Beijing - Where Texans go to learn about big

Beijing is big. Not in the sense of a huge city, which it is, but in the sense that its smallest features are gigantic. It's temples and squares are the world's largest, it's main city blocks a mile square. On the map, things that look like they should be 100m are 1km, which is greatly deceiving when you think you can walk between any two points.

Beijing is far less intimate than Shanghai, which is compact and very street level. The capital city is famous for its dozens of wide boulevards which route traffic, but really separate city component from each other. And every temple has lots of open space, apparently to provide room for past emperors' entourages, which could be 1km or more in length. Texans really do need to see Beijing to understand big.