July 15: Beijing

The buildings here are big, really big. They mirror China’s ambition and rise to power. In all my travels, I’ve never seen roads in the heart of the city so large. Their size tells a tale of newness. The first thing you ask yourself as you drive the first ring road is, “Where is the old part of the city?” This is an ancient city. Yet, a glimpse of its age and history can’t be seen. They’re there, hidden behind sky scrapers, tucked between massive projects, staring up at construction cranes.

In my early 20s I read somewhere that you’re not a serious traveler unless you’ve done China or India. I couldn’t grasp this idea. The only places I’ve been were Manila, Winnipeg, and the surrounding areas around the muddy city. Now, I get it. The crowd here is thick. It takes patient and a lot of assertiveness to get things. I now fully understand the pushiness of the elder Chinese living in Vancouver. You need to be aggressive, otherwise the crowd tramples on you.

Yesterday we saw The Forbidden City. It’s massive. The scale fits that it was the home of Emperors. The big buildings have been restored. They have been given fresh lick of paint, but the charm of the Forbidden Palace lies in the small buildings that housed the concubines and empresses

July 13: Beijing

I’m in Beijing. I arrived last night right in the middle of rush hour. I was picked up by Jack and Nancy. Nancy has been employed by Sino for one month. She’s a recent university graduate of some technology school. I couldn’t catch 20% of what she said. Phonetically, Chinese is one of the hardest language I've encountered. Usually when people speak in another language, the letters appear in front of me and this time it didn’t.

Jack is a young man from Inner Mongolia. I don’t think he has hit his 20s. He’s thin. He maneuvered in traffic with precision and confidence. There was only one time that he slammed on the break so that we wouldn’t hit the car in front of us. I was impressed because driving in the second ring road required nerve of steel. Cars and pedestrian competed for space on the road. I tried tipping Jack when we arrived at the gated compound. He brushed away my wrist. I was impressed by the strength of this skinny young man. As he pushed my hand away he said, “No, no, no.” He continued to say this and Nancy joined him in saying, “It’s our pleasure.”
We were greeted by Ms Wu at the apartment. She showed me the place. It’s nice. Fully furnished and clean. The apartment is western style.