Beijing, China

Lucky me, I was given the chance to spend a couple of days in Beijing on the work account, meeting my Chinese counterparts, and helping with the roll-out of the German retail bank experience in China. On first arriving in Beijing, the first two things that struck me were, (1) it’s a huge city, and (2) the pollution was so bad you couldn’t see very far!

After two days in the office, I decided to do a little exploring of the nation’s capital, with the intention of visiting a couple of its most famous landmarks, namely Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City.

Tiananmen Square is apparently the world’s largest square, and whilst I haven’t seen many squares, I must say, this one is very very big. It took us a good hour to wonder around its perimeter, taking in the atmosphere, looking at the five major landmarks around and in the square. The photo above is the Monument to the People’s Struggle, the tallest monument in China, and is a poignant reminder that you are in a communist country. The building behind is the Great Hall of the People, a truly impressive structure however you look at it.
On the South and East are the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, and the China National Museum, which are both huge imposing buildings. The line to enter Mao’s mausoleum was a good 150m long, and so we didn’t feel we had the time or the inclination to go in.

On the North of the square is Tiananmen Gate, the entrance into the ‘Forbidden City’, the ancient heart of both Beijing and China. The city, and it really is a city, was the centre of the Chinese empire for over 500 years, and it is amazing to wonder around and imagine what life would have been like inside those walls. Unfortunately while we were there, many of the most significant buildings were covered in scaffolding, as Beijing busily prepares for the Olympics, but we still walked away in awe.

The picture below is the view of Tiananmen Gate from inside the Forbidden City. I must say, I would love to have a house large enough to justify a gate this size.

What would a blog about Beijing be without a photo of the Beijing Olympics countdown clock… we happened to be in town just under two-years from the opening ceremony, and you could see that the whole city was being mobilised in preparation for the event. Everywhere you look, construction is underway 24/7, and I am told that the government has made arrangements so that no construction will be allowed in the year leading up to the Olympics, in a bid to reduce the air and dust pollution which burden’s the city.

And finally, a couple of the interesting street signs that grabbed my attention from the taxi driving around the square. Both of these were seen on all four sides of the square. The ’70’ sign is quite normal, though disturbing when you see how many people are trying to cross the 5/7 lane roads that surround the square. The no ‘trumpets or horns’, who knows. And lastly, the ‘no-driving-with-a-campfire-on-the-roof’ seems a bit like stating the obvious…Especially when driving towards a crossing!

My three days in Beijing was a nice snapshot of China, and it was enough to make me want to see more of China, and also to never want to spend much time in Chinese cities. Even a couple of days later, I could still feel the grit in the back of my throat from the air.