August 5, 2008 9:26 PM

Beijing At First Glance

Who says first impressions don't linger. Came off the plane in Beijing and entered a massive futuristic terminal. Passed through customs and eventually found myself walking down a roped- off corridor lined with stiff-backed soldiers, camera crews and other gawkers. Dawned on me then - a bit late - that they crowd had gathered to see incoming foreigners.

In terms of climate, Beijing is a lot like Houston in August.In fact, on the shuttle from the airport you could easily imagine being in the Lone Star State. Except we won't have to watch the Astros.

Chinese are litterally bumping into one another offering help. Need directions? No problem.Need a door opened or closed? They do it. Need an extra soft drink? They've got it covered. Service with a terminal smile. It's fantastic, but wouldn't mind running into a few grumpy Chinese at this point. They must be out there, with a populuation of 1.3 billion.

Haven't seen the sun for a couple days. A haze of pullution shrouds the capital city. Would a smoker's patch help?  So far, hasn't bothered me. I lived in Denver in the 70s, the days of the brown haze.

"This is quasi-surreal,'' I said to my colleague, Dave Krieger. 

"Quasi-surreal. It's totally surreal,'' he said. 

Posted by Clay Latimer at 9:26 PM | Comments (1)