Lost in translation!! In the scene where Bill Murray is drinking and listening to the band, it’s just like that with a cello, sax, piano and drums. The real jazz quartet – “nice”. And now joining them is a high heeled slim vocalist. She is so deft with the rhythm. For this is brunch on a Sunday in the Intercontinental. I cannot quite make out what she is singing; it’s the hotel version of a pub singer and they will probably require applause.
The fifth floor area is divided into three main bars/restaurants; Monsoon the mixed Asian/European foods, Silhou the Chinese restaurant and Xchange the bar. For brunch we have the jazz band in the bar and three violinists dressed as chefs in the Monsoon area.
It’s mainly full of either Americans or very western Chinese all sampling the multiple choices of dishes set up across the restaurants.
I do have a pretty good excuse for late brunch as I was up and in Tiananmen Square before 8.00a.m. to watch the flag raising ceremony and the start of the Beijing marathon. I didn’t know about the race until last night so thought a double in the morning would be a result.
The flag raising apparently is watched by thousands each day, of which a large proportion are tourists and still the local population came out. There is a real patriotism with the Chinese in what they have achieved as the collective Peoples Republic. The music booms over the loudspeakers throughout the square. The lampposts have a small set of speakers on each of them so you cannot escape the anthems and military music. The flag bearers march goose step from the memorial hall and raise the flag to this music.
Meanwhile the start of the marathon has begun on the east side of the square and the elite runners are round the first bend to the north side passing the entrances to the Forbidden City. The route eventually works its way out of the city and back onto the site of the national stadium, right past the front door of the hotel which I hadn’t realised.
Initially I think that’s it with just twenty to thirty runners but then the main pack appears. I have seen an athlete’s number of eight thousand odd so my guess there must be ten thousand and the race can either be the full or half marathon. There is also an 8 km race and a 5 km race.
Not like the UK with the dressed up fun runners they seem to take it all seriously although there are a couple of hundred running, each holding a 2 metre square Chinese flag – that looks impressive. Then there is the small army of yellow shirts and caps and lastly the shorter distance runners all wearing green tee shirts and collectively much older. All are running with knapsacks as there is no evidence of any organised clothing collection and movement to the finish. It’s quite a sight all these runners going past the gates of the palace museum; traffic stopped from going straight on so the cyclists hold still patiently.
When the all clear is given and the following vehicles behind the runners have cleared the course the cyclists are let loose like a pack swarming across the northern part of the square.
The army of ‘clear up’ teams has put the whole street back to normal, including removing litter and cones.
Even the portable loos are being cleared up and moved and the race is barely ten minutes gone. It’s ruthless efficiency and if this is a sign for the Olympics then it’s going to work like clockwork.
The Square is busy and initially it wasn’t open due to the ceremony and the marathon. The green suited Chinese army stood across the openings and woe betides anyone trying to cross. Eventually the barriers are lifted and the press of people in the underpass swarm out into the square. These underpasses link the square with all the streets across this wide road complex.
I wish I could see this high in the air as it must have looked like ants swarming out of different holes in the ground. By mid morning the square is heaving with people walking, talking and taking photographs.
The hawkers move around the square avoiding the police only to pop up again the minute they have gone. Any itinerant Chinese with a bag is stopped, either to make sure they haven’t stolen it or are using it for their wares to peddle.
The most annoying items is the two lozenge shaped metal objects that fit in the palm of ones hand. They can in the right hands make the clicking noise of cicada and it lasts so long. This goes on all over the places where there are tourists. In amongst this throng is the Memorial Hall where Chairman Mao’s body is mummified. Normally there is a queue that weaves around the square waiting to pay silent homage. In their eyes he broke the imperial yoke that held the country back. It was evident how far they were behind the west when the uprising following the boxer riots backfired on them and the western allies overthrew their imperial adversaries with modern weapons. The large fortress at the south of the square was virtually destroyed by the westerner’s army.
This fortification ‘Hengyangmen’ was the southern entrance to Beijing and known as the arrow fort, due to its height and arrows would rain down upon the besieged. Now the besieged are the residents of the Hutongs, which are being ripped down and steel fencing and guards put in place – stop the squatters approach. Admittedly some of these hutongs with their warrens of alleys and dead ends really are close to a slum so I guess the Beijing administration wants to replace them.