| Lea's Latest Writing |
| AIDS |
| STDs |
| Mattie Stepanek |
| Highlights Magazine |
| Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah |
| Cell Phones for Soldiers |
| Staying Connected-Tidewater Parent |
| 2004 China Journey |
| 2001 RTW Trip |
| Supported by |
| Hampton Roads - Site of the Week 11/1/00 |
| Lechinois.com |
| Best Viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer |
|
|
[ Up ]
Beijing Journal
(Keith)
Beijing, once Peking, is one of the cities I wanted to see in my
lifetime. Although we were anxious to get Grace, we were able to spend
three relaxing days touring the city and some nearby sights (Forbidden City,
Ming Tombs, and the Great Wall). Lea describes those in her journal entry.
Beijing is certainly a "showcase" city with fashionable hotels, upscale shopping malls, and fancy restaurants. As we saw on our drive to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs, great disparity exists between life in this city and life in the countryside. In Beijing, it seemed as if we could get anything we wanted . . . complete with the obligatory Starbucks and McDonalds. In contrast, the communities in the countryside appear to be very rudimentary with few modern amenities. Our Chinese tour guide even pointed out how some families have built homes "under the mountain". These dwellings are caves that have been dug directly into the mountainside; apparently they even have electricity. Even with electricity this is a very hard life compared with the city.
Strangely the Chinese hold Mao Zedong in high regard; on one of our tours the guide described him as 70% good and 30% bad, but still a "good man". The Cultural Revolution was described as a "mistake"; during the Cultural Revolution, Mao setout to destroy the "four olds": old customs, old habits, old culture, and old think. This led to mass persecution and killing of intellectuals, doctors, scientists, artists, and numerous others. Millions are thought to have been murdered during this period. Another, less famous, experiment of Mao's was The Great Leap Forward. During this period an estimated 30 million people starved to death, many because of bad economic policies. I would be interested in hearing the real views of some of those that lived through these periods; I find it hard to understand the cult status that Mao holds here and throughout the world.
On a lighter note, we had some great food in Beijing. The most memorable being a dumpling shop that seemed completely authentic; none of the waitresses could understand English, luckily one of the younger patrons helped. We had huge plates of dumplings stuffed with chives, mushrooms, and other stuff.
Beijing was a memorable experience, and I hope to return here.
(Lea)
We arrived at the Grand Hyatt in Beijing 27 hours after leaving our house.
Tired! But, we were so excited to get to Beijing for New Years Eve and to
be closer to Grace. The Hyatt was gorgeous!!! We had a fantastic dinner
there and celebrated with those staying at the Hyatt-many Chinese plus some
Americans, French and Germans. The next day was Grace's First Birthday,
January 1st! Although we could not be with her, we were happy to be in her
birth country! We walked all around Beijing and were impressed with its
clean streets (although the air is quite polluted), modern buildings and shops
with everything imaginable (from Starbucks to Esprit!) China, although a
Communist country, has definitely embraced capitalism. Beijing is its
showcase city but we have read that the less populated cities and towns are not
yet enjoying the wealth that Beijing has. We shall soon see more when we fly to
the Henan province. In addition to its modern amenities, Beijing has
many cultural sites from its 3000 year history. We visited the Forbidden
City, which has 9000 rooms in its many buildings! This is where the Ming
and Qing emperors lived from the 1400s until 1911 when the Qing dynasty was
ousted. While visiting the Forbidden City, I noticed many Chinese families
visiting with their children. In fact, throughout the city, even at the
best restaurants, Chinese children were all around. Their parents appear to
really enjoy having them around and no one seems to get upset when they run
about restaurants and such. We've met a few children and they have been
quite sweet. That makes us really want to get a hold of
Grace! Also, we stopped at the Tiananmen Square (that's across
from me in the picture) where thousands of students protested for more freedoms
in 1989 and were retaliated against by the government. Under martial law,
students were shot at and killed. It's hard to know if the human rights
situation has improved along with the economic situation, because people do not
seem to say a word against the government. However, we met many who are
quite proud of much of their city and its heritage. After visiting it, I
can understand why they have this pride--there is great history here!
Hopefully, they will continue to gain more freedom as China continues to open
its doors.
Check out our Beijing Photos