One of the conveniences of having a job as a teacher in Korea, aside from the time off, is the proximity to a variety of other countries. Living on the West Coast of the great USA, the closest two countries are Canada and Mexico. Both worthy places to travel, but one is a little bit too much like home, and the other is currently under some kind of siege.
The unfortunate part of living so close to so many countries is the fact that one must acquire airfare; to acquire airfare, one must work; when one is working, one has no time for travel (and can't live in Korea according to the visa requirements). Fortunately, I (the proverbial "we") acquired plane tickets to Beijing and spent a little summer break in the land of the rising...consumption.
The following photos are from my (the proverbial "our") first day in town.
Rickshaw!
Cheaper than water.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Assistance.
Not Korea, but still Asia.
Too much stuff.
Starbux.
...here to Tienanmen Square.
This isn't D.C. either.
Mask anyone?
Standard residence.
I think the really interesting thing about Beijing as I ("we") discussed throughout our time there was the lack of a communistic vibe. The people don't seem tied down to any forced ideology, capitalism appears rampant, and there are obvious separations of class. Before we arrived there, I expected to see continuous reminders of the presence of government through propagandized advertisements, uniform buildings and government vehicles, and an excessive presence of military. None of these assumptions seemed apparent throughout the visit which could either; disprove the stigma Americans have of communism, or prove that I'm ignorant and government control doesn't have to been as obvious (see: Tibet, Facebook, Google).
Regardless of what Beijing has to offer, it can't be representative of the whole country. Assuming that would be like saying Portland and Detroit are the same. With that said, there could be-and probably are-more obvious social issues in places where most tourists don't go i.e. where ever all the crap is manufactured.
All political issues aside, Beijing is a cool place to see. The food is great, there is a plethora of cultural artifacts to scour, there are bikes everywhere (watch out Phil's mom), and once you're there, everything is dirt cheap.
More to come.
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