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Entry tags:
China, the Beijing Post
I've been sorting through the darn near 2,000 pictures I took during the trip, trying to find the essential ones from each of the places we visited. First up is Beijing, the city we landed in.
I have to say, I think I'm done with Beijing for the foreseeable future. Apart from the big historical sites (the Forbidden City, the Great Wall), and a few architectural party pieces (the Bird's Nest stadium), it's big and ugly and polluted and impersonal. It's going to be a long time before I want to go back.
But Beijing does have some cool stuff.
Our first full day, we went to Tianamen Square. Which was locked down tight because the big People's Congress was in session (in the building just behind us in the pic, as a matter of fact) but the advantage of being a couple of Western tourists with a Chinese daughter was that we totally got a pass on the security gates from the considerable police presence.
Here's the Sweetie and Ros in front of the Forbidden City, benevolently looked over by Chairman Mao
One of the inner buildings in the Forbidden City. I'd forgotten how big the place is. This was four courtyards deep in the complex.
The roofs in the section of the Forbidden City devoted to the Empress and courtesan's palaces. (I love the look of that pagoda in the background.)
Us in front of the Olympic Bird's Nest stadium. It's an architecturally interesting building, but really, it's just a big empty stadium.
Us in the big empty stadium.
A hotel near the Olympic site. This is one of those party piece buildings that make Beijing a bit more interesting.
Me and Ros in a restaurant just before the section of the Great Wall (Mutianyu) we were visiting. The restaurant was a big conservatory that was pretty impressive, though also empty since we were there a month before the tourist season really gets going. Also, we're wearing our coats inside because it was bloody cold. Our hotels were heated, but most other public buildings really weren't, and everyone wore their coats inside and out.
Ros and the Sweetie toast the meal.
At the Mutianyu section of the wall, you take a rather impressive cable car ride up a mountain to get to the wall.
Us standing on the wall. Yep, that's snow. It was raining this day in Beijing, but snowing on the wall. Which made it incredibly picturesque, if a little slippery. But the cold actually made the climb more pleasant. It kept you cooled down.
The Wall through one of its crenellations.
I think this is my favourite picture of the Wall.
Yep, it really was as steep as it looked.
Ros on the pedicab we took through one of the Hu Tong neighbourhoods of Beijing. The Hu Tongs are the old lane neighbourhoods, and most of them were torn down to make way for modern development, but a few were preserved. Our guide told us the city has bought back some of the neighbourhoods and it planning on restoring them back to their Ming dynasty condition.
Us standing on the central altar of the Temple of Heaven.
Standing on the central axis of Beijing that runs through the Temple of Heaven. This axis runs through all the major sites in the city, including the Forbidden City and the Olympic site.
The main building in the Temple of Heaven. It's just a gorgeous site.
Me helping Ros get ready to fly a kit at the Temple of Heaven. (We made mini kites at our lunch stop on the Hu Tong.)
Ros flies her kite.
You see people, mostly senior citizens, interestingly, using these little feathered hacky sack things all through Beijing. Our guide bought one for Ros. We're still working on getting the hang of it, but it is a lot of fun. (It'll be good practice for the upcoming soccer season!)
I have to say, I think I'm done with Beijing for the foreseeable future. Apart from the big historical sites (the Forbidden City, the Great Wall), and a few architectural party pieces (the Bird's Nest stadium), it's big and ugly and polluted and impersonal. It's going to be a long time before I want to go back.
But Beijing does have some cool stuff.
Our first full day, we went to Tianamen Square. Which was locked down tight because the big People's Congress was in session (in the building just behind us in the pic, as a matter of fact) but the advantage of being a couple of Western tourists with a Chinese daughter was that we totally got a pass on the security gates from the considerable police presence.
Here's the Sweetie and Ros in front of the Forbidden City, benevolently looked over by Chairman Mao
One of the inner buildings in the Forbidden City. I'd forgotten how big the place is. This was four courtyards deep in the complex.
The roofs in the section of the Forbidden City devoted to the Empress and courtesan's palaces. (I love the look of that pagoda in the background.)
Us in front of the Olympic Bird's Nest stadium. It's an architecturally interesting building, but really, it's just a big empty stadium.
Us in the big empty stadium.
A hotel near the Olympic site. This is one of those party piece buildings that make Beijing a bit more interesting.
Me and Ros in a restaurant just before the section of the Great Wall (Mutianyu) we were visiting. The restaurant was a big conservatory that was pretty impressive, though also empty since we were there a month before the tourist season really gets going. Also, we're wearing our coats inside because it was bloody cold. Our hotels were heated, but most other public buildings really weren't, and everyone wore their coats inside and out.
Ros and the Sweetie toast the meal.
At the Mutianyu section of the wall, you take a rather impressive cable car ride up a mountain to get to the wall.
Us standing on the wall. Yep, that's snow. It was raining this day in Beijing, but snowing on the wall. Which made it incredibly picturesque, if a little slippery. But the cold actually made the climb more pleasant. It kept you cooled down.
The Wall through one of its crenellations.
I think this is my favourite picture of the Wall.
Yep, it really was as steep as it looked.
Ros on the pedicab we took through one of the Hu Tong neighbourhoods of Beijing. The Hu Tongs are the old lane neighbourhoods, and most of them were torn down to make way for modern development, but a few were preserved. Our guide told us the city has bought back some of the neighbourhoods and it planning on restoring them back to their Ming dynasty condition.
Us standing on the central altar of the Temple of Heaven.
Standing on the central axis of Beijing that runs through the Temple of Heaven. This axis runs through all the major sites in the city, including the Forbidden City and the Olympic site.
The main building in the Temple of Heaven. It's just a gorgeous site.
Me helping Ros get ready to fly a kit at the Temple of Heaven. (We made mini kites at our lunch stop on the Hu Tong.)
Ros flies her kite.
You see people, mostly senior citizens, interestingly, using these little feathered hacky sack things all through Beijing. Our guide bought one for Ros. We're still working on getting the hang of it, but it is a lot of fun. (It'll be good practice for the upcoming soccer season!)
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