I'm Back On Line

Incredibly crowded Forbidden City. Most Chinese were in groups and the group would all wear identical hats or tee shirts. Notice the haze in the air and you might recall all the concern over air quality during the 2008 Olympics. I went running a couple of times in Beijing but decided that it was very unhealthy to exercise in that environment.
Standing in front of Forbidden City with the Chairman Mao. I will tell you a story about the later.

When I left Valdosta a few weeks ago I had planned to keep everyone back home updated with my blog, so it was shocking when I got to Beijing back on 28 October to learn that "google" which is the host site for blogspot is restricted in China, as are Facebook and You Tube. I arrived today in Hong Kong which was reunited with China a few years back, but still has different laws (and different currency as well.) and now I am able to get back to blogspot. So here I go trying to update what I have been seeing with my one good eye since I last wrote. If you plan to read all this in one sitting, might I suggest a cup of coffee or a strong drink?

I had an enjoyable trans Pacific flight from Chicago to Beijing, and I was lucky to have a seat in first class, which gave me a flat bed for sleeping on the 19 hour crossing. Something new that American Airlines has started in first class is giving out pajamas, but I never put mine on. I would rather have the caviar which disappeared from first class in the cost cutting days of early 21st century than pjs, however I have made good use since getting here. My flight arrived in Beijing about midnight on 28 October and I took a taxi to my hostel which I had booked before leaving home. I was glad to get a shower and hoped for a restful sleep, and at least I get the hot shower. Oh yeah, when I opened my bag which I had checked it took me a few seconds to realize that I had made a terrible error and taken another Land's End bag instead of my own. I remember when I used to work baggage service in Dallas Fort Worth airport that I thought people who did a bag switch were so stupid and careless. Oops! So instead of lazing around like a slug my first morning in Beijing, I went to the airport and swapped one bag for mine. I feel so badly for the people whose bag I took, and I enclosed a note and cash to apologize.

Beijing is a monstrous city of many millions and I found nothing there to make me want to return. I visited Beijing about 10 years ago with a group of coworkers and did a rush tour of the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, etc. so I chose to explore at my leisure a more local scene. The weather was rainy; prices, high; air, polluted; people, pushy; smells, foul; food, greasy---just not much to love there. The most enjoyable activity I did was to visit the mausoleum where Chairman Mao Zse Dong lies in state, lo these many years after his death. Many Chinese I saw going in there treated it as if it were a Buddhist temple, laying yellow chrysanthemums in front of a huge statue of Chairman Mao sitting in an almost Buddha posture and smiling benevolently down on his adorers. My final day in Beijing I revisited the Forbidden City since it was very close to my hotel and seemed like a good idea. The crowds of Chinese and other tourists were daunting and I was glad that someone had suggested listening to classical music to cocoon myself from the mobs. I toured the hundreds years old home of the Chinese royalty to a soundtrack of Handel, Beethoven, Ravel and Gershwin.

I was starting to feel like I did not want to spend too much time in China so instead of traveling slowly like I had enjoyed so much in Viet Nam, I began to plan a more streamlined trip with stays in only two more cities, Xian and Shanghai. Since it is getting to be supper time here n Hong Kong, I will stop here for now. I still another two weeks to report to bring you up to date.