There are literally thousands of ornate buildings in the palace ranging from the smaller outer structures used by servants to the impressive central ones used by the emperor himself.  The more impressive thing though is that each and every building is lavishly decorated and adorned with golden yellow roof tiles (the colour of royalty).

The Forbidden City was one of the many places I visited on my last trip to Beijing in 1998.  I have many memories from that trip but over the years they have all mixed together.  It was a strange sense of déjà vu as I wandered through the huge and sprawling complex.  Many a time I rounded a corner and realised I had stood in that very spot before!  I have an almost exact copy of this photo sitting in an album at home from my last trip and thankfully I now know where I took it

Before it was opened to the public in 1925 only a very select group of people were able to allowed to even get close to the outer walls of the City.  Those that made it inside were guaranteed to be looked after well and often acquired a lot of power over the peasantry living on the other side of the walls.  However, these opportunities often came at great personal cost especially for men.  To ensure the authenticity of the emperor’s blood line the only men allowed into the City were eunuchs.  Before these determined men were allowed to set foot inside the city they had to undergo a rather gruesome procedure to completely remove their genitalia.  How’s that for serious determination?!

Of course today the City isn’t quite so forbidden, and in some respects this has perhaps gone too far.  Going from a place that was off limits to the entire world it is somewhat ironic that there is now a branch of Starbucks within the walls of the City. 

I guess it is an interesting insight into the rapidly softening restrictions of China that a thoroughly capitalist and Western company like Starbucks is able to set up shop in the middle of a site of such historic importance.  What’s next – a McDonalds in the Temple of Heaven?  Only time will tell.

Avid readers of the blog will recall an entry from India where I discussed the jobs and low pay endured by the females in the lower castes of Indian society.  In developing countries everyone has to pitch in and earn their keep.  I guess as the society progresses more people are able to break out of the cycle, first starting with children and later women.  In India I didn’t see many children working but I did see a lot of women performing hard, gruelling tasks and often with a young child strapped to her hip.  In these jobs they are paid pitifully low wages and are deemed inferior to men.

In contrast it is interesting to study the changes that rapid development has brought in China.  As wages rise more and more couples are able to survive with only one income.  According to the news story a survey 10 years ago indicated that only 45% of woman desired to be housewives.  Now, however, this figure has jumped to a whopping 60% who intend on never working.

Many of the woman interviewed said they wanted to become a housewife because they felt it would elevate their status in society.  In their eyes being a housewife meant they would be on a par to their husbands and would become equals, unlike the woman forced to work in a poor job.

It’ll be interesting to see what the survey says in 10 years time from now. I wonder whether things will have around turned again and women will be striving for well paid jobs equivalent to their male counterparts as they do in the UK.  Only time will tell I guess.

Getting around Beijing is a lot easier than it was in Delhi. Taxis are readily available and there is a good subway system that is rapidly expanding.  This is a city with a long, unique history and consequently there is a wealth of things to see and experience here.  Although I saw a lot of the main sights when I was here 8 years ago I am planning on revisiting many of them during the 5 weeks I am here.  On the agenda for this weekend was the Temple of Heaven and the Beijing Underground City.

Although it is easy to catch a taxi here, once you get inside it is a very different story in terms of communicating where you want to go!  Hardly any of the drivers can speak English making it a challenge to explain where you want to go.  Of course, the international language of pointing can always be employed in conjunction with a map or guidebook, but thanks to Chinese friends I have also been using my mobile phone.  I have been able to get people to SMS me the Chinese words for the places I want to go and then it is then simply a case of showing the appropriate message to the taxi driver.  Easy!

Catching a taxi to the nearest subway station and then getting a train to Qianmen brings you to an area that is close to a number of attractions including the Temple of Heaven.  This complex of buildings and monuments was first built in 1420 in the Ming dynasty.  Since then it has been used by the emperor to communicate his wishes to the gods above. 

Within the grounds are a multitude of buildings in the usual distinctive Chinese style.  Interestingly all of the main buildings are circular but rest upon square bases reflecting the ancient Chinese belief that the Earth was flat and heaven was round.  The key structures in the complex are the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Circular Mound Altar. 

All of the buildings have recently been restored to their original beauty ready for the hordes of Olympic tourists expected next year.  The vivid reds and blues of the intricate paintwork really stand out giving the structures a strangely fresh and new feel.  Most of the buildings here are adorned with brilliant blue roof tiles on the distinctive Chinese concave slope and sit within extensive grounds of lush green gardens.

Located on the centre line of gardens is the Circular Mound Alter which has three layered terraces of white marble. Sitting in the middle of top terrace is the central stone upon which the emperor would make his prayers to the gods.  Supposedly when standing upon this stone your voice resonates causing you to sound much louder.  Despite this slightly dubious science it seemed to be a star attraction with great hordes of people waiting to try it out.  Each to their own I suppose.

After a disgusting hot pot lunch the next item on our agenda was to find the Beijing Underground City.  Built as a response to the cold war this city is a huge complex of underground tunnels and shelters and is largely unknown to the residents of Beijing.  With only a brief description from a guide book it was very difficult to find the entrance to the complex.  Despite having a native Chinese speaker to ask for us none of the taxi drivers, officials or locals had ever heard of the place.  In fact one of the drivers pulled a face and said she very much doubted it even existed, although this didn’t stop her offering to drive us there! 

According to reports on the Internet the city has been kept a secret for a long time with suggestions that Beijing residents were refused entry until recently.  Potential explanations for this become more evident when learn the history of the place.  Intended as a defence against a nuclear strike it would have been totally useless because it was only built to a depth of 20m and has numerous surface shafts.  It would have been barely able to withstand a regular bomb let alone nukes raining down from the sky!  Built at huge cost to the tax payer using thousands of workers it was never put to use due to its ineffectiveness.  Just a tad embarrassing perhaps.

For those with determination the tourist entrance to the city is found down an alleyway within the Damochang Hutong in the Qianmen area.  The entrance descends a few flights of tiled stairs into a fairly large corridor.  The place is pretty much bare these days with the exception of a selection of Mao posters and tacky recreated exhibits.  Photography is banned in the complex, apparently due to government paranoia – the official line is that parts of it are still used by the military but I somewhat doubt we’d even be allowed near the place if that was true.  I suspect the embarrassment theory is probably more likely.  In any case, this didn’t stop David taking a few covert snaps with his phone before getting caught by our guide, who incidentally was dressed in military uniform.  Thankfully he wasn’t hauled away this time and instead the guide simply kept a close eye on us all for the rest of the tour.  I guess that’s another notch against David’s name – I wonder how many it takes before you get thrown in jail?

After following the guide along the multitude of corridors and through the basement of a shop (just slightly bizarre) we arrived back at the starting point and were politely encouraged to leave immediately.  For some reason when we left the guide followed us out onto the street before scuttling off down some side alley.  Perhaps she was off to report David as being a spy – guess we’ll find out soon enough

Walk around the streets of this place and it’s easy to feel like you’re in any Western city. Of course there are some quirks and there is the constant challenge when no one speaks English, but Beijing has transformed itself into a place that feels strangely homely.  There’s everything you’d expect of a modern city; hotels, restaurants, entertainment and bars.  Traffic on the roads is relatively civilised and there are even pavements at the side of the street!  Getting around is quite easy with plenty of cheap taxis readily available and a simple to use subway system that is rapidly expanding.

Although Beijing has been steadily improving over the past decade even before winning the Olympics, the past few years have seen a rapid acceleration in progress.  The authorities appear to be putting in 100% to ensure that everything is ready in time for next year.  Preparations appear to be going very well and the city I see today is quite different to the one I witnessed 9 years ago during my last visit.  Economic prosperity has definitely had a big impact on the every day lives of the millions of people that live here.  For example when I was last here people strived to own a bicycle but now they now posses cars and trucks.  The Olympics has played a big part of this change by creating vast numbers of new jobs attracting migrant workers from all over the country hoping to improve their quality of life too.

However, that has come at a cost.  It is difficult to get accurate figures due to the tight control of the media but there has been at least one major accident so far.  Just last week 6 men working on one of the new subway lines just a few hundred meters away from my hotel were killed when the tunnel collapsed around them.  The contractor in charge of the site where the incident occurred acted rather strangely when it happened.  Instead of calling for help he decided the best thing to do was seal off the site and confiscate the mobile phones of all his workers so they couldn’t spread the word.  Whether it was corruption, fear of the consequences or simply pure incompetence the delay in calling for help meant rescue efforts didn’t start until 8 hours later and all 6 died.  Is that an acceptable price to pay in return for over pushing development in order to get everything completed in time for the Olympics? 

The construction industry isn’t the only area that has benefited from huge Olympic driven investment. Cash has been poured into all aspects of Beijing from stream-lining the immigration process to improving the banking industry, and even into mundane things such as replacing over 6,300 road signs correcting amusing English mistranslations and creating hundreds of tacky new Olympic souvenir shops.  In fact, the Chinese authorities claim to be well ahead of plan and hope to have everything completed long before tourists start arriving next year.

One has to wonder whether London is really setting itself up to equally seize the opportunity that has been bestowed to it with the 2012 Olympic Games.  True there has been huge investment in the London Underground already but what else is there to show for it so far?  Everyone in Beijing can see the clear benefits that are coming from their Olympic games and believe the investment is worth while in both the short and long term.  Can Londoners really say the same thing?  I’m not sure that I can just yet, but who knows, perhaps the situation will improve over the coming years. 

There is definitely huge potential waiting to be exploited by the British capital.  Perhaps if the authorities take note and learn from the Chinese perhaps London too can be dragged into the 21st century.  So let us all cross our fingers and hope that London 2012 turns out to be just slightly more successful than the last big venture undertaken in the capital - the Millennium Dome

The new role is a big step up from what I’ve been doing before and I’m getting to practice many new management skills.  I have pretty much been given complete responsibility for this section of work and I have had to undertake the initial design analysis, pull together the project plan, allocate work to each developer and then get them going.  It has been quite enjoyable and I am quite pleased that so far I have been able to build my own confidence that I have the necessary knowledge and groundwork to make this a work out.

The next week will be the biggest test of my time away because this will be the first time I will have all 7 developers for 100% of their time.  Although each of them have already started looking at their own tasks I will need to ensure they fully understand what is required of them, and then ensure the quality of their work is up to scratch and on time.  I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how it goes – wish me luck!

The team seem like a good bunch and most of them have been working on the same project for many months.  Although two of team are almost brand new most are fairly experienced so that should help everything go smoothly.  All of the developers work for the company we are outsourcing to and we are based at their offices in a technology park in North West Beijing.

Thankfully the offices aren’t too far from the hotel and can be reached by taxi in 20 minutes or by bus in 30.  Although the bus is a little slower it isn’t all that bad and the longer journey means I get to see more of daily life in the suburbs of Beijing, and all for the measly price of 1 Yuan (about 7 pence)!  I was introduced to the bus system by David, the other guy from London who has been out here since mid January.  I’m not sure I would have ventured onto the bus otherwise!

It has been quite helpful having a friendly British face around who has been here just long enough to have sussed everything out.  We are both staying in the same hotel which makes life far more enjoyable than what I had in India where I was on my own.  It’s nice to be able to go into a restaurant and not get the sympathy treatment that comes when dining alone, especially so when considering that hardly anyone speaks English here.

All in all I am quite looking forward to the next 4 weeks and hope to embrace all of the forthcoming challenges with open arms.  Look out for progress update in a few weeks time

I suppose the answer is that like everywhere in the world Africa has both its very rich and its very poor.  Whilst many are starving and dying from lack of water the high flyers are in the air going to Delhi and Beijing.  This was very evident on the plane where a third of the passengers who were African all oozed wealth.  From nice suits, to excessive bling these passengers were obviously doing quite well for themselves. Given the state of their nation these people, and their airline are doing relatively well for themselves.

The plane was your usual sort of jumbo with overly cramped seats, microwaved food and poor inflight entertainment.  It was a bit rough around the edges and evidently hadn’t been maintained too recently.  For example, my meal tray sat at an unhelpful angle resulting in a slightly embarassing incident involving the reminants of my dinner ending up on my neighbours lap whilst he slept.  Ahem.  Similarly, the upholstory was a quite tattered and the plane’s wings had disturbing staines flaring from the joints.

Perhaps unfairly, my confidence was pre-set to its over cautious mode well before I got anywhere near the plane. Unfortuantely this wasn’t helped any when my fellow passengers and I boarded the plane.  Confusion broke out shortly after we began looking for our seats in the usual cramped and crushing manner.  Looking for seat 31K I was slightly concerned to discover the plane only had seats in positions I and J.  As the air hostess approached I half expected to hear “sorry sir, we lost those seats in the turblance on the way in.”  However, the reality was a similar confused look after which she tried to console with me by suggesting I find myself another seat as there were only “20 passengers”.  Said in a confident tone I would have been tempted to believe her had there not been a planeload of eyes gazing at us following the comotion!

Perhaps it’s just a sign of the times that I live in but the most disturbing thing about the Ethiopian experience was the in-flight entertainment.  It wasn’t the quality of the movie or even the fact there were only communal TV screens.  The truely horrifying thing about the whole experience was that the movie we were watching was stored on a video cassette.  One can only hope that the technolgy in the cockpit was slightly more advanced…

Then again, I arrived in once piece and so did my overweight (but without charge) lugguage.  The food was surprisingly tasty and the air hostesses pleasingly gave me a glass of wine in addition to a cup of orange, apple juice and tea (though she did offer to mix them all together for me).  Given the only alternative was Air China I suppose flying with an African airline wasn’t all that bad afterall.

I’m half way through a flight that takes me into the next phase of my journeys: China.  It’s strange to think that I’ve been away from home for almost 4 weeks now.  Time seems to have flown past in India, perhaps too fast in some respects, but it’s definitely been an experience I won’t forget.  Work has been crazy busy with 12 hour days the norm whilst I prepared for my forthcoming challenge.  I’ve been given a lot of freedom whilst working the India office which in some respects was quite scary, but it’s nice to know my managers have faith in me.  Or perhaps it is poor judgement, but whatever reason they had for sending me here the next 5 weeks are going to be a leap into un-chartered waters.  I have 7 Chinese developers and an Indian QA that I have to lead to satisfy a long list of requirements.

I have enjoyed my time in India. I have learnt so much at work as well as outside in the scary streets of a developing country.  It’s definitely been an eye opening experience that has given me more clarity about the sort of work I want to do and the simple things to be appreciated in live.  It’s amazing how many things we, or at least I, took for granted back home in the UK.  Simple things like safe drinking water, a constant electricity supply and solid walls around my home.  British kids are taught about the wider world in school but seeing some of it with my own eyes adds a realism that can’t be grasped in school.  And to think India is actually one of the more developed countries in the world.  I’m glad I was lucky enough to be born in the western world and can return to the luxuries that come with living in London.  Perhaps if we sent ASBO laden teenager to a developing country for a week they might learn a thing of two.  A sort of “I’m a brat – get me out of here!” reality show.  Worth a thought at least …

But then perhaps I haven’t overly enjoyed living in India because I was born in England.  I have been trying to think of the virtues that India can claim over my home, and haven’t managed to come up with a very big list yet.  The only two that easily came to mind were some amazing sites and some kick ass animals.  Of course these things probably won’t be anywhere near the top of the list for an Indian born here.  I guess in that respect my trip here was perhaps a partial failure as I haven’t really experienced the true Indian way of live, or the vitality that many longer-term visitors talk about.  But hey, I did get to ride an elephant so in my mind the trip has been a total success

Like always, the day started early and we were on the road by 8am.  The quality of the car was better than before and had the luxuries of reclining seats, air conditioning and came with a marginally better standard of driving.  Although double the price of the taxi last weekend (10 rupees per km) it was definitely good to have the additional comfort especially with the 35degree temperatures outside.  Another welcomed pleasure was travelling with some friendly faces again, namely Anja and Gareth, my managers from London who arrived last week.

First stop on our itinerary after arriving at 1pm was Fort Amer.  This grand fort is located at the top of a nearby high point and can be either reached along a rough road through the old city or on elephant back.  Our aim was to take the elephant ride up but language difficulties meant our driver deposited us atop in front of the fort’s gates.  Doh.  Trying to make the most of it a guide was hired who took us around and explained the history of this interesting place.  It used to be the secure-hold home of the Maharajah controlling the area.  In it he housed himself and all 9 of his wives along with an army of servants.  Despite being built well over 300 years ago this place has all sorts of mod cons including air conditioning that is produced by running water down walls and along floors.

The tour guide took great pleasure in showing us all of the wonders the fort holds including numerous tales of dubious likelihood.  In particular great pleasure was evident when he showed us some of the artwork adorning the walls in the fort…

If you look carefully you may be able to see why our guide was so interested in this pattern.  Apparently a lot of the artwork in the fort revolves around the Karma Sutra and with a grin on his face the guide showed us. Perhaps it is true, but for some reason I can’t help suspecting it actually just our guide who was the pervert.  Beauty is in the mind of the beholder I guess.

After the fort we found our driver and again tried to explain our common desire to ride an elephant.  Finally he cottoned on and took us on a short drive to an elephant rank!  A whole row of elephants all lined up waiting to extract extortionate amounts from tourists.  The elephants were adorned with colourful chalk patterns covering their faces and trunks, and each had a two person saddle on top.  After our driver negotiated us a decent rate the inevitable, but amusing challenge presented itself – how do you actually get on top of an elephant?

A few minutes of ear tugging and yelling later the handlers had persuaded each elephant to kneel down at the side of the road. We were beckoned to step on the elephant’s front leg and had to literally climb up its side until we made it into the basket.  Not exactly the most elegant manoeuvre in the world but it wasn’t long before we were plodding down the road taking a ride simply for the sake of it.  It was an awesome experience that I’ll never forget, plodding along the street and rapidly gathering a fan base of local kids that started to chase us.  Perhaps it was this that convinced my elephant to quicken his pace resulting in a rather rapidly increasing heart rate! 

Thankfully it didn’t last too long and just around the next bend we reached the end of our journey to nowhere in particular.  A short slide down onto the pavement later and we back on solid ground. 

The rate our driver had agreed upon earlier was 600 rupees (£7) for both elephants but this didn’t stop the handlers trying their luck and asking for 600 per elephant!  Cheeky little sods! Thankfully our driver (who had been following us all the way in the car) resolved the issue with a little wave of the hand and saved us from being ripped off.  At the time it seemed very noble of him but in hindsight it was more likely a manoeuvre to ensure we had enough cash for his fleecing later on.  Better the devil you know I suppose.

When I informed my Indian friends that I was going to visit Jaipur they all enthusiastically told me that if I did nothing else I simply had to visit a place called Chokhi Dhani.  Billed as an ‘ethnic Rajasthani village’ it is situated about 15km from Jaipur and is supposed to be a recreation of a traditional Rajasthani village.  Included in the ticket price of 250 rupees is an all you can eat Indian meal and entrance to all of the attractions in the park.  The meal was interesting, but tasty, however the village itself was more of a cross between Lego Land and an especially lame carnival. 

I appreciate that I’ve never been to a real Indian village but I’d be pretty confident placing a bet that they don’t usually have a ferris wheel, boating pond or magic show in a traditional Rajasthani village.  Still, it is definitely worth experiencing if only to take a ride on the wheel which is quite an interesting experience.  Only costing 5 rupees (6 pence) I figured I didn’t have much to loose though of course I’d failed to account for the potential medical bills that could follow! 

Unlike most western wheels where motors are the norm, apparently traditional Rajasthani ferris wheels are not only man powered but also man stopped!  Sitting in a chair that wobbled a little too much for comfort, once the wheel builds up momentum and gets spinning it can only be stopped by men jumping and vainly hanging onto chairs as they pass.  The theory is that the additional weight of the man will counter the rotational force and the wheel will stop.  However, amusingly (or disturbingly?) this doesn’t always go to plan and the man is often lifted up a good 5 meters off the ground before a second man quickly jumps onto the next car to add additional weight and the wheel comes to a stop.

Needless to say I was glad when I was finally off the ride and back onto solid ground.  Having wandered around all of the village and seen most of the attractions we decided it was time to leave and head back to the hotel.  Stopping to pickup some cheap beers on the way home we spent the rest of the night playing cards at the hotel which was very enjoyable, particularly Anja’s shocking defeat at hearts (with a final score of well over 300!).

The hotel we were staying in is located in downtown Jaipur and is actually more of a small castle than a hotel.  Adorned with exquisite décor and fine furniture the hotel was far beyond what we had expected to get for the £30 a room per night price tag attached to it.  After a tasty continental breakfast the next morning we checked out and headed towards the final attraction for the weekend, Fort Nahargarh. 

Like Amer Fort Nahargarh is perched upon a high point and overlooks the current location of the city of Jaipur.  Not quite as impressive as Amer it is still worth a visit if only for the magnificent views of the city far below.  If you look carefully it is possible to see the ‘pink city’ that Jaipur is famous for.  Although actually just a single street, all of the buildings in this area were painted pink in 1876 for the royal visit of Prince Albert and Queen Elizabeth II.  I’m not totally sure why they thought painting the town pink would be the perfect welcome for a royal family but it certainly makes the place stand out from everywhere else I’ve seen in India.

Finally back on the road to Delhi we arrived at Anja and Gareth’s hotel in time for dinner.  Somewhat unfairly their hotel is significantly more plush than my apartment (ahem, who is actually doing the work here guys?!)  An enjoyable Italian meal and 2 bottles of wine later it was time for me to head home and catch up on some sleep. 

This has been a great weekend full of many laughs and definitely a fantastic way to spend my last free time in India before departing in a few days time.

Officially my piece of work should kick off on 2nd April in Beijing, but it appears that my team will become partially available before then.  It now looks like I’ll be leaving India as soon as next Wednesday (21st March) once I have finished passing on knowledge to the rest of the India team and completed my plan. 

Unfortunately there are very few airlines that fly between Delhi and Beijing, with the two main ones being Air China (obvious) and Air Ethiopia!  As I’ve heard many horror stories about Air China I think I will give the Africans a try, especially as they give you a 50kg luggage allowance.  At least that should mean I don’t have to have do any creative repacking at the airport this time