We're here in China visiting some customers gathering feedback and context on the problems they are facing. After a long (14.5 hour) ride here -- that thankfully went by quickly -- we had a travel recovery day and did some sight seeing. We're staying at the Grand Hyatt Beijing which is only about a mile from Tienemen Square and the Forbidden City, and is really nice. People here are very friendly and more speak English than I expected. But the air quality isn't good, as you'll see. Unfortunately Tienemen was closed for the yearly parlimentary meeting but hey, it's just a big square. We spent a fair amount of time at the Forbidden City. They call it a city for a reason, it's huge!
But the oddest thing is how much attention we attracted. It's clear they don't get that many American (er, non-Asian?) folks coming through here. We had a constant stream of people come up and talk to us. Many were selling something but many actually weren't. They wanted to practice their English and be genuinely friendly. Don't believe me? Check this out. We had random people come up to us not once, but twice, to have their pictures taken with us. It was unbelievable. The first time it happened it made me a little nervous but all was as it appeared, they just wanted a picture with an American. Truely amazing in todays political climate but we were really amazed at the reception we've gotten. We were just trying to look around but had one person or another come talk to us, ask us where we were from and what we wanted to see, etc. It started from the minute we walked onto the street until we got back to the hotel. One of the reasons seems to be that the average Chinese person can't leave the country. It takes money and connections from what I understood, so they have to get their dose of the abroad when it comes to them.
More pictures here.