hotel in Beijing...

I forgot that I had taken pictures of our hotel...  Our hotel room was very unusual... there was a place glass window between the room and the bathroom... huh?????  Janet demonstrated with the tv and remote by the bathtub...  there was a shade that came down... but still, very odd.

Glass window between me and Janet.

Then, just before we checked out, I was able to get some pictures of the lobby. The hotel was pretty swank... It was the best of the hotels we stayed at.  Thank goodness we got to stay there for 4 nights!!! (very comfy beds!)

until we meet again!
Kim

Hutong

We had a unique experience while in Beijing.  We were taken to Hutong. An old, poorer part of Beijing.

a tidbit from the internet:

People say that the real culture of Beijing is the culture of the Hutong and Courtyards. How true that is. They attract more tourists from home and abroad than the high-rise buildings and large mansions.

Hutong is a Mongolian word meaning water well. At nine meters (about 30 feet) wide, it is the name given to a lane or small street that originated during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). Now they have become representatives of local culture, thus it is the first choice for people who would like to learn about the local history and culture.

This part of the tour was optional... we had dinner prepared in one of the homes.. and then a rickshaw ride through the narrow streets. I didn't get a picture of the dinner...It felt rather cramped in the home... The food was good...

it has a "slum" feel to it.

cook and Brian, our tour guide, in front of the house where we had dinner.

18 Rickshaws showed up to give us a ride through the alleys (hard to call them streets, they were so narrow)

Janet & I are ready!!!

Here are a couple of videos... short clips of our rickshaw ride through Hutong.  You can get a feel for how they live... it's funny, it has a poverty feel, yet they can afford new cars, cell phones... and if the cooks home is any indiction, high end electronics (we say a project screen/projector and 60" plasma TV in his home)

Beijing Continued...

I most likely have my days mixed up...  so I'm just going to lump the different locations in groups.  Yeah, it did become a blur... we saw so many temples and gardens that it was hard to remember which was which... the only saving grace? my pictures are in chronological order...  😎

Summer Palace, and Imperial Garden...

a tidbit from the internet:

The Summer Palace was initially built in 1750 by Emperor Qianglong. The architectural style of Summer Palace is to make others believe it is inartificial. It covers an area of 70 thousand square meters and holds over 3000 houses. In 1860 and 1900 it was destroyed by invaders and in 1912 it was rebuilt by the Government of Qing Dynasty. In 1924, it began to be open to tourists.

The Summer Palace is one of the loveliest spots in Beijing. Not all the buildings are open to the public, but many are, and the others continue to enhance the park with their design and decoration, nestled into the landscape.

Entrance with with's statue - Copper Lion

Limestone pieces transported from another place, is used as decoration.

we had lots and lots of people joining us for this garden

Pagoda across the lake

man-made lake

couldn't resist taking a picture of the sun through the willow branches.

Tiananmen Square

The square was huge...  there was a huge basket of flowers in the center... put there for the national holiday. There were so many people...  soldiers marching in groups of 12 (I couldn't take their picture).  We Americans were quite a sight for the Chinese... they would take our picture without our knowledge, and request a group picture with family or the children.  They did a lot of giggling during this time...

a tidbit from the internet:

Tian'anmen Square is the largest famous world square, eclipsing Delhi's India Gate Complex and Warsaw's Parade Square, on its expansion in 1959. It fulfilled Mao's vision of being the largest square in the world for 17 years, until 1976, the year Mao died.

ok, two pictures taken here... the guy using my camera didn't know about either changing the zoom or stepping back...  we thought these headbands were so darn cute.  ok, so the joke was on us since the concubines used to wear them... oh well...  the guy in the middle is, Brian, our tour guide.  Brian is his American name..  Because he loves the music of Brian Adams.

silliness...  (we had lots of chinese taking our picture at this time as well.

We had also visited the forbidden City, which was across the street from the square.  It was a hot day.. and it was like the Forbidden City never ended...

Forbidden City

tidbit from the internet:

The Forbidden City, situated in the very heart of Beijing, was home to 24 emperors of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) Dynasties.

The construction of the grand palace started in the fourth year of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1406), and ended in 1420.

In ancient times, the emperor was said to be a son of Heaven, and therefore Heaven’s supreme power was bestowed upon him. The emperors’ residence on earth was built as a replica of the Purple Palace where God was thought to live in Heaven.

I got this image from the internet so you can see a close up of the peak. see note below

 info from the internet regarding the peaks of the buildings:

The roof ridges often have clay figures of deities and animals including dragons and a man riding a hen; these brought luck to the house and its occupants. The more prestigious the house the more creatures there are on the roof ridge. More than one legend that tries to explain the end figure, the man riding on a hen ➚; it probably symbolizes 'impossibility' as a man can't ride a hen, and a hen can't fly; so the figure is therefore doubly rooted there and protects the roof and house. Alternatively it may commemorate the tale of Prince Min of Qi ➚, a cruel tyrant tied to the end of the roof 2,200 years ago. Other figures may include the chīwěn 螭吻 hornless dragon on the ridge protecting the building against fire (as dragons control water), phoenixes, qilin and other mythical beasts may feature as well. In the Ming dynasty there was a standard ordering of the protective animals: hen; dragon; phoenix; lion; unicorn; horse and qilin. High status houses have decorated finials at the end of each row of roof tiles as well as a pair of dragons on the ridge of the roof.

Emperor's bedroom (couldn't help the glass reflection)

More sandstone sculpture

until we meet again!
Kim

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