Tourism and Sights in China

China is a place with a deep and rich history.  No eight day tour was going to scratch the surface, but we did get some cultural flavor when we were there.  I've talked a lot about the culture through the products of China, but there were other sights, too.

For example, we did go to the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the Summer Palace.  We got some interesting pictures at each.  For example, at the Summer Palace was the giant rubber duck that's been traveling around the world.  It was there for National Day, which happens every October 1, and was just a week prior to our vacation, so I guess it was still there:

That's Brian, our tour guide.  And that duck is like three stories tall.  Biggest rubber duck I've ever seen.  And totally worth seeing.

Because National Day was so close, Tienanmen Square was also decked out with one of the biggest bouquets of flowers I've ever seen:

Girls, I know you like flowers, but this thing is also about three stories high, so you won't be getting this delivered through FTD.

Also note that this was taken in Tienanmen Square, across the street from the entrance to the Forbidden City.  Note how blue the sky is in the pictures.  Not a cloud, and no smog.  It was beautiful and fresh and wonderful.  I am well aware of how lucky we were to get such beautiful days in Beijing.

The gate to the Forbidden City.  You can see the giant portrait of Chairman Mao over the entrance.  Note the post in the foreground.  I't got a butt-ton of surveillance cameras on it.

Inside the Forbidden City.

You know, we also got to go to the Great Wall.  That was an adventure in itself.  Nicole had a little trouble making it up, and decided to wait for us on a landing instead of going on.  To be fair, it is an impressive structure that induces great amounts of vertigo due to its uneven steps and steep ascents.

It's interesting to note that on the Great Wall is a chain, and it appears to be a custom to bring a padlock and lock it to the chain.  These padlocks had initials and engravings and all kinds of stuff on them.  Kind of like a heavy metal version of the gum walls in San Francisco and Seattle.  See below

I was a little surprised not to see a skeleton dangling off a handcuff here.

That's right.  A Great Selfie.

We did go to a public park in Beijing.  There were thousands of people in this park, and there were lots of activities you could participate in.  We stopped and did Tai Chi with a group of people, and I played a little ball game with a local.  Some folks did something like Hacky Sack, while a group of girls played the cups song on the ground.  People were singing together en masse.  And there were lots of games of Go and Chinese Chess being played with a ton of people looking on at each game.

And there were groups like this every few feet along this bench for hundreds of feet.

And we visited the Temple of Heaven.  But this time, however, I was getting a bit exhausted at visiting cultural landmarks:

Temple of Heaven

For a bit of modern history, we visited the site of the Water Cube and the Birds Nest:

Mona wore that Birds Nest like a sombrero!

In Suzhou, we visited some beautiful gardens.  In one of these gardens, this woman was playing beautifully

Nicole is taking a picture. I'm taking a picture of her taking the picture.  That's fun.

One of the things we were taught about in Suzhou was about the round ports in the walls.  They are called Moon Gates, and once you see them in Chinese architecture, you'll see them everywhere.  That and the little lip at the door that you have to step over to get in to just about every old structure in China.  Those little lips apparently keep out evil, because evil can't hop.

In Hangzhou, we stopped off at a Buddhist temple for a few minutes.  We weren't there long, and they were closing down, but the place smelled heavily of incense.  Here's why. All those ashes in this giant cauldron are all incense sticks.  I imagine that this is about how Denver smells these days.

Getting lightheaded from the fumes.

What's funny is that after this, I don't really have many pictures of cultural stuff.  Granted, once we went to Shanghai, it wasn't so much about cultural activities, as Shanghai is a relatively western town.

But I don't think it was just that.  I think part of the reason I didn't take many pictures of scenery was that I was having too great a time with our tour group, who had by then all gelled into great friends.  As such, I think the cultural interest gave way to personal interest, and that was great by all of us.