The subway is so convenient and cheap! RMB 2.00 (CAD 0.06). Does not matter how far you go. There are 5 lines plus the Airport Express. The Airport Express is RMB 25.00 (CAD 3.8) compared to taxi to hotel for abut RMB 75.00 (CAD 11.5)
Pollution. What pollution? It was so beautiful here today. Blue sky. Warm.... Reminded me of Regina in the Summer when it was 31C. That was how it felt for me.
Met up with Bick's god-daughter for lunch after we arrived. Nice to have another "Regina-ian" around. Except she speaks much better Mandarin than I. It was Iron-wife, then her and then "me". Mandarin speaking that is. Haha... In Asia, if one can speak fluent English and Mandarin you are set. And if you can do Cantonese, You are really set!
The feel of this town has the aura of authority. Very funny actually. The reason I said that is that people automatically follow the instruction on the sign. "No Entry" means no entry. People just follow what the signs say. In a way, I thought I was in Tokyo. Driving, of course is another story but much much better than in Shanghai. None of the left turn yield, what's that type attitude. Hence traffic seems to flow better despite heavily busy.
One thing I noticed though, I saw empty buildings - residential. Ready for use but no tenants. I am staying at the Grand Hyatt just a block away from the Tian An Men Square and the Forbidden City. The prime real estate, the room rate is RMB 998 (CAD 158.00) plus 15% service charge. In Shanghai, or normally the room would have been at RMB 1,800+ before any taxes or service charges. On my way with Audrey to visit her client, inside the elevator was a big billboard promoting the RMB 998 per night for Grand Hyatt. Ummm... I have not been to many other places so cannot see if this town is hurting as well by the global economy downturn. Tonight coming back from dinner, the lobby's lounge was busy with foreigners. So may not be that bad after all.
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