China, Introduction

Beijing is a city full of contrasts. I spent four days in the Capitol of the PEOPLES Republic of China, and had an amazing time. This city is host to Five Star Hotels, priced like Three stars, Taxi cab ripoffs, incredible countryside and natural beauty, great wealth and great privation, often meters away. It is a city trying to put a new face on, and dance the same tune as a lot of other large cities do, but in a hurry. If you have not been there in a while, you will not recognize parts of it. Over the next week, I will try to share with you all my thoughts and impressions of the place, and I have to confess, I am still trying to digest all of it.
The Thousand Li Wall was, indeed, great.

One thing I must warn you all about is the prevailance of hucksters, promoters, and procurers. Everyone in the city is trying to make a buck, and someone with a Western face is mercilessly hounded or cajoled into this place, or that place or this thing or that thing. My tour book, and my good friend JJ both warn about not getting into a gypsy (non-licenced) cab, one that is procured by a "cab-pimp" for you at the airport. And if I had gotten either her email or had read that part of the book before I got in one, I would definitely have not been such a sucker. Let me tell you , they cost an astronomical in RMB, the cab ride was 350, the "road tax" was 50, and the two "tips" (read, "hostage ransoms") were each 100. If you add this all up, and convert it to US dollars, it was about $70, which is about what a cab ride from Reagan National to Washington DC can cost, so, in real terms, it is about what I m used to paying for the distance, but in relative terms it is about 10 times what one should actually pay. I got to my hotel safe and sound, but a little poorer and a lot wiser. I hope that most of you can appreciate this: without a hint of irony, in an actually friendly manner, the rider offered me a smoke. Quite appropriate, I thought, after having been screwed.

Walking into the hotel, I got my room, lay down and relaxed for a while after the flight and the cab ride, and talked to the concierge, to get myself positioned well in the place. He gave me a lot of tips and information, and then I went back to the room, to get some rest for my following busy day. Tomorrow: the City and the Square.