"Ni Hao" from Beijing

Monday at around noon, I boarded a non-stop flight, destination Beijing, China. 13 plus hours and 6,830 miles later, I found myself on the other side of the world, further then any place I'd traveled before. 

I'm here for the AST Dew Tour, which essentially means I'm here for work. For me, when travel is involved, it's hard to consider anything work. I love going on the road and exploring. Being here a few months before the OIympics swoops in and the entire world moves its attention on Beijing, I'm excited to absorb and learn as much as I can about a language, culture and country I know little about. (Thank you Lonely Planet for the pre-arrival help provided by the book.) We landed at PEK, picked up our luggage, received a warm welcome by out greeters, stuffed the van (literally) with our things and began the hour and a half drive into downtown Beijing. I've heard people say the growth of this city is racing at an unbelievable speed. Being that I'm a virgin to the hood, I have no reference for what things may have looked like a few years ago. However the amount of construction surrounding the area proves a solid case that the city has developed and changed much over a short amount of time.   

Walking around today, I took pictures of anything I saw interesting...which was everything. A street sign, bikers riding in unison, a little girl no more then six dressed so trendy she looked like she belonged in SoHo, a man next to a pineapple stand. Let's just say he wasn't thrilled. I tried to snap, he began to yell and that was the end of that photo shoot. At one point, standing at a cross street light waiting for a police officer to blow his whistle and signal it ok to walk across, I looked around at the people surrounding me and listened to their voices. The constant murmur of sound was everywhere and yet I didn't understand a word of it. The light changed, the officer blew his whistle, and we began to cross in large mass. A guy here with me said: "Man, talk about being a minority." Simple statement but precise, we are so the minority. In America when do you walk around and not understand the language, recognize a person who looks similar to you or enter a grocery store and not understand what anything is? It's a new feeling and perhaps an important one to experience.

In Tuesday's China Daily on the front page reads an article titled "Measures to improve air quality". It says...