Journey From the West

Last week we mentioned the development of the Beijing airport, which will be the main entry point for the athletes, journalists and visitors coming to town this summer. My friend and fellow Iowan Josh Kucera recently took a road less traveled to the Chinese capital. His series of reports has been running this week on Slate. An excerpt from the intro:

We lined up inside the border post, our breaths visible in the unlit room, the wooden floor creaking under our feet. For an extra 100 som, the Kyrgyz guards gave us the option of purchasing a piece of paper declaring that we did not have AIDS. This, it was stressed, was optional, but we were warned that the Chinese border guards might ask for it. All the traders bought one, and on their recommendation Ilya did, too. Naturally, the "certification" was made without the benefit of a medical examination. When it was my turn in line, the guard simply noted my American passport and smiled. It was Sept. 11, and in fair English he said he was sorry about what happened six years earlier. He didn't even offer me a certificate.

Of course, on the Chinese side of the border no one asked for my AIDS papers. After lengthy border procedures and several hours of traveling through a barren, rocky landscape of reds and browns, we reached Kashgar after dark.