Beijing - a city of contrasts

I met some very nice people here in Beijing, and also some very bad people. Especially when it comes to business you cannot trust anyone in Beijing (friends excepted). There is also a great contrast in the cultural heritage in Beijing and the omnipresent potlics. For example my second day in Beijing I went to the Tiananmen Square with it`s mostly political history and the great protrait of Mao. You have to pass through under this big portrait of Chairman Mao to enter the old forbidden city.

I think in this way old and new are connected to each other. Before the Ming and Qing rulers reigned the country from the forbidden city. Now it is ruled by the communist party. The Peoples Congress is just located westwards of the Tiananmen Square. There are meticulous controls if you want to enter Tiananmen Square, that is if you are Chinese. :-))

If you look at the picture above you can see that the light in Beijing is also very harsh and provides a big contrast. I am here for six days now. And every day we had this cloudless sky and direct sunlight. I think this extreme weather (winter cold, summer hot and always dry) has done its bit to shape the character of the Beijing people. More about that later... :-))

Tomorrow I go over to Chegdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, which is famous for it`s hot food and teehouses.

Done