First Impressions

I just passed hour 25 of my let’s-see-how-long-I-can-go-without-sleeping marathon and my head is about to explode. Not due to the ozone hole hula hoops we flew through earlier today… no, that just gave me a pounding headache. I think the information overload is what’s ultimately going to do me in. I committed to not sleeping until 9pm Beijing Time so as to not extend my jet lag any longer than possible. Hopefully a little pain now will shield me from a whole lot more later.

So what have I learned during my first 8 hours in the PRC? The Chinese people are on a mission. Period. There is so much construction going on everywhere, you’d think these people are fixated on taking over the world… or prepping for the next Olympics. Construction Cranes litter the city like massive steel flamingos. The airport they’re building (most definitely in preparation for the 2008 Olympics) is freaking massive! Like 3 LAXs lined up side by side. Everyone seems like they’re laser focused on getting somewhere, although a bit more casually as compared with the average New Yorker.

And you can see how the west is infiltrating the culture here. North American chain restaurants abound. Ipod billboards brightly compete with Nestle-branded Green Tea drink ads. Toshiba and Sony Signs blast their neon radiation onto the street. And everywhere there are flat panel monitors, flashing the latest greatest autos from VW and Citroen. Yet, unlike the visuals one often sees of Tokyo thoroughfares, Times Square or Las Vegas, there is still a sense of the traditional element of Chinese culture. The makeshift fruit and vegetable markets and the overloaded bicycles scattered all over the street still seem to keep them grounded in their past.

Two other interesting observations so far include the insane level of friendliness and helpfulness by the Chinese people I’ve encountered so far and the surprising number of white, western couples with very young Chinese babies. Adoptions undoubtedly. There’s just so many! Oh, and one last thing. The Chinese drive like shit. They all need to go back to diver’s ed because frankly, they drive like a bunch of crack addicts.