Beijing is a fascinating city, and certainly one of contrasts. On the one hand, there are still vestiges of a slower time and place, such as the bicycles many people still ride, or the horse drawn cart full of watermelons that I saw in the city. It also is quite modern – both our hotels had free internet access which had great spam filters. Apparently, all email traffic into China flows through Beijing, where is goes through some form of censorship process. Although very minimal spam got through to me while there, a lot of legitimate email also did not, and I had trouble getting things sent out.
What really struck me about Beijing, though, was the level of construction activity that was occurring, much of which I am sure is related to the 2008 Olympics. In one of the business areas of the city where I stayed, I could count around 30 tower cranes just by looking out the hotel window. Buildings were going up all over. Fascinating for me, of course, and great for manufacturers such as Manitowoc, but why bring it up?
