Studies in Beijing
My two and half months of Mandarin language study in Beijing on a Qantas Cadetship in the late 1980s was beguiling, addictive and intoxicating. I was transported from summer on a farm outside Toowoomba, Queensland into an unfamiliar, but exciting world as a foreign student in China in the middle of winter. There were unexpected moments of joy, such as playing in the freshly fallen snow in Beihai Park, discovering Beijing Opera and bargaining with the stallholders at the clothes markets. I discovered a love of authentic Northern Chinese food: simmering hot pots, steaming dumplings and roast sweet potatoes from a street vendor. Every day I cheated death, when I rode my bicycle to class; the crazy jumble of trucks, horse drawn carts and buses.
Almost forty years later I discovered my photographs from this sojourn and the letters that I wrote to my family. In one of my early letters, I wrote: “I’ve written a poem about Beijing. It’s so hard to describe, so maybe this poem helps to explain it a bit better (14 December 1987).”
Poetry
A Day in Beijing
The fog hangs low over Beijing,
as I pedal my way to school.
From the side a car horn blares, and,
a pedestrian crosses in front of me.
The light turns green and the traffic charges,
at what who knows.
A policeman stands in the centre,
the traffic directing him.
A blast of smoke-filled air draws deep into my lungs,
as I dodge a horse drawn cart.
I glance to my right and catch a glimpse of a bicycle repair shop,
an old man inside, toiling all day.
A bicycle bell jerks me back to reality.
The wind has numbed my ears,
as I slowly wriggle my fingers,
clenched hard against the cold handlebars.
A left-hand turn,
Oh, how I hate them.
The Beijing Languages Institute looms ahead,
for a minute the traffic slows,
and I grasp my chance to dash across the road.
I follow the instructions,
“People entering, please dismount”.
Remounting, I glance at my watch,
and hurry off to class.
Another day in Beijing has begun.
There were many adventures, unexpected pleasures and discoveries; it was the beginning of a love affair with study, travel and work in China.
Joanne Tindale 