Beijing survival rules

1. Crossing roads: wait until the green man is flashing, which means run the gauntlet of crazed taxi drivers who consider it double points for pedestrians and triple for westerners!
2. Queuing: actually "ku'ing" is a martial art, only the fastest, meanest, kick ass survive (& the metro underground at rush hour - well it's your funeral).
3 Staring; hey, it's their country, their allowed! You may even be asked to be photographed with them (johny foriegner that you are).
4. Hocking up the phlegm: old blokes, young blokes, women , kids they are all at it. Where ever they are! This must have taken over from ping pong as the national sport.
5. "Hello, do you speak English": the answer to this is "non, francais" otherwise the nice smiley 'language students' will want to take you to a tea shop to practises their English
with you. Oh yes and a tat shop and a museum and a restaurant and a ... well you get the drift.
6. There are 10 million bicycles in Beijing: and they are all on the sidewalk, again triple points for western tourists!
7. Smile: enjoy the experience - that's why we travel, no?

Beijing survival rules

Beijing, China