Since I was flying standby I arrived a couple days early which allowed me to adjust to the time difference. The first striking thing I noticed was the "eternal fog" surrounding Beijing. It should be no surprise to anyone going to Beijing that the pollution is horrible. Each breath you take increases the likelihood of a respiratory infection ten fold and cuts one minute off of your life.
Another thing that impressed me was the driving. Some people in the USA complain about drivers. I welcome any driver from the USA any day over those driving in Beijing (or any other thirds world country with similar problems), especially taxi drivers. Since I was staying at a friend's house, I took a taxi to the conference center each day and back. Let me review the actual driving rules. 1) Any law officially in the books is considered a recommendation, 2) The lines on the road and signs posted are good suggestions, 3) Wearing a seat belt is a luxury, 4) Taxis always have the right of way, especially when they are carrying a foreigner. With that said I must say that the drivers I had were good for the most part. They found out quickly that I knew my way around and so they couldn't take a detour and get some extra cash out of me. Most of the drivers knew the places I wanted to go and got there without difficulty, though I did have a couple that needed some help. Thank goodness I was there to tell them which roads to take. Overall, the taxis went well, we only hit one person! That was quite an event. The driver was making a left hand turn and tried to squeeze through the space where a guy was riding his bike across the road. It didn't work. The guy on the bike crashed into the side of the taxi. The driver stopped immediately and got out. I watched the two of them have an animated discussion. The driver helped the guy off the ground and straightened up his bike. They both made sure the bike was working and adjusted the front wheel. Then the taxi driver got back in the car and we headed off, apparently the incident was resolved. The driver laughed and said to me as we drove off, "That guy needs to watch more closely when he is crossing the street."
The conference lasted for five days with a one day break in the middle. I will not bore you with the fascinating science and cool research going on. I basically sat in meetings and listened to research presentations each day (its a scientist thing). There were people from 74 different countries there with most of them from North America and China. Overall it was very good and I got to meet some wonderful people including some great new friends at the Chinese Academy of Science.
On the one day break I went on a tour of the National Museum of Zoology which was absolutely fantastic! (Note to everyone: You should go to natural history museums and zoos on a regular basis.) We went by the Olympics Park, which was really hot and not that exciting. Then we made a short stop at a pearl factory and then headed for a tour of a local hutong. The hutong tour is somethign I have not done and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hutong are older more traditional style neighborhoods that are largely being done away with. We rode through them in ricjshaw and visited a family living there. After the tour was over I went to Tiananmen Square, one of my favorite places in Beijing.
Due to the Olympics Beijing has a much more extensive subway system that I really enjoy. For cheap (2 RMB one way or about $0.30), a tourist can get around Beijing without having to know the language at all. They have a line extending out to the airport as well. Most of the major tourist sites are on the subway line which allows one to save plenty of money.
My last night in Beijing I met up with some of my former students who have now graduated and are working in Beijing. We had dinner and I filled them in on the news of Heather and Amber, plus the two more kids we now have. They were excited and we all enjoyed visiting. They all have found jobs, but mentioned many of their classmates have been unable to find work yet (they graduated a year ago) due to the economic crisis. It really drove home how global this economy is seeingt he same struggles in China that I see in the USA.
Anyway, the trip home was long and tiring. I am glad I got to go and look forward to returning to China next summer!
Jared
(enjoy the pics)
Me and some of my former students now working in Beijing.
At the pearl factory they cut open an oyster to show us where the pearls were and how many there were in each one. This one had over 30 pearls!
The skeleton of a blue whale hanging in the main atrium of the National Museum of Zoology.
At the home of the family we visited on the hutong tour, this girl is the niece of the woman that owns the house and they paint the inside of bottles and sell them as a living. This is an old craft in China and mostly they are done by machine, but these folks are the real deal!
A view of a typical hutong street, very narrow and on each side are multiple homes connected by their walls.
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