Ball at the Great Wall

I was down at the Business Centre at the Holiday Inn Beijing Central Plaza promptly at 8am. to book my Great Wall tour, only to find out that it had to be booked the day before.

Rats!

(Are Christians allowed to say this?)

I was told that a private tour could be arranged with Gray Line for the sum of 980 Chinese Yuan. At first I declined, reasoning that this was twice as much as a coach tour. Then I relented. For about $130 Canadian I would have a car, a driver, and a personal guide who speaks English for an eight hour period.

Deal, or No Deal? Deal, Howie! (frappeur -- this is an allusion to a current American game show hosted by Howie Mandel.)

I could tell that the young woman in the Business Centre was very uneasy about this. I could tell that, for her, 980 Yuan was a princely sum, and far too much to spend on oneself for a day, or even for a week or a month. I could tell that, for her, it was unimaginably expensive. But, I reasoned that all-in-all this was not a bad deal, and, with my back hurting, a driver and a custom trip could not be a bad thing.

And it wasn't.

It was a great day.

We drove through Beijing. Took about an hour to get outside the city. Lots of signs of getting ready for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They are going to install something like 150 new, additional subway stops between now and then. Can you believe it?

First stop -- the Ming Tombs. Very impressive. Lots of Feng Shui talk from the driver. In Chinese thought, the wind is bad, water is good. So you build your tombs in an area surrounded by mountains, to block the wind, but where there is water.

I took the chance to explain that, in Christianity, both the wind and the water are considered good, and that they are both used as symbols of the Holy Spirit. I spoke of Jesus being resurrected and returned to heaven, from whence he poured out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and how the Spirit came like a "rushing, mighty wind". Also how the ruach or wind or Spirit of God moved upon the waters during creation. Also how Jesus said that for those who believe on him, out of their bellies would flow rivers of living water.

He also talked about the chi -- the Chinese idea of a life-force. I explained that Jesus brought a new kind of chi, that he said that the words he spoke were Spirit and Life, or chi.

The guide explained that he thought that religion was good. Nobody believe in communism anymore -- not even the communists! And the university students who have been taught not to believe in religion, and who no longer believe in communism, basically believe in nothing. A lot of them commit suicide, he said.

The last Beijing guide I had, about 10 years ago, was much more into the soft communist propaganda, and religion wasn't even on the radar of Chinese thought. In fact I believe I recall her saying that nobody believed in God anymore, and seemed rather astonished when I assured her that I and many others still do!

Second stop -- the Jade Factory. Somehow, I got the impression that they wanted me to buy some jade!

Third stop -- lunch! Lunch in the cavernous Friendship Store, run by the government. I did buy one small item. A nice aspect of this was there were no taxes. No provincial tax. No federal tax. I guess there is an advantage to the government running something, after all -- when it's taking in all the money, and setting the price, there's no need to slap taxes on top!

For lunch I had, wait for this... chinese food! A spicy chicken dish, along with soup and rice and veggies.

Fourth stop -- the Great Wall of China. What a magnificent sight! So very impressive. And, of course, what we were seeing was just one small bit of it -- it stretches for thousands of miles. I was especially interested in seeing the watchtowers, as I am working on a song right now about standing on a watchtower. Actually seeing watchtowers helped make the biblical metaphor of a watchtower that much more real.

Bible trivia time: which OT prophet talks about standing on his watchtower?

After the Wall, we headed back into Beijing, with a side-trip to "old Beijing", where they have low-lying housing and narrow streets. This part of town was originally inhabited by Mongolians. Turns out our driver lives there.

Then, back to the Beijing Holiday Inn Central Plaza. "Central Plaza" sounds so central, and, well, plaza-like. Yet it appears to be neither -- mainly a lovely new hotel at a great price in the midst of a drab complex of apartment buildings that stretch as far as the eye can see -- in all directions. I ask my guide why it is called Central Plaza. To the best of his knowledge, it is because 900 years ago, this area was in fact the centre of Beijing.

Nine hundred years ago.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.