"Life in most populous country" a Beijing Travel Page by vickss

For most countries in the world it is said if you wanna see real view of the country, its people and its culture you need to look beyond the capital.
Well, for a country which houses the most number of human beings in the world, it is naturally not easy to bring everything to one city, but Beijing is the best place to see China as it stands.
Now, I am not a great fan of Mao Zedong but this picture looked pretty imposing and is certainly the most visible place in Beijing so I have placed this at the intro lead picture.

While the more happening modern cities of Shanghai and Schenzen appears to be no different from lifeless skyscrapers as in the west or even closer like Hong Kong and Singapore, Beijing in contrast merges the old and the new.
And if you think Beijing is all about Tiananmen Square and the upcoming Olympics, you are wrong with a capital W.

Travelling to Beijing created some special memories for me for more than one reasons. Ok, it was not the first capital city of a country I have been to which is not democratic, but it surely was the first where I was all to myself. No PR agents to back up in case of trouble, no extra money to bank upon(hell i spent 2 months salary for Beijing) but most of all no language backup in case of emergency so it was as much adventure as it was a city trip. Infact, when it was decided that i will be in China the one intoxicating factor for me was to check out the Great Wall more than anything else and I was ready to go to any extent for it. Getting back to a snap shot of the city it is probably the last big city which is still worth a tourist visit in the country, where traditional China meets the modern giant of China.
So what else is Beijing... It is a shopping paradise, it has the Forbidden city which is forbidden only for those don't pay the entry fees, it has the Temple of Heaven, it is a city with Hutongs(Chinese slums), and atleast till August 2004 did not accept any international credit cards in most touristy places!