Random Items From Beijing

Since I already wrote about the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, I thought that I'd put together some random photos and thoughts about Beijing in their own post. I had been to Beijing just before the Olympics in 2008. At that time, everything was torn up and under construction. It was great to have a chance to come back so soon to see how it all turned out.

Beijing is, as you probably already know, the capital of China and the city has over 13 million residents. It's got everything from the old Hutong neighborhoods to the ultra-modern areas too. I can't express enough how amazed I am with the city and how much I really like it. Like my experiences in Japan, I love how the city has so much history yet it offers so many modern conveniences. You can walk through a neighborhood that's been there for over 500 years then take the subway to a Starbucks for a latte.

There's a ton of stuff to see in the city. Here's just a taste...

This photo was taken at the Temple Of Heaven, which was built in the early 1400s and is was/is used as a place to pray for a good harvest:

On the way back to the subway from the Temple of Heaven, I saw this man writing on the ground with water and a giant writing brush. I thought that it was really cool and so did the crowd that was gathered around to watch.

Next up was a visit to the Summer Palace, which is a large garden, architectural, and water park in the northwestern area of Beijing. It's full of amazing buildings and temples and the gardens are very beautiful. One part I enjoyed was this view over the lake and towards downtown Beijing from the top of the hill:

I couldn't go to Beijing and not visit the Olympic Village and arenas. I didn't get to go last time because they were still under construction. They've made it easy to get to since they built a subway that extends from the main line in the city over to the village. First up was a stop at the Bird's Nest Stadium where the track and field events took place:

...and then right across the street at the Bubble Arena where the water events took place:

The architecture of both buildings is very cool and it was exciting get to see inside both of them. While at the Bird's Nest I was bummed to say the least that I didn't have a chance to take the Love elevator but oh well:

Finally, no story of Beijing would be complete without talking about the city's cuisine. I had the chance to eat at a few good restaurants but I think I most enjoyed eating at the local places. During a trip to Guatemala a few years ago with two people I used to work with, I amazed them by buying and then eating a tamale from an ancient women sitting on the floor of a local market. To this day, they still talk about it like I made wine from water. Well, Carol and Ruma, here's a photo dedicated to you of me eating at one place in Beijing. No, there's no inside and, yes, that's mystery meat on a stick. Each stick costs about $0.10 and I ate about 10 of them before wandering off to another stand.

Overall, I'm very impressed by Beijing. The city is clean, modern, and exciting. The folks are friendly and pretty much everyone under the age of 25 speaks perfect English. I'd love to spend some more time there if I ever get the chance.

The Great Wall Of China

So, you're a member of a group of nomadic pillagers or perhaps you just happen to be walking through the mountains of Asia after the mid 1400s and you come across something that you probably can't believe. It's a wall without end. You're just arrived at what we now call the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall was built as a barrier to help defend against invaders from the north. The actual wall part (as opposed to the non-stone wall sections) is about 4000 miles (6300 km) long and it's believed that the entire barrier is about 55o0 miles (8900 km) long. The area of the wall that I visited is called Badaling and it's about two-to-three hours north of Beijing. There are actually three different "near-to-Beijing" sections of the wall that tourists can visit. The closest is supposedly the most crowded and commercial. The farthest is the least developed/commercial but it takes much longer to get to. I've been told that Badaling is a great balance of the two.

Upon pulling in to the Badaling parking area you're inundated by locals selling the usual tourist souvenirs, but wait, what's that up ahead? Is it a chairlift like they have at the ski resorts? Yep. You can take a chairlift up to the top of the mountain to get to the wall:

Taking the chairlift up probably saves you about a half-hour of pretty tough uphill walking. Either way, once you get to the top you're greeted with an amazing view:

Yes, that's the wall extending along the tops of the mountains for as far as you can see:

Going to the Great Wall is definitely in the same league as visiting the pyramids in Egypt. When you're there you can't believe you're there. You're standing on something that you've read about and seen pictures of all your life and you're actually there. Look, I'm actually there:

So I told you about the chairlift to get up the mountain but, guess what, your chairlift ticket includes a ride down the mountain on a toboggan. If the chairlift seems out of place, the toboggan will definitely challenge your ideas. Here's a self portrait while going down the mountain:

Overall review? Wow!

Beijing - Forbidden City

Beijing, China. I was here for a few days of sight seeing after a work trip to some other Chinese cities in 2008 and, wow, how things have changed. I'll write more about my thoughts of Beijing in a few days but I wanted to share my visit to the Forbidden City first.

The Forbidden City is really big. I'd guess that you could spend a couple of days there if you really wanted to see everything in detail. I was there about three-or-so hours. This overview shot, which I took from the top of the hill in neighboring Jinshan Park, gives you some idea of how big since all the (hazy-blurred) gold-colored roofs (all 980 buildings worth) are within the City:

Construction started in 1406 and it served as the imperial palace until the early 1900s. The front entrance is behind this gate with the famous photo of Chairman Mao:

There are a LOT of buildings to visit/see. They all look similar to this one with the red columns and the gold-colored roof tiles with white walls around them:


The building above is the one of the first halls that you come to when entering from the south. All the halls have names like "Hall of Supreme Harmony" or "Palace of Heavenly Purity". The names start to run together after a while but you'll occasionally find one like the "Hall of Mental Cultivation" that sticks with you for some reason. I feel like I need more time at that one...

One of the things that struck me was the huge amount of Chinese tourists that were there. It's probably a lot like Washington D.C. or something in that almost everyone in the U.S. goes at least once. Even with the extra-large spaces between the buildings, the crowds were crazy. My guess is that, out of the 1.2 billion Chinese, probably a million of them were there during my visit. This photo, taken across a large plaza, shows a large tour group that was made up of over 100 people:

Here's a relatively empty space where you can see a few cool buildings and some nice walls:


The whole place is maintained very well and is super clean. You can probably get lost in the maze while checking out all the different halls and palaces. I particularly liked the spot below although I can't really explain why. I just had a good, relaxed feeling here.


Oh yeah, the big-black-pot-looking thing in the photo above was part of the fire-suppression system as they were all filled with water in case a fire broke out.

The photos of the buildings from a distance don't do the detail work justice. The amount of paint details, tile work, and roof features is pretty amazing. I tried to capture some of them in this photo:


I came across this "back-stage" spot while walking around. If you look in the center you'll see a couple of very old bicycle-work vehicles carrying cleaning and work supplies. They definitely do their job as the place is spotless.

The Forbidden City is an amazing place. Just walking around checking out the scenery, the people, the history, I'm reminded again how lucky I am. As I mentioned, I'll write about Beijing another day but you absolutely need to add it and the Forbidden City to your to-do list.