Welcome to Beijing

I was lucky enough to visit Beijing this week.  I wrote the post while in Beijing but could not upload till I got home...blocked.

A student asks why she cannot access YouTube today. Teacher replies that this week it is blocked. Such is life for students in Beijing that are behind the great china firewall. Although censorship is normally controlled by the Office of Business and Commerce, when the business leaders meet the Office of National Security takes precedence and thus YouTube is shut down for the country. It will be on again on  Dec 15 at 3 pm it will be on again, when the meetings are over.. such is life in China where Internet access is simply hit and miss.

One of the reasons China has the great firewall is that they tend to build their own. Google is not a company they allow access to but instead use Baidu.com. Have you ever seen a Made in China sticker!!

I went to visit a new school now located in the GTC. Next year they have a new campus in Shunyi to open with around 350 students.  The new campus was built for 1800 students and they expect to fill in a couple of years. 

I also went to visit the old traditional American school in Beijing, all of 1900 students here…

Across the street is a sample of  the housing it seems that most people live in these type of apartment blocks…. although there was single housing as well but far fewer.

I enjoyed  being able to visit Beijing… but too grey for me… and I wasn’t just talking about the air! 

Well, I flew in one day and left the next and had one local meal.  Just thought I would show you the menu.

 

Then I decided to hit Starbucks...