Though I have always heard the Chinese dragon and Indian elephant as common terms used in diplomacy and trade but to my surprise, during my recent visit to China, I found the Beijing zoo full of elephants (both real and artificial structures) and every souvenir shop selling elephant along with dragon!
Jaw-dropping paper cut art work by Chinese artists!
Very lively Sanlitun Street
Elephant structures at Beijing Zoo
I recently visited China to attend a Seminar on Intellectual property and development, organised by the Ministry of Commerce of China. Some 25 delegates from 12 different countries attended the workshop which briefed about the changes made by China in its domestic legislations with respect to copyrights, trademarks, patents etc. to make them more stringent in the wake of allegations of intellectual property theft by Chinese companies. Interestingly, the progress was not just in terms of legislation but also technological advancements in the field of Intellectual property. China has opened special IP courts in three big cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. These courts are equipped to handle the appeals in IP cases online. The appellant need not be physically present in the court and the final judgement is sent via a soft copy through email!
The Intellectual property court of Supreme People's Court of China
The technological advancement in China stretches beyond the field of Intellectual property. Their E-commerce companies like Huawei and Alibaba (the two we visited) were using cutting-edge technological know-how. Their campuses in Beijing were highly smart and tech efficient. The number of verticals in which they are expanding is increasing at a rapid pace. Many Indian companies like Infosys, Tech Mahindra are partnering with Huawei.
The sheer magnanimity of the campuses!
Another peculiar thing about the Chinese infrastructure was it's grandiosity. No wonder that Tiananmen square is the largest public square in the world. It has the capacity of catering to 1 million people at a given time. Doubting this figure, we asked our Chinese guide, how can this be true! He hilariously remarked that the Chinese are slim!! Which brings me to their cuisine and eating habits. Most of their regular diet is composed of beef (A HUGE part), fish- boiled in a soup ou served with sauce, boiled vegetables and sticky rice. They have soya milk and wheat based baked bread (very different from Indian or continental bread) in the breakfast. Breakfast is usually served at 7:30 in the morning, lunch at 12 and dinner starts from 6 and ends at 7:30 in the evening. On my first day in Beijing, I reached Beijing after 18 hours of travel from Geneva at nearly 5:30 in the evening. We were told to be ready for the dinner after half an hour. Having completed my dinner by 6:30pm and due to jet lag, I couldn't stop the hunger from overpowering my sleep at 3am in the night!
Coming back to the grandiosity, the streets are so wide with almost 6-8 lanes and separate cycling and pedestrian tracks. It's quite ironic that despite such infrastructure, the traffic in Beijing takes a toll on you, specially during the rush hours in evening! And the subway is exactly like the Delhi metro. But what is different, is the state of public transport- highly equipped double-decker buses with dustbins, very punctual and efficient transport system and not to forget- the bullet trains connecting entire East China with a speed of 350 km/hour. The organisers took us to the Great Wall of China and the forbidden City on the weekend. The courts and palaces of the forbidden City were seeming like limitless, never-ending pathways! We climbed up to the highest Fortress no. 12 at the Great Wall. It was a great adventure.
Typical wooden architecture with colourful carvings
The Tiananmen square and the Forbidden City.
The happiness and sense of achievement after reaching the highest point!
The Great Wall- one of the seven wonders of the world!
Along with Beijing, we visited the Hebei province of China which was some 4-5 hours of travel by road. There we found that not all the provinces of China are that tech advanced as Beijing. Hebei was a province famous for the intangible cultural heritage of paper-cutting. We visited a paper-cutting village and learnt this beautiful art. Each of us was given a drawing of an animal based on our birth year. Chinese have this traditional system of linking every year with an animal. Amusing enough that I was given a mouse! And then with the specialised needles, we cut the paper. And the end result was surprisingly so creative!
Mona-Lisa created by the art of paper-cutting!
And the hidden artist in me came out in the form of this mouse!
The paper cut artworks are one of the popular souvenirs from China. Chinese protect their traditional knowledge and folklore, like it is protected in India and other Asian countries with rich cultural heritage.
Some general impressions about the Chinese-
- Ultra rich (Using products of high-ended brands like Lancome, Chanel)
- Spirit of sharing, kind-hearted
- Very punctual
- Great sense of responsibility
- Terrific players (Games like badminton, TT etc)
- No comparison with India in hospitality- India is a unique country with the concept of "Atithi Devoh Bhavah". I think that was missing in China- the way our companies and public institutions greet the foreigners with tea/coffee, snacks and souvenirs!
Beijing is also a very dry, utterly cold place with very strong Siberian winds. People are very cultured. They keep the public spaces clean and are usually disciplined.
Although it hasn't really snowed in Geneva this year, but it was rare and astonishing to find a thick layer of snow in Beijing in end November. So rare that on a Saturday morning, Chinese queued up in thousands to get entry into the Jingshan park which had turned into Switzerland under the snow!
Summer palace and Jingshan park covered with thick layers of ice and the frozen lakes.
I also learnt that Chinese people are extremely talented in creating the beauty artificially to attract tourists. The Jingshan park is built around a mountain, which is created by depositing mud from an adjacent moat. The streets in Beijing are very lively and full of people at all times. They appear much like European or American streets. Very tidy, neat and clean, pedestrian-friendly, well lit-up. Even in the off-season of tourism, the domestic tourism in Beijing is on a very large scale. Foreign tourists also flock in huge numbers.
Temple of heaven in Beijing
Chinese have their own versions of Palika and Sarojini bazaars of Delhi- the Pearl market and the silk market. And bargaining works at an even higher scale than Delhi! Usually the actual price of a product is 70-80% less than the quoted price.
And last but not the least were the cutest wildlife creatures- Giant pandas at the Beijing Zoo! Beijing aquarium is a world-class aquarium with modern Dolphin shows.
All in all, China was a thrilling and enriching experience!
