Our day started with a visit to a pearl factory. The local guide did some persistent shilling for the government store.
Sorry, no sale.
And then it was on to the Summer Palace.
The Summer Palace dates back to 1153. It covers almost three square kilometres and is almost entirely man-made. The earth removed to create the lake...
was used to enlarge Longevity Hill. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you've got hundreds of thousands of workers at your beck and call!
This 700 metre long walkway has paintings along its whole length.
And it carries on into the distance...
During the Opium Wars, the Summer Palace was burned and severely damaged by the French and the British. The Empress chose to use funds destined for the navy to refurbish the Summer Palace instead.
Next up was another state factory store, this one making Cloisonne.
And finally, on to the Great Wall.
I assume that "brain disease" would be a stroke rather than my current level of insanity. In any event, I quit at tower #3 - Steve made it to tower #12, quite a climb!
Another highlight for the four of us.
Heading back to our hotel, the bus driver took us past the Olympic complex.
The Water Cube.
And The Birdcage.
And the Dragon Buildings.
An awesome city. An awesome country. An awesome trip.
Postscript: Our flight out of Beijing was delayed by an hour and a half since a passenger didn't show up for the flight and their checked luggage had to be found and removed. It still left us an hour and a half to transfer at Detroit, but new security measures chewed up most of that time. In any event, we arrived home at the end of a 28 hour day. As I complete this blog 10 days later, Mardi and I are still battling our throat infections. I've lost 7 pounds, she won't discuss weight. Nevertheless, the trip was incredible.
We leave in the morning for a week of golf R & R in North Carolina.
After arriving in Beijing we were taken to a Hutong, which is a series of residential courtyards separated by alleys. Most have been demolished to make way for high rises, but this one is being preserved to show their way of life.
Although the entrance way below leads to a "hotel", it is typical of the entry to a family courtyard.
Typically, three family residences will access each small courtyard.
I would have trouble living near these Mynah birds with their squawking!
Although the Love Birds were OK.
I assume that the residents are compensated for the intrusion - in any event they are friendly.
The Hutong residents use bicycles, or scooters, some of which are pretty nice.
I'll have to get me one of these.
We enjoyed a rickshaw ride around the Hutong area.
Apparently, this work is too difficult for the locals, so people from poorer areas come in to operate the rickshaws. Our driver appeared to be suffering from Carpel Tunnel.
Dogs seem to be an issue. Almost every wheel that wasn't protected like this had been peed upon.
In the centre of the Hutong area is a neighbourhood park, with a Bell Tower at one end...
and a Drum Tower at the other.
In the mornings you would likely see Tai Chi and ball room dancing. At this time of day we saw games...
hackysack with a large game cock...it's in the air between the Chinese gentleman and Tom from Wisconsin....
or exercising on the playground equipment...
or painting Chinese characters on the pavement with water (one of the Rickshaw drivers).
But, if you stop to watch, be careful where you sit Steve. The posts sink into the ground!
From here we went to a local market and park.
This kind of outfit must have special meaning. We saw more than one.
But we eventually gave up on seeing the market and stayed to watch these guys jam.
Then enjoyed the night lights as we headed for our hotel.
And drove by Tienanmen Square.
The next day we were scheduled to see Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. However, Mardi was really feverish, and the weather was cool and wet, so we scratched. It turned out that Tienanmen Square was closed off in anticipation of the Communist Party Congress and the buildings in the Forbidden City were roped off so we didn't miss a whole lot.
Next up is the Summer Palace.
