Fr 17.03.2006 09.15 Spring

Well, it’s still -5 outside and there’s plenty of snow, so it might sound strange for the people who have never been in the north, but spring is definitely here. You can hear it, smell it and feel it everywhere.

Вс 29.01.2006 14.20 Flags over the main post

Today was the second round of presidential elections in Finland. Tarja Halonen will stay in the office for another six years.

Вс 29.01.2006 14.20 Kiasma

Вс 29.01.2006 15.09 ARS 06

New exhibition ARS 06 in Helsinki Modern Art museum proved to be quite interesting. If you are into modern art - it is definitely worth to visit.

Чт 12.01.2006 14.33 Lunch in Southwood canteen

Чт 12.01.2006 14.39 Cheesecake in Southwood canteen

I just love it. Food is great - especially desserts.

Пт 23.12.2005 07.43 Boarding Silja SuperSeaCat

After check-in and passport control we are finally onboard Silja that will take us to Tallinn

12:13 15 November, 2005 Guards are everywhere

12:33 15 November, 2005 Fish heads starter in a local restaurant

15:12 15 November, 2005 Chinese restaurant

15:26 15 November, 2005 Street in Beijing

15:55 15 November, 2005 Modern building

17:03 15 November, 2005 Bicycle is a very popular transport

17:08 15 November, 2005 Nokia tower and Pacific Century Place

17:36 15 November, 2005 Sanlitun Yashow clothing market

17:40 15 November, 2005 Fake Marimekko

18:26 15 November, 2005 Hotel wall

20:26 15 November, 2005 Cheesecake for dessert

09:29 16 November, 2005 Farewell message in Beijing airport

12:02 16 November, 2005 Flying back home

First day was quite difficult - jet lag from flying eastwards is always the worst kind. Next day was much better - I survived the day long meeting and still had some time in the evening to shop.

Local malls and supermarkets are not much different from those you can find anywhere in the world. But local markets are really something. You can get virtually any fake products for really small amunt of money. The most important thing is to know how to bargain - original prices can easily be divided by 3, 5, 10, …

13:07 14 November, 2005 It probably means “yeild”

13:08 14 November, 2005 Park street in Beijing

13:19 14 November, 2005 Press a button and wait for the green light

13:26 14 November, 2005 In a garden

13:27 14 November, 2005 On a bridge

13:55 14 November, 2005 Revolution museum

14:33 14 November, 2005 Entrance to Forbidden City

14:33 14 November, 2005 Guard at the entrance to Forbidden City

14:42 14 November, 2005 Wall of the Forbidden City

14:56 14 November, 2005 Women carrying logs

First impression of Beijing were quite mixed. After passing passport control I grabbed a cab to go to the hotel. From the airport to the city goes quite nice motorway. It looked like it was a foggy morning, but it turned out to be just pollution. On the motorway all signs were dubbed in English. Taxi driver asked 400yuans for a trip to hotel. Interestingly enough, the same trip back was just 100yuan.

When motorway entered a city traffic became chaotic. Just later, walking in the city I realised how chaotic it is. Traffic lights, lanes, priorities do exist in theory, but in practice it is not safe to cross a street, even on the green light.

Guards, police and army are everywhere. I’ve never seen so many people in the uniform on the streets of a city before.

You can often see groupls of people in similar clothes doing exercises in the parks or outside the factory buildings.

17:29 13 November, 2005 Beijing - 6315km

07:39 14 November, 2005 China border control

11:19 14 November, 2005 View from the hotel room

12:01 14 November, 2005 Chinese McDonalds

12:06 14 November, 2005 Wangfujing street

12:13 14 November, 2005 Russian books section in book shop

12:38 14 November, 2005 Tea shop

12:46 14 November, 2005 Wangfujing street

12:48 14 November, 2005 Biggest shopping street in Beijing

12:51 14 November, 2005 St.Joseph’s church

When the plane was approaching Beijing a spectacular view opened to my eyes - endless kilometers of brown mountains, in some places covered with snow. Then the city appeared. It looked almost the same as if you were aproaching Copenhagen, Amsterdam or Frankfurt, except that all houses were really tall and there were many more of them. Also quite many industrial sites and factories could be seen around the city.

After landing we had to go to the bus and it was quite chilly outside - just +1 C.