Beijing in the winter

I hate Beijing. The crowds, the traffic, the smog, and the immensity always make me appreciate my little China city all the more. As an admittedly impatient person, the fact that it takes at least an hour to get anywhere in the city tends to grate on me. I much prefer my city, where it takes about 10 minutes and costs 5 RMB to get just about anywhere. 7 RMB and 15 minutes will take me to my farthest destination, the nice grocery store in town. Granted, Beijing is much more modern with its shiny subways and roomy smoke-free taxis. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the treat of piping hot pizza at Krow's nest just as much or more than the next person. However, I have no desire to ever live there. Considering the fact that I also never really had the desire to live in China in the first place, I have a slight sense of dread that the Father may call me there sometime in the future.

But I digress. If I must be in Beijing, take me there in the winter. In fact, I would even say I love...let me take that back...I have a warm admiration for Beijing in the winter. No, I do not have a morbid love for bitterly cold winds. However, crisp, smog-free, crystal clear blue skies make exploring the many "places of interest" in Beijing a sheer delight. The reds, greens, golds, and blues of the recently-repainted-for-the-Olympics historic sites spectacularly pop against such a backdrop. While showing my friends around the city, I relished in being able to get photos that would have looked comparably drab in the typical summer smog of Beijing. I will likely be posting more pictures on flickr than you would ever care to look at, but I just couldn't get enough of those blue skies.My paper writing break time is about up. I've finished 2 of the 5 papers I need to write this week, and am midway through 2 others. I'm hoping to wrap all those up by the time I begin my southern migration Wednesday. First stop is hanging out with Mickey in Hong Kong.