I called Jiuma, she immediately invited me over. I wanted to see them, and so, of course, accepted. I said I would come over in the afternoon. She said no problem, from where you are take the 'zhuanmenr xianche dao kaifaqu, cong dabeiyao guo lai' in other words, the specialty bus that runs from Dabeiyao to Kaifaqu (the BDA-Beijing Development Area), which is located miles outside of town past the fifth ring road.
I get to this place to take the 'specialty bus' and start asking around, "where's the bus that goes to Kaifaqu?" The response was "Which Kaifaqu?" I was slightly taken aback, what do you mean which? I thought Beijing just had one? Nope, there's a bunch of them. Another call to my aunt's house and got my uncle this time. "Which Kaifaqu do you live in?" I asked. "Which Kaifaqu?! It's Beijing Kaifaqu, don't you remember where we live?" Oh right, of course, how could I have thought there was more than one Kaifaqu in Beijing... And for the first of many times today I got some directions, "Just head south a little ways and you'll see it, it goes right to our apartment, to Tianhuayuan." If only I could have remembered that one place's name.
Walked a little bit further south, didn't see it. Jiuma had said the bus goes from Dabeiyao, and that's where I was so I asked several ticket sellers who were off duty at the bus stop. "Dunno" was the resounding response--a common one when someone just doesn't want to take the time to help you. When someone actually doesn't know but still cares, the language changes from a curt 'dunno' to a 'I'm not sure' and then they usually ask someone else or direct you to ask someone from the area. (The worst is when people don't know but still point you in some direction, luckily this wasn't one of those times.) A bus driver pointed me to Bus 976 which goes to Beijing Kaifaqu... And I got on the bus and said, "Does this bus go to Huanjiayuan" The bus driver looked at me, he had never heard of that place. Of course at the time, I knew I hadn't remembered the name of the place Jiujiu (my uncle) had told me, so I just said something that sounded like it. No luck. The ticket seller on the bus swiped my card and gave me a stop to try. I thought I would just watch carefully as we drove through Kaifaqu, thinking I would recognize their apartment complex when I saw it.
I was searching for the apartment among a sea of communist style apartments in a "Special Developmental Zone." Yeah... no such luck. I decided to get off, but the ticket person said, "didn't you want to go to [such and such a place, the stop escapes me now]" Oh right. So I stayed on the bus. The high rise apartments gave way to factories, no people on the sidewalks, and very few cars on the road. When I got off I was in what felt like the middle of no where--probably the quietest part of Beijing, at least around this time, when the Olympics has caused all the factories in Beijing to shut down. I called my uncle again. "Where are you?" I don't know, I gave the cross roads but he had no idea. "Have someone tell me where you are" There's no one here. "No one's there? Just ask someone." I crossed the street and ran down another to find a couple that was about to drive off on a scooter. I asked them to help me and she explained to my uncle where I was. Unfortunately, no one was too clear where exactly we were; they used landmarks like the factories and the bus line 723, which had just driven past.
I was directed to go to the 723 bus stop and take it to some company's dormitory. I forget the name now, it was something like Yuanguihui dormitory. I got on the bus and they told me to get off at this one stop. I began searching for the dormitory, but everyone at the bus stop (luckily this one was a bit more populated than the last one) had no idea where the dormitory was... So I called Jiujiu again, I'm at Yuanguihui, but I don't know where the dormitory is, and no one here knows either. "Ok, stay there I'll be right there."
So after a few minutes he came, riding in his friend's car, not his own, because he has an odd numbered car (today is the 26th so he's not allowed to drive it). Jiujiu asked why I hadn't taken the specialty bus, I said I never found it, this is the only bus I found that came here. His friend said that that bus had stopped its service during the Olympics. And with that I was taken to Jiujiu's house. Lost and found.
The rest of the day was spent talking and catching up with Jiujiu and Jiuma. They invited me to stay for dinner, I duly refused but they pressed, so I accepted. I just won't make a habit of it, right? We went to eat roast duck.
I think I'm probably the only person in Beijing who really doesn't care for Roast Duck. It's a Beijing Specialty and foreigners usually love it. I just don't like the taste. We walked to this restaurant where we ate a variety of dishes including one "congealed duck blood with eel and pig intestine." Mind you, that's my translation, and also a fabulous argument to never ask what you're eating until you've tried it. It was actually very good, served in a hot pot with peppers and sprouts. I liked it more than the duck, that's for sure!
After dinner I returned home with one bus transfer--723 to the quick 8 line. I'm trying to familiarize myself with the bus lines, it's such a cheap and easy way to get around and not everywhere has subways yet, but everywhere seems to have buses--there are hundreds of bus lines in the city. The only drawback is trying to figure out how to find my way and not to get lost. Luckily my extended host family's patience, at least for today, allowed for some lost and found.
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