Everything's bigger in Beijing!

After a full day of traveling due to our completely out of the way connection in Hong Kong, we finally made it from Tokyo to Beijing, our first stop in China!  After finally getting used to Japan, China was a bit of a culture shock.  While the Japanese are quiet and reserved, the Chinese are loud and in-your-face.  They'll shove you out of the way to get where they want to go.  Their driving is also less than perfect and we almost found ourselves in an accident on the way from the airport to the hotel.  Our bus tried to change lanes into a lane where there was a much smaller car.  Needless to say, there was a great deal of swerving and honking and cursing from the USC students as we saw what was happening.  Anyway, the other negative thing about mainland China is that some of the rudeness definitely made me wish for the forced smiles, bows, and politeness of the Japanese.  However, all this being said, I really did enjoy getting to experience Beijing!

The night of our arrival, our flight was delayed due to poor weather in Hong Kong, so there wasn't much time to do anything.  After departing Beijing's Airport's spiffy new terminal 3, we arrived at our hotel and checked in, delighted to find that it was a Marriott Courtyard with comfy beds, a large bathroom, sheets, and washcloths, but dismayed to find that internet access was not free.  That night, I had plans to meet up with some other friends who also happened to be visiting Beijing at the time, but after both parties failed to coordinate properly, the plans fell through and we didn't end up meeting until the next evening.

The following morning, we were up early to visit Tiananmen Square.  The sheer scale of the space is massive and yet it was relatively full with vast numbers of tourists.  If a space like that existed in the U.S., I don't think there would ever be enough people to fill it.  I know I definitely wouldn't want to stand in the middle of a huge concrete square with the sun beaming down on me on a hot summer day.  It's crazy to imagine the square filled with half a million people all gathered to hear the voice of the great Chairman Mao.

After Tiananmen, we walked through the adjacent Forbidden City.  Although it was impressive, I couldn't really relate to it because it was so huge.  It obviously shows the power and strength of the dynasties that built it.  From the Forbidden City, we went to lunch at a place where they tried to get us to buy freshwater pearls, then to the Summer Palace, an elaborate home built by Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi on a manmade lake.  We explored the palace, walked along the lake, and took a boat back across to where we started.  Like everything else in Beijing, the Summer Palace seemed overly ornate and excessive, and I think I prefer the simplicity of the Japanese temples.

In the evening, I finally got a chance to met up with my other friends who were visiting Beijing.  We checked out Wangfujing, the largest shopping street in Beijing.  It is also home to the night market where you can find all sorts of interesting things on skewers, like beetles and tarantulas.  Since none of us were in the mood for them, we found a dumpling place to eat instead.  Afterward, we went to what became my favorite place in Beijing, an area called Houhai with a bar street that is located around a lake.  Although the area was geared toward tourists, Andy used his Chinese to get us a better price on beer.  We also managed to find Mexican beer for Elder.  We went to a few bars before calling it a night and heading back to the hotel.

The next day, we visited the Great Wall Commune before the highlight of Beijing, the Great Wall itself!  The highlight of the highlight was running into Andy and Elder at the Great Wall with no prior planning.  We visit a lot of places and don't stay anywhere for too much time, and the Great Wall is pretty long, so it was funny to run into them there.  Anyway, we had an hour to explore the wall, so we opted for the more difficult but less crowded direction and set off.  Walking along the wall was fun and we made it all the way to the point where you weren't allowed to continue.  I wish it hadn't been so hazy because the views from the wall were great, but they could have been a lot better.

In the afternoon, we visited the Beijing Olympic Village, but not before a lunch stop so they could pressure us to buy jade.  The Olympic Park was impressive, especially the Bird's Nest, and it's sad that it's not currently being used for much.  In fact, paint is already peeling and the stadium is very dirty due to the polluted Beijing air.  In general, China seems to embark on these large, impressive building projects, but fails to plan and allocate resources for maintenance and cleaning, so many places are less impressive than they could be.  However, that being said, we couldn't enter the Water Cube because it was undergoing repair work, so I guess this doesn't apply in all cases.

For our last night in Beijing, we met up again with Andy and Elder and hung out in the lobby bar of our hotel.  We were feeling lazy after our long day so we relaxed with an appropriately labeled "Great Wall" bottle of wine and enjoyed it before going to bed early.  The next morning, we were off to Shanghai!

Pictures of Beijing can be found here:
 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2500271&id=3431093&l=d8a472407c