A view of the entrance to the courtyard that leads to The Forbidden City.

My 2 weeks in China have come to a close…I was having a conversation with a coworker yesterday about my observations while in country…mostly surrounding the seemingly inescapable notion of interrelatedness…In only a decade, the Chinese people seem to have absorbed a whole lotta Western style, technology and pathos (mostly the consumerism)…or at least that’s true in the city…

The country life is much different…compartmentalized…but somehow patiently waiting for the delivery of a promise…people in the rural areas seem content to wait for the physical world to catch up to them…the delivery of infrastructure, the helpful hand of an NGO, the news…while IMHO most Americans would be struck at how little a village has or how dilapidated a town might be…these folks all understand which technologies are helpful to them…cell phones are ubiquitous….even more so than in the US…

The head of a rural Chinese village working it on his cell...

So while the head of a village of 88 people that has maybe 2 vehicles, basic plumbing, electric and some chickens may be sitting in his very cool tree-fort like house…he’s on his cell phone pretty regular-like…brokering, hagling, managing,…I was struck by how consistent the pace and mood of each village we visited appeared…I could see unwinding in such a space…free of the keeping up w/the Joneses imprimateur of American lifestyle in particular.

Anyway, there is a lot to think about coming off of this leg…certainly the realization that China is no joke…not some far away land where they make the goods for Wal-Mart’s supply chain…but a place that is leveling the playing field w/the West pretty methodically…oh and btw, they’re pretty nice people too.

More when I land in Tokyo…

May he rest in peace...althogh that will be hard with about 5000 people a day passing by his mummified corpse.

I arrived in Beijing, caught a cab to my hotel and found that prices had tripled…But so had the quality…

The next morning I made my way all by myself to Tian’an Men Square…which is a very big place…with airport style security…some wonderful flower sculptures and a huge amount of people…as I crossed the square and gazed upon the giant portrait of Mao Tse Tung, I couldn’t help but think that China is indeed The Market, the world is flat and it’s only a matter of time before all vestiges of closed markets are history.

On my way beneath Chang’an Ave, a homely bespectacled Chinese girl sporting broken English appeared at my side. She began asking benign questions about how long had I been in Beijing, where I was from and tossing out flattery…then she made her pitch…she was a “student” who had an art exhibit that she and her classmates were interested in showing people…and would I take a look…”oh all right”…of course it was a play to sell mediocre Chinese artworks under the guise of supporting education…a clever ruse none the less…I politely viewed the works, thanked the girl and then made my way…finally into the courtyard that leads to the start of The Forbidden City.

Me, in The Forbidden City. Not forbidden if you pay 60 RNB.

After buying a ticket to enter for 60 Yuan, I began my fleet footed pilgrimige through this amazing complex of courtyards, stairs and former living quarters of the Chinese royals.

I hardly spent enough time to see the main structures, never mind the alcoves, antechambers and former gathering spaces that now contain untold antiquities. The place itself was mobbed…with thousands of people simply wanting to gaze at the throne rooms of previous dynasties. I generally avoided these crushing views for the less frequented areas…for the most part…The Forbidden City is not unlike any other museum…with artifacts accompanied by educational descriptions, gift shops, and overused facilities.  That said, the scope of size, quality of craftsmanship and demonstrable forsight of the construction is breathtaking.

Ok…I’ve got to get ready to attend a photo exhibit…more later…

Just like fraternity life...

Ok, the honeymoon is over…in my effort to keep the pace w/colleagues and, oh yah…eat food…I continued to feed on local vegetables, rice and sauces…wisely avoiding the meats and fish…or so I thought…somewhere between this shot of rice wine and the voyage to a quasi abandoned city on the Mekong river…my tummy was bothered…

The good news is…it’s a fairly mild case…I’m still able to function without too much distraction…the bad news is…when nature calls…I find myself in the first available Chinese toilet…btw,…if you should find yourself in rural China,…bring some TP eh?

The view from the road leading to a rural Chinese village.

Through an interesting twist of fate, I find myself in Yunnan province, China…sipping tea, shooting video and photos, suggesting the use of locations like the one you see on the left…and eating more spicy vegetables than I ever have in my life.

After a grueling 31 hour set of flights from the east coast through Beijing to Jinghong…I was thankfully met at the airport by some wonderful coworkers and promptly checked into my hotel for a bit of unpacking.

Only three days later, I’m amazed at the sites I’ve seen… with so much more to come!

The view from the Xischaung Banna Nature Reserve cable car system.

In the morning of the next day, my coworkers and I made our way over to the Wild Elephant Valley in Xischaung Banna Nature Reserve. One can either walk up a tiled path to the complex of elevated cabins or take an incredibly scenic cable car ride through the valley. We chose the latter…absolutely worth the wait…the elevation of the cabins allows for visitors to spend the night in the valley and observe wild Asian elephants in their natural environment.

Once you arrive at the reserve via cable car, you enter the floor of the valley via a descending stone path…if you ever arrive here…keep your eyes up…there are several habituated gibbons on the loose…meant to serve as amusements for both the Reserve’s staff and for those tourists lucky enough to be spared the gibbon’s obnoxious yet welcoming behavior…

The obnoxious gibbon.

This one, on the left I named “Little f&%$&” after he swung down, grabbed my shoulder and cackled off…this was how I was alerted to his presence…humph! After the laughter quieted a bit…and we continued on…he swung down again and grabbed my beloved hair…for those of you who know me well…this is a no no…and the point at which I promptly dubbed him “Little f&%$&”. Again…laughter…then quiet…

Anyway…it’s been a good start here…with each new experience I realize how lucky I am…and lately how happy…I’m looking forward to continuing to explore and reporting back in!  Stay tuned…