Beijing

JGN met me in Beijing.  I am introducing him to China.  We traveled around for two weeks and had lots of fun.  In Beijing we had one day of rain and three days of blue skies and sunshine, almost unbelievable but we have photos to show for it.  The city continues to boggle the mind with mega-size buildings, six ring roads, traffic, etc. etc.  Over 22 million people, 4 million cars, and real estate more expensive than Manhattan. The government now restricts new license plates to 60,000 per quarter, with 1.1 million people vying to win the car lottery. A new car in China costs the same as one does in the US.  There are also restrictions on driving--odd numbered licenses only can drive on odd numbered days, even on even days. But there are ways around this. In my cousin's family, there are 3 cars -- two so that they can drive every day, and one that is parked in a space that he doesn't want to give up. Yet he still lives in a modest apartment built over 50 years ago.

The first night we poked around the alleys behind our hotel and found Otto's (Ri Chang), a popular HK-style chain.  We picked it because there was a line (15 min wait).  Food was pretty good! (though we didn't know to order what all the locals were eating--chicken wings wrapped in foil and big clay pot rice with meat... next time!)  Next day was very rainy but we soldiered on -- visit to Forbidden City, Tiananmen, then a rickshaw ride for lunch and shopping in hutong (old neighborhoods --see link at left for more).

Otto's

Tienanmen

Inside the Forbidden City

南锣鼓巷-Nanluoguxiang hutong