Blogs from Beijing, China, Asia - page 464

Asia » China » Beijing April 27th 2006

img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3085/97/200/DSC_6597.jpg" border="0" alt="" Ruth and Lynn always looked forward to breakfast to finish any Scrabble game they started the night before. After the free breakfast buffet in our Qingdao hotel we got a ride to the airport for our flight to Beijing. We had a driver that didn't speak any English so got some language instruction. We asked him if he had any children. It's a question that everyone asks and is not considered too personal. If fact, the Chinese consider it showing personal interest. Such a question soon after meeting someone my be too personal in the west. Another common greeting I heard was: "Chila ma?" (Have you eaten?) During some of the difficult famine years the answer was often NO. Now it's almost like saying "Hello." img ... read more

Ni Hao from Beijing, Baby

Asia » China » Beijing April 27th 2006

The Big Countdown

WazzaSof

After 7 months of being in Warren's pocket, it was time to be a brave girl and finally head out to do my own thing, and what better than meeting my favourite sister Huma in Beijing?! The last time I was in Beijing was 10 years ago and I was really looking forward to experiencing all the recent changes and seeing the city prepare to wow the world at the 2008 Olympics. On arrival at Beijing airport, the first excitement was seeing a young chap caught by the police for shoplifting a bottle of CocaCola - a true post-communist statement. Arriving in Beijing in Spring means DUST STORMS. This year is particularly bad with Beijing already having more than the annual average. So far 363thousand tonnes of dust from the Gobi desert and surroundings has dumped ... read more

SHOP TILL YOU DROP

Asia » China » Beijing April 23rd 2006

Superello

We went to SILK CITY and did our Christmas 2006 shopping today. This is where to purchase any brand name item that is fake of course. Armani, Fendi, Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Polo, North Face, Rolex,......you name it, they have it. And you must bargain for everything. Example: a watch started at $220 US and was purchased for $30 US. A name brand handbag started at $350 US and purchased for $50 US . Men's ties were the bargain of the day, twelve ties for $12....Armani and Zegna of course. If I had the energy we could have shopped more and spent a lot more money. After four hours I had enough, time for lunch. On the recommendation of a Tony Bourdain show on the Travel Channel, we went to the Noodle Loft. It was okay ... read more

Forbidden City

Asia » China » Beijing » Forbidden City April 22nd 2006

Forbidden City

KazzaK

After being woken up by the roaring and shouting of Linda at all hours of the morning....Laura and I got up and went down to the Forbidden City. Had some nice greasy food with unidentifable meat outside and then went on in. Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong, in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square and it is the world's largest palace complex. The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Construction of the palace complex began in ... read more

RING A DING BEIJING

Asia » China » Beijing April 22nd 2006

CROWDS EVERY WHERE

Superello

Busy day visiting Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven. At this point all my pictures look alike....I'm getting my buildings confused. In China everything symbolizes something. Nothing is purely for decoration. The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to Heaven. As Chinese emperors called themselves "The Son of Heaven" ,they dared not to build their own dwelling,"Forbidden City" bigger than a dwelling for Heaven. The Temple of Heaven is enclosed with a long wall. The northern part within the wall is semicircular symbolizing the heavens and the southern part is square symbolizing the earth. The northern part is higher than the southern part. This design shows that the heaven is high and the earth is low and the design reflected an ancient ... read more

MING TOMBS: CHANG LING

Asia » China » Beijing April 21st 2006

MING TOMBS

Superello

The resting place for 13 fo the 16 Ming emperors. Ming Tombs are China's finest example of imperial tomb architecture. This site was selected for it's Feng Shui alignment; mpuntains behind, water in front.... read more

Swedish Night

Asia » China » Beijing » Tian'anmen April 21st 2006

Irene and her stolen Mao cap!

KazzaK

We went down to Kai to have a few drinks - which turned into many for Irene, Eileen and Linda...and they ended up harrasing poor street children and learning Swedish songs!... read more

AT LAST......THE GREAT WALL

Asia » China » Beijing April 21st 2006

CABLE CAR

Superello

Today we went to a section of the wall in Mutianyu, where it's a little less crowded, but more importantly....it has a cable car to get to the top. If we walked it would take over three hours. To reach the cable car you must first pass many street vendors all yelling for your attention. HEY LADY, T-shirt only $1, then it's 2/1.00. On the way up they say, OK see you later. On the way down it's, Hey I remember you....... T-shirt 3/1.00. It's unbelievable they could build this wall on such rocky and treacherous ground. This section of the wall dates from 1368 and was built upon the foundations of the original wall during the Northern Qi dynasty (AD 55-577). This section also has a series of watchtowers which served as signal towers, forts, ... read more

BEIJING

Asia » China » Beijing April 21st 2006

JADE SHIP

Superello

Interesting Beijing facts of the day: there are 13 million people, 3.5 million cars, 10 million bicycles. Motorbikes are not allowed in the city. Traffic is so intense here and such crazy driving, but I only saw one accident. Of course we had to make a pit stop at a jade factory. After much negogiation we picked up two pieces. We went to an Opera tonight also. Food included, yuck. First bad meal this entire trip.... read more

Secret Wall

Asia » China » Beijing April 20th 2006

Us all

KazzaK

We signed up for the Secret Wall Tour, thinking that it would be the best way to experience the Great Wall. We got loads of recommendations off people about it, "there is a little bit of a hill" they said. Jaysus, it's a big hill, a dangerous climb down, especially when Eileen dislodged a boulder and sent it flying down to hit Irene on the back of the knee! Was very funny though, was a brilliant day, you trek up to the Great Wall, it's not restored at all - it's undiscovered part of the Great Wall, so you will see the wall literally as it was built. There is no ticket entrance or cable car, and there are no peddlars!! You don't see any other tourists until the end. After, we had done our trek ... read more

Brief history of China

For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A...more history

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