Sat 18 Aug 2007
Hmmm… to sum up Beijing: meh. A bit over-hyped, Tian’anmen Square is big, but just failed to impress me. Maybe because I knew more about it’s history than any of the Chinese tourists who stopped to take photos of their kids waving Chinese flags in front of The Great Chairman Mao. The Forbidden City also left a little to be desired, as much of it was under construction in anticipation of the Olympic games coming next summer.
I’m amazed at how much the Chinese government thinks they’ll get done within the next year here in Beijing and in Qingdao. There’s little chance that they wont, mainly because if you throw enough manpower at any problem… …and manpower they do not lack in this country.
Just outside Beijing, by a three hour bus ride, is The Great Wall, which truly is as it’s name suggests: Great! I toured the less popular part of it in Simutai, and the particular tour company that I used allowed for a 10.5km hike down (?) the wall. They dropped us off at one city, and five hours later, picked us up at another.
The heat was unbearable — I’m used to desert heat where the sweat evaporates — and I downed about three liters of water in the three and a half hours it took me to do the trek. With a lot of up and down staircases, I felt as if I had actually accomplished something by the end of it. At the very least, I have some killer photos to share once I get back!
