Peking Made

I'm writing this post here at Beijing Airport, while waiting for my flight back home.

I've always had my reservations when it comes to traveling to China. I've heard stories from friends of their not-so-good experience when they went here, plus the fact that the relationship between my country and China is something we cannot call amicable.

But when I saw a seat sale last December, plus my hunger to experience a different culture and see another new country, me and my friends booked that Beijing flight.

Fast forward to March, 2015. Touchdown Beijing International Airport!

First impression of the City - their roads are so big! Big and wide! It was past midnight when our plane arrived so there wasn't really that much to see.

When we woke up in the morning, we can see how imminent the smog is.  Picture the pollution in Manila every New Year's morning.  That's how it looks like EVERYDAY. Literally we didn't see any clouds in the City during our six day stay. None at all.  There were even days when the sky isn't blue at all, more of whitish grey, or grayish white! Ouch!

Next observation - people spit whenever they feel like it, wherever they feel like it. If you're lucky (or observant with a quick reflex), you'll notice some warning signs before they fire it. I won't tell you what the warning signs are, I will let you discover it for yourself. :)

I also noticed that they have this habit of cutting other people in line. During our first train ride, we were supposed to be the first in line. When the train arrived, people just started going in ahead of us. Yes, I'm used to this kind of behavior in my country, maybe I was just expecting something like that in Singapore or Japan. But no. People would not even give their seats to the ladies nor to the elderly.

They also have this great tendency to up sell their products, often to the point that it becomes so annoying. Once you decide to buy something, expect that the sales lady will ask if you're getting 2 of it. Or if you're getting the larger piece. So remember, if they're good at selling, you have to be better at haggling. Yes, that price tag, isn't the final price. And caution, always, always count your change before leaving a store. Always.

All in all I'd say it was a pleasant trip. Their culture is something really different and the sights here are really worth the travel.  And that's me being polite.

During our last night, my friends and I asked ourselves this question: "will we come back here?" We all agreed that the experience we had during the last 6 days is enough to make memories of Beijing in our lifetime. Maybe we got overwhelmed with the big cultural differences, or perhaps it's the dry cold weather, or the pollution... Whatever it could be, one thing is clear to all of us, we won't be to keen booking that next Piso fare to this destination in the near future.