The END

This is my last blog.

On Friday February 1, I’m flying back to Cincinnati, back home. I’ve posted close to 70 articles on this blog over the last 6 months with the purpose of sharing some of my experiences with friends and family. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing about my adventures.

I’ve got to know some great people, tried a few new things, traveled a bit across China, learned a lot (also about myself) and feel re-energized. My stay in Beijing felt like a sabbatical as I had plenty of time to think, to reflect, to study, to observe and to write.

I want to thank all of you for staying in touch with me, for posting your comments, for visiting me, calling me and sending me plenty of emails. I certainly want to express my gratitude to my supervisors at work for giving me the opportunity to take this assignment. My largest debt of gratitude is to my wife Greet and sons Andreas and Simon. I owe a great deal to my family for enduring my absence. You guys rock!

I once read that:”The true worth of your travels lies not in where you come to be at the journeys end, but in who you come to be along the way.” For sure, the whole experience has influenced me in several ways but only time will tell what will be long-lasting. For now I’ll keep going with the flow and cherish the many happy moments I encountered in Beijing and during my travels in China.

THANKS.
Paul

Farewell to my bike

Today I drove my bike for the last time. I took it to a Starbucks and left it there unlocked. I hope that one needed person in Beijing will pick it up and keep the wheels spinning. Only 5 more days left in Beijing and today seemed like the right day to depart from my iron horse. It has served me well.

Happy Chinese New Year

Feb 7, 2008 is the start of the new year in China and the start of the Year of the Rat. Chinese New Year is without a doubt the biggest holiday in China and a major one in East Asia. Hundreds of millions of people are traveling within China as they are visiting their family. They travel by train, bus, car, plane, boat, etc... you can imagine the chaos when such a large mass of people is on the move. In my travels last week I could already sense a larger crowd in the airports. Not for the faint of heart. Many companies and factories close for one to two weeks and doing business as normal is practically impossible. With the celebrations also comes a whole array of decorations. Every respectable store, restaurant, hotel, company lobby, etc,.. is covered with red decorations. I took a picture of a store selling these decorations in an attempt to capture the magic that surrounds the holiday.

CCTV

One of the most striking buildings in Beijing is the new headquarters of the China Central Television. It is also one of those buildings I have tracked and watched as it evolved over the last 6 months. Its Esher-like construction is truly fascinating, just like so many things in Beijing.

Ice fun

Today I took a long walk through several of Beijing’s parks. With the recent temperature drops, the parks are opening up for ice skating. Some lakes in Beijing have stagnant water and with the windy conditions the ice is getting over 15 cm thick, safe for people to walk on the ice. Bei Hai Park was a summer playground and imperial garden for many emperors for more than 1000 years. It is located next to the Forbidden City and opened in 1925 to the public. In Bei Hai Park ice skating is not allowed but you can still hit the ice on a bingche, a chair mounted on ice-skates. The coolest thing I saw however were these ice bikes. From Bei Hai I walked to the adjacent Hou Hai park were ice skating was allowed and the lake was crowed with people having fun. Take a look at the attached pictures. One guy was clearing a stretch of ice for what might have been a swim. However, I got cold waiting for him to take a dip and decided to move on and get myself a cup of hot tea. Stay warm.

Snow in Beijing

This week I experienced my first snow day in Beijing. The snowfall was very light but still enough to blanket the city and to create some havoc on the roads. It was actually pretty to see the face of Beijing changing, especially from behind a window. It is still freezing cold outside. The max temp during the day is only -3 degrees Celsius. I admire those many cyclists trying to stay upright despite the slippery roads. It was hard for me to walk without slipping; I can only imagine how they struggle on their bikes. Snow fall is rare in Beijing as the air is very dry and there is rarely enough moisture in the air to have any form of precipitation. When it happens it creates a little bit of magic. A grey and dusty city turns beautifully white. I also loved watching the shop keepers and store owners broom their walkways. I’m used to see people shovel snow not broom it. Everywhere people were out there with these witch-brooms, it reminded me of Harry Potter. I should have taken a picture. Maybe more snow will fall in the coming weeks and I get a second opportunity. It will have to happen soon as I have only two weeks left and I'm traveling all of next week to Hangzhou-Huangshan-Jiangyin-Shanghai.

The facelift of Beijing

The speed of change keeps amazing me. It seems that over the last couple weeks, there is a remarkable acceleration in construction, remodeling, etc all over the city. The city is for sure gearing up for the Olympics and will do whatever it takes to present itself as a worldclass metropolis to the rest of the world. During the weekend, when I was taking a stroll through my neighborhood, I discovered that several small and old buildings have been demolished and are making room for new high rises. Also several DVD stores have been closed which can be seen as a sign that the government is serious about piracy. Sadly, also my favorite bakery is closed for remodeling. My district, the Chaoyang district, is home of the Olympic Green and it has plans to paint 523 buildings along the major roads that will lead to the Olympic venues. The area to be painted is roughly the size of 38,000 soccer fields. The housing complex across my office already had its new layer of paint in November. Painters seem to have a dangerous job, I took several pictures of these guys rappelling down a rope.