Tale of Two Cities

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Welcome to Beijing and then stand in those lineups looking for swine flu! After that, things changed for the better - Beijing is a surprisingly clean city - you could eat off of the floor of the airport parking garage. Visited Ri Tan park where they fly kites (with LEDs in the evenings) where sacrifices to the sun gods used to be - unverified rumour. I went for a walk down to the Forbidden City via shady tree lined streats. The Forbidden City is impressive - quiet courtyards, huge squares, scrolls, and it seems like each museum attendant was talking on a cell phone. Some other cool things in Beijing, instead of sugar they have Golden coffee sugar crystals, and at lunch one day the restaurant used a wireless touch screen with pictures instead of a menu to order lunch.

Then a direct flight from Beijing to Taipei! Hard to miss the memory of Chiang Kai-shek; his pictures are on tv and his huge Lincoln style Memorial is full of memorabilia including his old cars and pictures with world leaders. In the evenings it is a different world - eating and shopping in areas secluded from cars. Taipei also has some older buildings around - whereas in Beijing they seem to bulldoze anything older.

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Photos

Taipei - Traffic Light
The little green man actually walks.