The New Beachhutman Blog

Sadly George died suddenly in Beijing on 13 January 2009

There will be a GEORGE DAY on

WEDNESDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2009 2-5pm (Service and Wake)

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“You eat Chinese six times a week?”, the guy said incredulously. “Gee, I’d get ill man!”

There we were, the Magician, the Welsh teacher, the IT guy and BHM,  sitting in a Teppanyaki restaurant near Chaoyang park on Friday. After a heavy week for me, the suggestion from Magic had cheered me up no end. So there we were on stools along the curved side of the Teppan, supping beer - or in Magic’s case, cola - with the master Yaki chef stirring up a storm in front of us.

“Sure” I said, “I work with  Chinese team, we have lunch. It’s obviously Chinese. No big deal?” He shook his head, and made “Only in China” noises. Yes, I guess he was American. But it is true that many foreigners living here find it hard to handle a diet with almost exclusively Chinese food. As another wonderful long-standing resident had said to me over the filet mignon au poivre vert at Morels, “Zumtimes, George, you ‘ave to eat beef!!

So I’d been happy to come to Teppanyaki tonight. The shrimps were magnificent, the cubed beef steak almost soluble, the raw salmon and tuna with wasabi .... to dine for!

But the are two big snags with Teppanyaki.

The first is the hugely carnivorous nature of the food, which might, I confess, be in part to do with my fellow guests last night. I just can’t eat that much meat these days, Possibly because I do eat Chinese food so much, I find I need far more vegetables, and this is not a strength of the Teppanyaki format.

The second is the noise. Not the noise of happy diners, but the constant banging and scraping, chopping and turning, that goes on. This is achieved with two substantial flat steel slice things, and after a while I’d really quite like to escape to a table further away from the cheffing.

By the end of the meal I was unable to eat more meat, or even face a desert.

And today, I have flu, dammit. So it's agood thing I don't have to go to Shanghai today. But I do have to go to Vietnam on Friday next...... I wonder what they eat?

...and it's only January!

“As long as……”

.... I had Skyped back to Renee over the weekend, “the buggers promise me the  permit if the medical is OK this time!”

I was referring to a previous occasion on which I had undergone a medical examination in Beijing for the purposes of a work permit, only to be told after I had endured the rectal examination and associated indignities that I was to old for the work permit anyway. Too old! Me! AND they hadn’t bothered to tell me before, hand.

So this time when with a giggle smiley Renee had announced to me that I was to have another such examination in pursuit of a work - permit - visa - expert - certificate etc, I was waspish. Which is probably why John, with ever such an apologetic look, had leaned over the cube farm wall on Monday and told me that I needed to attend for another medical this morning. OK, I want things to work, and am pretty fit for an overweight old foreigner, so I’d agreed, albeit with a  slight sense of foreboding.

So this morning, coffee-less and snack-less, I had met John at a northern Beijing subway station, and we had whisked (I am quite fond of that verb, aren’t I?) ourselves by taxicab to the statutory foreigners medical examination centre in Haidan. Where I had expected the worst.

But fair do’s, it was bloody efficient and bloody fast. OK, it cost three times the cost of the medical a year ago in Chaoyang Hospital, and was actually less thorough (for example, John had no need to either ask me to piss in a pot or bend over so that the good doctor could …. I trust I do not have to draw a picture?

But it was blood test, ENT, Cardio, X-ray, Eyes, Weight and BMI, and out again in 30 minutes. All conducted by quite jolly Doctors and technicians, and, touch wood, I seem to be healthy enough to be a visiting expert. (I wonder what they’d make of Stephen Hawking?)

Do you know, in a way, I regret it wasn’t as thorough as the last. A full checkup  for about 20 quid was quite a bargain last year. Even at 60 this year, albeit at a vastly superior facility, I felt it didn’t tell me much. Even if the doctor wasn’t a fully trained proctologist, it’d nice to confirm that all those years of cooked tomatoes haven’t been in vain, Prostate-wise.

A sharp, sunny day in Beijing, and a general feeling that since I had had (note the use of the past perfect there, dammit, I’m working too much with English teachers these days) as I was saying, had had three really good late starts to the morning this week, felt well rested. Which sentence has wandered somewhat.

As I did subsequently. I had my morning espresso and a healthy snack, which knowledge I will share with you, that is to say I had one banana, and then took myself off to the subway, and from the there to Yuyuantan (Green Jade pool) Park.The pol in question is actually these days a lake complex, and it being winter, somewhat frozen. Who says the Beijingers don't know how to have fun in Winter? (not me)

There was a roped off area of the lake for skaters. Yuyuantan park has two large lakes, a river basin and a smaller fishing lake. Quite large for an inner city park even by Beijing standards.

A bit of private enterprise, renting out skates and  ......

Little buggies for the less confident!

After I walked right around the park, which is a fair old stroll, which got me back into a good Beijing-touristy mood. For I have rather been neglecting my weekend strolls to familiarise myself further with this place, a neglect that started in August when  due to the world school sports it was remarkably difficult to travel around Beijing, what with all the added security. Oh. And I was writing a book anyway. Anyway, my task for this tour is to visit the west of the city a bit more, which is where Yuyuantan park is.

A park tree well wrapped up aginst the cold and wind

All over Beijing you'll see thousands of these little bikes, with their besom brooms sticking up , which is why the streets and paths are so clean. The park cleaner herself  was having a walk (and a crafty cigarette) on the ice of the lake.

It was by now a pleasant enough day, the wind having disappeared, so I wandered back down to the subway. I  then got off at Xidan, and strolled on down to Tiananmen square in the late afternoon sun.On my way I stopped off to admire the Centre for Performing Arts, AKA the Dome, which is to the west of the square.

Yes, it's really big. And round.

The area around Tiananmen Square is always crawling with police and securuty (wonder why?). It is also the ceremonial centre of the city, so the roads can only really be crossed by underpasses, into which have been installed security checks and X ray machines.

The X ray machines in the Beijing subway and undepasses appear to be a very Chinese compromise. At rush hours one machine per entrance is not nearly enough for the people arriving, expecially as nearly all carry bags, rucksacks and cases, as well as assorted electronics, so it is a combination of random, "Oy! You! Gett that bag scanned!" and voluntary. At times when it is too congested I have seen people just saying "Oh, dammit" and walking around the machines. It's too crowded even to follow and apprehend such people. But around Tainanmen Square, no one risks that, not with the huge police presence.

So I left the photo sellers, and the tourists, and the police in their woolly caps, and the soldiers, and the touts, and headed for home, and grilled prawns with salad.