I ended my last column at the point where my plane was descending into Beijing's international airport. Just where was I going, anyway? I was lucky enough to find a general information story in the "Korea Herald." It comes from the Associated Press, and I quote it liberally here.
The Chinese have just had an important Party Congress, where the future of the country was decided (for the foreseeable future, anyway). The established leader, Jiang Zemin, began edging towards the exit to make way for the new man, Hu Jintao.
Ever since the fall of communism in Russia, the country with the largest population in the world has been slowly trying to adapt to new circumstances. Equal parts of communism and socialism have been mixed with a liberal dash of capitalism. It makes for an interesting combination. There are trendy, neon-soaked taverns catering to foreigners, that double as local chapters of the Chinese Communist Party.
Less than a generation ago, there was not much evidence of this. The Party controlled everything about the country with a planned economy that told the populace where to work, where to live, what to produce, and how much.
Just a car I saw from the bus on the way into Beijing.
Now there is a great deal of foreign investment, with an accompanying influence on the future of the country. Besides the obvious landmarks such as KFC, Wal-Mart, and Ikea, there is the declaration that entrepreneurs must shepherd China into the 21st century.
In an attempt to control the coming changes, the Party has begun ushering new personalities into the leadership. Hu Jintao, apparently the man selected to sit in the chair once occupied by Mao Zhedong, is still a bit of a mystery. Young, with an undistinguished career, he is described as a colourless technocrat. Collective party decisions will take the place of individual acheivement.
This will, it is hoped, allow the party to remain in control without the need for a repeat of the Tian'anmen Square massacre, when the military crushed pro-democracy protests. Stability - government market, social - is the catchphrase.
And yet, there are signs that all is not well. The reforms that allow some capitalism threaten the livelihoods of the thousands of workers as state-owned industries that offered jobs for life are pared down, restructured, or closed.
Migrant populations are growing, as are the labour protests from those who have been laid off. They demand one thing; return of their jobs - and their benefits.
At the same time, there is a growing class of wealthy young people. Annual growth has topped 7 per cent. Factories and workshops are producing brand-name products for western consumption.
A Beijing street. On the right of any street, taking up half the street, is the bicycle lane.
Narrow streets once crowded with bicycles are becoming even more crowded with new cars. The average monthly salary of 330 yuan ($40) has increased ten times, to 3,300 ($400). The most successful are making millions, and moving into sleek new developments and apartments.
All of this wealth will no doubt put ideas into the heads of some people that the Party would rather not deal with. Staying relevant in a world governed by markets will be their great task.
A gas station.
The language of old - an amalgam of nationalism, ideology, and pep-rally sloganeering feels out of place when you can see women trying on make-up from L'Oreal and men who are wearing Playboy underwear.
How much can the Party's colour change before it is no longer red? When do you take Chairman Mao's body from its display case in Tian'anmen Square? When do you re-evaluate 1989? These are the troubling issues that they must now confront.
As you may becoming aware of, the China I was going to see was going to offer more than just the Great Wall.
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