We Had Cheerleadersor at least spectators wondering why we were doing what we were.
The View Of Glee Or Groanthis was the view from the road- the 1/2 marathoners perked up knowing that the stadium was just a left turn ahead and the full marathoners groaned looking up at what they had to run up and make a full additional loop on.
Magical Music Boxafter the bus ride from the mountains to Beijing, you and I treated ourselves to go to an acrobatic performance. (I was put in a quaint older section of the hotel, built in 1911, really enjoyed being off from the main section.)
Acrobatic Performanceafterward I stopped in a late restaurant in my hotel for some tomato soup and wrote about the day's events to encapsulate this amazing day.
Temple of Heavenin Beijing where the emperors of the Qing and Ming dynasties worshipped heaven and prayed for abundant harvests. This is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.
Qi Gongin the park on the Temple of Heaven grounds.
Fu Dog Friendthis was outside of silk factory and store we were dropped off at. I stayed for a short while then darted out into the streets to go exploring while the others shopped.
ThroneAfter being the home of 24 emperors, 14 of the Ming Dynasty and 10 of the Qing Dynasty, the Forbidden City ceased being the political center of China in 1912 with the abdication of Puyi, the last Emperor of China to the agreement with the new Republic of China government,
It Was Called Forbidden City Becauseonly the emperor's family and court were allowed inside. And, it literally is large enough to be a city unto itself. I imagine some inside never left its walls.
I Got Lostdarted off for a photo opp and the tour I was with made a turn I didn't see. This place is huge..... thankfully Tina (born in Taiwan, fluent in Chinese) noticed I was missing, and roamed the area to find me. I am so grateful, I might otherwise still be trying to find my way through the Imperial Palace grounds!
Scenery Hillwhich is part of the Imperial Palace grounds. It was made with the dirt that was dug up to form the city moat.
Known earlier in English and French as “Peking”the spelling of this city changed to Beijing in 1949 when the government switched to the pinyin transliteration method for correlating Chinese letters to the Latin alphabet. Both the old and new spellings are approximations of what sounds like “pay-cheeng”. (Most Chinese would be astonished to learn that some parts of the world believe the name of their capital had changed.)
Built 1406-1420The Forbidden City is the world's largest surviving palace complex and covers 178 acres. The Forbidden City was designed to be the center of the ancient, walled city of Beijing. It is enclosed in a larger, walled area called the Imperial City. The Imperial City is, in turn, enclosed by the Inner City; to its south lies the Outer City.
Will
non-member comment
twas great
we had a blast, lets all do it again in 2013- please come join us in savannah in november for the rock and roll marathon