Beijing surprises many visitors with its brashness, modernity,
and sheer cool. A far cry from the image many Westerners have of Mao-suited
cadres emotionlessly waving Red flags as they goose-step through Tiananmen
Square, this is a modern city whose new generation is epitomized by music
videos, the Internet, and a fanatic love of the NBA.
The city is awash in sights marking its 3000-year-long history, including
the old Imperial Palace, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist temples in the
world, and the magnificent Great Wall. The capital of one of the most hopelessly
bureaucratic governments in the world is a zany mélange of government
inefficiency and a head rush into the future. The resulting confusion is exciting,
free form, and endlessly fascinating.
