Beijing was fun. I'll leave the political-economical analytical ramblings on China tourism and economic development and capitalism vs communism blah blah blah till another post... so here is just the fun side of it :-)
The city With capitalism taking hold, displacing communism, and its rapid economic development, Beijing was seriously better than I expected. Well, while toilets at the great wall still stink, much of Beijing is clean and, shockingly, green - on the roadsides, and in the many parks (a reflection as the city's historic status as the emperor's home). Ok, correction, most trees in warm temperate climate are deciduous, and it's late autumn/winter now, but you get the point. Crime is at at a record low. The streetscape is starting to look a bit like japan.
There's still plently of congestion everywhere - in the airport, in their MRT, on the roads (you're probably better off walking during peak hours, save for the wintery weather), but heavy and continued investment in infrastructure (e.g. tiered road interchanges, up-and-coming MRT lines, more and new buses) has indeed helped to solve the problem.
The weather Much better than singapore, to say the least. But seriously, I prefer cold weather :-) Dun sweat at all... This time, weather at beijing was around 6 to -2, and there was very light snow on sat morning.
The sights & the shopping Ok we went to the usual tourist attractions... great wall, tiananmen, forbidden city, bla bla bla... but what really struck me was the richness of history and culture in beijing.
Oh and I did quite a bit of shopping :-) Most are dirt cheap, if u know how to bargain. But many of the shops will jack up the price if they see u r a foreigner, so while shopping with china pple, i shut up and got them to bargain for me - well, I look local enough, but i'll give the game away once i open my mouth. And another big sore point is their service... mostly damn lousy... and they'll try to cheat you by giving you fake notes (luckily i didn't kena this) as well as try not to give you your change (more than one shop "forgot" to give me until i asked).
Ok, in fact, too much shopping. My luggage quite badly overweight (luckily they didn't care as it was group check-in) and i had to sit on top to close it. Heng ah can close...
The school & the students Again, in many ways a pleasant surprise. 人大附中 School facilities are good (in some aspects better than RI.. especially the canteen food). The students are damn enthu and really demonstrate class and school spirit (nationalism?) - unlike here. Ok I said i'll leave the analysis of capitalism and collective action till another post... so I'll resist... And they are really warm and welcoming. I had 2 buddies (xiaoyao and xiaodi), since the one that came to singapore (xiaoyao) and I attended class with couldn't host me for homestay. Both r really nice, and so is xiaoyao's class (junior 2/13) - had a really nice time talking to them, interacting with them, and they gave me a whole lot of things. Big thanks to them for making this trip such a pleasant one
But china's education system still has room for improvement. It focuses too much on memorisation and rote learning, and too little on independent critical and creative thinking. My buddy's mum ranted a lot on this... but seriously, you can't have much discussion with class sizes of 50.
Anyhow, despite this, their students are really smart, and their willingness to work hard will serve them well.Btw.... the pic to the left is of special significance to jianxiong. Ok jianxiong i'm not spilling the beans here.
The food Quite good. Especially those signature specialities like beijing duck, zhajiang noodle etc. It's mostly spicier, salitier, oilier, and fatter than singapore - pretty scrumptions, but not for the health-conscious. If you're on a weight-loss progamme, beijing's probably not fo you. Food's much cheaper than singapore too.
Accomodation
Above expectations. We stayed in the school's hostel, and it's definitely much better than RI boarding (from what I heard). Pretty clean, with all the necessary facilities, and good heating and hot water. They even have an "activity room" with table tennis tables, dvd player etc. etc.
Final notes Quite a fun trip :-) And certainly an eye-opening one. Thanks to all those who have made this trip possible, and I also thank the lord for keeping me safe
P.S. more photos available on jianxiong's photo album . Some photos mine, some his. Specific people welcome to request specific photos (hinthint)
