Nightcrawling thru downtown Beijing

Just like last time, here's the link to the pictures that go with this post:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=182yonli.5a2zk5qi&Uy=6efi3y&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

There really isn't much to explain about these pictures. It was 10:30 pm Saturday night, Cyndy was sound asleep, and I was in the mood to walk around looking at all the lights and taking pictures.

The first three pictures are taken inside the hotel's lobby. They're already in the holiday mood with that gingerbread house there! The next picture is of the hotel across the street from us; the picture after that is the outside of the hotel where we're staying.

I have no idea what the tall artsy lookin' thing is on the corner in the one picture, but again, a lot of the pictures I took were taken just because it was there. This is one of those pictures. Same goes for all of the building/shops/restaurants that are all lit up. Nothing spectacular about any of these, but then again I haven't seen anything like this back home.

The picture of the big church and the picture of the wall in front of the church are of the big Catholic church here in Beijing. I know nothing about it, but it sure is pretty from the outside. I hope we can go inside and see what it looks like in there.

Two things are constant about this city, which is evidenced by the pictures: this city never shuts down, and the Olympics are coming in 2008! Okay, the city eventually shuts down, but not until 11:00 pm. More on that in a bit. But these folks are absolutely psyched about the Olympics! It's like the entire city is going under an entire renovation, which goes 24 hours a day. I tried to get a picture of a welder on the fifth floor of a building, but the picture came out too blurry. But you can't go more than two blocks without seeing some kind of reminder that the Olympics are coming! The Olympics are coming!!

The two pictures of the clocktower are from the same tower, just different sides. While taking the first picture, the camera pushed the left lens out of my glasses. Talk about panic! Miraculously enough, the lens had fallen into the front pocket of my sweater, so I didn't have to look far. Still, the prospect of being able to only look through one side of my glasses for the rest of the week was frightening at best! You'll notice that the clock is lit up: at 11:00, the light goes off, and apparently, so does the city! I was on my way back to the hotel anyway, but still: when you're in a foreign land, your wallet is back at the hotel, the shops simultaneously shut down, and all the colorful lights disappear, well..... it's just a bit daunting to say the least!

Now, if you're not a music lover, you can stop here because the rest of this post relates to an album I listened to while walking around. If you are a music lover, then please indulge me one of my passions:

In the summer of 1988, right after I graduated high school, I purchased Joe Jackson's Big World CD and listened to it nonstop that summer. For the longest time, I associated the music with a trip I took that summer to my Gramma's house. At the same time, there were many songs that gave me the feeling of being a world traveller: songs like "It's a Big World," "Shanghai Sky," "Fifty Dollar Love Affair," "Jet Set," propelled my imagination to different lands and made me wonder what some of these other lands were like.

Fast forward to the present, and the memories of those songs made me bring Big World along with me on the mp3 player. I hadn't planned on making this music some kind of soundtrack for a walk on the streets of Beijing; the moment just sort of struck me. So, armed with adrenaline, Big World on the mp3 player, and my camera, I hit the sidewalks at 10:45 on a Saturday night.

Have you ever watched a movie and heard a passage of music and thought how effective the music was for that particular scene? Well, Big World proved to be the catalyst for my nighttime adventure that I'd always imagined it would be. I wish I could I could attach a sound file of the title track with the pictures to give you something of an idea of what it was like for me. The music made the walk that much more exhilirating. Now, whenever I hear those songs, it makes me smile that the dream became a reality. The pictures, for me anyway, will help me recall that thrilling walk.

Thanks for letting me indulge.