May 1st is May Day - a holiday in China. I had figured I would work all five days I was to spend there, but with all government offices closed, I was able to travel with a colleague to see the Great Wall, do some shopping at the Beijing Pearl Market, and take in some other sights. On the way to a bookstore, I was able to walk on a large pedestrian mall and saw the one stereotypic sight I expected - lots of people. Beijing was otherwise typical of many big cities, but exotic in its own way - you know you are not in Kansas.
The shopping areas are a mixture of Chinese signs along with American brands, with a large jumbotron mounted on one department store which continuously ran the same series of advertisements - one of which featured Jackie Chan. One of the most interesting juxtapositions I saw was the image of the Chinese National Flag next to that of Howard Johnson's. And the only real oddity was the constant sound of background music, a kind of happy pop that was just loud enough to be heard above the rest of the street noise. It made me think back to a summer television series that ran in 1968 titled "The Prisoner" starring Patrick McGoohan - a secret agent who was taken away to an island where he was held captive with no way to escape, and not knowing what his captors wanted - all the while background music played as the rest of the inhabitants went about their normal business. The same kind of music was played at the Great Wall, and was most noticeable while riding the chair lift up from and back down to the entrance area below. But then, isn't that what Disneyland does when you take the cable ride through the Matterhorn or walk from Adventureland into Tomorrowland?
May 1st is May Day - a holiday in China. I had figured I would work all five days I was to spend there, but with all government offices closed, I was able to travel with a colleague to see the Great Wall, do some shopping at the Beijing Pearl Market, and take in some other sights. On the way to a bookstore, I was able to walk on a large pedestrian mall and saw the one stereotypic sight I expected - lots of people. Beijing was otherwise typical of many big cities, but exotic in its own way - you know you are not in Kansas. 
The shopping areas are a mixture of Chinese signs along with American brands, with a large jumbotron mounted on one department store which continuously ran the same series of advertisements - one of which featured Jackie Chan. One of the most interesting juxtapositions I saw was the image of the Chinese National Flag next to that of Howard Johnson's. And the only real oddity was the constant sound of background music, a kind of happy pop that was just loud enough to be heard above the rest of the street noise. It made me think back to a summer television series that ran in 1968 titled "The Prisoner" starring Patrick McGoohan - a secret agent who was taken away to an island where he was held captive with no way to escape, and not knowing what his captors wanted - all the while background music played as the rest of the inhabitants went about their normal business. The same kind of music was played at the Great Wall, and was most noticeable while riding the chair lift up from and back down to the entrance area below. But then, isn't that what Disneyland does when you take the cable ride through the Matterhorn or walk from Adventureland into Tomorrowland?
Probably the most intriguing blog I've read.
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