Day 2: Beijing Rises

Public board where newspapers are mounted
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August 24, 2006

It's only 5 am!!   Missy and I are both up and alert!  Not surprising, considering it's about 5 pm in Toronto.  It's dark outside and we prepare for our big day- we finally get to visit the Great Wall today.  More about that in another entry.

So far, communism had not left any negative impressions on me. People here seem content (without appearing too resigned) about their lives.

Missy does some Tai Chi with the seniors in the park
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By 6 am, we're all dressed up and with literally nowehere to go.  Hawk won't be here until 9 am and breakfast is not served before 6.30 am - so Missy and I decide to explore a bit as this sleepy city awakens from its slumber.

Just across from our hotel is one of Beijing's many "free parks".  These are interesting as each one has a mandatory exercise area/facility.  Much like our parks in Toronto have a playground for kids, these parks have monkey bars, poles, climbing walls and other equipment where adults can train and get fit.  I was surprised to see the park so crowded at 6 am!!  The chinese are a very industrious people.  There were so many seniors doing tai-chi - a kin dof gentle, stretching exercise.  Missy joined them for a bit.  And on the other side, we saw young men (dressed in some kind of uniform) doing a whole bunch of training routines.  There were various other people on the other equipment.  Watching them all made me realize how indulgent and lazy our lifestyles  (ok. my lifestyle) are back home.  True, there's runners and bikers along the lakeshore at 5 am even in TO but this was different - it seemed like the entire community was participating and to not engage in some kind of fitness routine was almost the exception to the norm.

Some kind of cadets practising drills
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Just outside the park, we saw a whole bunch of people gathered around a display board.  It turns out that this is Beijing's version of the daily Metro (the free newspaper we get in TO).  Each day, newspapers are put up in display areas such as these throughout the city so that peoople can keep up with the news.

Beijing had woken up and the streets were getting busy with lot sof buses, streetcars and cyclists transporting people to their jobs.  It was a vary invigorating sight.

Everyone seems to be exercising!
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So far, communism had not left any negative impressions on me.  People here seem content (without appearing too resigned) about their lives.  I made a mental note to ask Hawk some more about this when i saw him later.

We walked back to the hotel, it was almost 7 am.  Breakfast was great - a bit too elaborate if you ask me.  The buffet served everything from fried rice, noodles, steak, dumplings, veggies and chicken for breakfast.  We settled for the north american fare of cereal, fruit and croissant.  I did try some dumplings and they were yummy.

Beijing Streetcar
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We headed back to our room to gather our things and get ready to meet Hawk in a few hours.