Blogs from Lama Temple , Beijing, China, Asia

If you asked Brecklyn what she was most excited for about this trip, the answer was always the same - Pandas! After seeing them at the San Diego zoo, she was in love. So, we couldn't disappoint and miss out on a trip to the Beijing Zoo, where they have a rather large panda exhibit. Doing some research on Tripadvisor, we found that most people were not too keen on the Beijing Zoo's treatment of animals, and that the panda exhibit is one of the very few highlights. It was also a very cheap zoo compared to American standards, so we only planned on visiting for an hour or so with this exhibit being the focus. In other words, we needed to figure out what else to do this day. The Confucius and Lama Temples were ... read more

It would be silly to come all the way to China and not do the Great Wall of China. However its not top on my list of priorites...i mean its just a wall right. There are various parts you can visit – by far the most touristy is Badaling and second is Mutianyu – you can take a cable car up and have the option to take a sledge down it – which sounds pretty fun. The popular areas will always be filled with people and I don't want the plebians ruining my shots – plus I figure I can take a cable car up it when i'm 70. Right now i'm (relatively) fit and able bodied so I decide to do the most strenuous, remote part of the wall - a 4 – 5hour trek ... read more

Hi everybody, after so much sheep and goat meat in mongolia we went in Beijing straight to a restaurant for the world famous peking duck. What a delicious food. Very crispy duck skin and a superb tasty meat. Beijing is such an incredible huge city. Everywhere modern skyscrapers, but some of the old traditional hutongs (small alleyways) still exists. A city within the city is the forbidden city. above the entrance gate (gate of heavenly peace) hang a huge portrait of Mao, the founder of the people's republic. Hundreds of ancients buildings contains the Forbidden City, which was home to 2 dynasties, the Ming and the Qing. We shared this interesting place with thousands of other tourists. Despite the mass of people it's worth to see it. Another must do, is to visit the Great Wall. ... read more

Thursday 6/23 We began today (after breakfast) with a visit to the Yonghe Gong (Lama Temple), a complex of progressively larger buildings topped with ornate yellow-tiled roofs built in 1694 and originally belonging to the Qing prince who would become the Yongzheng emperor. As was the custom, the complex was converted to a temple after Yongzheng's move to the Forbidden City in 1744. The temple is home to several rather beautiful incense burners, including a particularly ornate one in the second courtyard that dates back to 1746. The Falun Dian (Hall of the Wheel of Law) contains a 20-ft. bronze statue of Tsongkapa, the founder of the reformist Yellow Hat (Geluk) sect of Tibetan Buddhism, which is now the dominant school of Tibetan Buddhism. The last of the five central halls, the Wanfu Ge (Tower of ... read more