Random random ramblings on Beijing

Went off for a few days to visit Bejing with the family. My general impressions are,in no particular order :

1) If you are even halfway chinese,or have some chinese blood, you must visit Beijing. Even though the buildings that have been restored,kept etc are only 600 years old and represent mainly the Ming and Ching dynasties, it really is amazing. I would put my experience at the sites on par with Angkor Wat (but then again I have yellow skin, so I may be a bit biased). The guides have many great stories to tell and its better if you speak mandarin, but Beijing has enough english speaking guides.

2) Visit when you can still walk well as its BIG, and there are many many people. getting around entails a lot of walking walking walking. And as for the great wall, it's a brutal workout (think stairmaster).

3)Pollution is still bad, but the govt has done amazing things with the people of Beijing. No more spitting on the streets, toilets are clean, and the place is actually very clean. The govt spent a lot of time educating its 18 million beijing residents on manners,etiquette, cleanliness. In fact the govt also has taken cognizance of how their citizens behave when traveling abroad and has made it a point to educate the mainland chinese traveling on proper manners and behaviour, as befitting China's status as a superpower.

4) Food in beijing, if you are used to southern chinese (and I am generalising here), is more oily,salty and tastes are stronger. This is probably due to the really cold winters they have. So at restaurants tell them less salt,less oil. And really, Peking duck in Peking, well you have to try it since you are at the place of origin, but you really you can get better in HK,Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Melbourne,Sydney etc.

5)The mix of old and new in Beijing is amazing, newly skyscrapers next to old imperial buildings.

6) Taxis are plentiful, and reasonable, a 10 RMB flagfall and I would say averagely 1 RMB per km. But as with the rest of China, you may need to give directions as the place is BIG and they may not know where you want to go (obiously if you go the popular places its not an issue). But if you are staying off the beaten track, get someone to write the directions for you.