|
Linda and Jim are served our first "Chinese meal." Not a banquet, but we ate plenty.
Cost: 66 RMB, or less than $10.
|
|
Every morning, according to our guides, the crowd gathers for raising of the National Flag at Teinanmen Square. It was rainy, and the crowd was there on our first morning. There was a similar crowd the night before when we strolled by on our own.
This morning, our tour organized a group run to see the event.
|
|
This is the cleaning crew on the evening before. Low level of mechanization, obviously. Note the cart at the end, for the debris. |
|
Old City Wall of Beijing. Restore with a park. This is south eastern wall of the Old City, looking easterly. Teinanmen Square lies about 1.5km to the west on the bolevard just to the right of this image. |
|
This is looking west from our hotel, the Capital, in Beijing. The building in the middle with columns, is Mao's Tomb, sitting in Teinanmen Square. The big building on the middle left is the South Gate to the Square.
This was the clearest day we saw in Beijing.
|
|
This is looking east, toward the significant development in what I will call "downtown" Beijing. The squatty building just left of the tallest is shown below. |
|
This is the new television building in Beijing. Taken from our tour bus, so not the best of pictures. It is an amazing building to see. |
|
This was near a shopping street. It is actually a later picture: the image on the giant screen shows earthquake rescue workers. The recovery coverage on the outdoor screens was constant, as in the english-language paper. |
|
Our only bad weather day was when we toured the Forbidden City. Only a light rain by the time we arrived.
Anyone who was without an umbrella had an opportunity to buy one from the multiple street vendors who attached themselves to us as soon as we alit from the bus. I got mine for 10RMB, just over a dollar; it survived all day, and made it back home, too.
|
|
This shows the north gate to the Forbidden City, and the moat. Our morning run around the perimeter was tallied at 4+ miles, but included the run past Teinanmen Square; the "City" is still very large. |
|
The major renovation work on the Forbidden City continues. I think this was the Emperors' central home, off limits due to the renovation. |
|
One of the large courtyards inside the Forbidden City. |
|
All of the Emporors' buildings have this collection of characters to ward off evil. The first is a fellow on a bird, central to Chines creation mythology. That's about all I remember of it, though.
I think the wiring is a later addition, for lightening control. All the structures are wood!
|
|
I don't understand the Chinse system; I was surprised to see toll booths. |
|
Bicycles were common modes. Also, scooters, and motorcycles. This was one of the few kid's bikes I saw. One of our guides said a new bike, basic model, cost as little as $20, or 150 RMB.
Everyone locked their bikes, even though the crime rate was reported as low. I even saw a lock on a parked police scooter; not sure what that says about the real crime rate.
|
|
This looking south at the Forbidden City, from Temple Mount (man-made with the earth from the moat around the Forbidden City).
Following pictures are from the park around the Mount.
|
|
For only 20RMB, one could rent a costume and sit in the replica royal throne. |
|
Linda and Jim posing with the Forbidden City. |
|
This fellow was apparently telling jokes, in rhyme. At least when he came to an obvious end, everyone laughed; well, except us foreigners who had to have it explained. |
|
Kids of this age generally wore croch-less pants. Made it simpler to do part of one's business when the need arose. I didn't stick around to see what else might happen. |
|
Not sure if this was a field trip, or just kids on their way home from school. |
|
Catholic Church. We didn't cross the street to check it closer. You had to really want to cross the roads due to the traffic. |
|
On our last day in Beijing, I took the number 5 subway in search of the Olympic Park. On my way, I found a lot of construction. I wandered onto this street without any trouble. When I got closer to the other end, it became apparent I was in the midst of their construction site. I found the exit as quick as I could. |
|
You will probably see this sometime on the Olympic coverage; its on one of the streets leading to Olympic park. |
|
This is part of the Olympic Park area. Not sure I was supposed to be here, but no one threw me out, either. |
|
I was in search of the "Bird's Nest" but never found it. Most everything I saw was blocked by trees and fencing. I ran out of time, or would have continued wandering around. |
|
Seemed particularly western. Probably has a 5-star rating. Well, one guide joked all hotels in China are "5-star" since they all fly the National Flag and it has five stars. |
|
That's me, with the Buddha Temple at Heavenly Temple Park in the background. Jim and I toured this in lieu of shopping at the Silk Market. |
|
Just one of the many memorable images in the Kindergarten we toured. Yeah, that's what they called it; interesting multicultural deal. It was a bording school, so the kids slept there, too. |
|
This was in the Heavenly Temple Park; actually, it was moved there from some other palace site, according to the plackard on the wall. |