Johannes Leistner

Through my travel mate I’ve met a lot of Chinese people in Beijing, and they all were very friendly, helpful and open! China has “a face” for me now and I understand the people’s needs and thoughts much better.
Of course I also tried to learn some Chinese words, but not enough to deal with serious conversations :o) Five words I have learned in total to ensure my survival:

- ni hao (hello)
- zai jian (good bye)
- xie xie (thank you)
- shui (water)
- mi fan (rice)

For me it is not easy to keep those words in memory, as there is no indication of a similar word or sound you ever heard before - no memory hook…

China’s got 1,3 billion people. More than 15 million live in its capital Beijing - of cause the officials know how to deal with big masses…
You find uniformed guards every where in the city, at every intersection, important bridge, public park, in front of houses, shops, museums and of cause also in front of the Palace Museum, also called the "Forbidden City".
At the beginning I had to get used to this aspect, because I don’t like it to be “controlled and watched”, but after a while I didn’t "see" these guards any more, they became part of Beijing for me.

It wasn’t actually the best idea to visit Beijing during their national holiday week. The photograph clearly shows what happens during those days, when the whole of China travels. You can say that at every important landmarks there are two or three times more visitors than during a normal day.

This was the view from my apartment (6th floor) in the Choayang district. Seven buildings belong to that complex where I stayed, three of them are still under construction. Of cause, it is only a very small part of the city. Right next to this place there are other building complexes, they all have nice "western" names such as: "Palm Springs" or "Park Lane Mansion"…

I enjoyed walking (you should better say “climbing”) on it so much! The scenery is breathtaking and it is also exciting to get a feeling for this masterpiece of ancient construction work! Think about that, this wall is more that 6.000 kilometers long!

The Great Wall is the world’s longest human-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia, but stretches to over 6,700 km (4,160 miles) in total.

It is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass. At its peak the Ming Wall was guarded by more than one million men.
It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall.
(source: Wikipedia.com)

For me this trip has also been the only excursion outside of Beijing during my travel. Next time I definitely wanna see more of China’s beautiful landscape and countryside!

Apart from the shiny multi storeyed glass palaces, Beijing shows a second face. You find it within the so called "Houtongs". This is the distinctive, far eastern side of Beijing, stamped by a 3.000 year long history: until 100 years ago houses weren’t allowed to be taller than the roofs of the Forbidden City, the emperor’s residence.

Houtong areas show everyday life as it still used to be some 10 years ago, a life without air conditioning, tap water or private toilettes. There you still find narrow alleys with clay built houses, where neighbors meet for a afternoon cigarette or a chat on the streets.
You also call one house "a Houtong" and normally a Houtong consists of several small, one-storeyed buildings, arranged around a little courtyard.

It is a pity that these areas are about to disappear. Too big is the demand of new business areas and apartment buildings. Only a very few Houtong residents are lucky to live in a protected area, which might eventually become some kind of open-air museum…