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Beijing
Overview of Beijing
Beijing is the capital city of China and therefore home to serious Government and multinational lobbying plus of course all the international diplomatic community
Blood Thirsty Boxers and a Real Man
Beijing as Ernest Morrison saw it
You and your foreign friends are trapped. A place heretofore friendly and deferential to foreigners, Beijing has suddenly decided that all of you are enemies who should be butchered. The government, not wishing to provoke too much international retribution, creates a giant terrorist army of warriors ready to die for China, but not before killing as many of you as possible.
No paranoid fantasy, thus lay the scene a mere 109 years ago. Don’t think that’s ancient history. Many are you who’ve recently muttered, “Oh my god, it’s 2009 already?” In fact, England’s got a platoon of old birds who were wearing Victorian diapers 109 years ago. Times were so antiquated in Beijing that infants wore assless pants, of all things. The point being that, though the surface may have been a lot less WTO-y, Beijing was still Beijing, and the expats were a lot like you and me.
Beijing 2010: Everything's Harmonious
High Contrast Beijing : Same Spots, Different Worlds
Say what you like about Beijing - it will outlast you. Most of the buildings pictured in black and white were ancient when they were photographed. The people, however, were not. They didn't think of themselves as part of Beijing's tumultuous, fathomless past. Do you? Of course not. But do keep in mind that someday, more than likely, someone will look at a picture of you. And you'll be long gone. History. So will many of the buildings in the color pictures once again be dust. Will it matter? Will you?
Pan Jia Yuan: Beyond Antiquing
“There is a greater pleasure in picking up a small pearl in an ash-can than in looking at a large one in a jeweler’s window.”
Today's Hutong, Tomorrow's History
Beijing's Ski Spots
China Expat’s readership hails from across the country. However, at some point or another everyone ends up in Beijing, either on business, travel, or passing through on an international route. The city itself gets almost no snow during its winters, but it does have some beautiful mountains just outside its limits that are worth a look. If you have a hard time believing that just because you cannot usually see them through Beijing’s gray air, a short trip out there will help you realize how much lies just past the capital’s urban exterior. Some of the area ski slopes are surprisingly good, and a delightful way to get out of the city.
