Dispatches from Beijing

If I knew the Chinese words for "boring meetings" I'd use them right now to describe the afternoon meetings. So I'll use the time to recap the Beijing trip so far. I arrived on Saturday afternoon at Peking International Airport. The city alone is larger than Belgium in land mass and with more than 15 million people living in the city, it's not hard to forget you're not alone. The entire city (and country) is really gearing up for the Olympic games this summer. There are digital countdown clocks throughout the city to alert everyone how many days (158) are left before the opening ceremonies.



On Sunday, I booked a tour of the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall. The 9-hour tour which included an English-speaking guide, lunch and an air-conditioned bus cost only $60 or 420 Yuan. As you'll see from the slideshow below, I was totally under-dressed for the weather. When we arrived at the Forbidden City there was ice floating around the moat. My t-shirt, fleece and jeans didn't quite cut it. Quick facts on the Forbidden City I found interesting: It was the home of 2 dynasties (Ming and Qing). "The Last Emperor" was about one of these dynasties. I'm not sure which one. During the height of the Ming Dynasty, more than 5,000 servants, guards, eunuchs and concubines lived here. Once the woman entered the city walls, she never left. I'll end the history lesson before I start making stuff up.

As we left the Forbidden City, I tried snapping of photo of Chairman Mao Zedong and was quickly yelled at by the Chinese military guards. "No cameras!" There were about 20 guards stationed around the entrance yelling this to everyone attempting to snap a photo. They didn't have to tell me twice.

Across the street is Tiananmen Square and Chairman Mao's crystal tomb (from England, no less). Our tour guide's cousin participated in the hunger strike and protest in 1989.

After Tiananmen Square, we drove about 60 miles outside the city to the Great Wall. By this time, my core temperature had dropped about 10 degrees. I bought a counterfeit Olympics knitted cap for $1.25 from a lady on the Great Wall.

On the way back to the hotel we drove by the Olympic Village, National Stadium and National Aquatics Center. It was almost 7 pm on Sunday night and workers were out in full force laying bricks and sidewalks.

Our meetings started on Monday morning. About 30 people are crammed into a conference room fit for about 14. Every hour a little lady walks in and refreshes the hot tea. Last night we had a team dinner at a local restaurant. Some of the highlights included boiled chicken feet, seasoned duck egg (and by seasoned, I mean green) and papaya soup with fish stomach. I tried the latter. It tasted like mouthful of warm Ramen noodle before you add the chicken seasoning.

So far, no sickness or stomachaches. The highlight of today was seeing a store dedicated to nothing but Monchhichi and Precious Moments figurines. I was tempted to buy one, but I'm not telling you which one.

I'm planning to work from the hotel tomorrow morning so I can watch the Texas primary returns on CNN.com's streaming TV. I'll be holding my own caucus in room 1028.