Beijing, Beijing. If I could afford to be unemployed until the end of the year, if I didn't have to move to Berlin in two weeks, and if it weren't for a special lady waiting for me back home, I could easily spend another month in the "Northern Capital". There's so much to see and to do, it's amazing. And if you get bored, you can always start counting bicycles.

Our recent activities included a visit to the Lama Temple (an important religious site in the centre of the city that somehow survived the Cultural Revolution), a trip to the Summer Palace (kind of like the Forbidden City + lots of temples / pavillions + a spectacular lake), and an evening at the Bird's Nest (Julian had organized free tickets to the paralympic track and field finals). The architecture of the stadium is incredible and the atmosphere inside of it was just mesmerizing. I found it very questionable, though that rising for the national anthems was more or less compulsory. Dozens of volunteers made sure everybody got up from their seats when the virtual orchestra started playing a patriotic ditty. Lame... (no pun intended this time). I guess I could write an essay about the Olympic Games in general and our visit to the Bird's Nest in particular, but as always time is limited and there's only two computers for 50 people or so. Besides, I haven't dedicated a single line to my favorite section of this blog yet -
random observations, facts and figures:

- Beijing has 3000 skyscrapers and more than 100 flyovers

- 90% of the city's hutongs have been destroyed over the last decades; most people seem to welcome the bulldozing of the old neighbourhoods however, since the new appartment complexes that replace them offer a much higher standard of living; taking a dump in the backyard and cooking lunch on your doorstep might be traditional, but there's nothing like a decent bathroom and a comfortable kitchen; the most picturesque backstreets are likely to survive anyway since they're full of little shops and bars and thus very popular with tourists

- one of the greatest passtimes in Beijing is looking for international signs; most of the time you end up taking a photo because they're absolutely hilarious: "Beautify the environment (on a trash can) is already funny, "Please do not make poop" (on the door of a restroom) puts a major grin on your face, but if you actually pass the gynecological clinic in a major hospital (like Julian) and the sign on the door says "Cunt Examination", it's pretty hard not to crack up; other instant classics are fake brand names such as "Dike" (double swoosh) or Aidsa (four stripes); needless to say, the locals usually have no idea why you're pissing yourself

- the most popular punk/alternative club in Beijing is called "Mao Live"; I'm not entirely sure if it's named after the Chairman since "mao" also means something like "hair" in Mandarin, but then again they have this huge Chinese flag right next to the main entrance; maybe I should talk to the owners and ask them if they're interested in opening a branch in Moscow ("Stalin On Stage") or Berlin ("Hitler Unplugged")

Enough of this. I got some errands to run and a train to catch. There'll be new entries as soon as I have arrived in Shanghai. Zigh jee–in.