Overwhelming, glorious Beijing!

Your correspondent with a portrait of the original Hair Club for Men model.

Singapore Post Cards is not dead. My computer had a near-death experience and I had a bad cold, but Post Cards lives! We recently returned from a 10-day tour of China's big three metropolises -- half of which felt like it was spent in airports and on airplanes, but all for a good cause. Margaret got to meet with her teams in the country's three main offices and I got to do what I do best, goof around in a strange place. Not even the marriage of our good friends Will and Kate could derail this express, though it did delay dinner one evening. So sit back -- as much as you can at a keyboard -- and try to enjoy the next few postings. 

We learned over the next couple of days that it's always rush hour on the rails beneath Beijing.

Within two hours of landing in Beijing, we had ditched our bags at the hotel and headed to the nearest subway station to embrace rush hour on a Friday evening. First stop was the lowering of the flag ceremony at Tiananmen Square, which occurs every single night precisely at sunset with almost supernatural precision by the Red Guard. 

Due to overcast skies, we can't vouch for the precision of the precise sunset timing, but we did get a first-hand look at the precision with which the Red Guard cleared Tiananmen Square after the ceremony. That was impressive.

We spent most of the next day at the Forbidden City. Aside from the spectacle of seeing perhaps the world's best preserved example of gracious emperor-style living, was the spectacle of seeing it overrun with Chinese tourists. We had heard that domestic tourism was one of the hot new industries on the mainland due to the magic of planned capitalism, but we weren't ready for the borderline desperate enthusiasm of the local tourists. To get a peek inside one of the main halls and forbidden thrones,  you have to fight your up the steps to the open door. 

Congratulations! You've made it to the rail for a view the throne inside the Hall of Central Harmony.

The building has also been known  as Hall of Overwhelming Glory and Hall of Central Extremity over the centuries. We're thinking of renaming our throne room the Hall of Necessary Evil.

Now try getting out.  

Hard to believe an empty chair could be such a draw. What would have happened if somebody important like Stephen Tyler or Charlie Sheen had been sitting there? Side note: Can you find Waldo, I mean Margaret, in the above scene of overwhelming extremity? Sadly, this great human wall defeated her best efforts to bask in harmony and glory.

Margaret got her revenge by pulling up some of the the peonies (the unofficial national flower) growing in the Imperial Garden.

I jest, of course. The Forbidden City is well worth seeing. Truly overwhelming and glorious in every way, except for the Hall of Restrooms. Squatting is hard on the legs. If you're coming here, start the deep-knee bends now.

One of several large plazas and throne halls inside the compound.

Attention to detail that would make any real estate agent's job easy.

Margaret's co-workers and the hotel staff advised us against trying to see the Great Wall during our two-and-half-day visit. They all said we would waste an entire day on a bus or in a car and the weekend crush would be too much. At least it gives us a good reason to return. Instead we headed out to see the Temple of Heaven and beautiful park. On the way we stopped at the nearby Pearl Market -- five floors of shops and stalls all selling pearls.

Margaret praying for a good deal at the entrance to the Pearl Market.

Before going inside, why not stop at this Starbuck's copycat. Too lame? They also sell beer. Nothing lame about that!

While Margaret shopped until the vendors dropped, I went to see the temple. It burned down in the 1800s and was reconstructed entirely from Oregon pine without a single nail. Behold.

The emperor came here annually to make sacrifices to the God of Heaven in hopes of securing a good grain harvest.

That night we went to a restaurant operated by Buddhist monks. As if to prove how versatile vegetarian cuisine can be, they offered the biggest menu we'd ever seen. It was all good -- very classy dining room and lovely presentation of each dish. But the most memorable part of the evening  was our trip back to the hotel. When we asked the folks at the restaurant about getting a taxi, they sent a boy in his flowing robes out to hail us a car. He managed to stop one, but the driver didn't seem to want to take us. But the boy gestured for us to get in as he held the door for us. So far so good. We drove about 100 yards around the first corner and the driver stopped the car and starting yelling at us, waving for us to get out. That wasn't going to happen. We had no idea where we were. So we had a stand-off for several minutes. He kept yelling and grousing. After making a big deal about writing down his I.D. number and showing him I wasn't fooling about reporting him to authorities, he got on the phone and started yelling at someone else. Eventually, apparently shouted out. He drove us to the hotel. Whew!


One of the things that surprised us about China was how easily people in general both laughed and argued on the streets, in the parks and on the subway. You never see that kind of emotion in our new-found hometown. There is a reserve among the Chinese in Singapore that we didn't see in mainland Chinese. Anyway, as we leave Beijing, here are a few random shots of people enjoying one of their favorite pastimes -- hanging out in their truly beautiful parks.

Just outside Behai Park near the Forbidden City.

Ritan Park, near embassy row.

Ritan Park.

Temple of Heaven Park.

Beijing Zoo.

Jingshan Park from just inside the Divine Military Genius Gate at the Forbidden City.

Zaijian, Beijing!