Hello, everyone.
The Internet connection here in Beijing is also good, it seems.
Thanks, Joy, for forwarding the information. Beijing really *does*
look like Vegas. It's the truth! Flashy neon advertisements, wide
streets full of new cars, all-night restaurants, street performers,
tourists everywhere, rows of impressive modern buildings.
In my Beijing hotel I have 30+ channels including HBO and CNN. I
have a fully stocked mini-bar and small fridge. At night, Beijing
from my hotelroom is bright and thriving. It is magnificent. I will
have to visit this place again!
And Pyongyang looks like London as it was depicted in Orwell's 1984.
Crumbling apartments, party slogans painted on banners, military
statues and monuments all over the place, police and armed soldiers
at almost every street corner. The people mill about slowly, afraid
to make eye contact with an obvious outsider. I got an occasional
smile from people as I nodded at them, but they are so afraid of the
police that there was not much else beyond that.
There are almost no cars. People get around on foot or bicycle. You
see a few military vehicles, andan occasional old bus drive by
packed with standing room only passengers. It would halt at a bus
stop with about 50+ people waiting to board it. Good luck! Once I
saw a Mercedes zoom down the street as if the driver owned the
place... I can only wonder what important person that was.
In my Pyongyang hotel I had one channel which showed goose-stepping
marches complete with military music. One other station I could hear
but not see. It was some kind of Russian program. On evening during
a lightening storm, we noticed that every time there was a flash
outside, the Russian station came alive and we could see sudden
images, and then it went dark again. The radio had only one station
of military music. If you tried to listen to any other stations, you
got a humming noise, due to North Korean jamming. The hotel rooms
had 60-watt bulbs, so it was not easy to read or write anything at
night. When I looked out the window (I was on the 40th floor) the
city, at night, was in near total darkness.
We were not permitted to leave the hotel without an escort. The
reason given was that few people in Pyongyang speak English, and if
we got lost, there could be a problem finding our way back. The
hotel itself was on a small island, in the middle of the river that
runs through Pyongyang. It was an impressive building of 80+ floors,
for tourists only. We noticed that many floors were dark and looked
like they had never been used. Everyone had a room on the 40th
floor, as far as I could tell.
At the top of the hotel was a large revolving restaurant. I visited
there one evening and found a large group of South Koreans along
with a few Russians. The Koreans were there on some special
invitation, which I did not learn too much about. The only North
Koreans in this place were about 20 young waitresses. (They seemed
to have been selected on their physical appearances, if you get the
drift.) I had some spectacular food and looked over the city of
Pyongyang below, and of course saw nothing but darkness.
In Pyongyang there was no Internet connection. Telephone calls were
estimated at $10/minute. All my postcards were read after I gave
them at the front desk. I verified this - each postcard was
carefully read by a man near the front counter.
In the countryside, people work the fields by hand. On the rare
occasion, you will see an ox doing the work. You will never see a
tractor. Never.
I took plently of photos (and a little video) of both cities. Should
have some interesting things to show when I get back home.
John
P.S. And of course, if anyone was wondering.......
I GOT A UNIFORM!
:-)
--- In OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_yahoogroups.com, "Georgie Hinklemyer"
<samoolives_at_...> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the update!
>
> --- In OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_yahoogroups.com, "Joy McCann"
> <joy.mccann_at_> wrote:
> >
> > He's back in Bejing, safely back from North Korea.
> >
> > The telephone connection was surprisingly clear.
> >
> > He has set one foot inside South Korea, so he maintains that
he's been
> > there, too.
> >
> > He has pictures from the trip; I did not ask how many of them
were
> > from N.K. vs. China.
> >
> > He is not 100% impressed with the openness of North Korea. He
felt
> > that its news coverage was incomplete, and presented in a rather
bland
> > fashion.
> >
> > But he loves Bejing; he's going to the "Peking Opera" (that's
still
> > what they call it) in a few nights.
> >
> > With its wide, wide streets--and all its people--Bejing reminds
him of
> > Las Vegas.
> >
> > So there you have it; the boy is enjoying himself, and he'll be
back
> > this coming week.
> >
> > --J
> >
>
Received on 2007-05-12 19:58:24
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