Whew I made it out of Beijing

Currently I am sitting in the internet cafe of the Yak Hotel in Lhasa after 1 week and 10000 miles of traveling. Time has lost its backbone since my movements have radically altered my rythms. I appologize for my lack of posting from Beijing since I was waiting to bring you photos. I will upload photos latter in my day.

Beijing is a city of alleys surrounded and topped a gigantic and sprawling metropolis. I was lucky enough to stay at a youth hostel hidden from the many major biways in a beautifully alive complex of alleys. The alley is the communal living space for the nieghborhood. It is where good are bought and sold, where friends congregate to play majong and drink a few, where trash is dumped, and music played. The alley really comes alive at night after the foodstalls have finished preparing their little eats. The alley transforms from a throughfare to a party. I must comment on the Chinese ability to narrowly avoid accidents and fit through incredibly tight spaces. The alleyway I was stay in was about 15 feet wide and is mostly used by pedsetrians and bicycles. Now I say mostly because cars, van, and trucks also barrel through at suprising speed charging to within inches of basically everything. This is how I enter Beijing, at a nightmarket in a minivan. Somehow we made it and no one died the whole time.

The many other sides of Beijing are quickly found by just looking up. One is the buildings and the other is the pollution. Both are omnipresent. The pollution is as bad as advertized but an advertisment is nothing like the real thing. On the second day we did the standered tourist circa, (Tienimen, Forbidden City, and also BaiHai Lake which is next to the summer palace of the emperor). I spent about 8 hours outside that day and by the end my lungs felt tight and restricted. The smog is like a vail that hides your nose from your face. At the vista from Bai Hai we had a 360 view of Beijing and most of it was hidden in the haze. Only the outlines of building and cranes could be seen. It made it seem as if Beijing just streached out forever and in reality if forever meant anything concrete it would streach out forever.

I had a impactful time in Beijing, I enjoyed sitting in Tienimen watching the crowds and thinking about the past as Mao stared me down. I laughed as I walked out of the hot brown into a air conditioned and sterile white shopping mall. I feasted on authentic Chinese food, peking duck jellyfish, hot pot, and so much more. And I marveled at the enduring history of a civilization that is in fact not history but contemporary.

Speaking of living history the next installment will be from the great wall.

Good Bye and Best Wishes from Lhasa
Willie