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Before arriving in Beijing we could see from the train the white frozen fields in the early morning. This looked very much like a Dutch winter morning.

Beijing

Cora
2004-02-22 15:41:34

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small, elegant feet, and would have no problem finding a husband…
In today's China many of these girls are now spending the rest of their life in a wheelchair.
Being a Woman in the People's Republic
In his little red book, Chairman Mao is quite clear about it:
“In order to build a great socialist society, it is of the utmost importance to arouse the broad masses of women to join in productive activity. Men and women must receive equal pay for equal work in production. Genuine equality between the sexes can only be realised in the process of the socialist transformation of society as a whole.”
With the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the situation of women changed dramatically. The Communist Party and the People's parliament recognised that liberation of women – at that time half the population of China – was necessary for emancipation of the entire country.
A report of the Chinese government from 1999 stipulates that there are no constitutional obstacles for women to fully participate in political life, but today women are still underrepresented within the political top.
The feudal influence of thousands of years, the overpopulation, the still underdeveloped economy as well as the huge number of non-educated women, makes that emancipation is still very far away. Before they can reach this goal, there is still a lot of work to be done by many generations, for men as well as for women.
Last hours in Beijing
We still had quite some shopping to do, and since this was our last afternoon in Beijing, it was now or never! The four of us went down town with our shopping lists. We started by following our friends, but their quest for cups and lamps appeared to be quite hard and we started to run out of time. We decided to split up and my friend and I went to a wonderful market place in the little back streets of the Qianmen Dajie, the biggest street in the centre of Beijing, where we finally managed to get all the souvenirs we still wanted.
Although we were convinced not to be too far from the hotel, the taxi had to make a complete detour because of all the one-way streets and we ended up late at the hotel. Our friends were still waiting for us, but we told them to go and start dinner without us so that we could freshen up first.

At the Home Town Restaurant just around the corner we were served hot pot, but this time there were no sticks. Vegetables and meat were simply thrown into the hot and spicy boiling water and it was up to you to get them out with your chopsticks. Quite a job!
With some of our friends we were here two days earlier and had greatly enjoyed the food as well as the hospitality.
Today the manager himself, Zhang Deqiu, amused us with his presence, beijing full of jokes and laughter. But he kept alert the whole evening and saw to it that we did not lack anything and that everyone had a good time. The service included a big hug at the end of the evening. This was a worthy end of a great visit to Beijing and our encounter with China.

There was still so much to see and do in Beijing and still so much to discover in China and amongst the Chinese. With an unsatisfied feeling we were leaving for Frankfurt at 10:30 and then further on to Amsterdam, where we would arrive the same day.
It was also hard to imagine that we would have to say goodbye to our travel companions with whom we had spent an entire month, and a good one!
That night back home telling stories to my family, I already felt nostalgic and this feeling would stay with me for quite while…