It was the October National Holiday weekend in Beijing which is a week long holiday in China. I just arrived in Beijing a few days earlier to visit my friend Michael. He only been here for a few months to start his job in Beijing. We decided to visit the National Art Museum near Tianamen square. Even I was there two days earlier and already seen the Beijing International Design Triennial Exhibition. Michael is an architect works for a Chinese architect firm here. He been busy working and hasn’t had the chance to visit any museums yet. I thought it would be wonderful we can see the exhibit together, something he likely will be inspired by.
It was a beautiful warm sunny autumn day. We even greet with the rare clear blue sky that morning. Michael being fair skin needed to have more sun protection than I do. Our first trip was the department stores near our apartment in search of a hat for him We went from stores to stores but couldn’t find any would fit him. Finally we gave up and head toward Tianamen square instead.
As soon as we exited from the subway we were among the tens of many thousands. We were shoulder to shoulders with the massive of Chinese. Many carried the small red and yellow national flag. Some even had the national flag painted on their faces. The whole area has transformed from few days ago. There were hundreds soldiers directing traffic and on one side of the vast sidewalk a long line of trailer of public toilets. Even the usual busy main road was closed. Almost right away we spotted a seller selling hats along with the usual items we seen everywhere. The only hat was large enough for Michael was a white cowboy hat.
Before we even made it to line in front of the museum. A man approached Michael and asked if he could have his picture taken with him. Likely he must thought he was an American Cowboy in town for a visit. By the time we reached the end of the line. We were shock to see how long the line was. We decided to stay and join the crowd waiting to be let in. Although the line was very long but it seems moving slightly every few minutes. Everyone were in a good mood and no one seems to mind the long wait.
Micheal was the only foreigner in the line up so he got plenty of attentions. An old couple with a young boy was behind us and the boy was eyeing Michael’s cowboy hat. Pretty soon with Michael’s friendly charming way he was able to break the ice with them. He offered his cowboy hat the young boy to try on; the boy was smart dressed in purple matching shirt and sweater vest. He broke out a big smile while wearing the cowboy hat. We strike up a conversation with them. Even with my limited Mandarin we had a nice exchange going. The young boy is the couple’s grandson; they took him to his first museum visit. Both the boy and his parents live in Beijing. The grand parents came to visit them from other part of China for the national holiday. The grandmother has a easy smile her smiles never left her face as she was talking to us. She proudly told us they live in the same province where Mao was born. I told them both of us are Canada. I am visiting Beijing for the first time and Michael is working in Beijing. As we kept chatting away, the line starts to move faster and we were getting closer to the entrance of the museum. Finally, we exchange goodbyes with them, I gave the boy some gums and some Canadian quarters from my bag. The boy spoken with clear and perfect English “Welcome to Beijing!” waves us goodbye.
Once we pass the security check into the museum we were carried by the wave of the crowd and never seen them again.
