BEIJING, CHINA

Not knowing what to expect when I arrived in Beijing, I was surprised.  I thought with the strong government that there would be all sort of red tape and be restrictive.  Nor did I expect to see a very modern city with everything.  I am told that Shanghai is even more modern than Beijing. Shanghai is the financial capital for China and Beijing is the cultural and political center.  There is an other city that I can not remember its name, but it represents the small rural towns.  They say if you visit all three places you will have seen every other town.

This was another charmed trip.  When I got on the plane seated across the isle was an Indonesian who was making her first trip to China to study.  After much conversation. we decided to go to see some of the sights together.  She had orientation the next day, but decided to skip it and go to the Great Wall. She reminded me of someone else that I know that always skipped class. The next two days, we saw The Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Bell Tower, HuTang, Forbidden City, and many other things.  She really made me laugh, which is the way with a lot of oriental women. After the two days, she had to go to the University and I continued on mixing shopping and seeing what trouble I could do.

The Great Wall is really a marvel of all times. For it to be imagined and then built is phenomenal.  It was built wide enough for five horsemen to ride on top of it. I climbed over 1,149 steps to reach the top of the wall.  There were more but I didn't start counting until I was into them.  Of course, one can take the cable car.

Now the process of coisonne (taking copper and enamel and processing them together), the Chinese have refined through hundreds of years, but they have refined the art of selling better than the Indians.  Yes, I bought enamel and copper plates and vases, and lost more weight in my wallet. 

The food was fabulous and extremely fresh.  I also met a teacher and painter.  She took me to a traditional Chinese restaurant.  I waddled out of there.  Yes, I also bought one of her drawings.

The last night is China found me walking down one of the main streets, when I came across abut fifty booths selling food.  Guess what, you could buy any thing imagined from three scorpions, roaches, worms, tongues, brains (I needed some of those), and my favorite fish.  I took photos of the scorpions, but I won't say whether I ate them or some of the other delicacies.

China was a great time.  With its 1.3 billion people and its strong government, it will be a super power within fifteen to twenty years.  China has always thought it was the center of the world.  One day, they might be.  By the time of the next Olympic game in four years, it will have the second largest economy in the world.  It is a beautiful country and I will be back.  Now to Hong Kong and get ready for the snow and the final celebration before returning back to Mississippi.