Beijing – Episode 1

Friday was the Ching Ming (tomb sweeping) holiday – so I took the chance to get up to Beijing for the weekend. I can now fully understand why Haile Gebrselassie is expressing concern about running in the Olympic marathon. You can actually taste and feel Beijing’s pollution in your mouth – it’s not pleasant! Even on a “clear” day there’s a pall of misty pollution hanging over the city – a few minutes after I took the sunset photo the sun vanished altogether – about 45 mins before official sunset. I have a friend studying here for the year – and by coincidence his brother and another friend were also here visiting. We met up on Friday night for a meal and then wandered round Houhai Lake – avoiding the countless hawkers and enjoying the street exercise equipment!

On Saturday, I explored Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. That pretty much took all day! There are some places in the world which the media have turned into icons – the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Houses of Parliament in London, St Basil’s and Red Square Moscow – and Tiananmen Square must be the icon for China… with the Gate of Heavenly Peace (which is what Tian’an Men actually means) to the north adorned with the portrait of Mao. It was from here that Mao proclaimed the People’s Republic of China on 1 October 1949.

The square is vast; apparently the largest public square in the world. It’s flanked by the Great Hall of the People to the west and the China National Museum to the east (with the Beijing Olympic countdown clock at its front). To the south is the double gate consisting of the Zhengyang Gate and the Arrow Tower. Mao’s Mausoleum stands in the middle of the square. It’s amazing to think back to 1989 and the tanks rolling through the square (of heavenly peace!) to crush the pro-democracy demonstrations – and not much has changed. As I write, I’m watching BBC World (which I believe is only available in western owned hotels – why would a Chinese person want to watch news in English is the official line!). Every time the news shows the Olympic torch going through London and the protests, the screen strangely goes black… it only seems to happen on BBC World – and only when there are images of protests in London!

The Forbidden City is another amazing place to visit – steeped in history and the seat of the Chinese Emperor for nearly 500 years – right up to the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911. Many of the palace buildings are currently being restored – but you can still enjoy the immense scale of the place – over 1 million square metres with 9,999 rooms.

Saturday was rounded off by the obligatory visit to a Peking Duck restaurant – the Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant – just off the famous Wangfujing shopping street. It was delicious…

Still to come: Chang Ling – one of the Ming Tombs; the magnificent Summer Place; and the breathtaking Great Wall of China…


Zim elections… you have to be impressed by Mugabe’s sheer audacity. When you don’t like the result of an election – you just make sure it isn’t announced… and then, despite being the master of vote-rigging yourself, you question the accuracy of the poll!

Mugabe doesn’t want to lose - at any cost. It’s not just because he’s been absolutely corrupted by his absolute power. It’s because he knows that there are indictments ready to be presented to the International Court of Justice for genocide in Matabeleland, the Gukurahundi, in the early 1980s the moment he loses his presidential immunity. He can’t afford to lose the election and I dread to think what will happen if the presidential election goes to a run-off. Violence has been used as a political tool in Zim, and Rhodesia before it, for generations. Even the split in the MDC in 2005, ostensibly about participation in elections for the newly formed Senate, had at its root the issue of violence and the failure of the MDC leadership to address the issue thoroughly within the party.