Thursday, April 21, 2011

Time Travel

Thursday, April 21, 1:00pm, Jinshitan, Dalian, China




Thursday, April 21, 4:00pm, Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA


Two beaches in one (long) day. I love the beach!!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Leaving China, Part 3

It's official. We are leaving China. On June 24.

Some of us are happy. Some of us are sad. Some of us are both.
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Monday, April 4, 2011

Beijing - Forbidden City

I am so thankful that the Chinese have preserved the Forbidden City. I've read some historical fiction that is set in the Forbidden City, and as we wandered through, I could take myself back to the time when the Emperors and their community lived within its walls.

Just a bit of history - the Forbidden City was built in the early 1400s to be the home to the Emperor of China and his people. Twenty-four emperors lived in the Forbidden City from the 1400s to the early 1900s. The walled area is huge - 178 acres (that's twice the size of the public area of Disneyland). There are 980 surviving buildings and 8707 surviving rooms. It is now a museum and it sits across from Tiananmen Square. Up to 7 million people visit it per year. (Thanks Wikipedia!)

I had read that there was a Starbucks inside (and I was appalled!). However, when we were in the middle of our day, and hungry, and out of food, we went in search of Starbucks. No deal, couldn't find it. Later I read that it closed in 2007 because it was too controversial. I agree. There are some places that Starbucks just doesn't need to be. We did just fine at the local snack shop instead!








We joked that this looked like early satellite TV:


The main gate entrance:


The portrait of Chairman Mao is huge:


A view of Tiananmen Square from atop the main gate:


In a park near the Forbidden City:

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Beijing - The Water Cube

Of course, we couldn't be content with just seeing the Water Cube from the outside. Once we found out that there was a world-class diving competition being held in the Water Cube, we knew we had to attend. So, instead of going to the Summer Palace as planned, we gave up ancient history for modern history and spent the day in the Cube. A day we will remember for a very long time!

Two beautiful buildings together:


The Water Cube seen from the Bird's Nest. That's a hotel in the background:


Up close and transparent:


At the diving competition:


We made it onto the big screen:


And, we spent hours at the newly built water park that is in part of the Water Cube:

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Beijing - The Bird's Nest

We all saw the Bird's Nest on TV during the 2008 Summer Olympics. We couldn't miss seeing it up close in Beijing. What an absolutely amazing and beautiful building.

Beautiful building, beautiful day:


They had built a small ski slope on the field during the winter and are cleaning up the snow:


We were able to tour the entire building:





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Beijing - The Great Wall

Last year, we traveled to Dandong and saw a restored section of the Great Wall where it ends at the border of North Korea. In Beijing, we decided to see a section of the wall in a more mountainous region. We hired a car to drive us about 1.5 hours away from the city into the mountains. It was amazing and beautiful.

The required family picture:


The scenery:
 
 
 





One of the great things about China, you can always find someone selling something to drink. This man is selling water, juice, beer, soda and Snickers:


The ride down from the wall:



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