This is a funny little interim night, the hinge between South Korea and North Korea.

It's our second time in China, but our first in Beijing.

The sun was setting in a big haze-obscured ball as we were arriving. The traffic was terrible, and still is. As I sit in our window seat at nearly 10 pm, surveying the city from the 11th floor of our hotel, just east of the Forbidden City, the traffic is reduced to a crawl, and there's still a whole lot of honking going on.

We went for a bit of a walk once we'd settled in. Big cars, but also a surprising number of bicycles; lots of neon, but also a surprising amount of darkness, where streets and buildings do not seem to be brightly lit.

Big malls, but also small restaurants, massage parlours, and even homely brush shops. Big streets, but also garden walkways -- an attempt at a greener Beijing.

It's not all retail and services in this area. Nearby are some older residential blocks, and the Workers' Stadium, from which cheers were emanating until only recently.

I'm excited to be here, and looking forward to returning for slightly longer next week. This is the capital of a country at the sharp end of monumental geopolitical change. To what extent does the city of Beijing reflect this revolution in world affairs?