Here is a random collection of my top impressions (and some pictures) of China after a couple of weeks in this vast country (so may still be unfair and I reserve the right to correct them later):
The spitting: there are men everywhere who are expert “spitters” (if that’s even a word). What I mean is that they spit everywhere and all the time. And believe me, it’s not any normal spitting I’ve ever seen before. This is some kind of advanced spitting university: they clear their throat very loudly (a sort of pre-warning that something is about to happen) and then spit out this ball of green, sticky phlegm, which can fly quite a distance in an unpredictable direction. Disgusting and fascinating at the same time. It’s been a time-consuming game for me to learn to avoid the spit landing on me. I consider it a small personal success that so far it only landed on me once, and just on my shoes and not my nose.
The internet: the rules of the game known as “internet access for foreigners” are entertaining and frustrating at the same time. Technically (as I’ve been told) foreigners should have no problems accessing internet cafes providing they show their passports at the front desk. Well, the reality is proving quite different. I tried 3 internet cafes in 3 cities so far and got 3 different experiences: first time I got in after showing my passport, second time I got in even without showing my passport, and third time I didn’t manage to get it at all (they required a Chinese ID, which they can scan a special machine and record who accessed what and when on the internet). So, my dear friends and family, if you don’t hear from me for extended periods of time, it’s most likely not because I’m dead but because the authorities in China didn’t warm up to my amazing personality just yet and refuse me entry to internet cafes. Oh, and one more thing, even at those rare instances when I do manage to get into an internet cafe, Facebook is not allowed, so please don’t send me anything important that way...
The food: in one word – amazing. Small restaurants in obscure alleys where only the locals eat prove to have much much better tasting food than the expensive touristy stuff. Quick observation on food prices (which will dictate my diet for the next month and a half): to give you an idea how food prices work here, I’ll say this: Starbucks coffee is 30 Yuan (about 3 British pounds). Huge bowl of Chinese soup or a simple but plentiful meal starts at 3 Yuan (about 30 British pence). 600 ml bottle of beer is 2 Yuan. I think we can safety deduct what I’ll be living on for the foreseeable future J Thank God fruit is cheap as well...
Here are some quick notes on the most interesting places I have visited so far in China:
1) Beijing:
Beijing is smog, smog and more smog. It gets better outside Beijing but in the city I haven’t seen the slightest bit of sun. At the same time it’s extremely hot and even more humid. I have been to some really hot and humid places in the world (heck, I lived in one of them for several years) but I have never been sweating as much as I was in Beijing. After an hour of walking around the city, top of my infamous green dress (yes, the one that most of you know so well) was completely wet. Thank God for fast drying travelling clothing...
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Beihai Park in Beijing.
It’s a peaceful, green, beautiful oasis right in the middle of the city noise. With a lake in the middle of the park and several temples scattered throughout it, Beihai is definitely my favourite place in Beijing. In the evening a lot of older Chinese people seem to come here for exercise. But what they do is not what we’re used to seeing in the Western city parks: no joggers or bikers. Instead I’ve seen groups doing some sort of Chinese aerobic dancing; old pensioners performing dance, singing and music; couples clapping their hands or shaking their tambourins while walking etc, etc. 
I also saw an older Chinese gentleman, part of the park cleaning crew, who was painting on the pavement with the end of his cleaning broom dipped in dirty water. His paintings were quite impressive:
Forbidden City: not a city and not forbidden anymore... Huge and (in my humble opinion) bit uninspiring complex of buildings, temples and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of (mostly Chinese)
tourists. I realize it’s currently high season and school holidays in China and I realize 1.3 billion people live in this country but I still wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming crowds of people in the city, and the noises and smells accompanying them!
Summer Palace: beautiful and vast complex of breathtaking temples and Emperor housing rooms. Ditto for the above comment on overcrowding though. Maybe should come again in less busy time of year to give Beijing justice.
Great Wall of China: as breathtaking
and beautiful as I ever imagined. 10 km trek in the Jinshauling and Simatai sections of the wall was incredible. First, you have to trek up (very steep and VERY sweaty) up to the wall entrance and then you brave the trek along the wall, which was much up-and-down and much steeper in places than I expected. I kept repeating my Chinese mantra: sweating like a pig is good for my skin. At some point I gave up trying to wipe it off my face to look semi-presentable for the pictures. No point if after 5 minutes it’s pouring down my face (and everywhere else!) again J And another highlight of the day (mind you, of very different kind from the Great Wall) is a luge
(type of a slide) you can take to get down from the wall. It’s similar to those luge cars/slides they have as a Winter Olympic sport. You slide down like a crazed maniac, the faster and louder screaming the better. It was fantastic. I felt like a little happy kid again. The story has it that when Bill Clinton visited this part of the world and was offered a ride in this luge slide, he politely refused. Chicken!
2)
City of Chengde:
Most of the city seems to be taken over by a huge park, which evidently was a weekend and summer retreat for the imperial family and the well-to-do Beijing crowd. Profusion of temples, lake with lotus flowers, Imperial Summer Villa, monasteries with Mongolian and Tibetan feel – beautiful, inspiring and (despite being bit crowded) relaxing to a point I took a long snooze on a park bench. Luckily, my backpack and camera were still there when I woke up!
Sam, one of the girls on the truck, was celebrating her birthday so we hit the town in the evening was some special celebrations. There were Happy Birthday signs, balloons (don’t worry, my Dutchman honey, I didn’t contribute my special balloons you gave me), Chinese birthday cake with insane amounts of whipped cream and cherry tomatoes (??!!) on top. There was even a Hello Kitty crown for the birthday girl. After dinner we ended up in some obscure, typically Chinese karaoke bar that had 3 English songs on the menu. So (don’t ask me how) we managed to do karaoke to Chinese songs. Another proof that after several beers anything is possible...
Another memory of Chengde I’ll carry (which funnily enough doesn’t have anything to do with the city other than the fact that it occurred there) is a fascinating existential philosophical discussion I got into with a woman on the truck. She’s 32 and seemingly in the stage of her life asking herself all the Big Questions I have been (and still am) asking myself. I guess quite a lot of us are... Career of family? If family, then where’s my prince on the white horse? Even if the prince shows up, how do I know he’s the right one? Should I keep travelling like a maniac or settle down somehow somewhere? Do I do jobs which I happen to be good at but not necessarily am passionate about? What makes me happy? Etc etc etc. There’s a long list of those, I haven’t arrived at any patented answers just yet (neither did Suzanne, the girl I was discussing it with) but it’s good for me to know that other people struggle with these Biggies as well. Sometimes I have a feeling that everyone else is perfectly settled and happy in their lives, and I’m the only loser who can’t figure it out L
3) Eastern Qing Tombs
UNESCO World Heritage site and largely missed by the tourist hordes, who typically visit Western Ming Tombs because of their proximity to Beijing. The eastern tombs are set in the Death Valley area. 5 emperors, 14 empresses and 136 imperial followers have been buried here. The Dowager (mother of the Last Emperor) was the last one to be buried here. Close your eyes, think of the movie “The Last Emperor of China” and you’re starting to get a feel for this place...
4) City of Datong
Completely uninspiring one big construction site. Cranes, other building equipment, half-demolished huts on one side of the road, and half-built residential towers on the other side of the road – that’s the most flattering words I can use to describe the landscape here. We tried to count the number of apartments they’re building here: we gave up counting after about 60 towers of 25 stories each and that was just one apartment complex in a city of God only knows how many millions of people...
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