Beijing - Day 1

Well I'm almost there!! Got into Beijing last night just before midnight and man it is a mind blowing place - so big and so many people. A few things I have learnt so far....

• Don't know why they have lanes painted on the roadways - even so the drivers are actually quite good.
• They use their horn lots, but not in an aggressive manner - only to let others know where they are.
• It is really cold and the air is very polluted.
• The sun doesn't hang around for long.
• For once I felt like the odd one out - there are so many of them.
• Chinese guys like to spit a lot - and I mean a lot.
• Tiananmen Square is huge but the vendors are a pain.
• No one smiles - especially the police and military.
• The Silk Road markets are fantastic but the vendors are a pain.
• The architecture is amazing.
• Everyone on a push bike thinks they are in a car.
• Never try and drive in Beijing and don't even think about a motorbike.

The Beijing International where I am staying

Go the pushies!!

Sun rising at about 7:45 - smog pretty bad

Special lane for bikes

...and there's lots of em

Gridlock Beijing style

Another hotel nearing completion

...and another one set to begin

The Chinese National Museum on Tiananmen Square

Looking towards Tiananmen Gate

Another one from in the square

Me outside the Great Hall of The People

Me and Tiananmen Gate

Looking towards the Monument To The Peoples Heroes and Chairman Mao's Mausoleum

Great Hall of The People - where the government convenes

Mr Not Happy sharing a joke with me!!

Monument To The Peoples Heroes

Chairman Mao's Mausoleum

Another shot...

I don't know what this is but there was another just like it on the southern end of the square

This building was massive

View from the back of my hotel - extreme urban living