Doshisha Days

Well... that was a longer break than I had anticipated. I really don't have any excuses, or at least any that would hold up in front of a jury of my peers. I promise to be a better blogger. I really have no ideas what that means.

This Q&A by the ever popular Christopher Hitchens about the Korea situation touches on Sino-Japanese relations. Hitchens can be a very convincing polemicist when he is not trying in vain to defend his pro-Iraq war stance ad naseum, but his contempt for the Kissinger/Scowcroft school of real politik is undoubtedly sincere.

I do want to talk a bit more about my China trip, namely the second half that was spent in Beijing. The capital and soon to be Olympic city was quite different from financial hub Shanghai. As a result it had its pluses and minuses.

The biggest minus was the weather. Blanketed in a humid, part pollution, part dust, haze, we did not see the sun the entire time were there. The humid air was oppressive, and we had to barely set foot outside before the sweating began. Other than that though, it was mostly positive.

The Great Wall, was indeed great. The Forbidden City had a Starbucks, and Chairman Mao is still fawned over by the thousands who everyday line up to be shuffled by his body inTianneman Square. Beijing was suprising easy to navigate, especially by bike. We paid visits to the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the largest Lama Temple outside Tibet and and a charming little Daoist temple.

Foot massages, a torn up hutong and a charming youth hostel, and excellent food also added to the charm that is Beijing. Below are some photos which hopefully will give you some sense of what the city is like.

Quality must trumph quantity, and I fear I am watering down these posts lately in effort to please the masses (i.e. the five people who read this thing). Translation: so long for now!