Beijinging

I promise I really do have a full-time, paying job; every once in a while I put on my power heels and make an appearance at the office, but most of the time I am wracking up miles on Chinese airlines and familiarizing myself with third tier Chinese cities that you have never heard of.

Business trip number #23498 finally took me to the famed capital of the People's Republic of China. The city formerly known as Peking was the gracious host of the 2009 "China Hotel Development and Financing Conference." A must-attend for anyone in my line of work, and a great opportunity to get my schmooze on with some of the big wig Eastern Hemisphere hoteliers. So I put in my time at the conference on Friday and took the opportunity to stay in Beijing through the weekend to explore and see the sights.

I convinced friends from the HK branch, T and Brent, to join me on my Beijing excursion...mostly because I needed a third party photographer on the Great Wall, but also partially because sometimes I enjoy their company :) Before the boys arrived I explored the Temple of Heaven and Silk Market on my own, a fun solo adventure, but also a slightly frustrating wake up call that 6 weeks of Mandarin classes meant my communication skills were capped at introducing myself to the taxi driver.

The Great Wall at Badaling: unbeknownst to us, we are actually celebrities in China. Throngs of paparazzi lined up on the wall hoping to insert themselves in a snapshot with the token Caucasians. See below for some photos of our new Chinese friends...hopefully to soon be featured in a Chinese tabloid magazine. If you thought American tour groups were obnoxious, try maneuvering through the stampedes of aggressive Chinese people spitting, pushing, and yelling. Relax friends, there’s enough wall for everyone. But it’s all part of the Great Wall’s magic (and my ever-growing phobia of people). The wall was quite breathtaking, and seemingly never-ending. A deserving wonder of the world, and a place where I never really thought I would find myself one day.

Next up on the agenda was the Summer Palace, the waterfront weekend/summer home of the emperor. We dragged along poor Brent who mysteriously came down with some sort of Chinese encephalitis strain, but he was a trooper. Or maybe it was the prospect of visiting the “Temple of Divine Prowess” and the “Temple of Infinite Blessings” that kept us going full speed ahead running on only crackers and granola bars. We made it to the highest point of the palace where we could see the whole Beijing skyline, almost making out the Bird’s Nest in the distance. A rare day of clear skies in beautiful, breezy Beijing.

We finished our marathon day with a Chinese Apricot, I mean Acrobat show, finding that the cheapest seats were front row and center. Just close enough to realize most of the acrobats were probably 14 years old, fresh out of acrobat concentration camps. Was quite an impressive show, concluding with 30 women gracefully piled onto a moving bicycle.

An appearance at Tiananmen Square again confirmed our celebrity status (where finally there was a no spitting rule), and after putting in some face time with Mao, we steered ahead, almost getting lost in the never ending maze of palaces in the gorgeous Forbidden City. We were then coaxed into taking a rickshaw ride through one of Beijing’s “hutongs” or historical neighborhoods. Even my Hazy negotiating skills couldn’t prevent us from getting ripped off, but the $7 was worth the thrilling bike ride through the streets and back alleys of Beijing. While in tow, it started snowing (!), distracting us a little from fully admiring this charming hutong (and Deng Xioping’s alleged residence), but nevertheless it was great to see this small part of the city that hadn’t yet been invaded by skyscrapers. Then off to the airport and back to democracy.

Another successful excursion to the PRC. I'm going to have to start mixing business with pleasure more often.