Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
one roof, and come vacation time, young people will join the exodus of people from Beijing
back to their hometowns to share their few days of annual leave with their families. Even
when their children are fully grown adults, parents can have a lot of input into their choices
and lifestyle. It's a quick lesson many expats will learn if they embark on a relationship with
a local.
Beijing's early history with foreigners wasn't particularly harmonious. Merchant brothers
Nicolo and Matteo Polo visited the city in 1261, at which time the city was the place of
Kublai Khan's Mongolian empire, and referred to as Khanbaliq. They actually did okay. It's
thought that these were the first white people the khan had ever seen. A few years later they
returned with Marco, Nicolo's son, and again it was a reportedly cheerful experience.
For the next 600 years or so, however, relationships between the East and West went
downhill. Westerners didn't really find their way back to China until the time of the Ming
dynasty in the 14th century, and at that time the Chinese weren't interested in relationships
of any sort, including trade. When the West tried again in the 18th century, they met with
a race that was firmly convinced of being the center of power. The arrogance and ignor-
ance of both sides sparked new tension and conflict. Such was the distaste for foreigners
that they weren't even allowed to live in the city until the 1860s, and this came only after
a messy end to the second Opium War. At this time foreigners were given the right to set
up legations, and a handful of diplomats from various countries lived a sheltered life inside
their walled compound. Given that these foreigners were there to garner concessions rather
than provide any real benefit for the Chinese, it left a bad taste in the locals' mouths, and
by 1900, the locals had had enough and laid siege to Legation Quarter. In 1919 on May 4,
thousands of students set about protesting the Treaty of Versailles and condemning the in-
fluence of the West on their country.
So much has changed since then. There is still the obvious puffing of international
chests, but on a daily basis life is extremely cordial. In contrast to the turbulent past, there
now possibly might not be another city in the world where foreigners are generally so easily
accepted by the locals. As long as you tick all the boxes at the visa office, life here goes
relatively smoothly. Sure, on the rare occasion you'll encounter an individual with a racist
comment to make—but which country is without such people? It certainly isn't the general
feeling that you'll have as you go about your day, and the doors that are open to the com-
mon person are generally open to foreigners, too. In fact, there are many instances where
you'll feel you have comparably more liberties, such as the freedom to take your holiday
