Beijing

Here it is. The moment you've all been waiting for. Beijing has finally come, and now gone. Probably the highlight of my time here, and the capstone to my trip. You can all stop reading after this, if you wish.

Beijing was cold. Damn cold. The kind of cold that lives back in Minnesota. Except all those people get a gradual introduction to frosty nights and seeing your breath. I get dropped from 75 to 25. Not fun. Beijing doesn't have the charm or charisma of Shanghai or the international flavor of Hong Kong. It does have the feeling of oppressive communism, though. Never in China did I ever feel like I was in some repressive country, until Beijing, and Tian an men Square, and Dear Leader were all around. Anyways, enough chit-chat. On to the pics.

What's a trip into China without some Chinglish?
Some workers at Mr. Lee's getting trained. Fast food noodles were pretty good.
The Beijing Railway Station. This was right down the street from our hotel.
Monday morning brought the real tour. We met up with Ashley, our tour guide. First thing we headed north to the Ming Tombs. This was the entrance to the Sacred Way.
The turtle of longevity. You're supposed to kiss it for long life.
The Sacred Way has a number of stone carvings along the sides, of animals and court officials. Here are Caitlin and Kelsey in front of an elephant.
The gate at the other end of the Sacred Way.
The Emperor's name stone. It was supposed to have a detailed account of the Emperor's life, although in this case, the son was too lazy.
After the Ming Tombs, we headed to a jade factory for a quick tour and lunch. And some small purchases. Here a fresh block of jade was trucked in. I had no clue it would be so large.
For the afternoon, we headed to the Great Wall at Badaling. There are many places to see the Wall, with Badaling being the most popular. It was the first section restored, and is relatively close to Beijing. It also has some great views. The downside is that it's the most commercial, and the busiest. Even on a cold and cloudy Monday, it was pretty busy. And the sheer number of merchants on the first section was a bit disappointing.

They're getting ready for the Olympics everywhere.
At the foot of the Wall. I'm gonna climb all that and more. The girls, not so much.
Kelsey on the Wall.
Lots and lots of people out this day.
Halfway up the first section. This is where the girls stopped. The Wall here has two sections, the first very popular. The second has far fewer people. In fact, I was the only one at the end of the second part.
At the top of the first section. Behind me is the start of the second part. Almost no one went past the turret at the top of the hill.
The second part is STEEP!
The hiding places for archers.
It's like this thing never ends!
Here I am at the end of the Wall.
No visitors. The Wall continues on, of course, but it's not restored past here.
I didn't want to walk back the way I came (it was about 1.5 hours), so I took a shortcut, and got to feed these furry bears!
That was it for Monday.

Tuesday was another day spent with Ashley. We first hit the Temple of Heaven. Again, bitter cold day.
Senior citizens get free entry to the park surrounding the temple. There they practice Tai Chi and other sports.
Here was a huge group of people singing songs. They were even singing in parts. Pretty impressive.
Caitlin and Ashley in the Echo Wall. Supposedly you can hear multiple claps depending on where you are standing.
On the "voice amplifier."
This little old man was writing with water. This was a poem that he had started quite some space up.
After that, we headed over to Tiananmen Square. Rather less impressive than I was expecting. Not as large as I was hoping, and no big tank to symbolize what Westerners remember most.
Mao's in there. We didn't wait in line. Oh well.
Flags ALL OVER the place.
Outside the Forbidden City.
Dear Leader
Walking thru the Forbidden City. A lot of it is currently being restored ahead of the 2008 Games.
A man made river to the south of the city, to improve the Chi.
Longevity Rock in the Summer Palace.
A picture from the Summer Palace, overlooking a Buddhist temple.
A large white marble boat. Something tells me it's not very seaworthy.
After all that time, we really craved some good old western food. What better than the Hard Rock?
A very good trip, and a lot of great sights. I wish I would've gotten to Beijing earlier, mostly to explore the Wall in different locations. Gotta save something for the next trip, right?