Heaven, Scorpions & Duck

So I leave Beijing tomorrow morning. As I did a final tour of the city today I was struck by the level of development again, but this time in the sense that they are destroying virtually all the old historic neighborhoods in favor of Olympic related facelifts and rent jacks. At one point I went looking for a street that my guide book suggested exploring as an old market street, listed among the top 20 sights in the city. It was gone, in it's place, this:


It's kind of sad that the country decides only to recognize the ancient history and that involving Mao. Much of it's character will be lost for these Olympics, though they are content to essentially build a new city to show off to the visitors. Perhaps they feel by hiding this history they can show the "new" face of China, but it just seems stupid to me. Communism... I did see a great park today called the Temple of Heaven which was so unlike the rest of Beijing in its wide open natural setting. Very cool. Lots of plants and flowers and old men playing some type of Chinese checkers that is very popular here. Also there were old people playing some game that was a combo of hacky-sack and badminton which seemed cool. They offered for me to play with them but I was suspicious, as I am with every single person in this city. Its shakedown central here. Nobody is to be trusted at all, it seems. That must be part of the Communist theology as well somehow, since Moscow had the same feel although not quite as intense. Jamaica comes to mind as a comparatively hard to trust land also.


Later, I took a walk before dinner to check out an infamous street food market, where the Chinese idea that they'll eat anything with 4 legs besides a table and chairs and anything that flies besides an airplane was on full display... some of the things I didn't even know what to think of them, others I wish I didn't know what they were but unfortunately did.


After this I took some time to regain my appetite and headed to a super nice Peking Duck restaurant which was one of the better meals I've had this trip and the first time in China I had actually attentive service. Whole Duck, Veggies, 2 deserts included and 2 beers - $35. Its astonishing the value you get with food here. Everything for that matter. I continue to be shocked by the fact that the dollar is so strong here, whereas I've been trained about its weakness every other place I've been recently. Maybe it's because their bartenders looked like total freaks that they feel they can only chard $2 a beer?

On to Shanghai tomorrow where I'll finally have some company in the form of Tom Billings, a cagey brit from Dartmouth who I'll be staying with. I will sort of miss the solitude I've been enjoying but there will be plenty more of that once I get to Vietnam/Cambodia, etc.