Beijing

Beijing is seriously on the move with the upcoming Olympics the main excuse to build a new flash skyscraper. The government has even gone to the extent of launching new weather satellites and is looking into weather influencing technologies. Above all the various quirky government policies, Beijing is a very cool city. There is an incredible amount of stuff to see and do and we were rushed to fit everything into our week in the city.

Beijing is the perverbial center of China, Shanghai and Shenzhen may be making most of the dollars, or yuan, but Beijing definitely runs the show. If Beijing is the center, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City is the core.

Tiananmen Square is massive, supposedly the worlds largest public space, but I'm not so sure, the Chinese have a fixation with everything the biggest and best. The square is lined with imposing government buildings and has the mausoleum of Mao Zedong at its center. The mausoleum is open for visitors, but you must jostle with the thousands of Chinese tourists making the pilgrimage to see their most influential leader and idol. For all the horredous acts committed against the Chinese people and culture during the Cultural Revolution, most of which is not taught in schools, Chairman Mao is worshipped as a God. His likeness is omnipresent, with huge statues and posters everywhere.

The Forbidden City is so called because it used to be the home and office of the many emporers that ruled China, and only the Emperor and associates were allowed within the impressive walls. The southern entrance to the Forbidden City is the Gate of Heavenly Peace, which is one of the most famous gates on earth. Above the main tunnel is a huge portrait of Chairman Mao that was damaged with paint eggs during the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989. No such uprising would be possible now with many police, military, and undecover agents continually moving around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Unfortunately, the Forbidden City is getting a facelift in time for the Olympics in 2008. Many of the main buildings are shrouded in scaffolding, however most of the bordering buildings have been beautifully restored and the new paint job sparkles in the sunshine.

There are numerous temples scattered throughout Beijing including some important Tibetan Buddhist temples. The most famous are the Temple of Heaven and the Lama Temple, but at this stage of the trip we are a bit templed out. Nevertheless we made the trip to see both and were suitable impressed. The Lama Temple even possess a 46m high Buddha statue, which rivals the huge reclining Buddha in Bangkok.

However, the thing that seems to draw the tourists the most is the two big clothing and gift markets. Seeing as a good proportion of the worlds clothes and shoes are produced in China, there are some seriously good bargains to be had. These are definitely not the fixed-price kind of market and the bargaining is not for the faint of heart. Most negotiating episodes last anywhere from 10-30min and generally involve a lot of pleading and puppy dog eyes. If you can keep your nerve in the face of stiff competition the goods are there for the taking.

Apart from seeing the sites, there are numerous culinary delights to be had in Beijing. The above picture is a few of the exotic type. The must eat is Peking duck, famous throughout the word from every Chinese restuarant. We had duck twice, once at a fancy restuarant frequented by Prince Andrew and George Bush Sr. and the other a local place were it's quite ok to spit on the floor. Both where equally good and the latter was much more pleasant on the budget.

Beijing is definitely one of the worlds great cities, apart from the claustrophobic smog it offers so much for every visitor. I'm sure the Chinese government will install every bell and whistle to wow the world come 2008.