四年一度的奥林匹克不只能提高运动水平，也能促进国家的素质。

Having been to China several times, I have “developed” some rules for traveling in the country:
Rule #1: Don’t follow tours unless
(a) you are going to super ulu places
(b) your friends/family/companions insist.
Rule #2: Avoid super ulu places unless you are mentally prepared for “surprises”.
Rule #3: For hotel conscious people, avoid self-rated hotels unless necessary. They usually require a 1-2 star discount.

Following Rules #1 & #2, we embarked on a tour to the capital, with my dad as the planner. With this being our 3rd time in the city, we skipped the usual tourist attractions such as 万里长城 and 天安门.

Going around Beijing is not an issue – with a grasp of Mandarin an advantage. However, non-Mandarin speaking tourists will not have much problem wandering around, as most signs now come with English translations (thanks to the Olympics I believe), though communicating with the locals may prove to be a little challenging. The most common transportation mode is the spiderweb network of subway, which costs RMB2 per trip, regardless of the distance.

As compared to our last visit, there have been much changes everywhere. Apart from the English signs, gone were the dark, narrow streets and dull-looking shopping centres, with large, bright, wide and modern streets and malls as their replacements. Almost everything is huge in China. Gigantic shopping malls, streets, museums, highways, stadium, etc.. Not only are the buildings huge, they are designed with the state-of-art architecture and equipped with up-to-date technology.

And if cleanliness has been an issue, I think the standard has improved greatly in Beijing (once again thanks to Olympics I believe). The public places are generally litter free and even some toilets are smell-free, with attendants cleaning frequently, some even as frequent as after ever use (I’m not kidding).

What surprises most this trip is the display and appreciation of creative arts in Beijing, making it a more vibrate and hip place. We have been to an arts village, where artistic and creative works are on display everywhere, and a lot of them are by the younger generation. There are also many shops in the city selling interesting and creative items. On the last day of our trip, we also enjoyed a play whose content I think it’s rather 放.

Though there are still minor negatives, such as the never-ending traffic jam (even on off-peak hours) and constantly hazy air, it was overall a great trip =)