Tuesday, July 27, 2004
More Chinese Thoughts...
My last post was a bit rushed so I thought I'd expand a little on my impressions. We are styling it here in the 4 star hotel, plus everything has been organised efficiently by my cousin Pam. This has made things less stressful and means we can see the major sites in Beijing in the short period of time we have. This is tiring though for those of us who need our sleep. But its not every day that you're in China right!
Rachel has been able to mix with the locals and experience the city, away from the sites, more. She visited a town out of Beijing and enjoyed the local hospitality. She also took some whirlwind Chinese language lessons. My Chinese extends to 'Hello' which is 'Ni hao' and 'Thank you' which is 'Xie xie'. Even then I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing them correctly! Its all in the tones. We had a guide yesterday called Long and he will join us today as well. He is studying Computer Science at a University here.
The weather was nice and hot on Sunday, raining yesterday, and looks nice again today. The weather yesterday was cooler which was ideal for our walk up the Great Wall. The Wall looked wonderful when you looked ahead or behind you. This is because is twists and turns according to the flow of the hills/mountains. Because of this is wasn't very efficient i.e. there was a lot of wall covering a small distance as it was curly like a snake. In fact it wasn't very effective at keeping out the enemy. One of a few big initiatives in China over the years that didn't turn out for the best. Others were the Cutural Revolution, when academics and all things cultural were persecuted or detroyed. The other was a Government drive to mobilise the workforce to produce for the nation effectively. One of the thing they had to produce, to a required quota, was iron...which in the end was useless. Folks resorted to melting down door knobs to reach the quotas. You can tell that I haven't got my Lonely Planet as these details are sketchy! The economy has definately picked up now though.
There are not many visual signs of communism. Maybe its what you don't see that is an indication, e.g. you don't see graffiti, you don't see a lot of rubbish, you don't see buskers or many beggers, you do see some foreign branding on advertising boards but it isn't as prolific as in some places. Things seem more subtle. I'm sure there are still many restrictions on the citizens however they look happy and seem to be enjoying the benefits of both Western and Eastern cultures. Maybe its too soon for me to be making sweeping comments like that. Well, its time to head off to the Summer Palace. Should be lovely.
Rachel has been able to mix with the locals and experience the city, away from the sites, more. She visited a town out of Beijing and enjoyed the local hospitality. She also took some whirlwind Chinese language lessons. My Chinese extends to 'Hello' which is 'Ni hao' and 'Thank you' which is 'Xie xie'. Even then I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing them correctly! Its all in the tones. We had a guide yesterday called Long and he will join us today as well. He is studying Computer Science at a University here.
The weather was nice and hot on Sunday, raining yesterday, and looks nice again today. The weather yesterday was cooler which was ideal for our walk up the Great Wall. The Wall looked wonderful when you looked ahead or behind you. This is because is twists and turns according to the flow of the hills/mountains. Because of this is wasn't very efficient i.e. there was a lot of wall covering a small distance as it was curly like a snake. In fact it wasn't very effective at keeping out the enemy. One of a few big initiatives in China over the years that didn't turn out for the best. Others were the Cutural Revolution, when academics and all things cultural were persecuted or detroyed. The other was a Government drive to mobilise the workforce to produce for the nation effectively. One of the thing they had to produce, to a required quota, was iron...which in the end was useless. Folks resorted to melting down door knobs to reach the quotas. You can tell that I haven't got my Lonely Planet as these details are sketchy! The economy has definately picked up now though.
There are not many visual signs of communism. Maybe its what you don't see that is an indication, e.g. you don't see graffiti, you don't see a lot of rubbish, you don't see buskers or many beggers, you do see some foreign branding on advertising boards but it isn't as prolific as in some places. Things seem more subtle. I'm sure there are still many restrictions on the citizens however they look happy and seem to be enjoying the benefits of both Western and Eastern cultures. Maybe its too soon for me to be making sweeping comments like that. Well, its time to head off to the Summer Palace. Should be lovely.
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