God, what a mess! Well we planned on arriving in Beijing in plenty of time for me to apply for my Vietnam Visa which we did by getting here on Tuesday but the way my luck has been running recently the damn Embassey decided to be closed that day of all days! So I looked into getting my Visa on line after hearing that it could be done quicker and cheaper that way.
The company I was dealing with was great, based in Veitnam and said they'd get it all sorted for me, I couldn't fault the guy he was such a help with all my questions. Veitnam Visa's are pretty strict and can take some time so with only a couple of days left to get it I left it in their hands. Hell did I have a fun day yesturday though, i think i watched every minute as I counted down too 4o'clock when the deadline was, I needed to get the Visa code from the company and as I was travelling over land I also needed to make it to the Embassey again to have my passport stamped, some rule because Im travelling into Veitnam by road.
It was hell, 3.15 still no word. 3.30 and the guy in Veitnam was at the admin office that end demanding to know answers. The visa had been approved but still hadnt been faxed up to the embassey up in Beijing. We practically gave up by 3.45, knowing that I still had to get to the embassey once i had got the Visa I knew I had little hope now so decided to sort out other options.
But still after weighing up options and realising now that im not going to get stuck in China Im thinking of flying into Veitnam instead, the visa I can get hold of asap as its easier to do than over land for some reason. More expensive but at least I'l get out of here and keep up with Caroline. We walked for hours today, catching up on sightseeing after being stuck infront of a computor screen for the past day. We walked all around Tinamem Square, the largest public square in the world. We saw Chairman Mao's body the other day that rests in the square here. He looked just like a wax figure laid to rest when you walk through the tomb so you could never actually tell if it wash his body or not, bit wierd mind my first sighting of a dead body real or not! We went around the 'Houtong' area around the river which is basically an area made up of some restored and others not of old houses that miander along small alleyways. It was nice to see some of the old style homes but it was a shame to see how touristy some parts have become.
There is a lot of building work going on here everywhere in preperation for the olypic games. There is a real buzz in the air about it all and I think a lot of chinesse have and will visit here in the coming months to witness the transformation. Although the developent is good you cant help but think that they are just refurbishing the bits the public will see and are leaving a lot of mess hiden away. A shame that they cant do it all properly with the lack of time, I mean builders here are pretty much at it around the clock!
Ive enjoyed China, its been an experiance none like I imagined. The South is very different from the modern North which I have liked more mostly due to the friendlyness of everyone. There are more tourists and visitors up here and people speak better english in more places which has been helpfull! The pollution and smog has been pretty bad the whole way around, worse in the South and Ive heard from locals a lot worse in the winter when everyone is burning coal to keep warm. The smog makes everything so grey and the lack of sunlight is depressing, the land of the rising sun is a far cry as you cant see the bloody thing!
Just reading papers and speaking to people it is clear what a cultural and industrial revolution has been going on here. The shame is there is an obvioulsy growing gap between rich and poor and also the people who live in the country and in the city. You only have to look at the different generations to see the social changes in the nation and I wonder if restricing couples to only having one child will effect their society in the future in the way they learn to interact with each other.
