OCD: The Donkey and I
All this week, Ophelia Chong will be touring China, all the while recording her observations, thoughts, and insights right here for you. To view more of her online diary entries, click below.
OCD: Day 2 / Beijing
Thirteen hours on a plane rolls by quickly when you time your Ambien intake. Take one half an hour after taking off, and the second the moment you wake up. So in essence you are really only conscious for 45 minutes.
I landed at 9:40 am Beijing time. The airport is massive, it was built for the Olympics and is the largest airport in the world. I took the monorail from my gate to the baggage claims area, it was just over half a mile. Fast, efficient, the size of a small town.
There are two sites you cannot access here, Facebook and YouTube. Both for reasons that are obvious. Communication. Both are megaphones that can blast out information quickly and to individuals and groups. Before the National Holiday on October 1st, there were 14 million registered Facebook users, the day of the holiday there are now only 14K who can access their Facebook pages. Also in China there are only two mobile phone companies. On the national holiday, all the ring tones were changed to the national anthem, whether you asked for it or not.
China has one foot planted in the past, another in the future, both firmly planted. That leaves the head to turn back and forward at any given time. Comfortable, yet it will eventually strain. Like the donkey standing without fear on the side of the highway, China is comfortable in its embrace of the future and its past.
Image: Ophelia Chong / Donkey vs. Condo