The following is a recount of my experiences in Beijing:

Beijing… North capital…! One really huge city, with incredible traffic chaos — nobody really follows the traffic lights or signs (however a policeman in the center of a huge intersection wields a degree of authority)…. It’s every car, bike and pedestrian for them self (and somehow it works). The layout is essentially a grid, with wide concentric “ring roads” speeding up travel.

Our hotel was the “Holiday Inn” (downtown). Apparently it was 4 star. I would be reluctant to describe our particular room as meeting those standards — it was often noisy at night and the beds were hard (however some other people got more spacious and comfortable rooms), but it was more than adequate. After all, one does not go to another country to enjoy the hotels… :-P

And the toilet and basin swirled in the opposite direction! How strange!

I felt a little sorry for the lady hotel workers who would have to stand outside (but dressed in a really cool red coat and hat thingie) in the cold… seemingly all the time. So I tried to practice my Putonghua with varying degrees of success.

I wouldn’t recommend this hotel for it’s price.

After asking about 10 people along the way, I ended up finding an internet cafe ( “wangba” )… It was tucked into a lane, up a flight of stairs. Inside, it was dark and smoky (people can smoke just about anywhere in China) and generally almost full of people [For those from Melbourne, the cafe was somewhat like N2C in terms of atmosphere]… Most were playing internet games, in particular one which looked like Diablo but wasn’t.

It was a new experience walking alone around the streets at night, and actually feeling safe. There are always people around, and everyone is generally friendly. People seem surprised at my state of singledom. No marriage proposals as yet, however. :-o

The Hutongs

We also visited the house of the illustrious Mr Feng — once a widely renowned breeder of singing grasshoppers and fighting crickets (it’s true!). He showed us his instruments and devices for the upkeep of these critters, including a minute set of scales! I don’t think many others noticed, but Mr Feng was Muslim — he had a hanging of the Hadj on his wall, along with the more traditional Chinese trappings. Mr Feng had some rather cute puppies out the back of his house, as well as some strange birds…

The Great Wall

It’s hard to appreciate the scale and immense nature of the wall until you actually walk a section of it. It was actually really really hard work in places, with the steps being over a foot high, as the wall impressively climbed the mountains. To think such a thing went on for thousands of kilometers over such terrain is still mind-boggling. Anyhow, the view from the top of the section I walked provided a good view of the surrounding terrain — semi-barren, steep and breathtaking in it’s ruggedness. One could see the wall curling over and around the landscape on the other side of the valley. There was also a smaller track running somewhat parallel to the wall which led to two pagodas (pictured)….

Tienanmen Square & The Forbidden City

It’s really hard to actually appreciate the sheer scale of Tienanmen Square, let alone The Forbidden City. The square not only houses the “North Gate”, Mao’s mausoleum, a giant pillar — it is surrounded by imperious communist buildings and presided over by the giant face of Mao hanging on the Northern wall of The Forbidden City. Red flags were everywhere. As were tourists and stodgy vendors (never ever, ever pay their asking price). Nevertheless, the Square was exceptional with its atmosphere of scale.

The Forbidden City was even larger. One can look all the way through the consecutive inner gates for at least a kilometer… Buildings everywhere, but placed with a sense of deliberation — nothing felt “crowded” or haphazard. The architecture was exquisite, and I felt lucky that it was still preserved to be seen, given the track record of “preservation” in this country (quite literally a land of cranes). Indeed and unfortunately, the main part of the forbidden city was under wraps because of restoration. A pity, but that was only one part that was missed out of a overly fantastic wander.

Other Things

We also saw an Acrobatic show, which was fantastic and often jaw-dropping, as well as a Kung-Fu show, which was exhilarating too.

The “markets” as they are called, are indoors, and there are floors and floors of all matter of menagerie. The girls were in 7th heaven. At the top of floor of these buildings typically is a food hall — and the food is really good value and for the most part, really good.

All in all, Beijing was fantastic. I am eager to re-visit on my own (as opposed to being in a semi-tour) as I found Shanghai more liberating in that I was able to explore to my heart’s content.

See more photos in my photo gallery.

I shall recount my first few days in my next post, but for the moment here is today and yesterday:

Saturday — Chinese New Years Eve

Got up at 4am. People still in the streets of Beijing. Went to airport. Plane delayed by fog. Asked for how long: they replied “20 minutes”. Hah! Waited. Got on plane via bus across tarmac. Uneventful plane trip. Really good airline food (pick the “Chinese”, avoid the “Western” food [that they provide] like the plague. Some foreigners got suckered.) Landed. Very Very Foggy. Collected Luggage. Met GAP people, and link teachers. One of the GAP managers for Jiangsu was really cute. Met Huang Yao (William) for the first time in person. Car journey. Napped. Stopped for a really good lunch. Continued journey. Napped. Arrived in Sheyang. Got shown apartment. Only bedroom is heated. Still it’s all good. Unpacked. Went out to dinner with the principal of the school. Really really good food (again)! Learnt how to determine the head of the table on a round table and sundry seating arrangements in a formal situation (look for the special napkin, the door, and eggs). Came home. Lots of crackers and fireworks. Watched the celebrations on TV. Rather amusing. Very tired. Slept.

Sunday — Chinese New Year!

I got up at 8am today. Still lots of crackers. We walked with Huang Yao to his parents’ place, and had an excellent lunch (must be a universal constant that home cooking is pretty good). Had quite a few toasts (”ganbei!”). I like the rice wine and the beer here. Met Jerry Yang, a former student Huang Yao and now Joe and my school. He showed us around. The atmosphere here is very lively and friendly. The built environment is more dense compared to Melbourne, and there were plenty of people around. Had a great dinner. Then we (Jerry, Joe and I) went to Karaoke. I wasn’t expecting it, but it was good fun!

So for now: Xin Nian Kuai Le! (Happy New Year!)

I arrived in Beijing at about 7am this morning. It was cold, but definitely bearable. The airport wasn’t bad (we arrived in the 2nd extension as the 3rd is not completed yet), and there was surprisingly little red tape (compared to Australia).

The city is huge! The traffic is pretty much chaos in motion. The only method of crossing the road is J-walking. And somehow it works. :-o

Zaijian!

This one is just a quick status update!

China

Well, I’m heading off on the 13th! The flight is to Beijing via Singapore. I’ve decided I shall try and visit Tibet at some point during my travels, which should be very rewarding.

The general travel plan is to follow the east coast, around to the south, and around; then enter Tibet, leave tibet; then follow the silk road route into China; then perhaps back to Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong… However, it’s still up in the air as yet.

In the more immediate future, I’m doing a “teaching conversational english” [introductory] course next week. I wonder how useful it will be!

C-Dogs SDL

I’m hopefully going to do another release before I head off to China. Things to look forward to are:

• A Windows binary! It seems to work on XP…
• Fast scaling and multiple resolution support — you can now use C-Dogs on a variety of monitors/resolutions with ease
• Smarter timing, which doesn’t require threads
• And lots of cleanups and small bug-fixes

The first point will be of interest to most! :)

I’m not sure what will happen with C-Dogs SDL while I’m away… I’ll probably have to put things on hold for a while. Feel free to submit patches, however. :-D

… for I only have 6 weeks until Year 12 (proper) is over. This is both exciting and alarming, as I feel that I have got to do lots before I feel completely prepared for the exams (the first one, English, is in 3 and a half weeks).

After that, I’ve got to do the RMIT Architecture “drawing exercise”. That should be interesting, and If they like my stuff, I’ve got to look forward to an panel interview. Still, despite this intimidating prospect (and a 5 year degree, no less), I’ll be over the moon if I get in.

Because of said appointment (on the 19th of November), I may not undertake schoolies at this point in time. I don’t necessarily view this as a bad thing, because I’m still trying to be careful with my money! Maybe I’ll settle for a small thing with friends, instead.

And of course, there are speech-night rehearsals which I need to attend. The upside to this commitment, is that I don’t have to sing! :-D

The parents have declared that we’re going to Phillip Island for Christmas. Apologies to those who I misinformed (for some reason, I thought we were going to New Zealand). I hope to convince them to let a few friends and I come up a bit earlier for a “Thank God VCE is over” celebration. Mum and Dad, we’ll make sure it’s clean, I promise. :-P

What next? 2007

Apparently linux.conf.au will be in Sydney in January. I may attend. In 2008, when it’s held in Melbourne, I might be part of the Gentoo miniconf (if mark_alec has his way).

At this stage, it’s pretty much a given that I shall be doing my GAP year. That is, I will travel to China for about 5 months, and travel and teach english. I can only hope I get boarded with someone interesting (hehe, I bet they’re thinking the same). I’ll be gone from February to around July.

Once I get back, chances are that I’ll do lots of work with Coles and save some $$$. My eventual hope is that I’ll be in a sound financial situation by 30 (2018!?!). That is, to be able to live without worrying about a lack of money.

Also, a friend (Edward Couper — he’ll be famous one day, I’m sure) and I may be going into business together, as a partnership. I won’t mention much more, as things haven’t been sorted out as yet, but it’ll probably be in Web Design.

I may also start seriously training for my 2nd dan.

And of course the inevitable dalliances… ;-)