North to Beijing

After over four weeks in Shanghai, I have ventured north to Beijing for a few days. A chance to see if The Great Wall is really great, a chance to see if Tiananmen Square is really square, a chance to see if the forbidden city is foreboding, a chance to see if Chairman Mao is really dead and if Peking Duck tastes better in Peking.

Let's start at the start and finish at the end. Or as Confucius (the beliefs of an old Chinese religion) would say; 'he who start at the end not know where the start is'

The Great wall is GREAT.

Today we ventured north to the wall. It was cold, damn cold, so cold I just saw one of those guys in the orange robes burst into ice (sorry, badly adapted movie reference). Anyway, the great wall is GREAT. We had a great time. It is perched on top of great hills, so if any of the foreign armies came, they would be almost dead climbing the great mountains first, then the great 'Ming Dynasty" soldiers would pelt down on you with great numbers of arrows - not fun if you are the enemy.

Yesterday, we walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked around the forbidden city. It is massive, a true city. The Ming dudes new how to build a place. 9999 and a half rooms. Place for the Eunuchs, Concubines, staff, Emperor, Empress, the parents, the maids, the cooks, the cleaners, the builders and on and on and on the list goes. Some wonderful architecture, amazing stuff in the collections. And the stories are the best. Especially about the Empresses (and past Empresses - "Empress Dowager") ruling from behind screens, killing off the concubines, holding their son's (Emperors) in house prisons, sending Eunuchs to be monks and much more. Apparently, there are many Chinese TV series about the stories. They call them things like 'Days of our lives,' 'Young and the Restless,' 'The last Emperor' and so on. (see slide show)

Now, while I didn't get time to check out the Chairmen Mao mausoleum, he is truly passed, but there's plenty of photos to remind us of him. And, the odd souvenir on ever street corner. He apparently didn't want to be preserved and placed on display (a la Stalin). But the people did it any way. It's one time they disagreed with him and didn't get arrested!

The Building sits on the south end of Tiananmen Square, which as we know, shot to infamy in June 1989 with a couple of tanks and kids. A piece of trivia for you, the scene of the student defiantly standing in front of the tanks, that was broadcast across the world. Well, that wasn't on Tiananmen Square proper, it was on the road out the front near the Tiananmen gate "Gate of Heavenly Peace." (Get the irony) It's the entrance to the "Imperial City" which is where the the 'officials' lived and surrounded the Forbidden City. As it was the entrance to the Official Part (not the royal part 'forbidden city') it has historically been the place where the people (common people) protested. And it still is today.

To get onto the square, you go under ground and through a security check point. Then, you will find there are army personnel, police and security everywhere. And that's the ones you can see. There are plenty of secret services there as well. We saw one women arrested by a young guy three people away. It was a quick action that's for sure. The guys, standing next to me when I was waiting for the flag ceremony, all of a sudden pulled out radios and walked off. They were secret police. Strangely, it made me feel safe.

Now of course you know that Beijing was originally Peking and that Chairman Mao changed it in around 1946 (give or take a year or two) Well, Nanjing, the former Capital means 'south' and Peking means 'north.' So, when Chairman Mao moved the capital back to Peking, he changed to to Beijing, which means 'Capital'

So, Peking Duck is sometimes called Beijing Duck, but here it is just called Roasted Duck, cos we are in Peking/Beijing. Well it is awesome. Cheap and great. Even eating the duck head was good (the beak was crunchy but the head was a bit chewy)

A whole Roasted Duck is just 200RMB ( about $45). Enough for two people easy. Good value and good eating. And the restaurant was 100% Chinese glam. And best of all, you get a certificate of authenticity for the Duck you ate. It's very own number. We ate duck number 425228.

So that's a taste of Beijing.

One more thing. Ever tasted live scorpion grilled over the hot coals. Based on the gestures of the vendor, its good for penile erections (If I ever have a problem, I am going for the Viagra, not the scorpion!). Check out these guys ready to go onto the barby! Enjoy.

It's Christmas time

If you know know any Buddhists, you know they don't 'do' Christmas. Nor do the Muslims and Taoists and the Hindus, the Jews. Christ-mas = Christ-ian (Christ's Birthday). So it ain't the biggest thing in the year in China. But like our capitalistic western society, it's a good excuse to get people to buy stuff, and that is something the Chinese do celebrate - with great passion.

By the way, Chinese New Year is the one to celebrate here. Apparently the place just goes OFF. No surprise since it's the "Chinese" New Year. (Do we have an "Australian" New Year - maybe its time to start one?) - I digress.

Apparently, each year the Christmas decorations get bigger. So, this year I thought I would do the first ever (Official-esque) INDEPENDENT SURVEY OF CHRISTMAS TREES. Or as I have come to call it, the I-SOCT. It's a review of trees for the magnificent "Best in Trees" award.

The interesting thing here, is that often the department store or building will get a resident shop to sponsor the tree. In return the company gets nice signage, and a warm fuzzy feeling outside of the building. So negotiating skills are all part of the deal.

Might I also point out, that unfortunately, the judge has not been bribed in any way. So the views are independent and unbiased.

Let me share some of the contenders.

At the local (very good) shopping centre. A Swatch sponsored tree, nice but small. Especially when its in front of the awesome decorations for the building itself. (see pic 2)

The shopping centre (awarded best overall decorations) - but not BEST IN TREES

Last Place - outside of Raffles Plaza - its a robot tree (dumb)

The building I have been working in (just lame)

And using the street trees just doesn't cut it.

The Nanjin Rd Mall. Big, colourful, bright - good but no prize this year.

THIRD PRIZE - The neon tree at Plaza 66. It changes colour and is accompanied by deer, sleigh, small trees etc. It's very good.

SECOND PRIZE - All class. Longines sponsored at Times Square. The biggest tree. Elegant and modern. Very Longines. Very classy, Very good tree.

The 2008 BEST IN TREES

The huge, the soft, the cute, TOY TREE. This is a great idea well done. You can cuddle the tree. How crazy, yet cool. A new spin on it all. (check out the small shots - its all soft)

So, after of that excitement, I wish you and your family a happy, safe and wonderful Christmas and a new year full of good fortune. (And don't try cuddling your Christmas tree - it will prickle you)