Beijing, China

I spent this week in Beijing, China.  I'm lucky to have traveled to China many, many times over the last 8 years.  Each visit is unique - some good, some not so great.  I spent time seeing tourist sites many years ago, so my visits aren't quite as spectacular now.  The continued growth of Beijing as a city, is still mind-blowing.  With over 20 million residents, things get complicated here.  This includes traffic…and pollution.

This week, the pollution in Beijing was, literally, off the charts.  Let me explain.  Pollution here has always been a problem, as many industries still rely on burning coal.  The huge increase in vehicles, as the Communist country has relaxed rules that permit the emerging middle-class to buy more cars, contributes pollutants. Add to that, the large dust storms that come in from the country-side, and you have a recipe for disaster.  Let me put it in a more concrete form.  Normal pollution is measured by the number of particles in the air.  Air quality is good when the index is at 50 micrograms per cubic meter.  The index runs from zero to 500.  While here, the index hit 700.  Yeah…it was disgusting. When I arrived, the pilot of the airplane said he only had 1/2 mile of visibility….

Mid-day...the sun is really trying to shine through...

The view from my office...

Sales of face masks were brisk, shall we say.  What a crazy problem.  I'm going to have to replace my lungs, after this trip.

The trip wasn't all bad. I actually saw some fun things.  One day, while looking for a lunch spot, my team passed an area of town that was used for really large factories.  The area is now known as 798, which was the number for one of the factories.  It now houses an active art community.  I loved walking through this neighborhood, as there were fascinating sculptures.

Who could have imagined, just a few years ago, artists poking fun at traditional Communist icons.  At one shop, they made cute little porcelain figures of Chairman Mao.  If I had room in the suitcase, they would definitely be part of the collection.

 Cute little army soldiers...

It wasn't all play, however.  I spent several days meeting with various teams at my company's office in Beijing.  I had to organize some of their activities, and make sure they were working in sync with the company headquarters.  

We met with a company called Eedoo - they are a subsidiary of the largest Chinese PC manufacturer, Lenovo.  This company has created their own gaming console, because Xbox and Playstations aren't sold in China.  The device is basically a tiny PC, connected to your television.  The main input is a 3D camera that tracks your motion, just like the Xbox Kinect.  Here's a fun example of a kung-fu game, being played by one of my team members:

I always enjoy the discovery of food, no matter what country I visit.  I don't always know the names - but I love the experience.  Take a look at the work put into this dish.  It's not so much about the slices of cold beef, but the intricate writing that was done with the sauce on the plate:

In one of the convenience stores, I found this delightful candy - perfect for my oldest daughter, who is obsessed with pandas.

For my final night in Beijing, the team took me to a very traditional Beijing restaurant.  It was an awesome experience.  Let's start with the food.  I always find that pictures of food rarely do justice to the actual dishes.  There were so many dishes that were similar to what you find in a high-end Chinese restaurant at home.  You have to subtract all of the sugary-sweet dishes that Americans seem to expect (sweet & sour anything, orange chicken, etc).  A couple of the menu items were interesting, at least to me.  First, is something I will call Bacon Jello:

It was pieces of meat, suspended in a gelatin, which may have been flavored with beef broth.  It was sure interesting to look at…not so much fun to eat.

My team really wanted me to try a very traditional Beijing dish.  It was a collection of noodles, where you mix in different ingredients (cucumbers, radishes, corn).  On top, you add a sauce that tasted like salty bean curd - very tasty.  The thing that makes this dish unique, was the way you mix in all the ingredients.  Apparently, this is only done in Beijing.  Several people that grew up in other Chinese cities never ate noodles like this when they were young.

Before...

 After...

The last dish of note was also very interesting.  Not so much for the actual food, but for what it stood for.  I would compare this to a matzo ball soup - with tender chicken-type dumplings suspended in broth.  According to my friends, the dish is very popular around Chinese New Year, as it symbolizes love and unity in a family.  Pretty cool, eh?

The rest of the evening included a big dinner show, right in front of the diners at this massive restaurant.  First up was a singer from the Peking Opera Company.  I love opera, but have a tough time appreciating this type of opera for more than a few minutes.  I still marvel at the patience used to develop this talent.  The restaurant was loud, so there is a ton of background noise in the video.  You'll hear the singer and the music, however.

Next, we had a little taste of acrobatics.  We had a chance to see someone manipulating a HUGE drum with their feet.  According to the announcer, the drum weighs in at around 150 pounds.  Pretty amazing:

Then things got really interesting - they asked for a member of the audience to come up and get INSIDE the drum, while the acrobat spun it around.  Best part?  This was a tiny lady that was doing the heavy lifting!

After a magician and some other musicians, there was a dancer that entertained the audience.  It was fun to watch.  After I finished filming this sequence, the masks on his face started changing color and design when he would turn around.  Very cool!

I asked that we take a team picture, to preserve the memory of the evening.  They were all wearing scarves (it was really cold), and they made me put one on, as well.  This was a great group and they were very kind to me during the trip:

That's it for Beijing.  Not too much in the sight-seeing department on this trip.  I'm really, really, really looking forward to stopping in Tokyo on my trip back home.  Catch the next post soon!