Beijing came as a complete surprise to me. I expected to see a big city, tons of ricksaws and a lot of little Chinese men running around in bare feet balancing bags or pots on the end of long poles held across their shoulders. Was I wrong.!
Beijing, today, (at least that part that I’ve seen which has been a great deal) compares favorably with any major city in the world. When I toured Dehli in 2006, my adjectives were, crowded, intense, dirty, chaotic,loud and frenetic. Beijing is huge, orderly, energetic, courteous, clean and harmonious.
I have not seen a single rickshaw or barefooted person. Everybody is well dressed, well behaved and appear to be very proud of their country and its progress. The architecture is magnificent. The skyline is dotted with building cranes. The roads and highways, most of which are six lane, would make Edens drivers weep with jealousy. All of the streets are tree lined and full of automobiles and bicycles driven by well mannered drivers. I think I once heard a horn.
The city, first made China’s capital by Genghis’s Kahn, is 60 miles wide by 60 miles long. It holds 16 million people and is smaller than Shanghai. The great wall runs just to the North of the city. We were taken there yesterday after visiting a cloisillne center (a 1000 year old vase making craft). Although it’s on the north boundary of the city and we took expressways to get there, the auto trip exceeded an hour. Returning took more time. This is a big place. Traffic jams are no stranger to Beijing.
The great wall is a great wall. Walking along the wall, you must move with the contour of the land. In this mountainous area we visited (Badalong) it was comparable to climbing and then going down Massada. Very aerobic. So many sidewalk vendors on the wall that Missy dubbed it the great mall.
Had dinner with Missy’s friend,Benny, a Chinese American from Chicago, stationed in Hong Kong who works for a German software company. Dinner at a local unremarkable Schiwan restaurant not comparable to the great Peking duck we had the nite before.
We are meeting our guide at 10:30 AM to visit the Hutongs in a Ricksaw, have lunch with a Chinese familty and then go to the airport for our flight to Xian where, it is going to be 99 degrees
May 7, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Sounds fantastic. Enjoy reading about your travels. Have fun.
Bob
May 7, 2008 at 3:24 pm
i’m so glad that melissa and ron and china unmuzzled you. it’s fun to hear about the place i am not in but you have a susan. i hope our aspen friends are reading about all your hiking. it sounds great. what a comarison to india. keep blogging. miss and love you both, susan and mom
May 7, 2008 at 9:13 pm
so jealous about a weeping edens!! sounds amazing, love to all!!