So there is this China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Beijing these days. I don't need to be told to know about it, since the signs are everywhere.
- It is in the news on newspaper and on TV all the time. Interestingly I was at the airport and the news shows the Chinese president shaking hands with each of the leader from the African nations, and there are 30+ of them.
- On the freeway from the airport, there are poster flags on the lamp posts on the both sides of the road. I counted it, there is one flag every 20m. Given that the freeway is about 40km, there are 50 * 2 * 40 = 4000 flags. Guess how many labor it takes to put them on in one day.
- There are huge banner boards on the side of the main freeways, 二环 and 三环, which shows pictures of Africa, with elephants and lions. I almost thought I am in a zoo.
- I was told that at 王府井, there is an exhibition titled "The Mysterious Africa".
So here is the other side of the story:
- There were more than 150 traffic restrictions (交通管制) within Beijing in a single day. This means, certain sections of roads can be closed for 30 minutes anytime during the day. What can you do when you are in the car? Wait. You can imagine the reaction of commuters and taxi drivers.
- The taxi driver told me at one time there are 1400+ cars lined up on a certain section of the freeway.
- Because a sister of the wife of an African president wanted to go shopping at the Silk Market (秀水街), the entire shopping center was closed down for 2 hours.
- I went dining at the Grand Hyatt hotel, and I had to pass through the metal detector, and my bag the X-Ray machine. While I was having a drink at the lobby with my friend, I was constantly annoyed by the "Beep" sound.
- A friend at another 5-star hotel told me the security guard goes so far as following him upstairs, to make sure he is a guest staying at the hotel.
And of course these are never mentioned in the news.
2 comments:
Hmmm... well, the protected environment happens everywhere including China. GWBush, for example, does not, or rarely does, speak in front of bipartisan crowds. Anyway, on the shielded image, hear what Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavs owner, has to say about his Mav experience.
http://www.blogmaverick.com/2006/11/07/success-and-motivation-connecting-to-your-customers/
So it's why we moved to Hongkong, and a reason you came to states.
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