Beijing!

After watching the months of coverage leading up to and through the Olympics, we were so excited to have the chance to see Beijing for ourselves. Many people have told us that Beijing and Hong Kong have little in common and that we would notice the difference; I think there is a great deal of truth to that.

Beijing was an amazing city, filled with truly ancient history and surprisingly modern features. Like Hong Kong, it has its fair share of big buildings and international travelers, but it is much more uniquely Chinese. The majority of places in Beijing are not bilingual, and if you don't know Mandarin-- well too bad for you. That said, the taxi drivers make their best effort to figure out where you're pointing on your Lonely Planet map and get you there in a timely manner.

This may seem obvious, as it is the capital city, but it really does seem that Beijing is the exact parallel to Washington D.C. and Hong Kong the exact parallel to New York. Unlike Hong Kong, which is almost entirely focused on business and commerce, the main focus of Beijing is reflecting a uniquely Chinese identity. Nearly everywhere you turn there are monuments and relics to the past and structures for all different branches of governance. This makes Beijing a fascinating place to visit because just by walking around you can explore Chinese life in the Ming Dynasty 3,000 years ago, the Qing Dynasty 300 years ago, the Cultural Revolution 30 years ago and the great changes taking place today.

In our five days in Beijing we attempted to see as much as we possibly could fit into each day, and when we left we still felt as though we missed out. It is definitely a place one should commit at least one week to thoroughly explore.

In the interest of brevity (although it may be too late for that...) I'll just mention a few of our favorite places:

1.) The Great Wall. It was pretty spectacular, and the entire time we hiked it I had to keep pinching myself to believe I was really there. Although there are many sections of the wall tourists visit, we chose to go to Mutianyi, which is known for stunning views and NOT having a Starbucks yet! What it did have, which was GREAT, was local women selling Oreos mid-way through the hike to the top. It was a little random, but those little chocolate cookies have never tasted so good as after an hour of walking up steps!! It also had a truly comical means of getting up and down from the Wall-- to get up you ride a ski lift and to get down you sled down a metal chute in a one-person toboggan!




2.) Tienanmen Square-- Although everyone knows the tragic history of Tienanmen Square, I did not know that it is the largest square of any city in the world. I also did not realize how many beautiful buildings and monuments were included in the Square. Tom and I both felt obliged to get our picture taken in front of the giant picture of Mao, but not without mixed emotions. Oddly, many Chinese tourists asked if they could take pictures on their cameras of us in front of the picture!! Now that the Olympics are over, I guess it is back to being a novelty to see Americans around.







3.) Olympic Village -- Yes, it's true that the coverage we saw of the Olympics from Thailand and Cambodia was very different from what most of you probably saw in the United States (read: non-stop women's weight-lifting, badminton, and synchronized diving), but we still saw enough of the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube to be excited to see it ourselves.
Unfortunately, the morning we visited was especially polluted (Beijing more than lived up to its reputation in the air quality department) so the pictures aren't great, but it was pretty cool to see. The architecture reminds me of nothing I've ever seen before.

4. FOOD!! If you've read any of the other posts on this blog, you'll know my love of describing food. Typically I don't love Chinese food, but Beijing sure does know that it's doing! (MUCH better than Hong Kong!!) We tried a few different restaurants with amazing dumplings, Peking Duck, deep-fried pork ribs, chicken and things with exotic names that Tom liked. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, and if anyone is ever going to Beijing and wants recommendations, just let me know.















5.) Tea House After a few days of hitting all the most popular tourist destinations, we were ready to explore some back streets not listed in the guide books. As is often the way with traveling, it was after we got lost in a 'hutong' (traditional Chinese neighborhood), that we found the perfect tea house and art gallery. We spent a wonderful and charming hour in the tea house with a lovely Beijing woman who had taught herself English based on her experiences with visitors. She taught us all about traditional tea and answered all our questions about life in the city. I would have no idea how to get back there if I tried, but it was a wonderful and memorable accident.



Sorry this post has been so delayed, it's been a busy couple of weeks!

The U.S. Elections

After two years of obsessive tracking of polls, editorials, blogs and opinions, it was sad to be so far from the United States for this historic election. As I told my college roommate, Sue, I am jealous of everyone who was able to stand in line with neighbors and free Starbucks for hours to participate in this moment. Tom and I were both able to mail our absentee ballots a few weeks ago, but standing in a crowded street in Hong Kong stuffing your vote into a post office box is just not the same.

That said, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong really came through. They hosted a party in their downtown office today for all Americans, complete with free coffee, snacks, election giveaways, and big-screen TVs playing CNN. Because of the thirteen hour time difference, we gathered to begin watching the election results come in this morning at 7:30am.

The mock election held at the Chamber of Commerce today confirmed what all the T-shirts, buttons, and general atmosphere of the party clearly implied, 90% of the Americans abroad attending the party supported Obama.

As I'm sure it was for most everyone watching in America, the experience of watching the states' results come in one at a time was a euphoric and surreal event. So many of the Americans sitting around us shared our excitement for myriad reasons-- Obviously it is impossible to overemphasize the transcendent power of electing an African-American. There was hardly a dry eye in the house when an African-American woman from Chicago led us all in a heartfelt and solemn rendition of "God Bless America."

But there is also the hope that we will stop having to make excuses to strangers and stop having to justify our place as a global superpower. Granted, Tom and I have only been abroad a few months, but anyone who has traveled abroad in the past five years for even a few days has been asked again and again to explain America's behavior.


It is astounding to me how intently Hong Kong and the rest of the world has watched our election and it is uplifting to see first-hand how instantly this election drastically improves their view of us. President-elect Obama summed it up perfectly in his acceptance speech when he said, "CHANGE HAS COME."