| 作者 |
 一个驻沪猎头公司partner, 洋海龟眼中的北京上海(转贴)-盲人摸象的亲身体验 |
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波儿
[博客]
[个人文集]
头衔: 海归元勋
声望: 权威
性别: 
加入时间: 2004/10/25
文章: 26083
来自: 国境之南，太阳之西
海归分: 2463033
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作者：波儿 在 海归商务 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
I'd been in Beijing for a couple of days interviewing candidates and seeing
clients in the Capital, before a week long forum that was to start there on
Sunday evening at the Ambassador's residence. I love being in Beijing on
weekends because you can touch the ancient China much more accessibly than
is possible in Shanghai. After all, modern Shanghai is a relatively new
city. There are supposed to be archeologically significant sites there that
are more than 6000 years, but the city that we know is perhaps no older
than Melbourne. Beijing's heritage, on the other hand, is very obvious. So
I had only one interview to do on Saturday morning, then I could hit the
tourist trail.
My candidate was very keen to give me advice on what to do. I had planned
to visit the Summer Palace on the edge of Beijing, but I fell for the
Headhunter's Rule # 28 "Never take advice from a candidate". I was told
that I could go to the Summer Palace anytime, but this beautiful October
day was actually the 9th day of the 9th month in the Chinese calendar. An
auspicious date in the autumn as apparently it marks the changing colours
of the leaves. What I must do, according my candidate, is go to Xiang Shan
(Fragrant Hills) and see the autumn in its glory. It's only 40 minutes from
my hotel I was reliably informed by my very helpful candidate.
Now Beijing is a city of perhaps 15 million people. Most of them are
Chinese and are aware of the lunar calendar. I'm not sure how many agreed
with my candidate, but I'm guessing perhaps half of them decided to go to
Xiang Shan on 9/9. I spent 2.5 hours in a cab getting close to the
entrance, before bailing out and leaving the poor cabby stranded in a
gridlock and walking the rest of the way.
Here is a picture of just a few of my very good Beijing friends strolling
through the autumnal mist to see the natural beauty of the changing leaves.
That walk was something like exiting the MCG on Grand Final day with only
one gate open. and for all of their wonderful characteristics, Chinese
folks do not believe in orderly queueing, getting somewhere in a crowd is
just another one of life's competitions to be won.
On arrival at the gates of Xiang Shan it was interesting to read the
history of the precinct. It is a very large national park with considerable
historic significance. For example emperors would come there to escape the
summer heat. For a period of time Mao lived in one of the villas during the
revolution plotting and commanding the "Battle for Crossing the Yangtze
River". But much of the place was destroyed during the 1960's in what the
signs referred to as "the ten years of turmoil". as Basil Fawlty might have
said, "Don't mention the Cultural Revolution". Anyway, after the big build
up, I'd arrived and purchased my ticket to get in.
Interesting thing about Communist China, it's user pays for just about
everything. The kerfuffle in Melbourne over toll roads would leave the
Chinese motorist bemused. Absolutely no free rides here.
I got inside and found the other half of Beijing's population. It was
packed. I had two options. One was to wander aimlessly and check out the
scenery and various buildings. Or I could take a chairlift to the top of
the mountain and take the bird's eye view. Having seen the crowds on the
ground and having already lost too much time getting to this point, I opted
for the chairlift.
Here are some of my mates enjoying a water feature.
This proved to be fatal. I waited another 2 hours in a queue to buy my
ticket for the 18 minute ride to the top. I was exhausted and had seen
little else than the back of a lot of Chinese heads. It was such a peaceful
moment to be perched on the chairlift, on my own. One of the things that I
will take with me from China is the constant noise. Here I had some
"serenity". Then as we passed over a track or walking path, I would be
greeted with a well practiced "HELLO, HOW ARE YOU", as they were so pleased
to see a foreigner enjoying this peace of Beijing heaven.
The view wasn't bad. although I think that Beijingers would go bananas if
they saw Bright or the Blue Mountains in autumn. Perhaps I was just a
little jaded by this stage, but I was not able to see what all the fuss was
about. What do you think?
Eighteen minutes later serenity was snatched from my cosy perch and I
plunged back into a sea of humanity. In panic I saw a sign that said the
last chairlift will depart at 4:20pm. It was just on that time as my feet
hit the ground and I used the momentum from the chair to bolt for the
return ride.
What a shock I received when I saw a queue that was impossibly longer than
the one at the bottom of this tourism department gold mine. There was no
time for dilly dallying, I had to get on the end of this line that
stretched perhaps 500 metres. Not in single file mind you. Just a solid
mass of people, perhaps five or six abreast, pushing forward. if a gap
appears and you are too slow to move into it, bang, it's occupied by one of
your fellows.
I'm tiring writing this, so dear reader I will bring you to a speedy
conclusion. Much speedier than the three hours it took to move along this
human Yangtze (by the way, did you know that the Chinese don't call it
Yangtze, they call it Chang Jiang, which means Long River?). In the
darkness of that Saturday night, at just after 7:30pm, my backside
gratefully plonked onto the chairlift taking me to the bottom of the
Fragrant Hills. But it did give me one highlight for the day, as China
invariably does.
Regrettably it was too dark to take a photo, but picture this. It's so
dark, all that you can see are the lights of Beijing twinkling in the
distance like stars below (you don't see them above unfortunately). The air
is crispy cold and the serenity is suddenly broken by the most beautiful
male singing from the chair ahead. Then beyond that others join in the
singing, full of joy and gratitude for their park and their day together,
till we reach the bottom. I walked with that extended family back to the
park's exit feeling happy that I had shared some of their joy.
I got home to the hotel at about 10pm, too tired to take on Beijing's
nightlife. But the business forum for the balance of the week has given me
more than enough compensation for night time activities. A week after Xiang
Shan I have had activities day and night. dinners at the Ambassador's in
Beijing, the Consul-General's house in Shanghai, a reception for the
Minister for Asia and Trade from the NT, a black tie celebration for the
AustCham Shanghai's tenth anniversary, and finally got off that virtual
chairlift on the Saturday with a great dinner in Shanghai with friends from
the forum whom I did not know a week ago. Have a look at the view from the
restaurant and see modern China
info link:
www.swannglobal.com
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作者：波儿 在 海归商务 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
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 一个驻沪猎头公司partner, 洋海龟眼中的北京上海(转贴)-盲人摸象的亲身体验 -- 波儿 - (7304 Byte) 2004-11-16 周二, 09:46 (4598 reads)
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