For those keeping score at home, I've been back in "The Great Satan" for about a week now. I tried the best I could to keep things updated and current, but let's face it, that didn't happen. Last week was the worst case scenario of massive amounts of catching up to do and massive amounts of jet lag. I could try and keep up the illusion and pretend that I found an ethernet cable at the Great Wall of China, but that would be foolhardy. If there is one thing to fight against, that thing is foolhardiness. So I'm going to summarize the last couple of days in Beijing, starting riiiight now!
The Great Wall: A testament to what one can accomplish if one only has the will to do so; and an unending, expendable, supply of slave labor.
The Beijing Zoo:
Come for the Pandas, stay for the kids shitting on the sidewalk!
The Yashow Market:
Everything you've ever heard about Chinese bootleg shopping, under one roof! Bartering is key. They give you a price, you offer one tenth that. Offers are exchanged until you pay about one eighth the price. It sounds simple, but try doing that for four hours, and you'll feel like you ran a marathon underwater. Coming out with every episode of The Simpsons, The Wire, and Every Disney Movie Ever, just might be worth it though.
To summarize, the trips to Tokyo and Beijing provided a unique portrait of two cities in different stages of development. Beijing will no doubt struggle with the dichotomy of maintaining a Communist government in a Socialist country while some reap the massive rewards of embracing Capitalism. Tokyo will struggle to find new and unexpected things to sell out of vending machines. The main problem both countries face is their natural geographical distance from Mexican Food. Weather or not this proves to be a major factor in their future place on the world stage has yet to be seen, but one thing is clear: Mexican Food is delicioso*!
*Delicious, in Mexican.
