Beijing Series Part 4

On Wednesday, we made it to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is the former Imperial Palace for many of China's great emperors. For more on the layout of this great Palace, visit: http://www.thebeijingguide.com/forbidden_city/index.html. This place is filled with great architecture. The City is surrounded by a huge mote and an area that holds many other parks and buildings. This area is surrounded by an even larger wall. I would talk about the architecture and many of the buildings but I don't know much about it. I think the Chinese government just wants people to enjoy the architecture not the history. The only thing I know after spending a whole day there is that the most powerful person in China once lived there.














The pic on the right is of the Hall of Complete Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. I wish I could show you a pic of the glorious Hall of Supreme Harmony but that building, like many others in Beijing, was covered by scaffolding for renovations. The picture on the left is of me and Chairman Mao. The building that his picture is hanging on is the Gate of Heavenly Peace. This is the entrance to the city inside a city that contains another city - the Forbidden City.

During our tour of the Forbidden City, we ran into the most rediculous thing of that day. We found Starbucks. Starbucks!!!! There was a Starbucks in the Forbidden City. For hundreds of years, people weren't allowed in, people couldn't desecrate the home of the conduit of the heavens. Now there is a Starbucks there? Whose idea was that? The commercialization of the Forbidden City is sad; however, I do know that without such amenities and little random shops, no one would really enjoy the Forbidden City - unless you are like me. I loved looking at the architecture even if I didn't know what any of it meant. Maybe it was fun to dream about living there.













On Thursday, we headed out to the Great Wall at Mu Tian Yu. This section of the GW is not a very busy tourist spot. We liked it very much because it wasn't jam-packed with people. Amy and I rode up to the Wall in a cable car (a sky lift). It tooked less than 5 minutes. When we got up there we turned to the left and explored that side of the GW. Most people went right. Brad and Beth climbed up to the GW so we never saw them. Amy and I enjoyed ourselves and took many artistic photos - none of them will be included in this post. They say you can see the GW from space. I don't believe that. If you can't see my house, then you can't see the GW. The GW was no taller than a 2 story house. It was no wider than 2 cars. Some say that you can see it because it is long. I think some astronaut in space thought he saw it and that has been the belief since. The wall is impressive but I hear that it never kept out invaders. Also, I can't think of any army that would want to climb up the mountain anyway. It looks too steep for an army to take together. It was neat and I am glad that I saw it.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them. Check back soon for Part 5.

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Beijing Series Part 3

Ah, a night on the town in Beijing. Actually, there were many nights on the town but usually only until 10 or so. We never styaed out too late because of the amount of walking and sightseeing that we did.

This picture is of Tian'anmen Square at night. On the left side of the pic is a neat temple. I am not quite sure what it was for or how old it was. On the left is Chairman Mao's Mausoleum. That was weird. People would being lining up at the wee hours in the morning. Eleventy-billion people were there each day to look at his dead body. First, Mao's body was 77 years old when it stopped working. Second, Mao's body has been stuck in the casket for the last 30. His face was glowy orange. I wish I had a picture to show you.


These two pictures are of the 2008 Olympic Mascots. It was a neat spectacle but the mascots are just weird. Speaking of the Olympics, I didn't get to see Olympic Park. We ran out of time. Unfortunately, it seemed that everything was under contruction in all the major tourist sights.
Here is a picture of a cool set of twin towers. The colors were neat. As you can tell, Beijing is not so Chinese. The traditional Chinese architecture is found at the tourist destinations. Beijing, the city, is very modern. It was everything. I could buy anything Western that I could want. Real good milk is hard to come by; Beijing has it. We all enjoyed that very much, though, Brad and Beth really enjoyed it - almost too much. We also indulgedin Mexican, Starbucks, Mom and Pop b-fast places, and McDonalds.

Keep checking in. Forbidden City and the Great Wall are next.

Beijing Series Part 2

Saturday was pretty eventful despite the fact that we got to Beijing in the late afternoon. It was good to finally be on vacation.

Sunday morning we woke up and had family time with a relatively small family of foreignors at a hotel they rent out. None of whom we knew. It was neat to hear about the work going on in Beijing. One family in this congregation runs a foster home for handicapped children. It was so sad to see these little kids in wheel chairs and to think about the tough times they have ahead of them in life. It was encouraging, however, to see the work this family was doing to bring joy to these children's lives. Most of them had cute little wheel chairs and everyone treated them well.

We also went to IKEA. This place is a Swedish furniture and home supply warehouse kind of like Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Brad and I bought good tupperware. Amy and Beth and our new friends went ballistic. Hundreds of dollars up in the air. All of us were sucked in by the ice cream shop. At this little shop in the IKEA, ice cream went for one yuan. One yuan!!! Brad ate 4. Beth ate several. And I bought 2 straight off the bat. Brad thinks they are the best. I still prefer McDonald's.

Monday, we went to the Temple of Heaven and the Pearl Market. The Temple of Heaven is where the emperor went to make sacrifices to the heavens for a good year of harvest. It was neat. The exhibit didn't explain much of the history but the architecture was beautiful and impressive.













This is the Temple of Heaven. It is enormous. The picture doesn't do it justice. The picture on the right is of Amy and I with a couple who have wanted to have their picture made with some foreignors. It was fun. People always want pictures with different ones of the Yichang 4. Brad is the the most popular. I think it is because he is a giant compared to them. Or maybe it is because they all think he is hunky.

After the Temple of Heaven. We went to the Pearl Market. This is the place to get all kinds of knock-offs and pearls. I saw iPod nanos, camaras, silk robes, silk everything, pipes, paintings, etc. You could find just about everything there. The secret to this place is being able to bargain. As soon as you walk in they want to sell you something. "Good price for you." "Friendly price for you." "Do you have girlfriend?" "How much?" I would ask how much and they would respond with some outrageous number - 480 yuan! Heck no. I would counter with 50 yuan. They would say, "You are stealing the rice from my children's mouths." I would bargain with them ruthlessly no matter what they said. People won't sell unless they are making money. So, we would come to an agreement. I found out, though, that I am not as good at bargaining as Amy. My best percentage off was 50%. Hers was more than 80% off. She was good.

Below the pearl market, there was a fresh food market. It had seafood and meat. Everything was alive except for the meat. I tried to take some good pictures but failed to get some good pictures of crabs and stuff. Brad got to hold little eels. They were still alive. People just show up and buy these things. It almost makes me want to think twice before I eat anything at a restaurant - but I won't. Here's a few heads:

Hey, if you have already seen Part 1 of the series. Check out the new pictures that I added to it.

Beijing Series Part 1

So after a long and crazy week I finally have something to say. Unfortunately, it will take more than one entry to describe my October Vacation. This is the first entry of the series. Check back in the future for more.

We finally got tickets after 4 days of searching. We were told that all tickets were sold out the Monday before we left. However, 2 days later, we heard they had tickets. Everything here in China seems to be based on who you know. My friends, Kim and Katie, were able to find us tickets. Maybe the travel agent liked them because they spoke a lot of Chinese.

We left of Friday evening by train for Beijing. My first experience on a train was horrific. It was the Amtrak ride from Orlando to D.C. with my classmates in 8th or 9th grade. (I can't remember.) I was in a cabin with several other Chinese travelers. There were 2 walls that had 3 beds on each wall. Mine was the very top. I really liked being up there. No, really, I did. The cabin was supposed to hold 6 but I am pretty sure there were 8 people in my cabin. I am glad no one slept with me in my bed. Those things were small.

My cabin mates were 2 little girls (7 and 9 years old). The other people were their many family members. Below is a pic of the 2 girls. We got along great. Unfortunately, we couldn't communicate because of the language barrier but we played and laughed and practiced Chinese and English. It was a blast. Also, let them play with my camara. I suppose the pic below is something they took while I was asleep. I should have concealed my camara better. They had fun though.We arrived in Beijing after 20 something hours of travel. Travelling by train is by far the coolest way to travel. Our train had beds, bathrooms, dining cars, psuedo-room service, and friendly people.
After our arrival, we set out for this cool restaurant in the hutongs. There we had Beijing Duck. It was mei wei (delicious)! We decided that if Beijing Duck wasn't so expensive we would eat it everyday. At this restaurant, you take your pieces of duck and wrap them in little tortillas and dip them in a strange sauce. It was perfect. Apparently, many other people think that too. We found a wall there with pictures of Al Gore, ambassadors from all over the place, and even prime ministers.

Oh, and I met my great Aunt Judi for the first time. She started off her vacation in China with a stop in Beijing. It was fun to meet her. I've never met her before but it wasn't awkward at all. Anyway, my mom sent a package of amazing goodies and a family photo album. I couldn't have felt any better that night.

Check in soon for the next part of the Beijing Series.

Bon Appetit!

Here is the picture of the ice cream I told you about below. Yes, tomatoes were used as garnish.

A Wednesday Night Affair...

This week was like last week except that it was different.

Wednesday night, the Yichang 4 and some friends (Chinese and Foreign) went to ShangKe. This restaurant is the 50's diner place that I have mentioned before. I ordered a Calzone. It was amazing. We also made friends with the owner so now she will order in Western food from Wuhan when we crave western food for our apartments. They have Metro in Wuhan. Metro is like Costco or Sam's. The Metro in Wuhan will ship us things that we want. How cool!

Here is a pic of Brad and I eating The Great Calzone. Also, Brad and I wore about the same things and ordered the exact same meal and drink. Our friends, Kim and Katie, did the exact same thing. So along with the Calzone pic, here is a pic of the roomies who live together, dress alike, and order the same food. Hopefully, this won't happen again. All four of us prefer individual tastes rather than group think. ;)

After Shangke, we went to see the fireworks. There were a million people there. The fireworks didn't compare to Thunder over Louisville, but they were still good. Beth has the really good pics that I took because my camara battery died. One day, I might post those.
After the fireworks, we went to West Street Coffee. This coffee joint was so cool. Some of the establishments here has the neatest architecture/decor. I ordered what I thought was fried chocolate ice cream. When it came, I was surprised. I got some vanilla ice cream thing on top of watermelon. If that wasn't surprising enough, it was decorated with tomato slices. I was so confused. After picking off the tomatoes, it wasn't so bad. I was a little sad that I didn't get friend ice cream. So, on closer inspection of the menu and after a conversation with the waitress, we cleared up the misunderstanding. It was all my fault. So here is some information:

1) The things about translated menu's is that you should have a chinese person tell you what the characters mean. Literal translations don't work sometimes.

2) Sometimes, it also helps to read the menu correctly. It said, "Friable Chocolate Ice Cream." It wasn't fried, but it was friable...I guess.

I don't have a pic because Brad has it on his camara. (Remember, my camara died.) I will post it next week.