Beijing, China

I just got back from an amazing 10 day trip to China...  we spent 5 days in Beijing and the surrounding area...  We made a lot of stops...  I'll just briefly tell you  about them (don't want to put you to sleep!!!) we arrived in the evening and headed to our hotel (oops, no pics... what was I thinking???)  There were 35 of us traveling... most from SW Washington.

Janet doing sign duty while our guide tried to locate our bus.

Our bus for the next 5 days

The next morning we were off to see China...  lots of traffic...  we timed our trip so that we were there for the national holiday week... all government workers & schools were closed... SO everyone was going to the sites that we were going to...  I guess it could have been worse...  the tolls were free which keep the lines from backing up.

Ming Tombs - Beijing Changling Tombs
Our first stop was the Ming Tombs. Here's a tidbit from the internet:

The tomb of the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644), Zhu Di and Empress Xu. Among the 16 emperors of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Di (1360-1424), also honored as Emperor Yongle, made the greatest contribution to the country and had the most far-reaching impact on history. During his time, the Ming Dynasty reached its peak. In 1409, Emperor Zhu Di built Changling Tomb. He was the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty to build a tomb. After that another 12 tombs were built. Changling Tomb is the largest and the most completely preserved of these tombs. Because of its grand ancient architecture, brilliant culture and long history, the site is one of the most significant attractions in Beijing.

some pictures taken as I walked around...

Damask Stockings

Different views of the Emperor statue

flowering bush (just to add a splash of color to this blog)

Gold hair piece with jewels

headless (hat) from the Emperor's era

Sign we found on the ground (no idea what it says!!)

 After we left the tombs, we headed to the Great Wall...  We were dealing with some rain in the morning, which was a blessing in disguise...  we didn't have to deal with the smog... therefore we were able to the see the Great Wall...  (I had heard that some people weren't so lucky)

Janet and I with proof that we were at the Great Wall of China

This was the "gate" to the section we were visiting.

When looking for a bathroom I found this "room".  I did a little research, and I think these are lucky prayer boards.  The Chinese believe that red is for luck.

 Hope you enjoyed the pictures... I'll continue our adventure in the next post.

until we meet again...
Kim