On Tuesday morning, we went up to NW Beijing to the Bridge Cafe, to view the presidential debate live. There were about 40 people there, a very young crowd, which made sense given this is where there are many Chinese Universities. The debates were lively! The crowd was very comfortable with social media, and there was a lot of live tweeting, face booking, instragramming. After the debate I was interviewed by the South China Morning Post and got quoted in the article published Wednesday morning. here's the link: SCMP article
After the debate we went to a meeting with the local CAFL (China Arena Football League) "fixer", Fiona Wang. Fiona is a giant caldron of bubbling enthusiasm in a tiny package. She invited us to the press conference on Thursday.
Bill was exploding with joy! He just loves this sport and it makes him so happy. It's a beautiful thing to see.
After that we took a cab over to the Capital Museum. It is an interestingly laid out museum with
exhibits on 6 floors and a gigantic atrium which spans the entire half of the building. The artifacts were of some interest, as the descriptions where in Chinese. However, we did find 2 photos of the hotel we are staying in. This hotel was the center of the negotiations between the Chinese nationals and Chinese communists at the end of 1946. There are photos all over the hotel depicting the events and who participated. It was scheduled to be demolished, but was saved as a historical monument.
We were walking toward out hotel and the restaurant we were meeting Servet at, and we decided to try to take a local bus. We have "metro" cards and they are accepted on the bus. Both the subway and the buses are a "double tap" system. You need to tap your card on entry, and then again on exit. The cost of the ride is then deducted from the card. Usually the subway is 2 yuan, (30 cents) for a short ride, and 3 yuan (45 cents) for a longer one. Our bus ride was only 1 yuan. We rode about 3.5 km.
This is the view from inside the bus.
The restaurant was south of Tian 'anmen Square. Last night, as we walked the length of the square, it's enormity struct me. It is at least 1 km long, and about 1/2 that wide. We walked down a hutong and found the duck place.
exhibits on 6 floors and a gigantic atrium which spans the entire half of the building. The artifacts were of some interest, as the descriptions where in Chinese. However, we did find 2 photos of the hotel we are staying in. This hotel was the center of the negotiations between the Chinese nationals and Chinese communists at the end of 1946. There are photos all over the hotel depicting the events and who participated. It was scheduled to be demolished, but was saved as a historical monument.
We were walking toward out hotel and the restaurant we were meeting Servet at, and we decided to try to take a local bus. We have "metro" cards and they are accepted on the bus. Both the subway and the buses are a "double tap" system. You need to tap your card on entry, and then again on exit. The cost of the ride is then deducted from the card. Usually the subway is 2 yuan, (30 cents) for a short ride, and 3 yuan (45 cents) for a longer one. Our bus ride was only 1 yuan. We rode about 3.5 km.
The restaurant was south of Tian 'anmen Square. Last night, as we walked the length of the square, it's enormity struct me. It is at least 1 km long, and about 1/2 that wide. We walked down a hutong and found the duck place.
We met Servet at Li Qun, a famous Peking Duck place. It is a courtyard in a hutong, in a former private home. You need to reserve your duck ahead of time. It was splendid! Far better than the other place that we tried.
We consumed a duck, the crisped bones, various side dishes running the gamut from cold sweetened lotus root, to a Mongolian bed dish. We washed this all down with many bottle of a local beer. The entire meal plus booze was under $100.
I have been here long enough to feel, "you want how many yuan for that", when we are just talking about cents. Yet, on the other hand, I don't have a problem shelling out 400 yuan for a good meal. Just to give you perspective, 100 yuan = $15.
As Bill and I walk, or take cabs, around the city of Beijing, I can't help but be awed at the sheer economic power that will exists here when China brings its entire population up to an equal economic footing. You can feel it in in the air, there is a vibrancy and a yearning here. People are open and happy to help. As the economic boat rises here this will be a place where the rest of the world will be plowed under if we don't figure out a way to cooperate and develop mutually beneficial economic structures. This is just one of the reasons that a Trump presidency scares the absolute piss out of me. Isolationism is not going to make the long term better, it will plunge us into a chasm of economic servitude. And then, we will be the 3rd world country.
Off Soap Box
Peace, Out
I have been here long enough to feel, "you want how many yuan for that", when we are just talking about cents. Yet, on the other hand, I don't have a problem shelling out 400 yuan for a good meal. Just to give you perspective, 100 yuan = $15.
As Bill and I walk, or take cabs, around the city of Beijing, I can't help but be awed at the sheer economic power that will exists here when China brings its entire population up to an equal economic footing. You can feel it in in the air, there is a vibrancy and a yearning here. People are open and happy to help. As the economic boat rises here this will be a place where the rest of the world will be plowed under if we don't figure out a way to cooperate and develop mutually beneficial economic structures. This is just one of the reasons that a Trump presidency scares the absolute piss out of me. Isolationism is not going to make the long term better, it will plunge us into a chasm of economic servitude. And then, we will be the 3rd world country.
Off Soap Box
Peace, Out
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