Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
extraordinarily thrifty and frugal with their money, and some throw it about like confetti in
a ticker-tape parade. Beijing is mercurial and resistant to definition.
Get to know your neighbors by joining in a game of Chinese checkers.
Many years ago, Beijingers were a pretty conservative lot, but this is quickly changing.
Change is just a way of life these days, and many embrace it or, when it's unpleasant,
quietly accept it without protest. Today, many once-taboo behaviors no longer turn heads.
An increasing number of people live together before they get married; the lesbian and gay
community has an ever-more-obvious presence (the transgender crowd is still a little bit too
out there), and dramatic body piercings and tattoos are the trend du jour. A well-regarded
expression used to be “the nail that stands out gets hammered down,” but if you visit the
university area of Haidian or simply ride the subway, you'll see this is an endangered no-
tion.
One area that does have unwavering diligence, however, is education. In Beijing, education
is the be-all and end-all of life as a teenager knows it. And the pinnacle of this the Gao Kao,
the high school examination that opens or locks the gateway into university. From the time
children begin primary school to the time they sit the Gao Kao, their lives are dominated by
