China - Impressions

The day we arrive in Beijing, the sky is surprisingly blue. It's a much prettier image than the overcast gray I remember from my last trip back in 2001. Considering the amount of work the Chinese government is doing to make a good impression for the Summer Olympics, I wouldn't be surprised if they were building some giant Total Recall machine that would purify the air and create perfect skies in time for the opening ceremonies.

Security is noticeably heavy at Tiananmen Square. The area is teeming with police, soldiers, and their related vehicles. Apparently there is some super important delegation going on where officials from around the country are gathered in Beijing to discuss China's future.

Adam has no problem wandering around taking photos. However, J.P. and I, with our tripod and video camera, are stopped three times by cops asking us what we are doing. I try to explain in my broken Mandarin that we are tourists making a "home movie." Incidentally, there are plenty of other people nearby filming with their camcorders, but they are all white, and the fact that I am Chinese seems to cause special concern. Do they think I am a disgruntled citizen, planning to disrupt the convention? Everything is resolved when we show them our passports, identifying us a good ol' harmless Americans.

Later on, while talking with our local line producer, I ask her what she remembers of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. Considering the coverage in the Chinese media, there WAS no incident. If there was any mention of it at all, it was referred to as a couple of rowdy college students who were bored and had nothing better to do than cause trouble.

Our line producer recalls that the only time she ever saw footage of the famous Lone Man vs. Tank image was when she travelled abroad to Europe and happened to see it on CNN. In fact, she admits that until I brought the subject up, she had almost completely forgotten about it. It's amazing how something that had become such an iconic symbol recognized around the world could be forgotten in the country where it took place.

More reports and photos from our China trip coming soon.