China: Because Once just isn't Enough!

The Great Wall

Two months into China and I'm done with atheism because if the Chinese ever take over, God help us.  It's my duty to warn the tourist-going public that the heathens are a tough crowd en masse.  They like to yell, they like to spit, they mob exits & they cut queues. Their ability to rile nerves: second to none.  They've little concept of personal space & they've too little common sense.  My question, if there is one, is why, after 10,000 years of civilization, have they not yet figured out some basics of common social norm.  For if they had, one needn't fight one's way off a subway while the crowd pushes in first.  But this is merely an attempt to tame a chaotic experience with reason and is better left undone. Speaking of which: you don't put corn on pizza!  But China has her own way about her.

Situated on the Yangtze River Delta, Shanghai is the largest city-proper in the world. And like Hong Kong, Shanghai was built off European opium trade.  Today, it is the showpiece of a booming China.  The British arrived in 1842.  The French got here in 1847.  The Japanese came in 1895.  In 2011, I decided it was my turn.  Rich in structure & architecture, the art-deco French Concession on the Bund, the ultra-modern shopping arcades, the world-class history museums, the state-of-the-art skyscrapers towering over Pudong, the large & floral People's parks, the super high-end Mag-Lev rocket-rail transport system, and the bountiful plethora of supreme Shanghainese foods are all unforgettable! And just as in the days of old, the women will try to rob you, the men will try to cheat you, and the city will do all in its power to challenge you. Visitors who are less than savvy are sure to be "Shanghai'd" in this long-venerated metropolis where the ruthless thrive off the naive.

The military, political, educational, economic, cultural & historical capital of Big Mother China is Beijing.  It has a freakishly long history of being defeated & dominated by an endless line of dynasties throughout its ages.  Beijing has been ruled by the Tang, the Zhou, the Song, the Liao, the Shun, the Jin, the Yuan, the Qing, the Mongols, the Manchus, the Ming, you get the point... Today, it is the People's Republic of China.

Ideal for sightseeing & adventure, Tienamen Square is the largest city square in the world & the site of two pro-democracy movements.  The Forbidden City, the old Imperial Palace and home of the Emperors for more than 500 years, was built in 1406 by 1,000,000 men and houses 8707 rooms in 980 buildings... it deserves a day.  True enough, these Chinese guys have been building gigantic walls since the 8th century B.C., but the creme de la creme of all great Chinese walls is the Great Wall of China, a 4000-mile stone fortification built to protect its northern border against intrusion hundreds of years before baby Jesus.  It, too, deserves a day and makes for a strenuous yet pleasant afternoon outing in the cloudy mountains.

Hutong are clumps of narrow alleys connected.  They are the neighborhoods of Beijing. They run east-west and face south.  They are legacy from Genghis Khan when he conquered and leveled the city in 1215.  They are a real China experience.  They deserve a day.  But get here soon because they are being demolished to make way for boulevards & buildings. It's the beauty of progress and you can see it in the air!