Friday, May 15, 2009

The last few days have been in Beijing. Two whole days with educational and health researchers and some sightseeing. This is an amazing city - wonderful reminders of old China such as the great wall, Ming tombs and temples, together with a brash new 21st century capital of 20 million. Despite the massive problems, the sense of purpose and movement is overwhelming, as is the sheer number of people and traffic. The rapid adoption of the substance and trappings of American style capitalism jars with foreigners such as myself, but it is still wiat and see how the society develops. The highlight of the visit was an evening at the traditional Beijing opera - amazing performance. Hospitality here for both of us has been superb - as indeed it has been all over Chine, so we are sorry to be leaving. The final few photos here are some of the things we've seen and done.







A typical traffic jam! Scenes from the Lama temple, great wall, Ming tombs, and from hotel