Beijing - Day 6 (12/5): The Last of Many

I overslept a bit so by the time I got to Shi Cha Hai I had just missed the National Team’s practice. But I managed to catch the end of the Beijing Team Practice. They were mostly doing detail work. Small movements over and over and over again, with the coaches working with them. The team has really scaled down a bit since the summer. Most of the people who were here then have left. Yang Bei Bei is in Wuhan, most of the girls aren’t there, all the older generation have, of course, left, but it seemed a little empty with so few athletes in that big wushu guan.

I met up with Chase and Will at the practice and afterwards we headed out to the Xiao Chi place on the corner for some grub. On the way out of the wushu guan we ran into Li Qiang. It turns out she would be leaving for New York the next day so it is very likely the last time I would see her in a very long time. The first of a few “lasts” for the day.

Li Qiang in the hallway

After eating I met Wu Di and he took me around the corner to help me buy a gift for Meng Laoshi at Ren Da (Renmin DaXue - The People’s University). He let me train there for free, so I wanted to get him a thank you gift. (Granted, it was only 3 days of training, but still .. it was very nice of him.) It turns out the universal gift for coaches is cigarettes. I asked if there was anything else I could give him but both Wu Di and Li Yan were adamant that this was the best choice. So, I figured that if I was to help Meng Laoshi to an early grave, the least I could do was make the trip enjoyable, and purchased the best Chinese cigarettes money can buy. It turns out they are kind of pricey (over $50 USD for a carton) — how do people afford this habit anyway? If they made all cigarettes this expensive I bet a lot less people would smoke.

Then I caught a cab and made my way back to my hotel where I got some things ready and then headed out to the wushu class. It was my last time training at Ren Da (another “last”) which was kind of sad. But Meng Laoshi said to be sure to come by and join in any time I was in town. Nice to have a place to train in Beijing. I gave him the gift of cigarettes and also a copy of my 2006 Nationals VCDs. I had also brought a copy to Will and Chase earlier in the day and gave one to Li Yan during practice as well.

The practice was pretty good. More people came today that I had never met. They seem to have a bunch of people who just come occasionally, and a lot of them don’t seem to come on the same day. It really IS like college clubs back home, isn’t it? After a few sections I started feeling a little odd so I stepped out and then started doing some filming and took some pictures. Now you all can see what it looks like there. Even though I only trained there 3 days it was sad to say goodbye. My last time training at Ren Da for the foreseable future.

Folks hanging out on the carpet after class

Li Yan kicks a friend. You can see Meng Laoshi sitting on the far side of the room.

A familiar face from Shi Cha Hai’s 2004 B-Team era

Afterwards I went to Li Yan’s dorm room and he gave me a nice t-shirt from the Zhengzhou competition 6 weeks earlier (how he got it, I have no idea) and I came to understand that messy dorm rooms are a universal constant. It was like walking in to the aftermath of a domestic violence scenario. Then I said goodbye to Li Yan, as it was the last time I would see him for a while as well.

Li Yan’s super amazingly messy dorm room

Then it was off to Shi Cha Hai again, where I once again met up with Wu Di in his room. We walked around the corner to a nice jiu ba he discovered where we ordered some huton pizza and lambsticks and spent the evening chatting about life, this and that. It was the last chance I’d have to spend some quality time with him and to hang out in Hou Hai so it was really nice to relax and just chill out. At around 10:30 he had to go back to his room and I walked down Lotus Lane and, after doing some mild exploration of the city which led to nowhere in particular, I made it back to my hotel and crashed for a night of sleep.

Wu Di with my shades on

Entrance to Lotus Lane