Beijing

When we moved to Hong Kong, number one on our list of places to see was the Great Wall.  We finally made it there!

The weekend before last we travelled to Beijing for PJ’s baseball tournament.  This was the first trip to Beijing for all of us except Meg.  She went with her classmates last year for school.

Dave, the girls and I spent Friday touring some of the sites in Beijing: Tiananmen Square, Heavenly Temple, Forbidden City and Zhongshan Park.  Here are a few things by which I was struck:

                 The skies were a hazy, brownish-grey, but the weather was quite nice.  I didn’t feel the 

                 effects of the air quality, but Dave, Grace and PJ did.

                 The architecture in Beijing is much more interesting than Shanghai.  It was quite a 

                 beautiful city from that standpoint.

                 The security at Tiananmen Square was far greater than any other attraction.

                 The Forbidden City was a little too commercialized for me.

Some interesting things we saw:

                 At Forbidden City, with people all around and public restrooms nearby, parents put 

                 newspapers on the ground and let their two little boys squat and take care of business right 

                 there.

                Toddlers running around in pants with the back slit open…or perhaps they were made that 

                way??  I saw one with a diaper, but the others had nothing on underneath.  Interesting and 

                less expensive way to potty train.

               All of the locals wanted to take pictures with Meg because she is blond.  She had warned us                        

               this would be the case.  At the Great Wall a group wanted a picture with Dave.  He felt 

               awkward so he had PJ step in too.

The Heavenly Temple was very neat and well worth the trip.  Beautiful grounds.  I had heard mixed reviews, but we definitely enjoyed it. 

Zhongshan Park (next to Forbidden City) was beautiful.  We saw many military cadets marching through the park.

The Great Wall was well worth the trip!  Just amazing to see the way it rolls over the mountains and the sheer massiveness.  We rode a cable car from Mu Tian Yu up to the Wall.  Walked along the wall for a bit.  The section we were at was in very good shape.  I know there are some sections in disrepair.  Then we rode a toboggan down.  Grace, Meg and I rode the brakes while Dave and PJ went so fast that the attendants were telling them to slow downJ

Here are a few pictures:

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square looking across to Forbidden City

Zhongshan Park

Zhongshan Park

Zhongshan Park

Forbidden City

Cool bike.  They were everywhere in Beijing.

Outside the Forbidden City

Heavenly Temple

Heavenly Temple

Heavenly Temple

Great Wall

Great Wall

PJ pitching in the championship game