The Goods

Lest you all think that everyone in China is constantly trying to scam Westerners, never fear, that only accounts for 75 % of the population. The rest are very friendly.

Seriously though, Beijing has been great so far, but that kind of stuff is boring to write about. The food is wonderful, Tian'anmen Square is simply epic, and I saw an 18-meter tall Buddha statue. Oh, and I got a great foot massage.

Other tidbits:

-Beijing desperately needs more subways (which are being built). Rush hour here is unreal, and people don't believe in letting others off the train before they get on so the pushing is pretty heavy. There are only three functioning lines (the 1, 2, and 13...not sure about the skip in numbers...) and the transfer from the 13 to the 2 at Xizhimen is about a half mile walk, with a lot of it outside. But if you feel like it, you can buy a puppy on the way (seriously).

-There are wide bike lanes all over the place and special bike traffic lights. Very cool. BUT many intersections are still a total mess of cars, people, and bikes anyway.

-The pollution here is insane. I keep thinking that the haze surrounding every building above the 10th story is fog, but it's not.