Beijing (Big-jing)

Beijing is so freaking big. Since arriving here, I've discovered that you can walk an hour in any direction, and will pass three or four major budding-metropolii, with hundreds of restaurants, tons of business hq's, and at least one squallid stretch which is amazingly rustic and bustling. Old vs. New is a serious theme here, and many times you can see a hundred-million dollar complex in the same eyeful as a five-hundred year old stone gate and wall.
I'm in the midst of looking for an apartment. On my first day out, I went to see Tian'an men square. It's really big, like everything else here. In the middle of the city, there is a huge stretch of this square and the Forbidden Palace and the National People's Museum and dozens of very grand and rustic temples and buildings, quite widely spaced apart. Beijing is not particularly dense, not like Hong Kong, rather, it's sprawling. It's like LA, but the suburbs are replaced by more business and downtown-like developments.
I didn't have time to check out the Palace, but I went into the National Museum, which had some amazing art. I've decided I'm going to become rich solely so I can collect Asian art. Well, maybe there are a couple of other reasons, but the museum motivated me a lot.
I only brought my little digital camera, so these shots are a bit lacking, but they capture the day mostly. I took a bunch of really funny little movie clips too. I've figured out how to share them, on youtube. Google video is actually blocked here in China (?).

The centre portion.

Probably the most intricate piece in the museum. The entire piece is about the size of a softball.

This is by the same artist, equally as intricate. The men were about 2.5inches tall.

Man looking in traditional liquor jug, which is empty. This theme is common here. I was watching a cartoon the other day, in which the main character was an alcoholic bear who kept outsmarting his wife who was using utmost ninja-skills to stop him from drinking. The entire episode was about him wanting liquor... "wo yao he jiu!"

Carving.

This wood-relief was amazing, soooo detailed. I used to love Where's Waldo when I was a kid, this thing reminded me of that. This is about 1/5 the total length of the piece.

The details!

A jade twin-bowl, Tang Dynasty.

People's Monument.

Chinese flag with moon in background.
The forbidden palace, from Tian'an Men Square.