Everything is Big In China

Chinese people hold there arms out wide when people are taking pictures of them at tourist sites. I first saw this behavior at the Temple of Heaven in downtown Beijing. Folks were lining up to have their picture taken while standing in the center of a large alter used by the emperor when making seasonal sacrifices on the winter solstice. As each person stood on the marble disc they raised their arms in up like and away from their body as if they were flying. Initially I interpreted this as an exclaimation that the subject was at the top of the world!

Now, after traveling through several cities in China I think it can be roughly translated as "Sooo Big!"

You see, China is truely a land of superlatives. Biggest damn, longest wall, oldest continuous civilization, largest buddha, most construction, largest plaza, most polution, and the list goes on. Everywhere you look China is busy going big. Starting from the Great Wall, China's history is full of big ideas and monumental achievements and unlike other great civilizations, the Chinese are still at it. They say a new sky scraper is completed in Shanghai every month. During the last ten years they've completed five tunnels, 4 subway lines, 5 major bridges, inconceivable numbers of highrises and factories and they're showing no signs of slowing down. And thats just Shanghai. Everywhere we went the pace of development and the scope of investment was awe inspiring.

If you haven't been to China you need to come take a look. Its "Sooo Big!"

Paul