To Beijing from Shanghai
I am now in Beijing, and am much the colder for it. To the layers previously mentioned, I have now added a thick overcoat and a long-sleeved shirt. They help keep out the cold somewhat.
Travelling here took all yesterday and most of today; I am by now quite bored of the view of the inside of the car; I am cold and sick of it. It shouldn’t have taken this long, of course, but a snowfall on Beijing caused all major highways leading here to be closed down, so we spent yesterday negotiating country roads that are nowhere on a map. Nearly every road seemed to have been cut off by fallen trees, accidents, or bureaucracy. Thank God we did at least get to a hotel last night, and that the snow was cleared off the highways today. That’s how we got here.
I just had dinner, and lots of it. Apparently the people here are even more generous with raw material than in the big S; and they don’t seem to ever have heard of Aristotle’s Golden Mean. If the food is spicy, it’s burning fiery; if sweet, potentially diabetic; if salty, Dead Sea in a microcosm. I can’t stand spicy food, so I was stuck with eating sugary food or something that must’ve come direct from a salt mine. At least the abundant chrysanthemum tea, abundantly sweetened with huge lumps of sugar, helped me get it down and keep it that way.
The weather’s warm by local standards—only minus one degree! Suffice it to say that having seen and felt snow—with my bare hands—I have no more desire to wish a white Christmas on anybody but my worst of enemies, which does not mean me. I’ve seen, trod on, tasted, thrown, and had snow thrown at me within the course of this one day alone, as well as slipping on an ice-covered path (but not falling).
The only book here with me now is the Christie, which my brother and sister have now read, punctuated with queries on the meaning of a particular word. Apparently my reputation for being a walking dictionary came thence. Considering the travel itinerary, I’m not likely to regret leaving the other books behind for long. Tomorrow is shopping day for warmer clothing; tomorrow night we catch a train to Harbin; the next two days we’ll admire wintry scenery; then after another night train back to Beijing, 2 days’ car rides back to the Big S; after a day or two of packing, we’ll fly back to KK and warm weather. It appears that my sojourn in China is drawing rapidly to its end. I’ve about 10 days more, it appears.
Travelling here took all yesterday and most of today; I am by now quite bored of the view of the inside of the car; I am cold and sick of it. It shouldn’t have taken this long, of course, but a snowfall on Beijing caused all major highways leading here to be closed down, so we spent yesterday negotiating country roads that are nowhere on a map. Nearly every road seemed to have been cut off by fallen trees, accidents, or bureaucracy. Thank God we did at least get to a hotel last night, and that the snow was cleared off the highways today. That’s how we got here.
I just had dinner, and lots of it. Apparently the people here are even more generous with raw material than in the big S; and they don’t seem to ever have heard of Aristotle’s Golden Mean. If the food is spicy, it’s burning fiery; if sweet, potentially diabetic; if salty, Dead Sea in a microcosm. I can’t stand spicy food, so I was stuck with eating sugary food or something that must’ve come direct from a salt mine. At least the abundant chrysanthemum tea, abundantly sweetened with huge lumps of sugar, helped me get it down and keep it that way.
The weather’s warm by local standards—only minus one degree! Suffice it to say that having seen and felt snow—with my bare hands—I have no more desire to wish a white Christmas on anybody but my worst of enemies, which does not mean me. I’ve seen, trod on, tasted, thrown, and had snow thrown at me within the course of this one day alone, as well as slipping on an ice-covered path (but not falling).
The only book here with me now is the Christie, which my brother and sister have now read, punctuated with queries on the meaning of a particular word. Apparently my reputation for being a walking dictionary came thence. Considering the travel itinerary, I’m not likely to regret leaving the other books behind for long. Tomorrow is shopping day for warmer clothing; tomorrow night we catch a train to Harbin; the next two days we’ll admire wintry scenery; then after another night train back to Beijing, 2 days’ car rides back to the Big S; after a day or two of packing, we’ll fly back to KK and warm weather. It appears that my sojourn in China is drawing rapidly to its end. I’ve about 10 days more, it appears.
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