Beijing: April 2008 Archives

Beijingnese also have a very strong master consciousness, this was especially true after their hometown won the bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. And I'm sure they will continue to keep it that way for years to come.

No matter he or she is a bus conductor, sanitary personnel, construction laborers, office worker, street artist plying Erhu under the wall of the Imperial Palace, or an old lady working for the Residents' Committee of a community around a Hutong, they all share the same pride and joy of this ancient and bustiling city, they care about the past, present and future of the great nation and energetic country, and they are ready to share with you their sentiment as well.

Taxi dirvers in Beijing, for instance, are known to be overly talkative, you should be prepared.

Whenever you tour a city which claims to be a cultural center of a particular region, you would always enjoy observing how local residents convey that cultural predominence in one way or another, such as festivals, architecture, arts and crafts, etc.

While for me, high-browed culture and high-engergy activities are not really my thing. Beijing  has  indeed an abundance of that and I enjoyed all of them during my stay and framed those memories in photos for future review.

But it is the group of Beijingness and the way they live their daily life that impressed me most.

Trueborn Beijingnese are easily recognizable by their "R" accent, which is redundantly used at the end of practically every other phrase. Beijing colloquial language is very much different from the kind of language you have listened and learned in your Putonghua (Mandarin) class.

Listening to them is quite an experience. They use very concise yet multivocal phrases, a musical tone, a clear and lively timbre and an easy and deliberate altitude to organize and sophisticate their speech to the point of concinnity and sagaciousness.

Listerning to them engageing in a verbal fight or something is an even more fascinating experience. They are so self-dignified that they seldom use dirty words, or escalate their reciprocal verbal counterattacks into physical combat.

No kidding, it's considered as an art, and it has to be heard to be belived. Yet for out-of-towners, chances are you're getting insulted and don't even have any clue!