Blogs from Beijing, China, Asia - page 6

This is the second day of hazy and heavy particulate weather. I think you get my meaning. For the previous two weeks the weather has been pretty excellent if not for some days being to warm. For the first week of June Charles Ramble lectured everyday at the Minzu University. I was unfortuneatly only able to attend three of the lectures which were excellent. It is auction season in Beijing with lots of the companies offering large previews of their wares. There are many potential and hopeful buyers attending from all over China and elsewhere. For Himalayan art the best site in Beijing is the Capital Museum with a special Tibetan exhibition that lasts until late July. They also have a great permanent collection of sculpture always on view. It is a must see for all ... read more

5 days in Beijing and the Great Wall, Mutianyu... read more

Sunday 29 April was a public holiday in China and also the day we headed off to see, and climb, some of the Great Wall of China. But first things first. Our first stop that morning was at the Dragon Land Superior Jade Gallery where initially I had no intention of buying anything. But such good intentions soon went awray because, let's face it, jade - a metamorphic rock that is naturally coloured green, red, yellow, or white - really is beautiful. When polished and treated, the vibrant colours of jade can be extraordinary. The most popular kind of jade - very important in Chinese culture - is green jade, because of its beauty, practical use, and social value. Jade has been used in virtually all periods of Chinese history and generally accords with the style ... read more

This was part of my trip to Thailand. I stopped one day in China. ( I did the same thing almost 20 years ago on a trip to the Philippines, where I stayed one night in Tokyo and explored downtown a bit. It was very cool!!).The airport is very modern and spacious. There are replicas of pagodas in the airport with little ponds and it's nice place to relax a while!! As we dropped from the plane, I noticed that air pollution is very severe, as a constant yellowish cloud was hanging in the air!! I slept in an hotel close to the airport. I had to get a temporary visa to get to the hotel, and it took very long to get it in the airport, (be wise and ask for it in advance)!! I ... read more

We are currently docked in Beijing for three days, giving us plenty of time to explore this amazing city and general area. I think the population of this one city is more than double that of Australian, people everywhere and for the most part very polite and accommodating gentle people. Our first day here we took the tour into the city about a 3 hour drive from the port, this allowed us to see lots of the countryside, many many many high rise apartments to accommodate their growing population. The guide told us that the one child policy was relaxed sometime ago because there would be no young people to work in the industry to ensure growth in the economy, and only this week it was announced that families can now have three children, I have ... read more