Beijing

We're in Beijing now.

Yesterday was our final day in Shanghai, where we spent the morning and afternoon driving around the city looking at real estate projects with the government official who orchestrated the development. In the evening we got on a plane for the 2-hour ride to Beijing. When we left Shanghai it was raining unbelievably hard.

People here say that if you want to see what China used to be like, go to Xi'an. If you want to see what China is like now, go to Beijing. And if you want to see what China will be like in the future, go to Shanghai.

Shanghai is the economic capital of China, and Beijing is the political capital. Shanghai has 23 million residents, and Beijing has around 13 million. It's hard to fathom.

We went to church this morning at the Beijing Branch, which is officially recognized by the government here. The government allows the branch to meet as long as only ex-pats attend. They meet on the 4th floor of an office building, but when you walk inside it looks like a normal chapel. There were probably 125 people in attendance.

After church we went to lunch at a restaurant that is famous for its roasted duck. The food here is fascinating, which is a euphemism "I can't wait to get home and eat food without heads." At the restaurant today, we ate duck number 449,603:

After lunch we took a quick ride over to the Forbidden City, which of course is famous for being the spot where they anachronistically filmed Mulan. Here's dad trying not to fall out of the limo:

Here's a photo of Mao, Dad, and me:

Speaking of Mao, tonight we ate dinner with a woman who used to teach English to Mao's grandson. When she was young she was shipped off to Mongolia for 10 years of forced labor. Upon her return, she somehow got into the good graces of the government, became the teacher for Mao's grandson, and is now a very wealthy real estate tycoon. So many of the people we meet here have remarkable stories like that. Their life stories are symbolic of the entire recent history of the country, going from life as a peasant to hardship under communism and then eventually to wealth.

China seems to have an endless supply of young women who are hired as receptionists to show people where to go in buildings. Everywhere we turn they are standing around waiting to assist. And they do a very good job: they all speak English and will go out of their way to cheerfully help. China also seems to have an endless supply of young men in military uniforms who stand around and guard things:


The Forbidden City was very crowded today. At one point as I was moving through the crowd I felt a hand pushing me on my lower back. I turned to see a little old Chinese lady who didn't think I was moving fast enough. Sometimes you just have to push in the crowd, and no one seems to mind. Here's a photo of a few of Beijing's residents:


More useless observations:

• The car of choice for government and business elites in Beijing is the Audi A6. The windows are always tinted and the cars are always black. Everyone important has a driver to take them around. There are a lot of Audi A6s on the road.

• Yesterday I saw a glimpse of blue sky for the first time since we've been here. There is a constant haze of pollution and humidity here that makes it impossible to see more than a mile away. People in Beijing and Shanghai never know if it's cloudy or sunny, because the sky is always a hazy gray.

• Many of the construction sites here shut down for the summer because it's too hot. The workers go back to their parents' homes to help them cope with the heavy rain and floods that also happen at this time of year in many parts of China.
  

• There are no logical rules about driving in China. Right of way is determined by size and whoever gets to a spot in the road first. In America right of way is determined by speed and direction, which makes more sense to me. In China it's okay to turn left in front of oncoming traffic, or to make a right turn from a middle lane, as long as you're there first. No one seems to get upset about this, it's just how it works. If a driver wants to turn left on a busy street, he or she simply sticks the nose of his or her car into oncoming traffic, then inches forward until the cars stop and make room. It makes for very exciting taxi rides.
  

• Speaking of taxi rides, they are amazingly inexpensive here in Beijing. Around $2 for a 10-15 minute trip. Everything else here, unfortunately, seems to be priced at about what you'd expect in America.

• The FC Barcelona soccer team is staying in our hotel in Beijing, although we have yet to run into Ronaldinho. There were 15 Audi A6s parked in front of the hotel this morning to escort the players to their exhibition game against a Chinese team, and people have been waiting outside the hotel with posters all day hoping to get an autograph.

• People in China seem very family friendly. I have seen lots of happy couples holding hands and families spending time together, usually with 3 generations. There are lots of children running around here, but I have yet to see a single pregnant woman.
  

• China is a country made up of at least 55 ethnic groups, including the Mosuo, a tribe with strange ideas about marriage.