China (Beijing)

I am getting ready to leave Beijing....my train is at 7:45pm tonight...it should be interesting. I am traveling with this Australian bloke who has traveled all around the world before. China is old hat for him. The guy knows Mandarin so it should be ok.

Going to this freakin old city called Pingyao...good example of Ming and Qing architecture I was told...like I know what the difference is so don't ask. Anyways, it's been around for 1000 years or something like that...and is relatively well preserved so it should be cool.

I have been in Beijing since Thursday. This city is massive. Surprisingly, it is fairly easy to navigate (as long as you have a Let's Go guidebook...Lonely Planet sucks...Let's Go is the way to go) but it just takes a long time to get anywhere. Hostals are cheap (C$7/ night) and you can eat for about C$1.50 and be splitting at the seams.

I visited Tin'amen Square, Forbidden Palace, a part of the Great Wall (the part was called Mutianyu), and Temple of Heaven. The whole city is getting ready for the Olympics...everything is being refurbished. Everywhere you look, new buildings are being put up...especially to hide the old inner city (the slums) that the government doesn't want you to see.

Of all the places I visited I guess I liked the Great Wall the best. It just didn't have the same impact that I thought it would. I mean who doesn't think of the Great Wall when they are a kid??? The Wall itself is unreal when you think about it (7200 km stretching across China, and you can see it from space) but a lightening bolt didn't hit me 0r I didn't fall to my knees and start crying. The aura, I guess, lost its appeal when I saw a small amusement park next to the Wall...made it feel like Disneyland. Anyways, I climbed it (well not really, I walked a few hundred metres and turned back) and will post pictures later.

The other sites were cool but basically huge parks of cement, buildings or trees and nothingness. One can only take so many pictures of Temples and trees. Plus, yes all the places are very ancient, but sometimes you wonder how a 900 year old temple look so sparkling new...hmm. Pictures to come later.

I guess the thoughts of Beijing, that I will leave with, will be the following:

1. Its immensity (buildings are huge and stand on their own...not crowded like Toronto or NYC...so it makes everything seem statuesque)
2. The hustlers (wherever you go, you are gonna get hustled...number of times somebody asked if I had been to the Great Wall (20+), number of times somebody told me they were a student and wanted to practice their English and asked where I was from (15+), number of times I told them Earth (5), Beijing (2), Oooga-Ooga Booga Land (3) Uranus (5))
3. The hawkers (not really sure how to spell the word, but it's basically the green/ yellowish substance that builds up in your lungs when you have a cold aka mucous. Whether you are on the bus, walking down the street, waiting for a subway, or in a restaurant..."it don't matter, hawk away"!
4. The people (all in all the people are great here...other than the people trying to rip you off, everyone is warm, outgoing and are always willing to help. I admire their healthy and balanced lifestyle in that you will see people exercising in the park or riding bikes all around the city...young and old. They love Canadians and a lot are just starting now to learn English. Tons of Canadians here)

Anyhoo, it was nice to finally visit Beijing. Will I be back? Who knows...probably not. But never say never. I definitely think China will be the new world empire very soon...it will hit the rest of the world like a Tsunami. Education is becoming more and more prevalent in the household and it's only a matter of time before they copy our technology and have their infrastructures in place. Chinese may be the new language of the future. A billion people...hard to compete with that. My two cents.

See ya in a few days. Stay safe.