Nee-how (that's a phonetic spelling of how to say hello in Chinese (Mandarin)). You must be sure to pronounce this greeting as two syllables, prolonging the second syllable somewhat. If you slur the syllables together to say something like neow it means (apparently) that you want to pee.
We arrived in Shanghai (population about 23 million) amid fog and pollution. On the sea 46 miles outside of Shanghai you could already smell the smog. Shanghai is called the Paris of Asia but the influences have been international and are reflected in the architecture of the French, British, Russian, and American concessions (districts).
We left Shanghai at noon to catch a 3 pm flight to Beijing. Initially, we were told the flight was delayed until 3:30 due to "weather" (read smog). We knew we were in for a longer delay when they began serving dinner on board before we left the tarmac. Finally at 5:40 we were off to "fog" bound, chilly Beijing.
The next morning we awoke to a winter wonderland. It was the first big snow of the winter in Beijing. Just what two Canucks wanted to see, especially after hearing about how winter bypassed Calgary this year. We put on our many layers of clothing and began the tour, which started at The Sacred Way and the Ming Tombs. The area was reminiscent in some ways of the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. After a quick lunch with beer included, as it is considered a soda in China, we went to the Great Wall and began climbing and climbing and climbing up steep paths and uneven stone stairs. It is magnificent and our guide kept telling us how rare it was to be seeing it in the snow. One challenge was that the snow shovelers could not keep the steps clear so Cia can now say she slid down a section of the Great Wall of China (without crying).
Day two was spent seeing Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. Both entities are massive. The square is immediately south of the Forbidden City. Both sites are well worth visiting. We saw the corner where the young student played chicken with a Chinese tank. Our guide told us that no one knows what happened to that brave young man, but all are sure that at best he is still in prison and at worst that he was summarily executed. Curiously, according to our guide, the rebellion of 1989 was an expression of the outrage of the public with political corruption. Interestingly, the common catchphrase in today's China is "we work it out." Whatever is needed or desired can be worked out provided that the proper people are paid or bribed.
Perhaps the most interesting part of our visit to Beijing was learning more about life in China from our guide, Tom, who was born in 1960 and so witnessed the remarkable evolution of the country. He was a young child during the cultural revolution and his parents, who were intellectuals, were sent to the country to work as labourers on farms, in order to be re-educated. All books and music were removed from their house and Tom and his brother were left in the city for two years with visits to their parents only happening once a year for twenty days. Many of his parents' friends committed suicide during this time period. The only book Tom was permitted to read was Mao's red book and children were to pray to the god Mao twice a day. This is significantly different today where the only place we saw a major picture of Mao was in Tian'anmen Square. Mao is now considered merely a historical figure.
The management of the one child system is maintain by severe penalties. If you have a second child and work for the government you will lose your job. You can have a second child but the financial cost is high and your child cannot be registered. But China is now realizing the long term impact of this decision as the country ages, and it will be interesting to see how they will address the problem. Since parents are allowed only one child, the pressures placed on that child to succeed are immense and this has produced an extremely high suicide rate among youth. Moreover, in China children are required to care for their parents as they age and if they do not they are taken to court and often sued.
Many of the rich Chinese will move their wives and children to places like Vancouver but the men run their businesses in China visiting the families once a year, many of these men end up wanting to keep the wives in Canada as they enjoy their mistresses in China.
Generally, China is expensive to its populace. To get a car license in Beijing costs almost $10,000 US or58,300 Yuan. When a child is to be married the dowry for the daughter is a car, for the son, a house/apartment. Prices in Beijing for an apartment run from 1 to 6 million Yuan. The salaries in Beijing average between 6,000 and 20,000 per month. In terms of smart phones Samsung has three times the market share to Apple in China. All skyscrapers in Beijing were built in the last twenty years and the stadium known as the "Bird's Nest," built for the 2008 Olympics cost over 4 billion Yuan and has not been used since because it is too expensive to rent. All media is controlled by the government in China and a 21st century landmark building to house the government Television Centre cost 4 billion Yuan to build. Unfortunately, it is still not complete because some officials got too excited about the opening party and set off some fireworks which caused a massive fire. The locals now derisively call the building the "big underpants " due to its unique design and waste of money. Needless to say those involved in the fireworks decision are now in jail.
Next stop Hong Kong which is now an administrative district of China. Apart from operating a military and foreign affairs, Hong Kong may keep its current administrative system in place until 50 years from 1997, when it must revert to all of mainland China's government rules and regulations.
Cruise tip: when taking a taxi in China make sure that the driver turns on the meter before you start, if they do not, get out.
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