Beijing (d5) Hutongs and duck

Prince Gong's mansion


Prince Gong's mansion


Siheyuan courtyard house






Hutongs are narrow alleyways weaving through neighborhoods of Beijing. They've got lots of character and charm. Most of them have been renovated and modernized since the wooden construction could not have withstand centuries of man-made and natural disasters. They still led to courtyard homes of wealthy as well as common folks. We toured a hutong this morning west if Qian Hai. The mansion of Prince Gong was there. He was the second in command to Emperor Xianfeng (Qing dynasty 1851-1861). His mansion was quite extravagant. There were 9999 bat figurines throughout his home in his desire for longevity. The most charming part of the tour was really the siheyuan courtyard home where we had tea (in paper Dixie cups) with a young woman whose family has lived there since the late 1940's. The rickshaw ride was delightful in the almost perfect Beijing spring weather.

That was an exhausting morning! We spent the early afternoon converting currency, buying some groceries, and taking a nap. In the late afternoon, we decided to head back to Qian Men, the southern most edge of Tiananmen Square to visit a night market. Night market was under major renovation, but we did find a restaurant serving Peking duck (the fried rice was far better than the duck!). Heading back to the hotel with the sun had just set, we noticed how pretty Beijing city is lit up in lights. This is a very beautiful city. What a showcase for the world in August!

Tomorrow... Forbidden City...

Beijing (d4) Tiananmen Square

Front Gate to Tiananmen Square. You can see Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall through the opening.


Monument to People's Heroes


People gathering chanting patriotic slogans to support and encourage the earthquake relief efforts.


Gate of Heavenly Peace and the entrance into the Forbidden City.

Today was suppose to be an easy day, no agenda, nothing to have to get done. Yet, it was an exhausting day. We're still recovering from the Great Wall excursion yesterday. All we really wanted to do was explore the subway system which was fairly straight-forward. We ended up riding it to Tiananmen Square, just 2 stops away from the Beijing Train Station. The country is commemorating those who lost lives in the Wenchuan earthquake by having a 3-minute silence at 2:28pm (one week to the minute of when the earthquake set off) and closing down all forms of entertainment for 3 days (no theater, no movies, no celebration, etc, and suspension of the Olympic torch relay). A group of young students passed out little white flowers. We decided to head to Tiananmen Square to see the activities, but missed it by a few minutes. The entire country is in solidarity to support and encourage those affected. It was quite amazing to see.

Tiananmen Square is a huge expanse of open space... very impressive. There were people everywhere! We will head back in the next few days and see the Forbidden City near by.

All this walking has made my feet very sore even with good hiking shoes. I'm putting my feet up for the rest of the night and get to bed early. Tomorrow is the Hutong Tour where we'll be riding in rickshaws and drinking teas in some one's courtyard house.

Beijing (d3) Great Wall

Spectacular view of the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall


Some portions of the Wall, especially areas less touristy, remain in ruins


Approaching Simatai section of the Wall where it looks like the back of a dragon


View from a tower


A short cut had taken us through a small farming community.

A very simple farm had livestocks with goats, chickens, one horse, and donkeys.



Simatai section of the Great Wall looking back to where we had come from


My tired and aching feet
















We woke up at 6am this morning to ride for 3 hours to the Great Wall of China from Beijing. The Great Wall is an impressive structure. We joined a tour that dropped us off at the Jinshanling section of the Wall to hike about 10km (I think about 6.2 miles and 4 hours) to the Simatai section of the wall. These are the least touristy area of the Great Wall because it is also the furthermost away from downtown Beijing. There were sections with very steep staircases (up and down) and very dangerous (some parts remain unrepaired and crumbling), not too different from the ones Frodo and Sam climbed on "Return of the King". We were exhausted! We actually had to take a short cut, led by some Hebei farmers/peddlers trying to sell us souvenirs (these Hebei farmers reminded us, then, of Gollum). The view along the hike was spectacular! We're taking a break from heavy sight-seeing tomorrow and have nothing planned but to look for a place to do laundry (apparently, these probably do not exist in the country...). Dinner tonight was Papa John's Pizza and corn flavored ice cream!

Beijing (d2)

Today was still a very tiring day from the jet lag and traveling. We decided to take an easy and just walk around the city a little bit, at least a few blocks from the hotel. We had good intentions to walk to Tian'anmen Square, but was just too tired. We found a really posh and ritzy shopping center-Oriental Plaza (more like the Court at King of Prussia in PA) with the latest fashions and really high end merchandise. This definitely does not resemble the China most people know from text books. I think the world will be quite surprised when they are welcomed here in August. After all that walking, we came back to the hotel and took a 4-hour nap! Even the loud trains outside my window would not wake me up from my slumber. I was dog tired!

Meals are always interesting ventures. It is trying to figure out what to eat that is the hardest part. So, tonight, it was hot pot. At least, we know the food is well cooked! We were tempted to try the Chinese version of Papa John's Pizza. But, after wandering around the mall (another one that is not as posh) for some time and not finding it, we settled on the hot pot place. It was almost perfect since it was as light (more veggies and not as meaty) as we can make it, and we can be really filled.

Tomorrow is off to the Great Wall. It will be an all day excursion!

Beijing Arrival

Greetings from Beijing! It is now 5am; I am up and about from the jet lag. This is an interesting city, very similar to the old Taipei I remember as a kid. People are everywhere! There are tall & modern skyscrapers interspersed by really ancient neighborhoods with narrow alley ways (hutongs). There are new constructions everywhere as well. The city is teeming with excitement for the upcoming Olympics. Our first impression of the city was the Beijing International Airport. How impressive that was! It's got the reputation for being the largest airport in the world (so far). We're staying at a hotel near the Beijing Railroad Station. The window to my room overlooks railroad tracks. It's a bit noisy, but didn't really keep me awake. I think I was just really tired from the traveling the day before. We were trying to find a place to eat last night in the Station, but couldn't get into the building at all without a train ticket. Wow... what a sea of people there! We'll be exploring the city some more today, at least figure out the best way to roam around.

Spring, Taxes, and Beijing

Today is April 15th! Taxes are due today. I'm never good at putting things off until the last minute. So, I've actually already gotten my refund... over a month ago!

We are well into Spring here in Eastern PA. You can really begin to smell, see, hear, and taste Spring! In another week, new crisp green leaves will blanket the dry tree branchs. Tulips and daffodils are already abound. So beautiful!

In exactly one more month, I am Beijing-bound! Great Wall of China, here I come!

Kitchen, II

More pictures of the kitchen. Top 2 pictures show the new oven/range (left) and the sink with dish washer (right). To the left with Doggie is the breakfast island no more! These were confusing times for Doggie!

Kitchen

Mom's new kitchen! Gates are to rein in Miss Doggie. New ceramic tiles are very nice but cold. Roses were for me, from someone special.

Happy New Year, Part II

Happy New Year, year of rat! This is the Simpsonized me! I think I look better being a Simpson character. Doggie doesn't look anything like Santa's Little Helper; but, they don't Simpsonize pets.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! The brand new year welcomed us with blisteringly cold weather. Brrrr... It is nippy out there! We'll only get 2 days of really chilly willy weather, then it's in the 50's for the next few days. I hope the trees and bushes aren't confused again. Last winter, the cherry blossoms in Washington DC set out their blooms in January because we had a week or so of unseasonably warm weather. Enough about the weather...

It is 2008! I spent New Year's Eve roosting at home! I even missed the count-down and decided to go to bed with ear-plugs around 11! I much rather snuggle nicely in bed with a good book then sit in front of the TV watching a whole lot of nonsense. Currently finishing up Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods". It's an account of his journey through the Appalachian Trail, a hiking trail over 2100 miles stretching from Georgia to Maine. He is a terrific writer, and his narrative is laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Today being January 2nd is my first day back to work after about 2 weeks break between semesters. The new semester doesn't start until January 14th (actually a week earlier this year). This also means the time to get the semester ready is shorter. So, as much as I savored each second of my break, it's good to be back to work today to be able get a couple of to-do list items checked off!

Happy 2008! May your 2008 be wonder-filled!