China - a country of contradictions

Arrived back to Hong Kong from Beijing last night and am still trying to process my feelings about China and Beijing. What I found is that China is a country of contradictions and it is difficult to define it. It is clean and dirty, rich and poor, communist and capitalism, polite and rude, old and modern - perhaps Beijing defies any type of definition.

Having said that, our side trip to Beijing was incredible and overwhelming. There is very little English spoken so that has its challenges but we found a few "friends" along the way which helped with our trip. One being the cute concierge at our hotel - Mark. He booked our Great Wall trip and suggested places to visit during our time there. I had a small crush on him.

Speaking of the Great Wall, I am a "heroine" because I climbed it - apparently Chairman Mao called anyone who climbed the wall a hero or heroine. In my expectations, I imagined the Great Wall to be like this first picture - not a lot of people such as the picture here. But let me say, the wall is complete insanity due to the crush of tourists just like the second picture (I didn't take either of these pictures - thank you Google Images) . Despite the majesty and immensity of the wall, the crowds took away from the pleasure of being there. Still, I was glad that I went because it is one of the wonders of the world and I don't think I could go to Beijing and not go...it is like going to the Eiffel Tower in Paris...you just have to go because of the iconic nature of the attraction.

The other things we did were:

- Ming Tombs - the burial sites for the Chinese emperors

- Chinese Herbal Medicine University

- Jade factory

- The Forbidden City - the living quarters for the emperor's family

- Tiannamen Square

- Wangfujing Shopping District

Beijing is full of ancient reminders of the imperial rule as well as constant propaganda of the Communist regime. Quite a fascinating city but I was glad to leave and return to the civility of Hong Kong.

Today is our last day in Hong Kong - I can't believe our trip has gone by so quickly. We have 29 hours to go before our plane leaves. We are going to explore the Central District around our friend Lynn's apartment and then out for dinner with friends for Korean BBQ- more good food.