Beijing China

This is by far the best thing I have ever seen. I had a godawful time remembering to charge my camera in Beijing so photos are lacking, many kodak moments were missed with only my poor memory to catalogue them.

I stayed for a few days in a hostel that was a 15 minute walk from Tiananmen Square. Hostel = $6 a night. Not bad.

The square is a strange place. It is a massive public square which is aptly described as a "sea of concrete."

They have security check points at all the entrances to the square. The amazing thing is that I could walk through these check points while Chinese people got a proper airport style pat down. It seemed really crazy to only stop Asians. These check points are also at every subway entrances. I was later told that it really just an excuse for the government to provide a few part-time jobs for their massive population. My assumption is that they don't want tourist thinking that China's a hassle so they let us pass by. This, along with many other things, is something that probably came out of the 2008 Olympic effort to make the city more hospitable to wankers with cameras and Mao shirts.

The great wall was pretty great. I know that's what everyone says (besides people who say "it sucks, it's just a wall" and these people are hopelessly negative.) The wall goes on for thousands of miles. Many of the sections have fallen apart or are closed off to the public.

A few million Chinese laborers died while building the several incarnations of the wall.
At one point over 1 million people simultaneously guarded this wall.

I went with three women: a German, a Japanese, and one from Slovakia (a Slavic? Slav?). They were good people who were happy to answers my annoying questions about their countries.

If you enlarge the photo you can see that I'm wearing an oversized, tourist hoodie. It was cold and I was under dressed so I bought a hoodie to put over the hoodie I was already wearing. This seemed like a good idea until all these people hacking kitchy garbage swarmed around me. I was wearing something that translates into "I am a sucker who likes to buy crap."

This guy who thought he was Jet Li was on the wall showing of his knunchuck skills.

He tried to kill me.

...but I prevailed.

China has the best signs. I'd like to hang this one in my classroom.

No one pays attention to all these great signs though.

I've always thought that Maoist era statues and propaganda posters were creepy as hell in a way that is almost beautiful. Creepily beautiful.

No one has pupils, everyone looks like a revolutionary ghost.

Chinese payphones.

Beijing was filled with Soviet style architecture. Very big. Very oppressive.

Some parts of Beijing reminded me of North St. Louis.

Keeping with Chinese signage that doesn't make any sense, this sign was close to a bear exhibit which really didn't exemplify man and animal coexisting together.

I see more KFCs in Asia than Starbucks in Asia. McDonalds is the official brand of fastfood globalization but they come in a distant third. I guess they were dethroned in the 90s.

As those of you who keep up on current events know, China is trying to become a first world country. This includes all the lovely things that we first-worlders enjoy, like driving a car two blocks to get some fried meat at a multinational fastfood joint. However, the Chinese have a lot of people. If they get anywhere close to obtaining a 20th century American lifestyle the it will be badnews. I went to Beijing as a kid 15 years ago. Almost all of the traffic was from pedestrians, mopeds and bikes. Now it's about 75% cars. Scary.
Having said that, the pollution wasn't as bad as I expected. Around the time of the Olympics I remember a pundit saying "Being in Beijing is the equivalent of smoking 70 cigarettes a day"
It was nowhere near that bad.

The forbidden city is amazing. I need to find another adjective. Half the things on this damn blog are "amazing." uhhhhh.... The forbidden city is something else. That's no good. I could say "breathtaking" but that sounds like something a middle-aged women would quote out of a guide book. Don, the book says it's "breathtaking!" I want to go.

OK

It had some great doors that I would love to score for the Hoosier Mansion.
Speaking of the Hoosier Mansion, it's our welcoming mat.

There were public toilets everywhere. It makes sense when you've got that many people, eh?

Words to live by.











Apparently the Chinese won't pay for there own signs at one of the world's most historic treasures. Thank god capitalism is there to take care of this.

They would fill this massive brass pot with water and use it the put out fires. I have no idea how they could lift it.

I also couchsurferd with a college student for 3 days in Beijing. She lives with her parents in a small, rundown apartment--the kind of place you would pay $200 dollars a month for in St. Louis. Her mother is a doctor and her father is a nurse. They're middle class, educated and have a nice car. They are also going to send their daughter, who was my host, to study in London-where a beer cost $10. This all seemed like a controdiction to me, but apaently that's the way housing works in Beijing.

Pound for pound, Beining is the most intersting place that I've been thus far.