Barbara Floria Orcutt
Worst weather forecast: Light smog with a chance of increasing smog. The first
few days we were here the skies were relatively clear and I considered that
perhaps the reports of China's air pollution were overblown. Not so. While we
never developed respiratory problems, most days heavy pollution hid buildings
and on-coming traffic about a quarter mile away, obfuscating promised views of
the Forbidden City from our hotel's 13th floor dining room. And it's bound to
get worse--China News reports 50,000 new drivers are added to Beijing's already
grid-locked city streets each month.
Best Lost in Translation: We had intended to visit Mao's mausoleum, a solemn
tomb where the former chairman's preserved body lies in state, but due to
various miscues we ended up in a line for the droll Museum of the Chinese People
which is also on Tienemen square, but not really worth visiting. Not realizing
our mistake, we bought tickets and followed the queue along the sidewalk and
into the stadium-sized lobby where the crowd dispersed. We asked several people
where Mao was, (excuse me.....Mao????) but everyone we asked pointed us to
different rooms and he was nowhere in sight. Finally, one man we had asked who
did not speak English was thoughtful enough to find another visitor who did who
told us we were in the wrong building. By the time we retraced our steps we were
too late to have an audience with Mr Mao, as his visiting hours end at noon.
Instead we found a place on the edge of Tienemen and sat and watched the
thousands of Chinese tourists who walked across the square holding umbrellas to
shield themselves from the burning sun. As we sat on a low curb about every 10
minutes a mother or father would approach me signaling their desire to take my
picture with their often reluctant offspring (she's a stranger!) When we
occasionally found someone who spoke enough English to have a conversation, a
crowd would gather to listen.
Best menu item: Cubs of Beer Tenderloin
Best views: The Great Wall. The section we climbed was two hours north of
Beijing and the air was clear for miles.
Best reason to visit Beijing: While it's not my favorite city in Asia, it does provide a unique fast-forward preview of the challenges many of this planet's cities will face in years to come.
August 14th, 2010
We spent the morning in the Chinese Military Museum, an immense five-story paean to Chinese military history and might. Although it's barely mentioned in the guidebooks, and very little of the explanatory text was translated into English, I learned more about the Chinese psyche here than anywhere else we've visited.
Continue Reading August 11th, 2010
To envision the size of the buildings here imagine a city block in New York on 57th street, but instead of 20 or 30 buildings per block as is the norm in Manhattan, there's only one building, and there are hundreds of others the same size up and down the street. It's unimaginably huge.
Continue Reading August 9th, 2010
The state does not own all of the land. Homes and business can now buy, sell and trade land privately, acquired either from the State or other private individuals. Only couples in crowded cities can have one child and actually they can have more than one, but get heavily financially penalized for doing so. Country folk, depending on where they are and population, can have more than one up to an infinite number.
Continue Reading August 8th, 2010
Without excusing the regime's terror tactics in Tibet for the past 60 years, or
forgetting the inhuman working and living conditions of factory workers and poor
farmers in the countryside, I have to say the people of Beijing don't appear to
be oppressed. In fact, the people we've met working in hotels and restaurants,
playing with their children in public parks, and visiting their nation's
historical monuments appear to be living lives quite like ours in the West.
Continue Reading August 6th, 2010
Although they can be proven false, first impressions of people and places are noteworthy. Here are a few following my first 24 hours in Beijing:
* China is clearly prospering. The roads in Beijing are crowded with new cars, air-conditioned taxis and nonpolluting buses. The streets are wide and clean, at least where we are staying, and although we may be being watched, the police have a silent presence. All things being equal (which they're not), Beijing feels more like Tokyo than any other Asian capital I've visited, and is clearly a different species than say, Delhi, or Saigon or Bangkok. That is, it's somehow more Asian' than southeast Asian.
* The biggest surprise? After years of avoiding traveling to China because of what they've done and continue to do to Tibet I had developed a prejudice against the Chinese, a sense of their not being trustworthy, an ignorant (on my part) presumption that they were ilintentioned, maybe even mean.
The reality? An expected sweetness prevails and is demonstrated by men and women alike.
Continue Reading August 3rd, 2010
The phrase--sweepıng down the plaıns of Anatolıa--may not resonate wıth you. But ıt's one that's often used to by wrıters descrıbıng the advance of Alexander the Great and the Macedonıans, the Persıans, the Romans, the Moghuls and every other army that passed through what ıs now Turkey on a mıssıon to conquer the world.
Yesterday on a vısıt to Hıerapolıs--a holy cıty ınhabıted by the Romans ın the fırst and second century AD--the ghosts of horseman and theır charıots could be felt below the cıtadel and the defensıve walls of what was once a cıty of more than 100,000 people.
Continue Reading October 8th, 2009
I had a lengthy conversatıon wıth an Iranıan gentleman who spoke Englısh a few days ago. He lıved ın Tehran and was ın Turkey on a classıcal musıc tour and was clearly well educated. When I told hım I was Amerıcan the subject quıckly turned to polıtıcs.
From hıs perspectıve: The recent Iranıan electıon was clearly fraudulent but those who contınue to protest are doıng so at theır perıl and to no avaıl. He personally beleıves Amnıhıjad ıs dangerous and a fool, but he has too much control of the country for anyone else to depose hım.
Continue Reading October 5th, 2009
It may have been the Turkısh techno musıc and the beer, but after a whıle some of the men started to joın our sıde of the boat and trıed to communıcate. Turkısh ıs very dıffıcult - and none of them spoke Englısh. One older man had been a guest worker ın Berlın so we muddled through a bıt of conversatıon ın German.After a whıle we started takıng pıctures and they ındıcated they wanted copıes so we exchanged e-maıl addresses.
Continue Reading October 2nd, 2009
She told me that when Saddam was in power there were kidnappings and torture, but these events were isolated and somewhat predictable, because they were focused on those who politically opposed the ruling party, so most people lead fairly "normal" lives. Now she says the random violence is so pernicious and deadly that most Iraqis are afraid to go to the market or anywhere outside their homes.
Continue Reading October 1st, 2009
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