Its a big place - not the most extensive subway though...
Guys new the the big city arrive each day.
Kar Fu - Kraft China HQ
Madame Mao knew how to travel
Lawrence University Alums - Beijing Chapter.
The transformation of Beijing from a huge, dirty, backwards city into a huge, dirty modern city has been amazing. The changes are evident from the moment the plane lands at the airport until you back out of town.
7 years ago Sophia and I visited Beijing as part of a US State Legislative delegation. We arrived at the airport and were ushered from the tarmac into an old governmental like building with a cavernous open plan filled with people and a few luggage belts. Everything looked like it was from the 1950s from the furnishings right down to the people's clothes. We stayed at the China World Hotel which was then one of the nicest places in town. On the way from the airport there were fields, people on bicycles, farm houses, small shelters and a few old looking trucks. Once in the city there were a handful of cars - and tons of people on bicycles. Every intersection was an adventure for a pedestrian. The cars were no worry but the bikers were out of control. The air was dirty then, filled with soot and grime from coal burning factories. Western looking people were uncommon and people stopped and stared. Sophia was a particularly interesting attraction with her dark skin and curly hair. We also noticed that wherever we went there were people lurking around keeping track. Our group was always accompanied by government people and the hotel was crawling with them. We were discouraged from walking around on our own. Shopping was limited with very few Western brands available.
The Beijing of 2007 has some similarities to the Beijing of 1999. The airport is huge and modern with planes and airlines from all over the world. Its large but when you pull in you see a new terminal that is probably as large as the currently existing airport. It should be ready in time for the Olympics. This trip I noticed the old terminal - a relic that is dwarfed by all the new structures around it. the drive in is pretty much construction and plenty of new or newer looking high rise apartment complexes. Gone are the farms and fields. It's still dirty. I notice it by getting red eyes and a headache soon after arriving. Its also still full of people. That's really where the similarities end. Most of the bicycles have been replaced by cars. There are now Mercedes, BMWs, Audis, Cadilacs, Volvos and every other modern car. The traffic is terrible. There are also now buildings going up all over the place. There are so many hotels - Hyatts, Marriots, Westin, St, Regis, Ritz Carlton, Shangrilas, Swisshotel, Nikko and many many more. There are many upscale malls with pretty much any brand you would see in New York, London or Singapore. Western faces are everywhere and they don't attract much attention. English is spoken by many people. Modern office buildings abound. Kraft recently moved into a nice new building that also houses GM and many other local and multi national companies. No one from the government follows westerners around. Its easy to look around and explore the city.
On this, my 4th or 5th trip in the last year I had my share of interesting experiences. Traffic problems, new restaurants and even a visit with an old friend.
One evening my colleague Lingping and I were heading out to meet some other co-workers for dinner. Lingping found us a taxi and off we went. It was rush hour and the driver decide to take a short cut. after a series of turns down side streets we came to an intersection that was totally jammed with cars. A perfect picture of gridlock. The cars were so knotted up in the intersection that we were all stuck. Lingping scolded the driver for taking such a foolish route. He got a little defensive but calmed down. 10 minutes later we had moved about 3 feet and again Lingping made a comment. It didn't sound bad but I only know two words of Mandarin and she wasn't saying hello or thank you. I was ready to get out and walk to a more open street but before I could even suggest it the driver flipped off the meter, jumped out of the car, opened the back door and asked us to get out. We happily complied, walked about a block, hopped into another taxi and made our way to the restaurant. I wouldn't be surprised if that guy is still sitting at the intersection. I think they may have needed to airlift a few cars out of that mess to clear it up!
The restaurant we went to, The Red Capital Club http://www.redcapitalclub.com.cn/, is a very cool place. While it is a little touristy the location, the building and the food make up for that. The restaurant is located in an old courtyard home, kind of like a low rise version of the shop house we live in in Singapore. To get there you walk off of the main street down some narrow alley like streets lined with a few very small shops, some low rent housing, a youth hostel and school and more. It's a real old neighborhood that probably hasn't changed since the 40's. In front of the restaurant is an old 1950 era limo with red flags on the front fenders. Apparently Madame Mao was one of the few privileged people who rode in it in it's day. Inside the cozy place are tons of interesting artifacts from the Mao era. Art work, photos, furniture and more . The Men's room walls are inlaid with kitchy Mao era plates. the food was actually pretty decent and each dish came garnished with elaborately carved vegetables. We had spicy cucumber set up to look like a dragon with an intricate dragon head and tail carved from some root vegetable. The chicken was adorned with very detailed carved cat and dog (or were we eating cat and dog?). Mongolian lamb complimented by a carved great wall was a hit and I even saw a carved bust of the Chairman himself on a plate at another table. It was a fun experience.
My last night in town I had the pleasure of visiting my old college friend Einar. Einar is currently living in Beijing and has been there for about a year. I was happy to see him and meet some of his new friends and servants. From being picked up by his driver in their BMW SUV to the lovely apartment where he resides complete with a staff of thousands (seemingly) I had a great time catching up and talking about old times. Einar is the kind of guy you would expect to end up in China or some other exotic place but I doubt we could have predicted meeting up there when we were going to school in Appleton, WI in the late 70s!
I had a strange Deja vu at lunch. I was dining with our HR Director for China at an Italian place in the China World when I realized that it was the same place Sophia and I had eaten in 1999. Sophia even remembered what the place looked like when I mentioned it to her. she also remembered that that was the night my old boss Henry stopped in to Beijing with his Mama on their way to take a Yangtze river cruise. They had flown from the US and Henry appeared in the restaurant to every one's surprise. In his Southern drawl he said - "Hi y'all I got Mama downstairs in the car but ah thought I just pop up and say hi". after a brief visit he and Mama disappeared into the Chinese landscape. I think that was the trip where he bought "ona them Lapis globes" but that's another story......
7 years ago Sophia and I visited Beijing as part of a US State Legislative delegation. We arrived at the airport and were ushered from the tarmac into an old governmental like building with a cavernous open plan filled with people and a few luggage belts. Everything looked like it was from the 1950s from the furnishings right down to the people's clothes. We stayed at the China World Hotel which was then one of the nicest places in town. On the way from the airport there were fields, people on bicycles, farm houses, small shelters and a few old looking trucks. Once in the city there were a handful of cars - and tons of people on bicycles. Every intersection was an adventure for a pedestrian. The cars were no worry but the bikers were out of control. The air was dirty then, filled with soot and grime from coal burning factories. Western looking people were uncommon and people stopped and stared. Sophia was a particularly interesting attraction with her dark skin and curly hair. We also noticed that wherever we went there were people lurking around keeping track. Our group was always accompanied by government people and the hotel was crawling with them. We were discouraged from walking around on our own. Shopping was limited with very few Western brands available.
The Beijing of 2007 has some similarities to the Beijing of 1999. The airport is huge and modern with planes and airlines from all over the world. Its large but when you pull in you see a new terminal that is probably as large as the currently existing airport. It should be ready in time for the Olympics. This trip I noticed the old terminal - a relic that is dwarfed by all the new structures around it. the drive in is pretty much construction and plenty of new or newer looking high rise apartment complexes. Gone are the farms and fields. It's still dirty. I notice it by getting red eyes and a headache soon after arriving. Its also still full of people. That's really where the similarities end. Most of the bicycles have been replaced by cars. There are now Mercedes, BMWs, Audis, Cadilacs, Volvos and every other modern car. The traffic is terrible. There are also now buildings going up all over the place. There are so many hotels - Hyatts, Marriots, Westin, St, Regis, Ritz Carlton, Shangrilas, Swisshotel, Nikko and many many more. There are many upscale malls with pretty much any brand you would see in New York, London or Singapore. Western faces are everywhere and they don't attract much attention. English is spoken by many people. Modern office buildings abound. Kraft recently moved into a nice new building that also houses GM and many other local and multi national companies. No one from the government follows westerners around. Its easy to look around and explore the city.
On this, my 4th or 5th trip in the last year I had my share of interesting experiences. Traffic problems, new restaurants and even a visit with an old friend.
One evening my colleague Lingping and I were heading out to meet some other co-workers for dinner. Lingping found us a taxi and off we went. It was rush hour and the driver decide to take a short cut. after a series of turns down side streets we came to an intersection that was totally jammed with cars. A perfect picture of gridlock. The cars were so knotted up in the intersection that we were all stuck. Lingping scolded the driver for taking such a foolish route. He got a little defensive but calmed down. 10 minutes later we had moved about 3 feet and again Lingping made a comment. It didn't sound bad but I only know two words of Mandarin and she wasn't saying hello or thank you. I was ready to get out and walk to a more open street but before I could even suggest it the driver flipped off the meter, jumped out of the car, opened the back door and asked us to get out. We happily complied, walked about a block, hopped into another taxi and made our way to the restaurant. I wouldn't be surprised if that guy is still sitting at the intersection. I think they may have needed to airlift a few cars out of that mess to clear it up!
The restaurant we went to, The Red Capital Club http://www.redcapitalclub.com.cn/, is a very cool place. While it is a little touristy the location, the building and the food make up for that. The restaurant is located in an old courtyard home, kind of like a low rise version of the shop house we live in in Singapore. To get there you walk off of the main street down some narrow alley like streets lined with a few very small shops, some low rent housing, a youth hostel and school and more. It's a real old neighborhood that probably hasn't changed since the 40's. In front of the restaurant is an old 1950 era limo with red flags on the front fenders. Apparently Madame Mao was one of the few privileged people who rode in it in it's day. Inside the cozy place are tons of interesting artifacts from the Mao era. Art work, photos, furniture and more . The Men's room walls are inlaid with kitchy Mao era plates. the food was actually pretty decent and each dish came garnished with elaborately carved vegetables. We had spicy cucumber set up to look like a dragon with an intricate dragon head and tail carved from some root vegetable. The chicken was adorned with very detailed carved cat and dog (or were we eating cat and dog?). Mongolian lamb complimented by a carved great wall was a hit and I even saw a carved bust of the Chairman himself on a plate at another table. It was a fun experience.
My last night in town I had the pleasure of visiting my old college friend Einar. Einar is currently living in Beijing and has been there for about a year. I was happy to see him and meet some of his new friends and servants. From being picked up by his driver in their BMW SUV to the lovely apartment where he resides complete with a staff of thousands (seemingly) I had a great time catching up and talking about old times. Einar is the kind of guy you would expect to end up in China or some other exotic place but I doubt we could have predicted meeting up there when we were going to school in Appleton, WI in the late 70s!
I had a strange Deja vu at lunch. I was dining with our HR Director for China at an Italian place in the China World when I realized that it was the same place Sophia and I had eaten in 1999. Sophia even remembered what the place looked like when I mentioned it to her. she also remembered that that was the night my old boss Henry stopped in to Beijing with his Mama on their way to take a Yangtze river cruise. They had flown from the US and Henry appeared in the restaurant to every one's surprise. In his Southern drawl he said - "Hi y'all I got Mama downstairs in the car but ah thought I just pop up and say hi". after a brief visit he and Mama disappeared into the Chinese landscape. I think that was the trip where he bought "ona them Lapis globes" but that's another story......
