Some things to know about China

Or at least Beijing. Well, OK, the few places I've been in country...

1. It kinda stinks. There's just an odd smell, beyond just what you expect in a city. Kind of a stale smell, and it permeates everything.

2. Smoking is practically a requirement. Coupled with the above, a filtered breathing apparatus isn't such a bad idea. And most places don't have a no-smoking area. Makes me appreciate good ol' Jersey even more.

3. Coke tastes better over here.

4. Soda cans have the old-fashioned pull tabs on them. For all the other technological advancements you see everywhere, nothing has touched the soda can.

5. The language is really, really, really hard to understand.

6. It's totally common to get into a cab and sit in the front next to the driver.

7. In the hotels, the TV is surprisingly both varied and limited. To wit, channel choices include the following:

International news channels like CNN, CNBC or the BBC. A nice touch being able to watch when you're awake at 2am suffering jet lag, as they're reporting what's happening at 1pm back home. You'd think China would block news they can't control, but that isn't the case.

Movie channels like HBO and Cinemax, but the movies are usually edited and don't have any nudity. Which is fine, because the selection usually sucks. You can only watch classics like Demolition High so many times.

National Geographic Channel, which is awesome to have for us documentary fans, only there are only three types of shows you can watch: mega-structures things being built, natural disasters, and plane crash investigations. Oh, and a show about which kind of martial art can do the most damage to a crash test dummy. Seriously. I've watched it on all three trips in 2007.

8. Cell phones here are way cooler than what we're offered in the states.

9. I can write this blog, but can't view this one or any other on blogger/blogspot. Big Red Brother must be watching.

10. About the only traffic law that people obey here is the use of stop lights. Everything else, particularly once you get outside of the city, is more a suggestion than a law. Drive into two lanes of oncoming traffic to overtake a motorcycle carrying a few square meters of corn stalks bound together? Sure. Use the right shoulder as a turn lane, about half a mile before the turn? No problem. The good thing is that since the pollution is so bad in the countryside, you can't really see the trucks stopped along the median while the drivers take naps until it's almost too late.