Beijing and more

This weekend we went to Beijing on an overnight sleeper train. The sleeper train was different but definitely not the best way to travel. It was 12 hours to Beijing, which was fine. The 'bad' part was that as you slept, you could feel the train lurch and shake, even more then most airplanes I have been on. We arrived in Beijing at about 7 in the morning. We went to the hotel to freshen up and then on to explore Beijing. The first place we went was Tian 'an men Square. It didn't look as impressive as it could have, mostly because there is a lot of stuff in the square for the Olympics. There are some bleachers, some abstract Olympic art and other things taking up a lot of the square. Across from the Square is the Forbidden City (also know as the Purple Palace). The reason it is called the 'Forbidden City' is because, when it was used as a palace, the farther back in the City you went, the more 'forbidden' it was. There are separate entrance walls that you must walk through before entering the actual palace. The walls must have been more than thirty feet thick and the doors on the wall must have been at least a foot think. I guess it is safe to say the emperor took security seriously. Once in the palace there are several museums, several more temples where the emperor sat and lots of open spaces. We only had one day there and didn't have enough time to go to the museums. It was so huge!!

After we left the Forbidden City, we had lunch at a local Beijing restaurant. It was good food (although I will be glad to have a Verde burger when I get home). After that we went to the Temple of Heaven. The emperor would come here to worship and I though that this temple, although smaller than, was much more impressive that the Forbidden City. The temples at the Temple of Heaven are actually three different buildings. The first is a circular temple with three levels reaching 5 to 7 stories in the air. The second temple is smaller probably reaching 3 to 4 stores and the last building is only a pedestal, with no temple on top. All three of these temple line up and seem to be stairs to heaven. We did not have time to walk the ground of the Temple of Heaven, but there are large parks there.

On Saturday we went to the on a tour that took us to the Ming Tombs and the Badaling section of the Great Wall. The Ming Tombs were kind of eh. It pretty much looked like every other temple we had seen. However, one interesting fact was that when the temple was built they used trees which are no longer around. These were huge trees that must have been over 200 feet tall. After the Ming Tombs we went to a jade store where they tried to get us to buy jade that was SO over priced. I don't know my jewelery, but I do have something to compare it to. At the gem and mineral show in Tucson I bought a rock that was cut in half that had amethyst inside. The one I bough was about 1-2 feet high and I paid $60 USD which is about 360 RMB. In China, similar and smaller pieces were going to $1000 USD! So they were basically trying to rip of tourists as far as I could tell. After the jade shop we went to the Great Wall. Let me tell you, it was pretty great. :) You start about 500 feet below the highest tower in this section of the wall. We walked up it and it was pretty hard. Many of the stones and still original and have become smooth over time. The stairs are also difficult to navigate. One step may be one in high and the next may be one foot high. When the wall was built, they did not have tourists in mind, and thus, they just built the wall as quickly as possible. The Great Wall was also not that secure. Myself and another kid in the group climbed over some of the Wall so we could get up on the guard tower (an area that was closed off). If this had been in the US, we would have probably been arrested for doing that, or more likely the case, it would have been impossible for us to jump up on the tower in the first place. Once we climbed up to the highest 'legal' point on the wall, you could (on a clear day) see it go for miles. However, we were right outside Beijing which is the pollution capital of the world. We could still see enough of it though to see how impressive it was. It is amazing to think that they could build this in steep mountains without any kind of tractors or modern equipment. To move much of the stone to the Great Wall, they did a lot of work in the winter. This is because Beijing and the surrounding area get harsh winters. Workers would make ice roads using water and then slide stones and other equipment to the site. They did this not only for the Wall, but for many of the large temples in Beijing. After the Great Wall, we went back to Beijing and went to a Pei king duck restaurant. I do not remember the name of it, but it is very famous in Beijing. Many famous people have had duck there including US Senator Diane Feinstein.

On Sunday (our last day) we went to the Summer Palace. Now let me tell you, when you were emperor you had it made. The Palace ground must have taken up a space the size of Central Park in New York City. There was a huge lake, many smaller building, and then on top of the hill was a huge Palace. We didn't go in, but even from the ground, you can see the opulence of the Chinese emperor. After walking around the Palace we went to a large Pearl and other knock-off-gifts store. Most things in the store start off with a high price because they expect you to haggle with them. Sometimes I feel a little but bad, but in the end, if they didn't make money on it they would not sell it to me. After the pearl market we went to the Oriental something. This area was close to the hotel my parents stayed at in Beijing. The area was nice, and they had a walking street there that was very similar to Shanghai's walking street. After we walked around for a half hour we headed to the train station to get back to Shanghai.

In general Beijing is much more historic and cultural than Shanghai. However, even with the government taking 50% of cars of the road, the pollution is still very bad. We talked with some Americans who said it was getting better, so if we were there when it was 'better' then before this is must have been like breathing in a burning house. It was so bad that you could actually look at the sun during the day and not feel any pain in your eyes. I know that looking at the sun anytime is not a good idea, but this goes to show just how bad the air still is. Beijing was a good city and I was glad I got to visit it. Now back to work.