This is a picture of the bridge again as we circled around it.
Here is our plane, 747 Air China!
My first official picture taken in China, the Beijing Airport. It was amazing! They had completed the new airport for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and did I say it was amazing? More pictures later on when we get back to the airport to come home. When we got there, it was really muggy and smelt like fire. Aparently, they use coal-fired generators to heat the building and that is what made the air inside of the airport look like. Might I mention, the ceilings are about 100+ ft, high!
My life savers while in China! James (left) and Lan-Jy (right) helped me so much while I was LOST IN TRANSLATION! Literally! No, I met Lan-Jy on the airplane from Salt Lake to San Fran. I found out that her and I were going to the same place and will even be in the same group at the same hotel. I immediately attached myself to her, since she is able to speak Mandarin! I sat next to her on the plane-ride, so I couldn't help myself making a new friend! LOL She is a teacher at Syracuse Jr. High teaching Mandarin.
James is a teacher at Bountiful Jr. High and I was able to become friends with him. He also teaches Mandarin. He helped me communicate with others.
My first glymps of the Great Wall of China. We were riding in the bus to the Badaling section of the wall. It was neat because this is really the reason why I came and my over-all perception of China was to experience the Great Wall. It was amazing not only because of the sight, but for what it stands for! Protection for their people! It was first built in the 7th Century BC.
There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today. Later, the Han, Sui, Northern and Jin dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of the Great Wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders.
The Great Wall concept was revived again during the Ming Dynasty following the Ming army's defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu in 1449.
Based on what we currently know, below is a brief history of China and the Great Wall.
Chunqiu Period
770 B.C. - 476 B.C. In a divided China, many ducal states started to build walls along their boundaries.
Zhanguo Period
476 B.C. - 221 B.C.
Qin Dynasty
221 B.C. - 206 B.C. After unification, Qin linked and extended the walls of three northern states and formed the first Ten Thousand Li Great Wall (2 li = 1 km).
West Han Dynasty
206 B.C. - 25 A.D. Han further extended the Great wall to over 10,000 km.
East Han Dynasty
25 A.D. - 220 A.D.
Three Kingdoms Period
220 A.D. - 280 A.D.
West Jin Dynasty
265 A.D. - 316 A.D.
East Jin Dynasty
317 A.D. - 420 A.D.
South and North Dynasty
420 A.D. - 589 A.D. The states in the north continued to build the Great Wall.
Sui Dynasty
581 A.D. - 618 A.D. Sui also built the Great Wall.
Tang Dynasty
618 A.D. - 907 A.D.
Five Dynasties
907 A.D. - 960 A.D
North Song Dynasty
960 A.D. - 1127 A.D.
South Song Dynasty
1127 A.D. - 1276 A.D.
Yuan Dynasty
1271 A.D. - 1368 A.D.
Ming Dynasty
1368 A.D - 1644 A.D. Ming rebuilt the Great Wall, the length totalled over 6,000 km.
Qing Dynasty
1644 A.D. - 1911 A.D.
There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today. Later, the Han, Sui, Northern and Jin dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of the Great Wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders.
The Great Wall concept was revived again during the Ming Dynasty following the Ming army's defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu in 1449.
Based on what we currently know, below is a brief history of China and the Great Wall.
Chunqiu Period
770 B.C. - 476 B.C. In a divided China, many ducal states started to build walls along their boundaries.
Zhanguo Period
476 B.C. - 221 B.C.
Qin Dynasty
221 B.C. - 206 B.C. After unification, Qin linked and extended the walls of three northern states and formed the first Ten Thousand Li Great Wall (2 li = 1 km).
West Han Dynasty
206 B.C. - 25 A.D. Han further extended the Great wall to over 10,000 km.
East Han Dynasty
25 A.D. - 220 A.D.
Three Kingdoms Period
220 A.D. - 280 A.D.
West Jin Dynasty
265 A.D. - 316 A.D.
East Jin Dynasty
317 A.D. - 420 A.D.
South and North Dynasty
420 A.D. - 589 A.D. The states in the north continued to build the Great Wall.
Sui Dynasty
581 A.D. - 618 A.D. Sui also built the Great Wall.
Tang Dynasty
618 A.D. - 907 A.D.
Five Dynasties
907 A.D. - 960 A.D
North Song Dynasty
960 A.D. - 1127 A.D.
South Song Dynasty
1127 A.D. - 1276 A.D.
Yuan Dynasty
1271 A.D. - 1368 A.D.
Ming Dynasty
1368 A.D - 1644 A.D. Ming rebuilt the Great Wall, the length totalled over 6,000 km.
Qing Dynasty
1644 A.D. - 1911 A.D.
I found this information from:http://rompedas.blogspot.com/2008/12/great-wall-of-china.html
The entrance to the section of the Great Wall, Badaling.
There was a small "hike" on the way to the entrance and a little further after the entrance. Along the way there were these black bears and they were cute! They have big squirrel like puffs for cheeks. It was funny because one of the people in our group, Hugo from Tiwan (he teaches Mandarin in Seattle) asked if it was a Grizzly Bear, in all seriousness! LOL, I had to chuckle at him and the look on his face was priceless! I wish I had a picture!
Pictures and stops along the way to the top. All in all, the wall was cool even though it had been rebuilt. But, the emotions still came because of the meaning and purpose! Most tourist sections are all rebuilt, it isn't until you get to the deepest part or the secluded parts you will actually see the original structures! I have a picture of some original a little further down.
Not even half way there and I am tired already!
My father-in-law stopping for a breather and some H2O!
That highest point is my final destination! About 2 miles straight up!
Not quite there, but had to take a picture of the view! Notice the haze, its 20 times worse than Utah's crap! No one should complain and we were even in the mountains supposedly "away" from it all! In the city, I actually felt a little sick and disoriented a couple of times because it is so thick!
Mike almost made it to the top, but he gave up about 200 ft. from the top! Hahaha!
A picture of the wall in its original form (lowest ridge). It's all crumbled and stuff, but still cool to see! Oh, and this is at the top where I made a goal to hike to.
Exhausted, but finished. My legs are shaky and very tired. I am sweating like a dog and my face is really red! It was a great workout!
Looking down from the highest point. I made it to the top and back down again in about 45 minutes! Yes, I hurried because we only had about that amount of time to get back to the bus!
To get an idea of how difficult the climb is, I had to take a picture of the stairs. Most of the climb looks like this. The steps are about the same or taller than from my knee to the floor (about a foot and a halfish). These are really thick bricks, not the average thickness of house bricks. So, in about 10 steps, you can see the incline to the top where the other people are. I am at the very bottom ready to climb.
Picture with the in-laws at the very bottom, after my excercise.
A camel along the way back down. You're not supposed to take pictures of it, but I didn't find out about that until after it was already done! You can take a picture with it if you pay them money!
The Birds Nest. The Water Cube is to the left of it. But, I didn't go inside. I was on a mission to go to Silk Street, which I never made it because of some hoops I (we--me and 2 other friends)had to go through.
So, we left the tour group who were going to go through the Nest and Cube, but me, Lan-Jy and Carla (teacher from Lincoln El.) were going to go shopping. We needed to exchange money first, so we headed to the bank. We got to the bank and it took 1 hour, much longer than we anticipated. However, what took us so long is that we found out that Lan-Jy was given the wrong passport at the hotel. The hotel takes your passport at check-in and then they give them back to you. Well, I went a whole 24 hours without my passport and I was very frustrated on top of all the other frustrating things that have happened. We weren't even there 2 days and I was almost ready to go home. However, back to the story, at the bank we couldn't exchange without a passport and luckily I had mine on me so we had to go through the whole process again. It would have been much easier just to pull money from the ATM, but all of us had cash! So, we didn't make it shopping so we went back to meet the group at the bus. So here are just some pictures of some cool buildings in the city!
K, so we went back to meet up with the tour group, but we found others that ditched the group and were in search for the world famous Peking Duck restaurant. So we hitched up with them. Along the way, I found this parking guard on duty! Hmmm! Some of the people that were with us (from Tiwan) said, "I didn't see anything!" But, I had no idea what they meant nor would they tell me. It was only a couple of days ago, from a friend that went to Asia for his mission, did I find out what they meant. In a communist country, you cannot take pictures of guards or anything that will make the country look bad. But the people I was with didn't tell me, because it was sort of a protection thing. If the government found out that I took this picture, they would have confiscated my camera, deleted everything and return it to me. Should I refuse, I could have ended up in jail! But, they didn't tell me because it is better to not know and say you didn't know rather than know and do it anyway! I could have been in much bigger trouble had I known and got caught! Anyway, that was fun to find that out!
At the Peking Duck restaurante with Hugo and his dad from Tiwan.
Lily (far left-teachers from Tiwan teaching in Seattle) and a couple of other friends I have met along the way, but can't remember their names now. I mostly talked to Lily.
A picture of all of us who went to eat Peking Duck or for ME and Carla, experienced for our first time Peking Duck.
Here is our meal. It is amazing to watch the Chef's because they have to prepare it just right, cut it just right, and everything.
Me trying new things. But I would not try duck tongue! I ended up with it on my plate after I dared myself, but then couldn't bring myself to do it!
Front of the restaurant.
Name of the restaurant.
A little example of what they do there. They are allowed to park on the sidewalks and just find a spot wherever they can as long as it is off the road!
They just mind their own business. As far as I found out, there are rules, but no one follows them!
A building that I thought looked cool.
Ok, so long story short, we moved to a different group and hotel. This group consisted of other foreigners that were some kind of Administrator or teacher from other countries. We joined this group because they could not speak Mandarin and this is where were supposed to be to begin with! Much to our relief, we felt safer, and no so LOST!
Forbidden City. Construction began in 1407, during the time of the third Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. This is an amazing place with 9,999 1/2 rooms. Their theory is that 10,000 is the amount that is in Heaven, so they did just shy of that! Heavenly it was, but with a lot of red! It is a palace for the Emperors during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was burnt to the ground in 1644 and then it was rebuilt taking 12 years. More than 20 Emperors inhabited the grounds. The last Emperor lived in it until about 1945. Looked really cool and we could only go through the main parts. We weren't able to see even 1/8th of the city, but still rather cool! Oh, speaking of cool, it was really cold, too!
My first time on the subway. Once I was on it, I thought I was going to die. It was jammed packed and it was HOT!
A picture of our first hotel in the far away land in Beijing, but on the outskirts. It took about 1 and 40 minutes to get to downtown. Thats how big the City is!
Ok, so long story short, we moved to a different group and hotel. This group consisted of other foreigners that were some kind of Administrator or teacher from other countries. We joined this group because they could not speak Mandarin and this is where were supposed to be to begin with! Much to our relief, we felt safer, and no so LOST!
Here we are learning how to do calligraphy and write Chinese characters. It was interesting and the writing is hard! I can't imagine trying to learn all of it! There are certain ways to do it. One swipe of a line could mean something totally different if you even tweak the end of one of your lines. Crazy!
Forbidden City. Construction began in 1407, during the time of the third Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. This is an amazing place with 9,999 1/2 rooms. Their theory is that 10,000 is the amount that is in Heaven, so they did just shy of that! Heavenly it was, but with a lot of red! It is a palace for the Emperors during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was burnt to the ground in 1644 and then it was rebuilt taking 12 years. More than 20 Emperors inhabited the grounds. The last Emperor lived in it until about 1945. Looked really cool and we could only go through the main parts. We weren't able to see even 1/8th of the city, but still rather cool! Oh, speaking of cool, it was really cold, too!
Carla, on our way into the city.
This, I think, was my favorite picture!
Inside the first gate, ready to enter the main palace.
Standing on the brick that is 15 layers deep, to prevent people from digging a tunnel to kill the Emperor.
Mike and Debbie!
The building in the very back is where the last Emperor died. Aparently, he hung (sorry to be so graphic) himself with all the commotion that was happening at the time during the transition of there being an Emperor vs. no Emperor. Anyway, we didn't get to go there, but you can see it from the palace grounds and I am very impressed with my camera zoom! Check it out!
One of the many thrones for the Emperor.
I couldn't resist not to take a picture of this cute little Chinese baby! I was watching her from a distance learning how to walk. She was so cute, I just had to! A source had told me that the babies don't wear diapers, they just wear outfits that have velcro on the back near their bum and when they need to go, they just open it up, make em' squat on the side of the road and do their business. Most families only have one child, due to the ONE CHILD rule, however, a family can pay the government to have a second child. Interesting!
When we went to the Forbidden City, it was our first of two days of clear skys. The wind was blowing which blew the muck out of the city. It was nice and it felt a little refreshing! Also, the Palace grounds are not to far away from the sea, but still to far away to see!
Haha, me and the statue! This is the boy statue and there is another next to it that is a girl statue. You can't really tell the difference, but I wanted to make sure I was kissing the boy one! Well, I am not really kissing it, I just aligned myself to make it look like so!
Another throne.
The orginal decorative arts and creations on the roof corners of the buildings. Such detail and creativity!
This was our Forbidden City tour guide! She filled us with lots of information. This is who we found out from that Facebook had been banned by the government because people were posting unwanted things about Tibet on Facebook. So, if a Chinese citizen wants access to FB, then you have to purchase a certain something. Me and Carla were dying because we weren't able to connect with people back home and give updates on what we were doing! LOL, the life without FB wasn't all that bad now that I think about it!
Pictures of the gardens outside the tourist souvinier shops. Very pretty, these pictures really don't do justice!
Exiting the Palace grounds.
These are some snapshots I was able to get walking back to our bus. The sun was setting and it was spectacular!
At each corner, there are guard towers. This is the guard tower at the northeast corner. The palace sits on about 178 acres or 720,000 square meters and is surrounded by a moat (water canal type thing).
On our way back, the group we were traveling with stopped at a really good restaurant called the Hot Spot. It was sooooo good! In the middle of the tables, they had a pot of boiling soup type liquid and you put in bacon looking strips of meat, potatoes, shrimp, and lots of other stuff. You dip it in a peanut sauce and it was soooooo good! Yum! Its a cross between Tepanyaki and the Melting Pot. It was cool.
When it is time to put noodles into the pot, there is a dancer guy that comes around and does a routine with the noodles and stretches it out, flinging it all around and it is amazing it doesn't ever hit the ground!
Ok, this cracked me up! Me and Carla saw this lady outside out hotel which had really cute handbags. She saw us looking at her, so when we boarded the bus for another excursion, she followed us because she wanted us to buy something from her. I told Carla that if she makes it all the way to our desintation, she deserves us to buy lots from her! Anyway, she ended up almost getting into an accident, ramming into another bus. She followed a little ways more, but then gave up! Right after that, we made it to our destination, but we never could find her! She was a very cute lady! Loved her smile!
Outside of the Hanban Institute who organized for my trip for China. Inside, they did a presentation for Chinese learning materials and had kind of like a museum inside, it was neat!
Inside, you could dress up in some of the clothes. The outfits is wedding atire for the male and female.
The US Embassy. It was amazing just driving by it helped you feel a little more at ease!
Gloria, ohhh my dear little Gloria! Love her. There was a group of 3 girls that helped us get to Silk Street and they tagged along the whole way, helped us barter, and stuck up for us. This is one of my 3 friends I had made. I didn't get a picture of Annie or Susi-lyn. :( But, she has a boyfriend from Costa Rica that can speak 5 other languages other than Spanish. Cool! She is the one I am trying to get to come visit me and stay with me for a few weeks!
A picture of our new hotel. This was a LOT better. The other hotel I was so disgusted with it, I didn't even take pictures!
The grocery store. A flat escelator going down so you can bring your shoppinig carts. I had to experience the grocery store, but I also needed to bring home some local snacks for my teachers!
My first glimps back in the airport, without all the smoggy stuff! Lots better and it shows how amazing it was! However, still picture about 15 times the size of what you see in this picture!
My little girls sporting their new silk jammies from China! My cute little China Dolls!
Inside the first gate, ready to enter the main palace.
Standing on the brick that is 15 layers deep, to prevent people from digging a tunnel to kill the Emperor.
Mike and Debbie!
The building in the very back is where the last Emperor died. Aparently, he hung (sorry to be so graphic) himself with all the commotion that was happening at the time during the transition of there being an Emperor vs. no Emperor. Anyway, we didn't get to go there, but you can see it from the palace grounds and I am very impressed with my camera zoom! Check it out!
One of the many thrones for the Emperor.
I couldn't resist not to take a picture of this cute little Chinese baby! I was watching her from a distance learning how to walk. She was so cute, I just had to! A source had told me that the babies don't wear diapers, they just wear outfits that have velcro on the back near their bum and when they need to go, they just open it up, make em' squat on the side of the road and do their business. Most families only have one child, due to the ONE CHILD rule, however, a family can pay the government to have a second child. Interesting!
When we went to the Forbidden City, it was our first of two days of clear skys. The wind was blowing which blew the muck out of the city. It was nice and it felt a little refreshing! Also, the Palace grounds are not to far away from the sea, but still to far away to see!
Haha, me and the statue! This is the boy statue and there is another next to it that is a girl statue. You can't really tell the difference, but I wanted to make sure I was kissing the boy one! Well, I am not really kissing it, I just aligned myself to make it look like so!
Another throne.
The orginal decorative arts and creations on the roof corners of the buildings. Such detail and creativity!
This was our Forbidden City tour guide! She filled us with lots of information. This is who we found out from that Facebook had been banned by the government because people were posting unwanted things about Tibet on Facebook. So, if a Chinese citizen wants access to FB, then you have to purchase a certain something. Me and Carla were dying because we weren't able to connect with people back home and give updates on what we were doing! LOL, the life without FB wasn't all that bad now that I think about it!
Pictures of the gardens outside the tourist souvinier shops. Very pretty, these pictures really don't do justice!
Exiting the Palace grounds.
These are some snapshots I was able to get walking back to our bus. The sun was setting and it was spectacular!
At each corner, there are guard towers. This is the guard tower at the northeast corner. The palace sits on about 178 acres or 720,000 square meters and is surrounded by a moat (water canal type thing).
On our way back, the group we were traveling with stopped at a really good restaurant called the Hot Spot. It was sooooo good! In the middle of the tables, they had a pot of boiling soup type liquid and you put in bacon looking strips of meat, potatoes, shrimp, and lots of other stuff. You dip it in a peanut sauce and it was soooooo good! Yum! Its a cross between Tepanyaki and the Melting Pot. It was cool.
When it is time to put noodles into the pot, there is a dancer guy that comes around and does a routine with the noodles and stretches it out, flinging it all around and it is amazing it doesn't ever hit the ground!
Ok, this cracked me up! Me and Carla saw this lady outside out hotel which had really cute handbags. She saw us looking at her, so when we boarded the bus for another excursion, she followed us because she wanted us to buy something from her. I told Carla that if she makes it all the way to our desintation, she deserves us to buy lots from her! Anyway, she ended up almost getting into an accident, ramming into another bus. She followed a little ways more, but then gave up! Right after that, we made it to our destination, but we never could find her! She was a very cute lady! Loved her smile!
Outside of the Hanban Institute who organized for my trip for China. Inside, they did a presentation for Chinese learning materials and had kind of like a museum inside, it was neat!
Inside, you could dress up in some of the clothes. The outfits is wedding atire for the male and female.
The US Embassy. It was amazing just driving by it helped you feel a little more at ease!
Gloria, ohhh my dear little Gloria! Love her. There was a group of 3 girls that helped us get to Silk Street and they tagged along the whole way, helped us barter, and stuck up for us. This is one of my 3 friends I had made. I didn't get a picture of Annie or Susi-lyn. :( But, she has a boyfriend from Costa Rica that can speak 5 other languages other than Spanish. Cool! She is the one I am trying to get to come visit me and stay with me for a few weeks!
A picture of our new hotel. This was a LOT better. The other hotel I was so disgusted with it, I didn't even take pictures!
The grocery store. A flat escelator going down so you can bring your shoppinig carts. I had to experience the grocery store, but I also needed to bring home some local snacks for my teachers!
My first glimps back in the airport, without all the smoggy stuff! Lots better and it shows how amazing it was! However, still picture about 15 times the size of what you see in this picture!
My little girls sporting their new silk jammies from China! My cute little China Dolls!
