China--The Great Wall & Tianamen Square

I never thought I'd get the chance to travel in China. The red giant, the red army, the communist empire were all terms I heard to describe China when I was growing up. It seemed like some kind of untouchable alien world ruled by a dictator.

In reality, the part of China I traveled in reminded me a lot of southern Idaho, flat with barron mountains surrounding the valley. They even had problems with temperature inversions causing heavy fog from burning coal for heat and energy.  (In Idaho it was all the wood stoves).  The similarity to the West was surprising.

The reason, I'm told, Beijing looks like the West is due to the extensive building in the last four years.  Imagine my disappointment not to find red armies marching everywhere and almost all the bicycles had been replaced by cars and traffic jams.  Everyone was in hot pursuit for the elusive dollar, and quietly slipping into a free market, without anyone admitting it.

If you were to look out your window on any given day in China, it's appearance would depend dramatically on how much wind was blowing.  These two photos were taken only a day apart.

No trip to China would be complete without seeing at least one section of the massive Great Wall. The wind was blowing hard and after soaking in the Tropics, I thought I was going to die of frost bite. Strange, I was the only one who was buying winter clothes from the street vendors...

The Great Wall is un-imaginable in size. It took all I had just to climb to the top of the nearby peak. I understood why so many people died building this massive structure. I thought I was going to be the next victim.

The images I remember from Time magazine showed Beijing to be covered with hundreds of bicycles. However, I could only track down a few nitches of old squeaky bikes.

I did get my chance to see the mighty Red Army, but for some reason they wore green.

My whirlwind tour of Beijing left me with 40 minutes to run through Tianamen square and then catch a cab for the airport. I'm sure you'll recognize this fellow.

Remember the tanks from 1989? This is the same place. People seem to mill around with nothing particular to do but watch tourists lug bagage around and snap photos. I did witness a spectacular kite crash into the crowd, but not much else.

Since our factory is in China, I'll probably be doing a lot more travel there. Hopefully I'll find time to go to the Forbidden City, if they let me in with my luggage.