China Trip October 2017

Comments -

- Getting off the plane and driving into Beijing was an eye opener. The cars were modern, varied, large and a lot of them. Brands from all over the world - Audi, Mercedes, VW, BMW, Japanese cars of all makes, many Korean cars, Fords, Chevy's and Jeeps as well as French cars. Also several brands of Chinese cars. Many of these made in China.
   The traffic was like Silicon Valley - bumper to bumper and moving slow.
   Nice modern freeways.
   Traffic was a bit aggressive but everybody seemed to cooperate. They drive in the shoulder lane!
   In something like seven years no more internal combustion engine cars will be allowed to be sold. An effort to reduce pollution.

- Beijing looks like a new city center every half mile or so. Unbelievable numbers of high-rise condos. Construction everywhere.

- Streets and sidewalks are very clean. Somebody said it was cleaner then Singapore. It looks like poor people have jobs cleaning the streets. Even in the country I saw cleaners along expressways.

- Many parks and public art. Some of the art is monumental.

- The prosperity in the cities was amazing. They are concerned about people getting fat, including the kids.

- Everything seemed new or being replaced. The airports we saw were generally large and crowded.

- We were discouraged from drinking the water in any city. Don't eat the ice cubes unless they come from the hotel. I don't think the water was seriously dangerous but might react badly if you aren't used to it. We were supplied multiple bottles of water every day.

- China seems huge but isn't that much larger then the US. Check this map.

- It was crowded nearly everyplace we went. They seemed to enjoy the shoulder to shoulder crowds found in markets. I admit we sometimes see crowds like that at some flea markets.

- Many people speak at least some English and many seem to speak it well. All children begin learning English in first grade.

- Traveling with Smithsonian/Odyssey was a pleasure. The nicest hotels, nice buses, excellent food,

- Excellent guides and local guides. Michael and Rose were our permanent guides. Thanks guys!

- We were supposed to visit Tibet but that was cancelled for political reasons. The People's Congress was going to convene and some politicians were concerned. Apparently some people canceled because of this so our group was only 14 people. It's probably ok for me because it's at 12K feet and could be problem with altitude. We hardly missed it.

- We didn't see poverty but it must be there because they have three times as many people as us and the same GDP. Also at places we saw pretty aggressive vendors which usually means poverty. I suspect the poverty is in the rural areas. Nothing like Egypt - no donkey or horse carts. I only saw maybe two people in what might be traditional clothing.

- They have a system that doesn't allow people to move around. If they did everybody would move to the city. There is a problem with "floaters", people who have moved to the city but are not legal. They have problems renting places, getting jobs and medical care. Some of these are college graduates who don't want to return to the village.

- Lots of bicycles in Beijing and Xi'an. Many are yellow. There are other color public bicycles. You subscribe and get an app. You walk up to a bicycle and scan the bar-code, a message appears telling you the combination to unlock it. Off you go. When you are done you scan the bar-code and it locks. It also knows where you picked up the bike and where you dropped it off.
   They tend to congregate near bus stops, metro stops and places of work. Guys with small trucks gather them up and take them where they are needed - back to their original location I guess. Sometimes the bikes literally pile up.
   Different color bikes are of different quality and price. The yellow ones have so many promotions they tend to be free or nearly free but are the worse quality. They make their money by investing your deposit when you signup.

- Cities often have dedicated separate lanes for bicycles/scooters. The scooters are nearly all electric - they tend to sneak up on you seeing they are silent. 

- Disclaimer - As usual this writeup is way too long. I may try to reconfigure it a bit to make it easier to navigate. It's really written for me to remember our magnificent and expensive trip.

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