Date of Visit: May 2017
Coming from Hong Kong – which is basically a multicultural melting pot wrapped in safety and neon – landing in Beijing felt like stepping into a completely different version of China. Still cool, still interesting, but the vibe wasn’t quite as “I could walk around at 3am without a blink.” Nothing dramatic, just a noticeable shift.
First stop was The Great Wall! Seeing it in person is wild. My first reaction wasn’t quite poetic – it was literally:
“HOW did they build this?!”
It’s awkward, steep, twisting across mountains like someone drew a line with a shaky hand and said “yeah, build that.” Beautiful though. And huge. Miles and miles of stone snaking into the distance.
My guide casually tells me, “Oh yeah, when workers died building it, they’d just bury them in the wall and keep going.” …Riiiiight. The health and safety wasn’t exactly tip top back then.
On top of that, I saw a temple or 2. Really serene spots and awe inspiring architecture and amazing stories to go with ’em.
I also learned what those two stone lions outside buildings mean. You see them everywhere:
- Male lion – protecting the domain (external)
- Female lion – protecting the home/building (internal)
Chinese culture is really big on balance and symbolism.
Another thing that threw me off – you barely hear cars. Everyone was rocking electric! By 2017 standards, that was insanely ahead of the curve and apparently the government pushed it hard. Outcome? The whole city silently humming like a giant silent Uber fleet and the added need to keep your head on a swivel.
Here’s something that made my day. At the time, I was rocking a big Afro with the pick stuck in it. On one tour, two elderly ladies kept looking at me and chatting. My guide goes over to see what’s up. Turns out… they thought my Afro pick was a weapon! Like some old-school Kung Fu movie dagger situation!
I pulled it out and showed them to get an instant synchronised:
“Aaaaahhhhh!”
Followed by pure laughter.
Final Verdict?
Worth it. I saw one of the wonders of the world and learned a bunch about Chinese culture.
