Breningstall Zone: A picture-close view of China and the world

Day 2 of the Olympics (August 9) began early for me. Told that there would be performances on Tiananmen Square from 7:30 to 9 each morning, we headed down early in a cab. Upon arrival, I found there was a performance–a very large tai chi demonstration–but the entire square was still shut off, as it had been throughout the day August 8, presumably in an effort to thwart protests. I asked a police officer if the square would be opening up and he said, "It's possible in the afternoon. Or maybe tomorrow evening." So I bailed and headed to wander through some hutong alleys nearby... a friend later reported that Tiananmen Square finally opened to the public sometime that morning. A small protest was also held on the square by a pro-Tibetan group around noon; plain-clothed officers soon carted the protesters away. By then, I was far away on another side of the city.

Walking through the hutongs south of Tiananmen Square, I had an opportunity to see some of Beijing's dwindling street life–much of the city is composed of places like the building where I am lodging for the week, a complex of faceless high-storey buildings guarded by security officers at staged checkpoints. The hutongs, while quite primitive (and a little smelly) have an active street culture, with many relatives lounging on their doorsteps, cheap eats, and interesting-looking little buildings.

From there, I went to Chaoyang Park, where the beach volleyball events will be held. I walked around a lake just south of the Olympic venue–a few middle-aged men were having an intense discussion on the finer points of shadow boxing.

In the afteroon, I was exhausted from the soaring heat (news agencies have reported temperatures in the high-90's in the first few days of the Olympics, and a U.S. boxer trying to drop weight collapsed from heat and dehydration, ruining his medal hopes). I took a nap and then settled into a coffeeshop where I could surf the Internet. I found a scalper selling tickets to beach volleyball events and arranged to meet him to purchase a ticket... the price was very high, but far below the highest prices... tickets for events like gymnastics and basketball are being advertised on the Internet for hundreds of dollars.

I also came across the sad news that an American relative of a U.S. volleyball coach had been killed, and several other people (his wife and a tour guide) attacked by a knife-wielding man from Hangzhou. I traveled to the murder scene, a 13th century Drum Tower in the center of the city. The building was closed, but otherwise it did not look like anything was amiss... As I departed, more and more TV cameras were arriving. As the Associated Press noted in its coverage, attacks on foreigners are relatively rare in China. It cast a rather somber mood onto the city for the evening.

Later that evening, I found myself near the Drum Tower again, this time to see the Re-TROS, a raging punk band (real punk, ala Iggy Pop and Patti Smith) whose guitarist (Hua Dong) and bass player (Liu Min) originally came out of the punk scene in Nanjing. They were preceded at the MAO Live House by an alternative rock band and a dj electronica duo, Zig Zag. I didn't find Zig Zag's performance very inspiring (they seemed to be mostly altering the speed on well-known tracks), and spent most of their set escaping the sweaty heat of the music room by sitting in the hallway and drinking some whiskey and coke. The Re-TROS set, though, was very inspired–music as it should be, confident and unpredictable, spinning through a wild set with disregard for comfort and safety. Liu is a stellar bass player and she gave the band a strong line to carry. The drummer was also rocking. Hua spent most of the show turning his back to half or all of the audience–but he could be forgiven, because his roaring vocals left no doubt that this was live show.

The next morning, I went to meet my ticket re-seller... there was a bit of a mix-up and he wasn't at the meeting point, so he agreed to come see me close to where I'm staying, and even gave me a discount on the price (he still made a hefty profit on the sale). I won't foreshadow what I'll be doing this evening, but I will write about it later on. After two days, I'm starting to get settled in Beijing–a hot city (did I mention that enough) where even getting from one building to the one next door seemingly requires the use of a horse or a trolley car.