Beijing, China

The first thing we notice is that Beijing is NOT like the rest of China. Taxis are metered, trash is in the cans, and people seem to spit and smoke less. (Still, the Olympics will definitely be a fiasco, more on that later). In about 4 days, we check off all the must-sees: The Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, and of course, The Great Wall. (The Great Wall is normally a 2.5 hr drive from Beijing, depending on your starting point, but our driver Joe made it in just under 2 despite a huge traffic jam by utilizing both the the left lane and bike lane, despite oncoming traffic and pedestrians).

We were also lucky to make a new friend in Beijing, Ivy, a friend of Ben Wigger (thanks, Ben!) She was able to answer A LOT of questions we’ve had about China, namely, why is Chairman Mao remembered as such a hero after causing the Cultural Revolution? (In the ‘70s Mao decided steel production was the future and forced everyone, including the farmers, to work in steel factories. And because there was no one left to grow food, 20-30 million people died. He’s also responsible other policies that don’t make tons of sense, like the one-child policy). Mao’s picture is EVERYWHERE, on t-shirts, watches, key chains, in restaurants, etc, and Chinese people line up every day to visit his mausoleum in Tiananmen Square. Ivy says people have mixed feelings about Mao, but he’ll always be remembered for uniting China.

Ivy (Chinese name Shenshen) also tells us a bit about her life and what it’s like to live in China...

She was born in 1980, the year the one-child policy went into effect, so she doesn’t have siblings. (Now parents can pay 100,000 rmb, or $12,500 USD, to the government for the second child, but that’s a lot of money on a Chinese salary). Her father was an artist, but when he was forced to work in a steel factory during the Cultural Revolution, he got sick and died. She works full-time at the Beijing Evening News as a graphic designer, but works too much and is looking for a different job. Interestingly, she works a normal U.S. 40 hour week and considers this a heavy load! Some day, she wants to leave China and live in a country where she can have lots of kids, but this means she’ll have to leave her mother behind, who is a widow now and will live alone. Obviously, it’s so sad to hear all this, especially as I only check in with the government on April 15!

I travel with a group of English teachers later who tell me the One-child policy has really negative social implications, ie most of their students are “little emperors” because their parents give them everything and don’t make them do their homework. As a result, the kids don’t learn anything and the teachers are held responsible.

Before leaving Beijing, I buy a Chinese laptop, which could prove to be a huge mistake but it’s really cheap because in China, you can negotiate prices on everything, even at the mall. I also see my first fat Chinese person at KFC, the West’s contribution to China (hey, I was only there getting coffee. I hit my quota on green tea a few weeks ago).

I'm looking at airfare to destinations in southern China. Beijing is WAY too cold…