One long trip

Wow, that is one long trip! We left SLO on the bus at 5 a.m. on Saturday and arrived at our hotel in Beijing at 1 a.m. Monday morning, which is 5 p.m. Sunday night in SLO. There are some funny aspects to a trip that long: people trying to figure out if they want to sleep on the plane or not, and what to take for those who do -- Ambien, Tylenol PM, or my friend (who will gratefully remain nameless) who told all of her perplexed friends before the trip that her doctor had prescribed Levitra to help her sleep... until her husband pointed out that it was Lunesta she got, not Levitra. All the people wearing contact lenses have their glasses on by the end of the trip from very tired eyes.

Flying in to Shanghai (where we had a short layover in their ultra-modern airport) and to Beijing, we were treated to a number of fireworks displays celebrating the last day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. 2007 is the Year of the Pig, and as we found out later, the pig is quite revered, so many young couples have planned their pregnancy to have their child born in 2007 to enjoy the good luck the pig symbolizes.

We were also treated to a dusting of snow on the ground in Beijing, where our wide-body China Eastern jet (great food, great service) pulled into a parking space in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere on the tarmac. As we exited, we found ourselves momentarily back in the 60's (or in SLO, I guess) where there is no jet way and you descend on the rolled-up stairs...into a 15 degree, howling wind wake-up call. After a 3-mile bus ride to the terminal, we went through customs and came in to the main terminal where we saw our first big sign in China in 6-foot-tall block letters: STARBUCKS. There's also one next door to our hotel.

Our first full day in China was Monday, with all the workers back on the job after the extended holiday. Though there are certainly a number of people on mostly old bikes, there is city traffic in Beijing. More and more people are buying their own car and, just like home, there are plenty of driver-only cars on the busy roads. With Tiananmen Square constituting the heart of the city, there are 5 "road rings" that encapsulate the city core with their concentric circle pattern. Seven million people live inside the 5th ring, and another 6 million live outside the rings: their suburbs. Citizens can buy an apartment inside the core for about $200 per square foot, so a 900-square-foot apartment will cost about $180,000. You also pay rent to the government since you can never buy the land -- you just get a 70-year lease on that. Since the average Chinese worker makes anywhere from $6,000 (blue collar) to $9,000 (white collar) per year, not many people buy apartments. The younger generations almost all rent. With the Summer Olympics arriving in 18 months, thousands of downtowners have been displaced from their homes inside the rings to outside to make way for the necessary facilities... and there is construction all over. It's a very clean city, though.

Arranged marriages are a thing of the past -- boys and girls meet, fall in love, and get married -- men usually at about 30 and women usually at about 25. For 25-plus years prior to 2005, couples were allowed only one child, but now they can have two children if they want-- but few do. It's a considerably more educated, less religious, and more Western-thinking younger generation coming of age in China. They value education and are definitely fans of capitalism (even the limited form practiced in China).

Today, we went to a park downtown, the Ming tomb, and drove 45 minutes or so outside of Beijing to the Great Wall of China. The Wall, of course, is one of the Seven Wonders and the only man-made object, it's said, viewable from space. Originally 4,000 miles long, it's not continuous anymore, but this section was intact. It generally runs over mountaintops, so it is rugged and not for the faint of heart or short of wind. With steps that are uneven and treacherous to an extraordinary extent, it's an adventure, but is majestic in its views and awe-inspiring in its scope. A few hearty souls from our group made it all the way to the 5th guard tower, which was quite a climb, while most made it to the 3rd tower, rested, then came back down to buy their Great Wall T-shirt, certificate of having been there, or hero card with their picture and the wall (yes, in some ways it's like going to Gatlinburg, Tennessee -- it's a tourist attraction with all that entails).

We saw a great acrobatic show at dinner this evening, then struggled to our beds to catch up on sleep and get ready for the city tour tomorrow. The hotel has high speed internet, so I was able to read The Tribune on-line five minutes after checking in. We may be halfway across the world, but in many ways, that's not a long way anymore.Bob Wacker