Beijing, China
This weekend was my last weekend in Beijing. I decided to wander around the city all day Saturday, to see as much as I could. I hadn’t gone to the Forbidden City so I headed to Tiananmen Square. For breakfast, I stopped at my favorite café, by Dongzhimen, a neighborhood near Tiananmen. I got to the Forbidden City a little later than I originally planned. From the outside, the Fortress didn’t look too busy. There were a lot of tourists outside, but nothing crazier than any average Saturday in China. I waited in line for the first security check, at the entrance of Tiananmen Square. Chinese people seem to be very worried by safety and there is a safety check before any entrance, whether it is a famous historical site or the metro. As I walked into the Forbidden City, I saw a line for what seemed to be tickets. I was surprised by how short the line was but I bought a ticket without questioning what I was buying.
I made my way through the first gate, and saw a beautiful building. There was a ticket check, when I showed my tickets the guard said it wasn’t the right one and if I hadn’t bought it yet I wouldn’t be able to visit it today because all the tickets were sold out. It was only 11 and the thousands of tickets allotted for the day had already been sold out.
I must admit, I was a little sad. Had I gone all the way to China not to see the Forbidden City? It seemed so. I decided to go visit a little garden, part of the Forbidden City, for which I didn’t need to have a specific ticket. I made my way to the park. It had a lot of shade, which was very agreeable after the blazing sun of Tiananmen and the Forbidden City. We could see the river, which circles the Forbidden City. I couldn’t help but notice the amount of old people gathered in the park. They all had little posters at their feet, it intrigued me. I tried to read what they said, some were handwritten, and some were typed. They said people’s ages, names, sex and social situation. I thought these people were seeking a job. I asked the man sitting next to a sign what he was here for. He answered, that he was there to help couples meet and help people find love. So the man wasn’t looking for a job, he was a matchmaker. I couldn’t help but think “Woah, a real life Tinder”.
It reminded me very strongly of Mulan, where at the very beginning she visits a matchmaker to help her find a husband. I thought it only happened in movies. For some reasons, I expected that was one thing social media had replaced. It was very interesting to walk in between alleys and read everyone’s offer. Some people seemed to be grandparents, others seemed to work as third parties and finally, some people were there, representing themselves. This one man, gave me his card when he saw I could speak Chinese and after I told him I was studying at Beijing Da Xue. Guess, I could be a good match.
The more I walked, the more interesting it got. There was an area for girls, another for guys. Some people seemed to visit it themselves other sent their families or maybe they came on their own, to find the perfect match for their sons and daughters. Most people were in their 30s, were educated people with an apartment and a car. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take a picture because people’s numbers were on there and a man explained if I took a picture he ran the risk of losing clients.
This random encounter, was far more interesting that visiting the Forbidden City or at least that’s what I convinced myself of to make myself feel better about not being able to see it. This place was a gem, a cultural center were various generations intertwined together. I am very glad I stumbled upon this park because I was able to witness a very unique moment and grasp the difficulty of finding your perfect match in a city as big as Beijing.