What is the definition of hazardous? Being a pedestrian in Beijing! Walk signs mean very little because cars, buses, heavily overloaded trucks, pushbikes and scooters completely ignore them, while traffic wardens decked out in fluoro vests who tote weird flashing LED batons are also fairly powerless against the onslaught. Meanwhile the footpaths are cluttered with hawkers trying to sell everything imaginable and it’s not uncommon to find groups of men squatting on the street outside shops huddled over a deck of cards playing poker to pass the time or mulling over a game of Chinese chess.
But we mustered our best survival instincts, navigated our way through the chaos and made it out alive --- and had a great time in the process visting well known sites like the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven as well as haggling for a bargain at the antiques market and checking out the creepy critters on offer for dinner at the night market (roasted snake, grasshopper or centipede anyone?)
However what I hadn’t anticipated was how strict China’s internet policies would be – no access at all to facebook or blogs. Which is why this blog has been strangely quiet in recent days. So now I’d better make up for lost time...
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