The Forbidden City

Family,

Another incredible day in Beijing ran us off our feet and into bed exhausted. Kaaren is out cold and my feet feel like bloody stumps.

We toured the Forbidden City - the Emperor's city forbidden to common people through centuries until opened up in 1925. It's enormous and defies descriptions of scale. No time tonight to write about details. We got an English speaking guide and she is in these photos with us. We climbed the adjacent hill created from the moat excavation to get a panoramic view of the Forbidden City and surrounding Beijing. We also visited the Art District today, found a restaurant and managed to make ourselves understood - partly - and fed after a long day. Then we went to the Beijing Chaoyang Theater Acrobatics Macrocosm and saw an demonstration of acrobatics that made the French Canadian circus (can't remember the name - too tired) seem like child's play. I didn't bring the camera for that show.

We take taxis some places (about $1.20 for short to medium rides up to 15 minutes) and Gail (Elaine's New Yorker friend she met at LDS branch here who is working for Deutche Bank in Beijing) supplied her car and driver for most of the day - he also took us to the Great Wall yesterday and to dinner, etc. What a tough life.

We are in a fancy hotel with international clientele but must drink only bottled water and juices. We drive on the right side of the road in Beijing - on the wrong side in Hong Kong.

There are few English speakers here, but in Hong Kong probably half of the populations speaks some English and many signs are in English.

Leadership in Beijing are trying to teach their people better manners for the coming Olympics next summer. Previously common practices of spitting and relieving oneself in the streets are now discouraged and fined. However, we saw today a toddler out of diapers but not completely potty trained so they dress them in "split pants" - pants with no seam at the crotch so children can simply squat in the gutter and relieve themselves. We saw this happen ini the Forbidden City. Even bicycles are being discouraged as being not modern - unfortunately. Today we went through an intersection with 6 lanes of cars and about 8 lanes of bikes waiting for the light. Our driver careens between cars and bicycles like a Disneyland ride.

Everyone here wants to be rich, chic, and modern. More so in Hong Kong which was an English colony formed for the sole purpose of making money by trading. There is no natural resource in Hong Kong except isolation from the mainland and economic connections by sea and air. Beijing, of course, is different. It is set in the middle of the country (or so they think of it) in a great flat plain, surrounded by agriculture, mining, industry of all kinds.

English translations of Chinese signs and instruction placards are hilarious. It amazes me that official signs of government and industry (and our hotel) have so many goofy translations - that they haven't taken the trouble to get an English major to edit their work. Mark's favorite so far was one he wants to put over the door on his office. It was at the top of the tram/gondola that took us up to the great wall and said "Location of Office of Importance." I've taken pictures of some of the "English" texts that were either important or amusing or both.

Our breakfast is provided with our room rate and consists of a large buffet with offerings both familiar and extraordinarily strange, apparently catering to many international cultures. Hot soups, lunch meats, things I can't describe as well as omeletes and sausage and fruit. Lichee fruit is really nice and people eat a lot of watermelon here.

Today at the entrance to the Forbidden City, we bought bottles of drink - grape juice and water - where they also offered huge roasted sweet potatoes (actually red yams) that I was tempted to buy (only 3 Yuan or about 42 cents) but didn't need to eat and didn't have a way to carry it.

There is much under construction here - getting ready for the Olympics with new freeways (like Salt Lake City, as I remember) and overpasses and buildings of all kinds. Even without the Olympics I think there would continue to be much growth due to othe vibrant Chinese economy. But new freesay roadsigns are in Chinese and English. One stops at a toll gate at the entrance and exits to the freeway. There are policemen and military officers and security guards everywhere. The society is very used to being highly controlled and the people are trained to be very obedient. Just looking around, one would not think this is a communist country since capitalism is certainly the rule here. But the economy is in fact centrally planned and when you have more contact with people and systems, the communist system of controlling everything becomes more evident. We had to give out passports and visas to at the desk of the hotel. Foreigners are definitely watched and tracked though not nearly as bad as my experience traveling into East Berlin in 1968 when "The Wall" was still in place.

This is all l can manage tonight. We go pretty hard sun up to bedtime.

love,

Dad