I feel like I need to apologize to Beijing about misrepresenting its weather. I thought that the overcast skies and gray-hue were due to ever-present pollution, but today was sunny with a very blue sky. Apparantly the first few days really were cloudy and not just pollution-filled. Also, it seems we spent the first few days here in "old" Beijing-- what looks like Chinatown in NYC. Today we went to "new" Beijing-- it looks like the rest of Manhattan. So, I'm sorry, Beijing. I misrepresented you.
This morning we found an area that clearly was revitalized with the influx of Olympic tourists in mind. It's a very hip-looking row of restaurants and bars overlooking a lake in a beautiful section of Beijing-- one of the bars is actually called "Sex and Da City" (I kid you not). As we were walking there this morning, we were stopped in front of the Starbucks by two teenagers who asked if they could interview us about our feelings about Beijing, the Olympics and Chinese "etiquette". Basically, they wanted to know if we were offended by Chinese "customs" like spitting in the street and men walking around in hot weather with their shirts pulled up, revealing their bellies. We told them that we were frustrated by overly attentive wait staff (waiters hand you menus and hover over you until you order, not even letting you read the menu first-- it's so annoying!!) but otherwise, Chinese etiquette was fine. This seems to be of tremendous concern to the citizens of Beijing-- they are very worried about what foreigners (Olympic-related, of course) will think about some of their less polite customs. There appears to have been a massive education campaign telling people about things like waiting in line, not spitting in the streets, etc. (I wonder if that includes saying "Hello!" very loudly to every white person you see, as that happens to us 100 times a day). We actually saw a few of what we think are these signs, but of course we couldn't read them. The pictures looked like they could be, though...
People here are SO EXCITED for the Olympics. It is exciting to be here a few weeks beforehand, and see how much preparation the entire city goes through. The people of Beijing are so proud to have their city hosting such a prestigious event, and they're so excited to show off their city to foreigners. We have been so welcomed here, which of course is quite nice. But the impact on this city will be nuts, both environmental and otherwise. I have seen quite a few recycling bins, which I"m sure were just introduced here. And honestly, they were all empty (I'm not sure people know what to do with them), but at least they're here for foreigners to use. There are already 18 million people in this city, and with the Olympics an influx of 1.5 million more are expected. Crazy!!
We also watched some (government-run) Chinese tv news today-- fascinating perspectives about the Olympic preparations (the food is safe! the air quality is fine! everything will be ready! we welcome you!), their relationship wtih Taiwan (we love Taiwan! people from the island should visit the mainland!), and other fairy tales...
This morning we found an area that clearly was revitalized with the influx of Olympic tourists in mind. It's a very hip-looking row of restaurants and bars overlooking a lake in a beautiful section of Beijing-- one of the bars is actually called "Sex and Da City" (I kid you not). As we were walking there this morning, we were stopped in front of the Starbucks by two teenagers who asked if they could interview us about our feelings about Beijing, the Olympics and Chinese "etiquette". Basically, they wanted to know if we were offended by Chinese "customs" like spitting in the street and men walking around in hot weather with their shirts pulled up, revealing their bellies. We told them that we were frustrated by overly attentive wait staff (waiters hand you menus and hover over you until you order, not even letting you read the menu first-- it's so annoying!!) but otherwise, Chinese etiquette was fine. This seems to be of tremendous concern to the citizens of Beijing-- they are very worried about what foreigners (Olympic-related, of course) will think about some of their less polite customs. There appears to have been a massive education campaign telling people about things like waiting in line, not spitting in the streets, etc. (I wonder if that includes saying "Hello!" very loudly to every white person you see, as that happens to us 100 times a day). We actually saw a few of what we think are these signs, but of course we couldn't read them. The pictures looked like they could be, though...
People here are SO EXCITED for the Olympics. It is exciting to be here a few weeks beforehand, and see how much preparation the entire city goes through. The people of Beijing are so proud to have their city hosting such a prestigious event, and they're so excited to show off their city to foreigners. We have been so welcomed here, which of course is quite nice. But the impact on this city will be nuts, both environmental and otherwise. I have seen quite a few recycling bins, which I"m sure were just introduced here. And honestly, they were all empty (I'm not sure people know what to do with them), but at least they're here for foreigners to use. There are already 18 million people in this city, and with the Olympics an influx of 1.5 million more are expected. Crazy!!
We also watched some (government-run) Chinese tv news today-- fascinating perspectives about the Olympic preparations (the food is safe! the air quality is fine! everything will be ready! we welcome you!), their relationship wtih Taiwan (we love Taiwan! people from the island should visit the mainland!), and other fairy tales...
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