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Beijing
Beijing - aren't those watches cute.
First Glimpse of Beijing
Arriving by night into a city of high rise hotels - big, new, and in ultra modern western style. The lobby in the hotel has 3 singers backed by a 3 piece band singing in English Ben E King's Stand By Me. This is China?Stepping out onto a busy wide avenue crowded with holiday week cars, bicycles, and pedestrians I turned down a side street and as the street became progressively darker I past by small shops, high walls, and ended at a teenage hangout around park cars. A joker called out "Hello" and they all laughed. This is China?
Welcome to Beijing.
Tian'an Men Square
Night Market
Great Wall
Summer Palace
Hutongs
With the increase number of cards, pedicabs no longer rule but they are still an important part of the transportation systemFirst stop was the historical heart of China - Tian'an Men Square and the Forbidden City.
Long lines of Chinese people waiting to enter the square and visit Chairman Mao tomb. Tour groups have special privileges. The square was decorated for holiday week with large flower beds a large model of Lhasa's Potala Palace and an even larger Beijing 2008 Olympic display featuring the pervasive five mascots.
And for us westerners there was a full contingent of watch sales persons offering Rolex, Gucci, and Mao watches.Hello Looky at Watch - Rolex Vendors Audio
We also caught a glimpse of the darker side of China where a woman wearing a pro party t-shirt was being hassled and led off by soldiers possibly under the suspicion that she was a Falun Gong supporter trying to disrupt the holiday week festivities. However modeling with the guards is just as popular in Tian'an Men Square as it is at Buckingham Palace.
Following the Flower in Tian'an Men Square
Everyone found a Kodax moment.
No view of Tian'an Men would be complete without the iconic view of Chairman Mao.
Snack Time
Food is an important part of Chinese culture, check out the snack bar at the square.
The Forbidden city was home of the Emperor, his wives, concubines, and bureaucracy and now serves as the seat of the current government. The first view of historic China.
Forbidden City's Emperors Dragon
Forbidden City's Emperors Lion
Forbidden City's Canal
Temple of Heaven Music from the Temple of Heaven Courtyard
Another view of China where the food culture comes out from the darkness with what must be the worlds most exotic snacks.
What to Choose? Even the locals have difficulties.
Night Market Sales Team
Night Market Choices
Still undecided?
A delicacy
Some many choices so little time.
But then it's a country that had 30/40 million starve during the great leap forward.
Night Market Popularity is no joke.
There is no weakness in the Chinese sales approach except maybe in arm strength as I was finally able to free my arm from one woman who tried to drag me to her gift stall.
The Great Wall is everything you expect. We were told to climb east but the holiday week crowds were so thick that I turned around and climbed west if only to avoid inciting a case of Wall Rage.
Great Wall's Standing Guard or perhaps they were on leave, but you can't argue with those white socks.
View from the Great Wall
Great Wall Rampart Steps
Beyond the tourists
A view from lunch at the Commune under the Great Wall - an ultra modern resort of condos not communes.
One of the "value added" features of China tours is "free cultural education stops" at factory stores. This is a weaver working on a silk carpet. Seriously, amazing handicrafts and you have to wonder how much longer that even China will have people willing to spend the time it takes to make a carpet.
The Summer Palace of the Emperor brought up the question as to which Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was the one who battled Flash Gordon. Our normally expert tour guides didn't have the answer handy.
Summer Palace Lake View, a beautiful palace surrounding a peaceful lake.
Summer Palace View
The long corridor is covered inside and out with copies of classic Chinese paintings to meditate upon as you stroll along.
We took the Dragon ferry across the lake.
AnEmpresss used a defense fund to build this marble boat and the dynasty collapsed.Hutong is the name in Beijing for the old city featuring narrow lanes and courtyard houses that was home for most people until the 1950's when renovation began tearing down the old cities and building first Soviet style apartments and now modern western condominiums. In every city we visited there were neighborhoods like this filled with men playing cards, checkers, or chess.
Hutong view from Pedicab
Opening your Home for tour visits - a new job for a displaced worker. They have layoffs in China. Perhaps the work was outsourced to India or Vietnam?
Beijing Condos, an improvement over a collapsing courtyard in the Hutung but not as nice as a refurbished Courtyard house. However with 1.3 Billion residents housing is an issue.When I returned, SNL's weekend update reported that the US population reached 300 Million and China's official reaction was "Ahhh, that's so cute."
Coda: Beijing Opera Sample Audio