Zhong Guo Beijing, Shui Ni Hao
It was time to “get the hell out of Dodge” and head to… dart, please… Beijing, China (though some would still say “Peking,” but they’d be o-o-o-ld). Gathering up Mighty D.R. and a couple of United First tickets; we were off. However… nobody told us that the entire city was, even this late in the game for 2008’s global party, still under construction. Chicagoans, though, have experienced this kind of disappointment before. Just ask the Griswolds (thanks, Marty Moose!). And the Olympic venues? Let’s just say that if they were webpages… they’d look like this. Get crackin’, boys!
Thankfully, there are a few things that have been finished for, oh, 2,000 years or so. We’re going to let others debate whether or not the Great Wall can be seen from space with the naked eye (at least until our Virgin Galactic tix are printed “as early as 2009,” that is)… but we can personally say that it’s fully-deserving of its “New 7 Wonders” status. The wall-building techniques lovingly showcased on South Park a few years back are really nothing short of astonishing when seen up close (and, no, we’re not talking about the true fact that “peasants who died working were buried inside the wall”). Sprinkle in visits to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and Wangfujing… and you’ve got yourself a worth-while visit.
Let’s get it started.
Jian dao ni hen gao xing, Beijing!
Traditional Chinese history.
Modern (and future) Chinese history.
Zai jian, Beijing.
Bonus level: a little “engrish.”
Beijing, China in living color… as seen through Berkcam®.