China Day 4

Today we woke up to beautiful weather again.  The day promised to start off cool and end up sunny and warm.  We started off our day around 8 am at Tian' an Men Square.  

Tian'an Men is a vast open concrete expanse at the heart of modern Beijing.

I was surprised at the Square.  I thought it would be more open and you would be able to see from one end to another; however, this isn't the case.  Mao's Mausoleum, a large building in the front 1/3 of the square, blocks any view across an open square. 

Here is a photo of the Arrow Tower, or Jian Lou.  It was first built in the Ming Dynasty and it is now closed to the public.  This lies across the street from Tian'an Men Square.

                                   The revolutionary statues in front of Mao's Mausoleum

 The Arrow Tower above in the previous photo (Jian lou) is directly across the street from this tower:
 which is Qian Men.  These two towers formed a double gate to the city.  We are standing in Tian'an Men Square!

At this point we opted to skip Chairman Mao's bodily remains and take in the rest of the Square.  We walked past his Mausoleum and into the back 2/3 of Tian'an Men.  Here are the boys in front of the Great Hall of the People, the seat of the Chinese Legislature.

Right about this point,  the boys began to be objects of fascination again.  Pretty much for the rest of this day, actually.  I would estimate they had their pictures taken by at least 20 groups today.  At least they were good humored about it!

Tian'an Men was decorated quite a bit. There was a big Olympic display out that was pretty and then this large Chinese Lantern: 

Finally we came to Tian'an Men, the Ming Dynasty gate from which Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China.  His picture still hangs there on the gate.  People in China hero worship him.  It's, um, different.

Lots of pictures!  Here was a friendly group:

Then we crossed the street and took our picture directly in front of Tian'an Men:

You pass through this gate (with Mao's picture) to get to the Palace Museum, also known as The Forbidden City.

Forming the very heart of Beijing, the Forbidden City is China's most magnificent architectural complex and was completed in 1420.  The huge palace is a compendium of imperial architecture and a lasting monument of dynastic China from which 24 emperors ruled for nearly 500 years.  The palace was the exclusive domain of the imperial court and dignitaries until the 1920's.  It was fully opened to the public in 1949.

Okay, so we went under Mao and entered into the Outer Court of the Forbidden City.  We were startled by deep guttural yelling, and out of some side building came a line of Chinese army!  Several units ran out and began doing drills behind a roped off area.  Here's a photo of them lined up.  We were only several feet away:

We watched the soldiers for a short while and then passed beyond the outer court and into the Forbidden City!  The highlights that most people hit are the large Halls which are in a series horizontally across the length of the Palace Walls.  Among them are the Gate of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Middle Harmony, the Hall of Preserving Harmony, and finally the Gate of Heavenly Peace.  Whew!  Mind you: you can't actually enter the halls.  You can walk around them and peer inside.  

Here is the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the largest Hall in the palace.  It was used for big occasions such as the enthronement of an Emperor:

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony sits an ornate throne:

Very neat!  Lots of Halls, lots of people, lots to see.  The best part is beyond all the Halls and buildings, when you get to the Imperial Gardens.  Still inside the Forbidden City, it is filled with ancient trees (Cyprus ones) and rock gardens with small pavilions.   We wandered throughout the garden and were absolutely delighted when we ran into a school group armed with one brave girl who stepped forward and spoke with us to practice her English.  Among the giggles and blushes from the school kids, one by one they got braver and tried to say simple phrases, "how are you"  "how old are you" etc.   We were happy to pose with this group!  It was the highlight of our day!

  

At this point, we exited the Forbidden City and walked beyond its walls.  We were starving!  We found a spot to sit and eat our Subway.  Jim and Joe posed for a quick pic.  Behind them is the moat and the Forbidden City's walls.

Refueled, we made the short walk to Bei Hai Park.

An Imperial Garden for more than 1000 years, Bei Hai Park was opened to the public in 1925.  Filled with artificial hills, pavilions, and temples, it is associated with Kublai Khan, who redesigned it during the Mongol Yuan dynasty.  The park is named after its extensive lake, Bei Hai, whose southern end is bordered by the inaccessible Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party Headquarters.

We walked around a bit and made our way to the lake where we rented a boat for a while. 

The day keeps going!  We left the park by the opposite end and  found a guy to take us on a Trishaw tour of a hutong!  Jim had to bargain down the price, and he did a great job.  It's a little nerve-racking to try this out (the bargaining), but riding through Beijing's old neighborhoods was very eye opening for all of us.

Hutong's are alleyways where many Beijing residents still live.  The sad reality is that many hutongs are being demolished to make way for more modern buildings.  It is a shame as these are such a part of history!

Typically running east to west, hutong are created by the walls of courtyard houses.  Most are now state owned.

We actually boarded two trishaws and followed each other through the alleyways past many "homes" that people still live in.  At one point, we were invited to go inside and peek around.  It is humbling.  This particular hutong neighborhood was, if you believe our guide, where Jackie Chan lived.

The tours are less than an hour.  You  must do one if you ever visit Beijing.

Post-hutong, we taxied back to our hotel for a rest.  This night we went out for dinner to a restaurant recommended to us by Beijing Cat folks.  It was a nicer place, which frankly, was difficult with the kids after such a full day.  But the food was amazing again!

Impressions:

1.   We became aware again of being an oddity to the locals.  We find that disarming them with a smile and a "ni hao" makes them happy and turns a stare into a "conversation".  Three boys?  Wow.  So lucky.  Pat on back, hand shake.  Then we move on.

2.  Tian'an Men was much different than I had pictured in my head.  It's not a wide open space like a Quad on a University campus.  That's what I had in my head.  It's also full of touring groups.  

3.  Forbidden City is large.  We only were able to do the highlights but there is so much more to see!  The gardens were a bit crowded, but very pretty.  Western toilets here. :)

4.  Bei Hai park was just what we needed after touring Halls and Gates.  It allowed us to let off steam and relax.  The scenery is very nice.

5.  Hutong tour is a must do.  I still wonder how people live in such close proximity to each other in such narrow alleys.

Up Next:  Great Wall of China!

Pass!

I interrupt this regularly scheduled information to share with you that I passed my Driving Test!  After one week of studying and preparation, I took and passed the Basic Theory Test.  My license should be mailed to me in about one month!

Photos of the Ascott Beijing Apartment

                                     Family Room                                               

                                                            Family Room from other side

                                   One side of kitchen.  On the other side is a sink and microwave.

                                                                 Master Bedroom Bed

                                                                  View from our window

Here's where we spent our time in Beijing.  Not too bad, eh?  The boys had their own bathroom and bedroom.  We had a large master bath all to ourselves. 

China Day 3

Summer Palace:  

Today we woke up to beautiful weather!  We looked out our apartment windows and could see the mountains beyond Beijing.  Jim said this is not common and he hadn't been able to see that far on any of his business trips to Beijing.  So, we're off to a good start!

We ate breakfast at the hotel again and grabbed a couple Subway sandwiches for the road.  We always carried H2O at all times, too. 

The Summer Palace is located 6 miles Northwest of Beijing.  I'll quote you from our guide book, Eyewitness Travel Guide to China, 

"The sprawling grounds of the Summer Palace served the Qing Dynasty as an imperial retreat from the stifling summer confines of the Forbidden City."   "It was not until the time of Emperor Qianlong (remember the guy from the tombs?) who reigned from 1736 to 1795, that the Summer Palace assumed its current layout.  The palace is mostly associated, however, with Cixi (remember her, too?) who had it rebuilt twice: once following its destruction by French and English troops in 1860, and again in 1902 after it was plundered during the Boxer rebellion."

The drive took us about one hour.  Yes, I said one hour.  Traffic very bad. (said our driver)  Plus we saw two accidents on the way.  I thought we might be driving out of the city a bit, but it didn't really seem like it.  The parking lot just seems to be in the middle of a Beijing-type suburb.  ???  Anyway, we paid our admittance fee and we were in!

I was immediately struck by the larger amounts of people as compared to our relatively quiet Qing tomb day yesterday.   We entered through the East Palace Gate, made our way through the courtyard area and found the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity.  This housed the throne on which Cixi sat.  You walk up to the Hall and are allowed to look inside.  It's interesting, but pressing up with the crowd was not.  I was beginning to get cranky, both with the crowds and with the fact that we didn't have a guide to the place and I felt that we didn't really know where we were going or what the heck we were really seeing.  We argued about that as we walked around until we found the Garden of Virtue and Harmony.   When you enter the Garden of Virtue and Harmony, everyone must be virtuous and be in harmony.

No.  Not really,  but here the crowds disappeared and we were able to sit down and figure things out.  We were also treated to a fabulous concert on Chinese instruments.  

The picture is a hall in the Garden of Virtue and Harmony, where we sat down and regrouped :

 " This three story building served as a theater, where the courts 348 member opera troupe entertained Cixi"  (and the Rooney family while on Holiday in 2008):

On our way out of the Garden of V&H (see above, I don't feel like typing it again!), we experienced our second, and what would be very common from here on out, papparazzi moment.  John was accosted by a group of Asian ladies and fawned over.  They even took a picture with him.  John was not thrilled with the whole thing.  The older boys were giggling, too.  I turned it around by saying that the people who do this only pick the most good looking child to accost.  It became a contest between the three of them after that.

Here's John getting accosted in the Garden of V&H:
You may wonder why the boys were continually stopped, fawned over, and photographed multiple times.  Well, many of the Asians touring these sites are from the countryside.  They have never seen a white person before.  They are fascinated with blond hair and blue eyes.  They also have never seen families with three children.  And three sons!??!  I was told over and over and over and over how great I was for having three sons.  People patted my back, shook our hands, gave us thumbs up.  It was unreal.  I'm a minor celebrity there now for having given birth to three sons.

On to the Summer Palace report!  We left the garden of V&H and walked  until we found Kunming lake. (not far!)  We stopped for a photo op, as it was so pretty.  Here we are: 
That picture was taken with Jim's camera which was on some f*ed up setting that day.  All of the photos that day seem over exposed.  Good thing I had my camera and Young Jim had his.

  Our next stop was the building behind us in that picture:  The Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha on top of Longevity Hill.  First you have to walk and walk!  We walked along the famous "Long Corridor":

"The beams of this 2388 ft walkway are decorated with over 14,000 scenic paintings."  It was truly amazing, and what a glorious day!

When we got to the Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha, we had to climb 5 billion steps to the top.  Okay, maybe it wasn't 5 billion.  It definitely looked and felt like 5 billion.  But the views were worth it.  Here's half of the billion steps:
Here is just a small part of the views:
Inside the Tower is a large Buddha statue with a zillion arms.  Okay, not a zillion, but let's say many.  You are allowed to look at it from the outside only.  I didn't upload that picture.  We looked at the Buddha with many arms and sat and rested and ate our Subway.  We were congratulated a few times about our 3 sons, too.

We climbed down all those steps and continued around to the area of the lake that has the Marble Boat:
The Marble Boat is a symbol of the downfall of China.  "Cixi paid for this extravagant folly with funds meant for the modernization of the Imperial Navy."  After that, it didn't take long for China to collapse.  The superstructure of the boat is actually wood painted to look like marble.  I was slightly surprised because I thought we'd be able to walk onto the boat itself.  You're not allowed.  So we rested and the boys had ice creams and enjoyed more of the day.

Following that, we took a boat ride (not a Marble one, drat!) back over toward the beginning of our trek.  We still had one area left to see and that included the Bronze Ox (Not impressive.  Very small.) and the Seventeen-arch Bridge.
"A marble lion crowns each of the 544 balusters along the bridge's length."  We walked over the bridge and explored the South Lake Island for a bit.  Then our time was gone!  

Our driver took us back to the Ascott for the remainder of the afternoon.  We hung out, ate a bleh dinner at the hotel, and headed out by taxi to the Beijing Chaoyang Theater for an acrobatics show.  It was very Cirque du Soleil-lite and included things we had seen at Disney's Epcot China pavilion....plate spinning, jumping through hoops, bike tricks.  Also more daring and freaky things.   It was very entertaining.  A must-see if you travel to China.

Impressions:  

1.  Loved the Summer Palace.  We had such great weather and saw so much.  We really enjoyed the people.  From the old guy drawing Chinese characters on the sidewalk in water with a giant paintbrush to the ladies accosting the boys (Mom, she pinched my cheek.) to the many, many folks we saw wandering around eating corn right off the cob.  Another snack they like to wander with is Yams!  They smell so good, but it has to be messy, right?

2.  We quickly got used to being stared at constantly.  I loved to see the faces staring at you and then figuring out mom, dad, one boy, two boys, three boys....then eyes lighting up in surprise, turning around to watch us, poking their friend to look too.   After a bit, we got used to it and didn't pay attention to it.

 

Up Next:  Tian'an Men Sqaure, Forbidden City, Houtong Tour

China Day 2

We chose to go outside of Beijing today.  It was the last day of the Golden Week holiday in China and we'd heard that the sites in the city would be crowded.  We had breakfast at our hotel ( 2 breakfasts/day included in our rate).  The food was mediocre, but it hit the spot.  We were careful not to drink any water unless it was bottled, and no fresh fruits or veggies.  Cooked = okay.  Uncooked = beware!

The day was cloudy and in the 60's and they were calling for rain.  I packed 2 peanut butter sandwiches and we grabbed several water bottles just in case.  From what I had read in the guide books, the tombs were outside of Beijing.  What we didn't realize is the tombs are actually a 2 1/2 hour drive outside Beijing.  I don't need to tell you how well that went over with the kids.

When we finally arrived, we were all tired and grumpy.  The good news was the rain held off and the skies began to clear off.  We really enjoyed seeing the surrounding mountains.  

Our driver parked the van and we were off!  We weren't quite sure of what we were doing!  So we just headed towards the nearest building.

We were stopped short by the beauty of the centuries old buildings.  Wow. 

What we learned:  The first tomb we hit was Emperor Qianlong (1736 - 1795)   The outer buildings were pretty neat but it wasn't until we ventured to the back

   

(--and I mean back!  We came out of an outer building and Jim started walking behind it. I thought he was crazy and was getting ready to nag him, but that is where the actual tomb and tomb building were located!  There weren't any clues or signs to show you, and you can't really see it from the front outer court area.  I feel like we sorta found it by luck!--- ) 

and then down underneath that we put the whole picture of a tomb together.

Here is a picture of us behind the tomb structure.  We are on a walkway that is up and behind the outer courtyard area.  Directly to the grassy area on the right of the picture is the top of the tomb.  This walkway made a large circle around the grassy area.

When you walk back down, you can take steps/ramps down underneath to what had been the sealed area of the tomb.  Inside the sealed tomb, the entire walkway down to, and the interior chamber were intricately carved marble.  This blurry picture of the inside of the tomb will give you a blurry idea:

The buddhist carvings were so detailed!  Beautiful!  Amazing to think it was all sealed away!  This tomb contained the emperor, his empress, and one or two of his favorite concubines. 

Here is some detail of the guardians on the roof top corners, outside:

Speaking of concubines, after touring Emperor Qianlong's tomb (about and hour), we headed out to that parking area and were driven to the next set of tombs, which turned out to be the tombs of the concubines.    The Qing Tombs are huge and pretty spread out. 

The next stop, the concubine tombs:  They are much smaller, not intricately carved, and their roofs are green.  Only two of the many tombs were open to walk into, and not very special looking inside compared to Qianlong.  Here is John among the outer buildings of the concubine tomb area.  Note the green tile roofs!

Finally, our last tomb visit ended up being the Empress Cixi!  (circa 1879)  She is well known as the concubine who became the Empress who was responsible for the downfall of China!  Her tomb was intricate, very similar to Qianlong's, and contained a beautiful marble phoenix slab outside.  (Dragons = Emperor   Phoenix = Empresses)

Sometime during the tomb visits we were starving and all 5 of us split the 2 peanut butter sandwiches.  The tombs are situated out in the country and there are no eating establishments nearby.  Also, no western toilets.  I chose not to go tinkle this day until we got back to Beijing.  TMI for some, I'm sure, but if you ever visit the tombs, be prepared to use a squat toilet or be prepared to hold it!!!

We left the Qing tombs around 2:30 and did the drive back to Beijing and straight to dinner at Xiaowang's House Restaurant.  It was an earlier dinner, but we were all hungry.  This was our first adventure in Chinese eating.  We ordered:  lemon chicken, short ribs, some cashew dish, pickled cucumber dish, noodle dish, honey-cashew chicken dish, egg rolls with a red-bean paste filling, beer and sodas.  The food was sooooooo good, and the whole dinner cost around $40 US!    Yes, we did eat with chopsticks.  I did give John a plastic fork to use.  I also carried plastic utensils with us everywhere, just in case.  Even Joe liked the rice: 

End of Day 2.

Impressions:  

1.  The Qing tombs were worth seeing.  I wasn't convinced I would enjoy touring what is basically a cemetery for China's rulers, but I am so happy we did.  I am also happy we chose the Qing tombs over the Ming tombs.  The rest of the week was spent in historical places mostly associated with the Qing dynasty, such as the Forbidden City, Summer Palace.....I could go on.  It was neat to have seen the tombs before the rest.

2.  Driving is downright frightening at times.  We saw 3 accidents on the way to the tombs.  

3.  Chinese food is so good.  So much better than in the US.  Just like they can't really do Western food, we can't make Eastern food back home.  I also learned that my dislike for Chinese food in Singapore is not "Chinese" at all.  It's the Malay influence on the Chinese food that I dislike!  Interesting!

4.  Two of the boys picked up a "souvenir".  These buildings are very old.  There are tiles and pieces of roof tiles all over the ground.  Two of them came home with colored roof tiles.  We weren't sure what to do about that.  Someday you'll see my great grand child on Antique Roadshow with a piece of tile from the Qing tombs.  "My Grand Dad said he picked it up when he was a boy in China."......

Up Next:  Summer Palace!

China Day 1

Saturday October 4th:  Not an exciting day as it was a travel day.  I guess the exciting part for me was that what I believed to be a 7 hour flight was only actually 5 hours!  Bonus!  Woo hoo!  We flew Sing Air and really enjoy this airline.  Reason?  We get to choose our own movies or tv shows to watch on demand.  Love it.

 We arrived at our destination without incident, gathered our luggage and met our driver.  We knew it would be an interesting trip by two things that happened in this time span.  One:  the boys and I got an eyeful of a guy digging for gold with gusto while waiting for his luggage, and Two: as we were walking out, an Asian gentleman couldn't help himself and touched my son Jim's face.  You'll see.  This became common.  We're celebrities in Beijing.

We opted to stay at the Ascott Beijing.  This was a perfect choice for us.  The place was spacious!  Two bedrooms, kitchen, dining area, daily housekeeping.  Also cheaper than two hotel rooms.  What's not to love?  It was great, and I highly recommend this option for traveling families.

We arrived at the Ascott around 4 - 5 pm exhausted and hungry. The hotel property comes with a Starbucks, Subway, Japanese restaurant, Singaporean restaurant, and an Italian restaurant.  We thought we'd hit the Subway and rest up for tomorrow.  Unfortunately we were informed at the front desk that the Subway was closed for the holiday. (China celebrates Golden Week in the fall.  We were hitting the last weekend of this holiday.)  But luck was on our side!  A nice man I call Tex overheard our plans and directed us to Grandma's Kitchen restaurant which was a 5 minute walk away.  I quickly agreed.  I had this restaurant on a list of recommended spots from John's first grade teacher who had lived in Beijing. 

We dropped off our stuff, unpacked, and braved the walk to Grandma's kitchen.   The Kitchen was home-y and quaint and decorated all  "country style".  We all ordered and enjoyed our first night in Beijing.  During the meal, I noticed a peculiar look on Joe's face.   It was the look of relief.   Can you see it?

Poor kid.  He is such a picky eater.  He won't even eat steamed rice.  We had been warning him over and over that he wouldn't find much to eat in China if he wasn't willing to try new things.  I think he took that a bit too much to heart.  He was so happy here.

Impressions of the day:  

1.  Beijing is really pretty at night.  The sun would set each night around 6 pm and was up each morning before us.  We were getting up around 6 am every day.

2.  Traffic is really scary. Crossing the street was a mild adventure.  Not horrible, but interesting!

Coming tomorrow:  Qing Tombs.     (Qing = "Ching")

Whine

I'm so tired and I have to pack for China!

Ugh!  It's not right!  Why do I have to pack for 4 and Jim only has to worry about himself.  I'm so over it.  Grrrrrrr.  I just want to sleep!

I'm just too tired and fighting a cold (probably walking pneumonia) and don't have the energy tonight.

When I was in line to pick up our visas, I was looking around the DMV-esque room and taking it all in.  The embassy has an entire wall made of stone that is carved into a Chinese mountainside with waterfalls and Chinese-looking trees and it is just gorgeous.  I stood looking it over closely, getting more and more excited about the trip.  Will the views from Mutianyu be as glorious as I've read?  I was imagining the family running and playing along the wall and stopping to take pictures with the breeze gently blowing.

Then the older "Auntie" hocked a lougie on the floor of the Embassy right in front of me and brought me crashing back to reality.  I will still be in a foreign country where things like spitting anywhere and everywhere is perfectly normal.  Huh.

Somebody go pack for me.  I'm having a glass of whine. ;)