The Forbidden City is much more enormous of a complex then I originally expected it to be. We were late arriving, and late getting in – Peter said that it was quite possibly the fastest tour he’d ever done, rushing through the Forbidden City in an hour. I have to say that the renovated parts just look new and cheap. While it’s still beautiful, it doesn’t have the patina of age, and thus isn’t as impressive as the parts that haven’t yet been renovated. However, knowing the Chinese government, I’m sure there’s plans in the works to cover the entire complex with new paint. By the time I got through the Forbidden City, I was soaked in sweat, and hoping that my sunscreen-less skin could successful handle the bright sun.
Peter and I took one auto-rickshaw and Rubina and Suna took the other back to the hotel, while others in our group walked back. By the time we reached the hotel, my pants were sticking to my legs. It is astounding how much one sweats.
I left to go shopping after we checked out, and sweated some more while getting ripped off buying cheap Chinese goods. I’m perfectly happy with what I paid, but I know it was way too much. Still cheaper than buying at home. Plus, I got a great deck of cards with Mao as the Joker. That, I think, is brilliant.
I caught a taxi to take the “15 minute” ride to Ocean International Center to meet my colleague Jing at the Amazon.cn/Joyo building. This turned into an hour long taxi ride in the heat because the taxi driver thought he was lost, even though he initially took me to the correct building. I was ridiculously sweaty again by the time I finally arrived, a half hour late. I did enjoy the taxi driver’s musical choice though: “If My Heart Had Wings” – some sort of American country song.
I had a wonderful chat with Jing. I asked her a few questions about things that had been bothering me.
Q: Where are all the homeless people?
A: If the police find any homeless people, they will check who they are, notify their family and ask them to come and get them. If the family can’t come and get the homeless person, they will be sent back to the village, ticket paid by the government.
Q: What are housing prices like?
A: For a 100 sq meter apartment building, it could cost 30,000-40,000RMB per square meter, meaning that an apartment the size of my first studio in Seattle would run about 3,000,000-4,000,000RMB to buy (at approximately 7RMB to the dollar).
Q: What was the deal with the ENN presentation?
A: I (Jing) went to such a place in Mongolia, showcasing milk production. The cows were outside in the grass, and the machines were clean and lined up. But, these are the public versions of the facilities.
Q: Why were you taking a tour of a milk production facility?
A: In China, anyone can take these sorts of tours as a tourist destination. I was in Mongolia on vacation with my family to see the grasslands and desert, and thought it would be interesting.
On my way back to the hotel, it took 15 minutes to catch a taxi, and when I said Beijing Hotel, the taxi driver said, bu yao, bu yao! Which means, No, I don’t want to. However, I was already in the taxi, so he took me for awhile. But, traffic was really slow, so he suggested that I take the subway, and dumped me off on an offramp, at which point I had to jog down the offramp, then cross four lanes of traffic to get to the sidewalk that led to the subway. Ridiculous. However, I made it…. With five minutes to spare.
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