Walking around Beijing Jan 30 2007

Beijing, January 30, 2007

I was too tired to go on a tour of the Great Wall today, so I instead I did the incredibly relaxing 30 km walk around Beijing today. I just wanted to stroll but ended up seeing a few sights also. I didn't mean to walk so far, but every corner brought a new thing to look at.

I decided to start the day at WangFuJing street, close to the Forbidden City. This street is extremly commercialized and almost resembles any generic North American/European shopping pedestrian mall. Not very interesting and very expensive. Just off WangFuJing street there were some interesting side streets with food shops and various stalls selling the same junk. These guys are going to make a killing during the Olympics.

The food stalls were, for the most part, extremely clean. Here's some shots of the offerings. The first one actually looks pretty appetizing.

The second one is also appetizing except for the grubs and cicadas. Since I've come to China I've learned that I don't eat bugs, whole frogs, or pigs intestines. I thought I could eat almost anything, and I have, but I dont want to, so I won't. (The bugs are the brown things second from left)

There is a large Chinese Catholic church (which is different that "Vatican" Catholic due to control by the Chinese government) on WanFuGing Street. I need to check my history book when I get home, but I think this church might have been the sight of a seige during the Boxer revolution (also known as the 8 party war of aggression according to the Chinese). The courtyard of the church was quite nice and it was sunny although cool. There were quite a few wedding couples having their pictures taken. I wondered if it was normal to get married on a Wednesday, or if they were just getting their photos done before the wedding. A little bit later, the inevitable person came up wanting to talk English, and since he was nice we chatted for quite a while. He confirmed that they were just getting their pre-wedding photos done.

There were a few kids running around. The following guy was a terror and his Mom was doing nothing to keep him under control.

I wanted to show a few pictures of these kid's pants. I saw a lot more of this style of pant in Luoyang. This guy was wearing a diaper, but during the summer in Luoyang I saw lots of kids with their bums hanging out. If they have to go, they just squat down, or their Mom holds them between her legs while they do their business (usually on the street).

Several km later I ran across these guys. One had just launched a kite, so I stopped to watch. That's when I noticed the other kits....If I had to guess, I would say the kites were well over 1000 ft up in the air - just tiny specks. They had these fancy reels to hold the cord.