The Future Is Here Now

Beijing

Christ, what a place! A few of us went out drinking last night and I continue to be amazed by how modern and built up everything is. It may well be the most modern city I've ever visited. Everyone seems to be very rich as if all the poor people have been exterminated or locked up, which admittedly may not be too far from the truth. There's been conjecture for years about when China will emerge as a major superpower to rival or surpass the U.S. - well, while everyone's been looking in the other direction that day has just about arrived. Preparations for the Olympics are already stunningly advanced. Passing the Workers' Stadium (where Wham! played in the eighties) I spotted the signs and logos already up for 2008. They could probably host it tomorrow, let alone in four years.

The mark ups in some of the bars reflect the cash swilling about the city. You can easily get a beer for 15p in a shop that will cost you ten times that if you get it in a pub. In one such place I ran in to a guy I met a month ago in St Petersburg, which proves that even in a country of 1.2 billion people it's still a small world.