Peeking into Peking University

I had the privilege of visiting Vincent’s third home (second being the train) last Sunday. Ever since Vincent started his additional MSc program, we’ve been making extra trips to Beijing over the weekends. It’s always exciting thinking of the prospect of “bright lights big city!” to spend Sat & Sun, but strangely enough I always end up itching to get back to my good ol’ TJ of (merely) 10 million people.

Beijing is no doubt the new black, but it’s an equally terrifying a place to be in. The shock is most likely to occur when one is aiming to get from Beijing South Station to the popular Chaoyang/Dongcheng district.

Fuurgett about getting a cab from anywhere. FIRST – decipher where exactly you are after you surface from a certain Subway Exit. Chances are, you’re between two massive flyovers and millions of people waiting for cabs too. HOOPLA!

Beijing has a really efficient, yet complex public transport system governed by 6 rings. It does really make sense if you think about the immense task of controlling influx of traffic by systematically segmenting your respective zones.  But the truth is, these 6 rings should ideally have criss-cross lines to allow interchanges between rings. Well, currently there exist only has 3 perpendicular lines. Makes it extremely annoying when you’re hopng to go diagonal.

Too bad Tiananmenrrr is gobsmacked right in the middle. How to dig?

Anyway, the basis if this is simply to describe the annoying traffic which terrifies a tiny individual like me. So when I got to Peking University, it was such a welcome relief!

 

First of all, PKU is a really pretty campus. Rather than the usual silver skyscrapers you see all over Beijing these days (even Tsinghua has sold itself to western modernity), Peking University proudly preserves its charm and character. Even the new extensions  mushrooming are erected based on the traditional Chinese architecture – the pagodas, the courtyards, the arch-bridges and elegant tiled roofs. Even the signboards have to be painted in calligraphy.

The charm of the university is surprisingly comforting. Truth be told, there was many a time here where we found ourselves really tired of the city slick. One glazed, shiny tower after another.  At the university, even a 7-Eleven would seem so misfitting on this campus. You’d most certainly – however – patronize the 饺子stall for freshly steamed, juicy, succulent dumplings!

I relished the sounds of the bikes ringing as they streamed by, carrying these young hopefuls (and undoubtedly with a very bright future) who shuttle into the campus even on a Sunday. Your typical bookworm is everywhere here – one brainier than the other.  Speaking of bikes, there are SOOO many of them here. The 3^rd/4^th/5^th/700^th hand bike has changed so many hands, sat so many asses, you almost wonder why there are still new bikes on the market.

Then increasingly, there are hunky dory cars butting into the pedestrian lanes. They really aren’t a welcoming sight here on campus, and it’s going to be a problem Beijing has to deal with more and more. As wallets get fatter, the cars either get larger, or flatter.  It’s Carrera vs Ferrari here.

Anyway, while walking to class that day, Vincent and I heard a loud screech from a car that swung by us. While hoping to go down what seemed to be a ramp, guess what the driver discovered…: