city’s confusing crowd control strategy.

I didn’t see fireworks or anything. However, I did hop a small fence to cut the winding line toward Tiananmen Square; I did get herded with the rest of the crowd throughout the intersection outside the square until I arrived only to realize that the gates to the Forbidden City had been blocked off an hour earlier; and I did manage to find a subway station when I suddenly remembered (at 11pm) that I had a short paper to write for the next day’s 9:30 class.

To be honest, I’m still not sure what exactly we were supposed to see at Tiananmen Square. However, I did get to know the city a lot more intimately than I would have liked on a chilly Thursday night.

My view from the back of the penny cab

Fireworks near Ditang Park

Line to get into the subway station

Outside a classic Chinese hutong neighborhood

On the way to Tiananmen Square

Chunjie Festivities - a small Lantern Festival

Outside Tiananmen Square