The first impressions after a 10 hours flight from London to Beijing are multiples. I am already bothered and affected by the disastrous environmental situation-I feel like being back to ciudad de Mexico; Beijing is under a huge smog bell, and though not everybody can afford a car, there are so many, that it was almost impossible to go to the centre, close to Tiananmen place, where we stayed in a neat hotel.
We were welcomed at the airport by Mr. Guo Fengzhu, who is the director of the bureau for international affairs at Qiqihar University, who, what we found out later, was all the time our communication partner, signing and speaking for Mr. Chang, the university’s president. Mr. Guo arranged a bus from the Qiqihar Municipality representation bureau in Beijing, taking us from the airport to the entrance of our hotel. The express highway leading from the airport to the centre was marked on both sides by enormous commercial advertisements in an exaggerating American style both in Chinese and English. Coming towards the centre the bilingualism got more and more lost. As we were the slowest on the road everybody was overtaking, offering me a first insight to the Chinese car market: let’s mention 60% Volkswagen dominance, though the Chinese don’t drive our newest models (Santana 2000 doesn’t sound that bad!). Concerning the commercials, I don’t want to forget that the world’s most famous Austrian smiled from every corner and every wall with a thumb’s up DVD-player or any electronic device. You can have a guess, who I’m talking about.
We were welcomed at the airport by Mr. Guo Fengzhu, who is the director of the bureau for international affairs at Qiqihar University, who, what we found out later, was all the time our communication partner, signing and speaking for Mr. Chang, the university’s president. Mr. Guo arranged a bus from the Qiqihar Municipality representation bureau in Beijing, taking us from the airport to the entrance of our hotel. The express highway leading from the airport to the centre was marked on both sides by enormous commercial advertisements in an exaggerating American style both in Chinese and English. Coming towards the centre the bilingualism got more and more lost. As we were the slowest on the road everybody was overtaking, offering me a first insight to the Chinese car market: let’s mention 60% Volkswagen dominance, though the Chinese don’t drive our newest models (Santana 2000 doesn’t sound that bad!). Concerning the commercials, I don’t want to forget that the world’s most famous Austrian smiled from every corner and every wall with a thumb’s up DVD-player or any electronic device. You can have a guess, who I’m talking about.
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