Yesterday the 17th Big finished. It was the 17th Communist Party of China's party meeting which takes place every 5 years and is so important, it is called the 'big meeting' in Chinese. So it means lots of extra police on the streets, guarenteed blue skies and lots of behind the scenes shuffling going along as the current Leadership will be in power for another 5 year term -but at this mid way point, start to promote those they want to succeed them. In China, the most important thing for a PM is normally to retain control after they finish their term.
In the western media the analysis of the 17th Big is all about who those new people will be and what changes might there be in the next 5 years to policy -but most commentators are left guessing as there is such secrecy involved (no-one even knew the exact start or end dates of the meeting until 2 weeks before) and rarely any new policies are ever declared at such meetings.
Yesterday was also the half marathon which was generally not too badly organised logistically but definitely some room for improvement; such as putting signs up to warn motorists the roads would be closed (no-one knew so there were huge traffic jams all over north-west beijing), finishing the race in a park and not in a slip lane of a highway and them many other things they could do to actually make the environment fun and lively. Never mind, the weather was good and that is all that matters!
The most exciting development of the last 2 weeks? A new subway line opened -finally, and before the Olympics the one next to my apartment will be open making life so much easier.
2 comments:
Hey Adam, it's always great to read your blog, your quite insight viewpoint of china ~ and quite motivate me to work in another country again - only uk seems definitely not enough. - arthur
Hi Adam: Not sure how I browsed to your blog, but it's great that you have been able to travel so much! And, thanks for the tip on how to get to Wikipedia.
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