BEIJING (PEKING)

Global Adventure Series, Part IX

BEIJING

When people of a “certain age” hear about Beijing, they think about Peking.

When those same people hear of Mao Zedong, they think about Mao Tse Tung.

When they hear of Peking Duck, they think of Peking Duck!

Wait a minute. What an enigma.

They change the name of the capital city. They change the name of the great leader. But the duck stays the same. This is a matter for serious scientific study. I recommend those scientists in North Korea put the missiles aside for a while and ponder this conundrum. Why, exactly, does the duck get to stay the same?

I think I know the answer.
Beijing is not the Peking of the past. Peking was militant, closed to new ideas, and not very friendly (especially to missionaries).

Mao Tse Tung was he of the Long March, the Red Brigades, the Cultural Revolution. Mao Zedong is remembered for the massive changes he brought to China over a lengthy reign. Mao Tse Tung was to be feared. Mao Zedong is to be revered.

The Peking Duck, well, it remains one of the most delicious of the food offerings in China. Why mess with a good thing?

As I walk around Tiananmen Square and look up at the big gray mausoleum, I have memories of my childhood. On top of that massive wall, on my television set, stood Chairman Mao, he of the Little Red Book! His henchmen stood by his side and they always reviewed missiles, tanks, high stepping soldiers, and a massive demonstration of the country’s military might.

No bands, clowns, or parading elephants for these guys. Their parades were more like dirges.

I remember thinking parades were supposed to be colorful. And these Mao parades were anything but. They had only one color. Red! Everybody was dressed alike and they all had a little red star on their fur hats. The only flags in evidence were red.

In recent history, except for the occasional tank rolling over a protesting student, the square is open to visitors. Nobody watches parades from the dull compound wall anymore. As I mentioned in a previous article, all the Mao successors are sunning themselves at their villas in Dalian.

When you think of China, you probably think of the Great Wall. It is one of the most amazing tourist sites anywhere in the world. It is some distance from downtown Beijing but well worth the trip.

I would like to bring a few representatives of the U.S. government to the Wall. You see, the Wall was built to keep out the hordes of pillagers that wanted to attack China. Thousands of people gave their lives building the wall. It was not too long, in historical terms, before the Wall was useless for anything except as a tourist attraction.

When the Wall presented a problem, the enemy simply came up with ways around it, like ladders, or airplanes. The older Chinese seemed to believe that “if you build it they will not come!”

Wrong.

So all those folks who are busy building a wall along our border with Mexico, and spending billions in the process, might as well take a break for a “brewsky” because it is not going to make any difference if they get finished. I send those workers two messages:

(1) tunnels, and (2) airplanes.

Enough said?

On a more serious note, China is the world power of the future, in my view. I don’t know if that means domination in any sense but business, but business domination it shall acquire.

The aggressive, dedicated, determined and ambitious Chinese people are focused on the goal and there is every sign when one travels through the major cities that they will be successful.

Who buys up American debt? China
Who owns a huge portion of many American corporations? China
Who is the Secretary of State courting to invest more in America? China.
Who has a labor force that can be employed at manageable salaries, like $4000 U.S. per year? China
Who has enough people to do all the jobs that need to be done? China

In addition to a hard-nosed approach to business development, the Chinese are a people with an ideology. They are committed and focused as a people. They are enormously friendly to visitors, unequalled as hosts, and eager to learn more about the wider world.

Chinese students studying in America arrive at a very young age. They are ambitious beyond imagination. They have been studying English since the first grade in China. Their parents are prepared to spend any amount of money and make any sacrifice to prepare their children for the good life.

I have a friend in China who has a son who is three. When we were having dinner, he asked if his son could come to America next summer for a month or two.

I asked him if he would not miss his son. His response is that he would accept any hardship to provide for his son’s advancement. As hard as it may be for one to realize that a three-year-old boy could be seen as a slate on which it was not too early to write, this friend was very sincere. While I am determined to convince him 3 years of age is too young, I will accommodate him if he continues in this thinking and my wife and I will accept his son as a summer visitor, to be exposed to American culture and learn some English. I use this story only to underscore the depth and breadth of the Chinese people’s commitment to their future.

I happened to stay in the InterContinental Hotel Beijing Beichen. I mention this only because this fabulous hotel was constructed right across from the front gate to the Beijing Olympics grounds. Since the end of the Olympics, the hotel has not been very busy but the Chinese have already commenced building a huge Mart right next to the hotel and, in a short time, the hotel will be once again beautifully positioned for business.

In the meantime, anyone wanting to visit the Birds Nest Olympic Stadium or the huge blue swimming cube or any other Olympic venue, would be wise to stay here.

My room consisted of eight floor to ceiling windows, all of which looked out on the Olympic Site. It was an incredible view, for a reasonable price.

During the Olympics it was an incredible view for an unreasonable price. I was told the room went for $10,000US dollars per night, with a week minimum required.

This room looked directly out at the Birds Nest and one could have lounged in the comfort of this room and watched all the people coming and going from the stadiums as well as the immense fireworks display.

Of course, that didn’t happen. Anyone paying this kind of money for the room had front row tickets for the Olympics!

My visits to Chinese cities are complete and my remaining stops are in Thailand and Japan. I hope through my observations you have been able to understand how impressive the Chinese people are in all that they do.

If I were to summarize my observations of the Chinese, I could do so in three words.

Gracious

Disciplined

Focused