Big Trouble in Big China

Chinaís not working out real well for me so far. My first full day here was spent at the Temple of Heaven Park where I tried to understand why Coke ìlightî costs more than Coke. I drew a bit and met a nice older German couple who invited me to visit them in Hamburg. I decided to go to a western-style mall for dinner because it has a large food hall thatís clean and easy to use. Unfortunately, my chicken fried rice didnít stay with me for long. After only three meals in China I am throwing up and completely miserable. At this point itís been going on for two days so Iíve decided to break out the antibiotics. I wanted my body to fight it on its own and build resistance but I couldnít even leave the hostel today.

I think most people know China is different than Japan but I canít begin to explain just **how** different it is. Tokyo is to Beijing like Paris is to Budapest. Itís loud, disorderly and dirty. People shout, spit and cough, there are very few street signs, nothing has a fixed price and the air is filled with cigarette smoke and pollution. Thereís a lot of talk about the Olympics in 2008. I know I said the same thing about Athens, but I donít know how the city will be ready. The government appears to be placing large billboards around all of the shanty towns so they arenít visible from the road. Itís a shame that more permanent clean up couldnít take place but that would also require a total change of lifestyle for the Chinese people.