|
|
|
Last Updated: 07/22/03 |
        
|
Photos: Mouse over to see caption; Click to enlarge Titles: Underlined titles link to corresponding journal entries Hong Kong: For Thanksgiving, we visited and stayed with our friends Rob and Suzy in Hong Kong. We don't know how we managed to leave without any photos of them, their son (Tyler), or their apartment...but we did get a lot of nice pictures there.
Beijing - The Forbidden City: This huge palace complex was off limits to commoners for 500 years. It is the largest and best-preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. The architecture is stunning. We can only imagine that it would be even more beautiful in the spring when the elaborate gardens are in bloom.
Beijing - Tennamen Square: You know logically that this place is big; but until you see it - it is tough to imagine. There are people there all the time - many come every night to watch the lowering of the flag in front of the forbidden city. Funny story: Karen was approached on more than one occasion here to get her picture take with a local -- we can only assume that blond hair is not a common site in China and therefore turned her in to a local attraction!
The Great Wall: Outside Beijing we visited two different Great Wall sites. The first, "Badaling," is the closest and most rebuilt portion of the wall. It attracts the most visitors and was extremely impressive!! Its hard to imagine how much work it would have taken to build this elevated highway along the mountain ridges. We liked "The Wall" so much that we decided to go back for more... this time to a more remote location, "Simatai," about an hour and a half from Beijing. Most of it has not been renovated and therefore looks almost like ruins, which was equally impressive in its own way. Plus, without the crowds (assuming you can shake the local sellers who follow you almost constantly), we were able to absorb the complete remoteness of the site and again imagine what an extreme effort it would have taken to build it.
Beijing - The Summer Palace: I guess if you live in the Forbidden City, then this little shack is your "summer home." |
Links:
|
