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After what felt like the slowest movie marathon in history, I finally touched down in Beijing, China. ÔÚ·É»úÉϾÀúÁËÂþ³¤µÄµçÓ°ÂíÀËɺó£¬ÎÒÖÕÓÚÒ»½Å̤ÉÏÁËÖйúÊ×¶¼±±¾©µÄÍÁµØ¡£
Home of the 2008 Olympic Games, at least a couple of pandas, and 20 million people. That¡¯s almost the entire population of Canada squeezed into a space the size of greater Vancouver. I was, as I¡¯m sure the 9 other people travelling with me were as well, braced for a culture shock.±±¾©£¬2008Äê°ÂÔË»áµÄ¾Ù°ì³ÇÊУ¬ÓµÓÐÖÁÉÙÒ»¶Ô´óÐÜ裬ÒÔ¼°2000ÍòÈ˿ڡ£Õ⼸ºõ¾ÍÏñÊǽ«Õû¸ö¼ÓÄôóµÄÈË¿ÚÈ«²¿Èû½øÍ¬Î¸绪һ°ã´óСµÄ¿Õ¼äÀï¡£ÎÒ£¬ÎҺܿ϶¨ÓëÎÒͬÐÐµÄÆäËû9ÈËÒ²¸úÎÒÒ»Ñù£¬ÒѾ׼±¸ºÃÓ½Ó¼´½«µ½À´µÄ¾Þ´óÎÄ»¯³å»÷¡£
Admittedly my first impression was at night, so I couldn¡¯t really make out the details, but on the drive from the airport to the hotel, it just looked like a medium sized city. Pretty and pedestrian, with wide tree-lined boulevards. All the buildings were no more than 20 storys and not all squished together like they are in Hong Kong. Huh? Beijing is supposed to be super crowded, but yet it looks like Vancouver, just outside the downtown core? Where am I? And more importantly, where are all the people?ÎÞ¿É·ñÈÏ£¬ÎҵĵÚÒ»Ó¡ÏóÊÇÔÚÒ¹ÀËùÒÔÎÒʵÔÚÎÞ·¨ÃèÊö³ö¾ßÌåϸ½Ú£¬µ«´Ó»ú³¡¿ªÍù¾ÆµêµÄ´ó°ÍÉÏÏòÍâÍûÈ¥£¬Ëü¿´ÆðÀ´Ö»ÏñÒ»¸öÖеȹæÄ£µÄ³ÇÊС£ÑØ×Å¿í³¨µÄÁÖÒñ´óµÀÏòǰÐÐÊ»£¬Á½ÅԵľ°É«Æ¯ÁÁÈ´·¦Î¶¡£ÖµµÃÆæ¹ÖµÄÊǼ¸ºõËùÓн¨Öþ¶¼Ã»Óг¬¹ý20²ã£¬²»ÏñÏã¸ÛÄÇÑùÈ«²¿¼·Ñ¹ÔÚÒ»Æð¡£àźߣ¬Äª·ÇÎÒ´ò¿ªµÄ·½Ê½²»¶Ô£¿±±¾©²»Ó¦¸ÃÊdz¬¼¶Óµ¼·µÄÂ𣿵«ËüÏÖÔÚ¿´ÆðÀ´¾ÍÏñθ绪£¬¾ÍÏñÔÚÊÐÖÐÐÄÍâÃæ£¿ÎÒµ½µ×ÔÚÄĶù£¿¸üÖØÒªµÄÊÇ£¬´«ËµÖеÄÈËɽÈ˺£ÔÚÄĶù£¿
Still puzzling over this, we were delivered to the Crown Plaza Beijing Wangfujing, a really nice, modern hotel. µ±ÎÒ»¹ÔÚ¾À½áÕâ¸öµÄʱºò£¬ÎÒÃÇÒѾ±»Ë͵½±±¾©Íõ¸®¾®µÄ»Ê¹Ú¼ÙÈվƵ꣬һ¸ö·Ç³£Æ¯ÁÁ¡¢ÏÖ´ú»¯µÄ¾Æµê¡£
After a few minutes to freshen up, we met up and hit the streets. Wangfujing, the street our hotel fronted onto, is one of the main shopping streets in the city, and was lit up with giant jumbotron billboards, giving the whole area a welcoming, festive vibe. And judging by the giant 8 level mega malls there, they do pretty well.
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Half a block away, just as we stopped to take pictures of a cathedral, loud Chinese pop music started playing (not what one would normally expect at Catholic Mass, but a definate bonus), complete with live singing on the front steps, and a big crowd of people materialized in the plaza and all started line dancing. It was a Chinese flash mob! Or maybe it was a normal Tuesday night in Beijing, because the participants spanned all ages, and everyone knew the routine. Whatever it was, it was awesome, and two hours later when we were walking back to the hotel, they were still dancing.×ßÁ˰ë¸ö½ÖÇøÔ¶£¬ÎÒÃÇÍ£ÏÂÀ´¸øÒ»×ù½ÌÌÃÅÄÉãÕÕÆ¬£¬ÖÜΧ¿ªÊ¼²¥·ÅÖйúÁ÷ÐÐÒôÀÖ£¬ÒôÁ¿ºÜ´ó£¨ËäÈ»²»ÊÇͨ³£Ìýµ½µÄÌìÖ÷½ÌÃÖÈö£¬µ«Ò²Ëã²»´íµÄ¸£Àû£©£¬ÓÐÈËÕ¾ÔÚÇ°ÃæµĄ̈½×ÉÏÏÖ³¡Ñݳª£¬Ò»´óȺÈËͻȻ³öÏÖÔڹ㳡ÉÏ£¬²¢¿ªÊ¼ÅŶÓÌøÎè¡£ÕâÄѵÀ¾ÍÊÇÖйúµÄ¿ìÉÁ»î¶¯£¡»òÕßÖ»ÊDZ±¾©Ò»¸öÆÕͨµÄÐÇÆÚ¶þÒ¹Íí£¬ÒòΪ²ÎÓëÕ߸÷¸öÄêÁä¶Î¶¼ÓУ¬Ã¿¸öÈ˶¼ÖªµÀ¹Ì¶¨Îè²½¡£²»¹ÜËüÊÇʲô£¬×ܶøÑÔÖ®£¬Ëü·Ç³£°ô£¬2¸öСʱºó£¬µ±ÎÒÃDz½ÐлؾƵêµÄʱºò£¬ËûÃÇ»¹ÔÚÄÇÀïÌøÎè¡£

Then to the Donghuamen Night Market, just one block farther down. Otherwise known as snack street, this the best place in town to get something roasted on a stick, from the classic chicken, pork, tofu, to the exotic beetle larvae, squid, scorpion and snake. Yum. There are hundreds of stalls lining one side of the street, brightly lit with a line of red lanterns. On the upside, for vending carts, they are clean and the food was good quality. On the downside, every stall sells exactly the same stuff, so after the first ten feet you really don¡¯t need to continue exploring, as you¡¯ve seen it all by now.½ÓÏÂÀ´ÊǶ«»ªÃÅÒ¹ÊУ¬ÍùÏÂÒ»¸ö½ÖÇø±ãÊÇ¡£³ý´ËÖ®Í⣬×÷ΪһÌõÎÅÃûµÄС³Ô½Ö£¬ÕâÒ²ÊdzÇÀï³Ô¿¾´®×îºÃµÄµØ·½£¬´Ó¾µäµÄ¼¦Èâ´®¡¢ÖíÈâ´®¡¢¶¹¸¯´®µ½Ç§Ææ°Ù¹ÖµÄ²ÏÓ¼¡¢öÏÓ㡢Ы×Ó»¹ÓÐÉߣ¬Ó¦Óо¡ÓС£àÅ¡«¡«¡«ÕæºÃ³Ô¡£ÕâÀïÓÐÉϰٸöÌ¯Î»ÑØ½ÖµÀÒ»²àÒ»×ÖÅÅ¿ª£¬Ò»ÏßºìµÆÁý¸ß¸ß¹ÒÆð£¬¹âÏßÃ÷ÁÁ¡£ÓŵãÊÇ£º··ÊÛ³µ¶¼ºÜ¸É¾»£¬Ê³ÎïµÄÆ·ÖÊÒ²ºÜºÃ¡£È±µãÊÇ£ºÃ¿¸ö̯λÂôµÄ¶«Î÷¼¸ºõһģһÑù£¬ËùÒÔ³¯Ç°×ßÍêʮӢ³ßÖ®ºó£¬ÄãÕæµÄÕæµÄ²»ÐèÒªÔÙ¼ÌÐøÃÀʳ̽ÏÕ£¬ÈçÄãËù¼û£¬ËùÓеĶ«Î÷Äã¸Õ²Å¶¼¿´µ½¹ýÁË¡£
Like most tourists, we took photos of the sheer grossness and spectacle of it all, squealed, giggled, bought nothing and moved on. They must do a ton of business to be able to support that many stalls, but on a sub-zero November night, there wasn¡¯t a big demand for snake on a stick. Plus, I can¡¯t get that home though customs.ºÍ´ó¶àÊýÓοÍÒ»Ñù£¬ÎÒÃÇ´¿´âÖ»ÊÇ×ßÂí¹Û»¨µØÅÄЩÕÕÆ¬£¬Ð˷ܵؿ´×ÅÑÛǰ¾°Ïó£¬Ò»»á¸ßÉù¼â½Ð£¬Ò»»á¡°¿©¿©¡±µØÐ¦£¬Ê²Ã´Ò²Ã»ÓÐÂò£¬°éËæÈ˳±¼ÌÐøÇ°½ø¡£ËûÃÇÓ¦¸ÃÒª×ö´óÁ¿ÉúÒâ²Å×ãÒÔÖ§³ÅÄÇô¶à̯룬µ«ÊÇÔÚÆøÎÂΪÁãϵÄ11ÔÂÒ¹Íí£¬ËÆºõûÓÐÄÇô¶àÈËÏëÒª³Ô´©ÔÚСľ¹÷ÉϵÄÉßÈâ¡£´ËÍ⣬¼´±ãÈëÏ磬ÎÒÒ²Ëæ²»ÁËÕâÑùµÄË×ѽ¡¡
Damn it was cold here. For years I¡¯ve been telling clients that Beijing¡¯s weather is about the same as Vancouver¡¯s but with more sun. As an approximation, it works, but when we were there, it was colder. By quite a bit. Minus 5 with a really strong wind chill that made your eyes water and you sprint for the hotel screaming for the weather Gods to take pity on us jet-lagged Canadians.¸ÃËÀµÄ£¬±±¾©ÕæÊÇÌ«ÀäÁË¡£¶àÄêÀ´£¬ÎÒÒ»Ö±ÐÅÊĵ©µ©µØ¸æË߿ͻ§£¬±±¾©µÄÌìÆøºÍθ绪²î²»¶à£¬µ«ÊÇÑô¹â¸ü¶àЩ¡£×÷ΪһÖÖ½üËÆÖµ£¬ËüÒ²ÎÞ´í¿ÉÌô£¨²»×¼È·£©£¬²»¹ýµ±ÎÒÃÇÕæÕýÉí´¦±±¾©Ê±£¬ÕâÀïÏÔÈ»¸üÀä°¡£¡¶øÇÒ²»ÊÇÀäÒ»Ðǰëµã¡£ÁãÏÂ5¶ÈµÄÆøÎ£¬»¹Óо¢´µµÄ´Ì¹Çº®·ç£¬¶³µÃÄãÏë¿Þ£¬ÈÃÄãÄóö°ÙÃ׳å´ÌµÄ¾¢Í·Ö±±¼¾Æµê£¬²¢ÇÒÏòÌìÆøÖ®Éñ°§º¿£¬ÆòÇóËüÁ¯ÃõÎÒÃÇÕâЩ¿ÉÁ¯µÄ¼ÓÄôóʱ²îµ³¡£
Honestly, that temperature is probobly what kept me up until 9:30 pm, China time, after having been up for nearly 36 hours straight. It helped me get into the local rhythm, but that didn¡¯t make it any more enjoyable, and after a hot bath I collapsed into bed, cocooned up into my comforter and fell into a deep sleep.ÀÏʵ˵£¬Ò²ÐíÕýÊÇÕâÑùµÄζÈÈÃÎÒÔÚ½«½ü36¸öСʱδºÏÑÛµÄÇé¿öÏ£¬³Åµ½Á˱±¾©Ê±¼äÍíÉÏ9µã30·Ö¡£Ëü°ïÎÒÊÊÓ¦Á˵±µØ½Ú×࣬µ«ÄDz¢Ã»ÓÐʹËü±äµÃ¿É°®ÌÖϲ¡£Ï´ÁËÒ»¸öÈÈË®ÔèÖ®ºó£¬ÎÒ̱µ¹ÔÚ´²ÉÏ£¬ÈáÈíÎÂůµÄ±»Îѽ«ÎÒ°ü¹üÆðÀ´£¬ÕæÊæ·þ£¬ºÜ¿ìÎҾͽøÈëÁËÌðÃÀµÄÃÎÏç¡£
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