china
We visited the Forbidden City today. It was just as exhausting as yesterday’s trip, plus we were in the city so it was hotter, plus it was cloudy so it was really clammy, plus the Forbidden City is completely walled off so the air was still. Not a very pleasant experience, and I wasn’t really all that impressed with the city itself. Oh well, here are some pics.
Leading up to the forbidden city.
As described in this post, I visited the great wall of china today. While I was there, I naturally ran across a large number of chinese folk, a lot more than I see in day to day life. And I noticed something interesting: most people there looked me in the eye - while walking towards me because we were headed in opposite directions - for about 2-3 seconds before looking elsewhere.
Here’s the train we took to the great wall:
I’m not one for selfies and it was a hot and clammy day so I was already soaked in sweat and irritable. So when Mohit insisted that I pose for a photo, I threw my arms out in frustration but smiled for his benefit, hence:
Here’s what the wall looks like from afar:
And here’s what it looks like when you’re on it (it’s not flat, it goes up and down following the curve of the hills):
I remember feeling really good about my life for a while after my last visit to Mumbai. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was exactly about that visit that made me feel better, so I chalked it off to being back in the city where I had grown up and seeing all the familiar sights and how some familiar landmarks had changed for the better. But now, on my second day here in Beijing, I’m immediately feeling the change in my mood.
I’m visiting Beijing for a week to assist in the training of the Beijing team with respect to a new unit-testing framework developed by one of the guys in the India office (who is also with me). And as you can probably tell from the title of this post, I’m experiencing somewhat of a culture shock. Right from the airport to my hotel, I’ve seen girls/women wearing only either shorts or short-skirts.