Beijing Pictures

Here you are my friends. Pictures from my trip to Beijing! I was there from Sun Feb 1 to Fri Feb 6. Now I'm getting back into school. Meh. I would love to just travel! But I must earn money.

--GREAT WALL--
Climbing up the great wall. Wow, I'm on one of the 7 wonders of the world! Very cool and surreal


Me at one of the watchtowers. I did not expect the wall to be so steep! It was tiring.

I made it as high as I could! I went with 2 other people via a tour company. Only 1 of them came to this point with me. We were both tired and running out of time so we headed down soon after taking the pictures.

At the base of this section of the Great Wall. Beijing has 14 sections. We went to Badaling, but the less-crowded area. It's the most popular section for tourists. The other Badaling section has a cable car.

In front of the Ming Tombs. There wasn't a whole lot to see. This is the tomb of a very important emperor so they haven't opened it. They did have a display with relics from other tombs they've opened. There are 13 tombs for Ming emperors. There were 14 emperors in the Ming Dynasty but the last one wasn't good enough to get a tomb (poor guy).

--FORBIDDEN CITY--

I've made it! One of the huge historical sites in China. And I'm actually standing there. Wow. It was a HUGE place. I was there for a good 4 hours and didn't see all of it. My dad says it takes 3 days to really tour the whole complex.

An important hall in the city. Sorry I don't know the actual name. I couldn't label the pictures with names when I took them. (that would be an awesome feature on a camera!)

Another famous hall. They had some interesting names: hall of benevolence, hall of longevity, etc.

--TIANANMEN SQUARE--

The east gate. You go through here to get into the Forbidden City. The square is across the street behind the photographer.

Monument to the People's Heroes (tall thing in the front) and Mao Zedong Memorial Hall.

Tiananmen square is just a huge square. I was expecting something more exciting. This is a shot after I climbed up the east gate.

--SUMMER PALACE--

The landmark building of the summer palace appears to be on top of my head. It's the hall to worship Buddha...or somethin.

That same hall. My handy guide said they are 100 steps to reach the hall. But it's said that if you survive, you will have a long life. I survived so that's encouraging for the rest of my life.

Marble Boat. Ba ha ha. A not-so-smart prince (or emperor) had this built and then was upset when he learned it would never float. Well yeah...it's made of marble!

Posing in front of the 17-arch bridge.

--TEMPLE OF HEAVEN--

I believe this is the Hall of Good Harvests - where the emperors would come to worship and pray for good crops in the coming year.

A view of the complex. It stretches even further back. I couldn't find a high-enough spot to show you the whole thing. Maybe I'll tour it in a helicopter next time :)

My wonderful tour guides. I used these at nearly all the big sites. They are super smart and start automatically when I'm by the place on the map. I liked them because they told stories.

--DINNER - FAMOUS FOOD--

Peking Duck restaurant. A famous food in Beijing. You can't go to Beijing without eating Peking Duck! (I've had it before in Taiwan)

Me sitting alone in a nice restaurant waiting for my duck meat to arrive. I did some people watching while waiting.

Here's my dinner! Front right: duck meat that you put into crepes w/sauce and onions. Middle left: duck skin that you dip in sugar. Back center: duck head! I just had to try it. The brain was gross. Ick.

--TEMPLE OF CONFUCIUS--

The man himself - Confucius

Look what I found after my visit to the zoo. Wow, a Dairy Queen in China. Who would've guessed? Not me!

--LAMA TEMPLE--

A huge Buddha. I don't remember ever seeing one so tall.

A plaque saying the huge Buddha was made of ONE piece of sandalwood. Incredible!

--KUNG FU SHOW--

I'm excited to see a show about the origin of Kung Fu! It was good.

In the lobby. This little boy just sat there hitting his bowl with a wooden spoon (for a good 20 mins). I would've totally lost the rhythym!

--NIGHTLIFE--

Wanfujing Street. It had some good shopping. I found a bookstore and that made me happy. I spent one evening there reading :)

Thought you might enjoy this. A classic shot of piling stuff on. It would've been cooler if it was a scooter. . . I've discovered Taiwan is the country of scooters. And I love it!

Chinese treat, anyone? These are scorpions and sea horses on sticks. Yuck! I was very full so didn't consider trying them. (Honestly, I don't think I could stomach either one)

--BEIJING ZOO = panda bears. yeah!--

A panda rolling around. I think he's gnawing on a piece of ice. . .

Blowing a kiss to the pandas. I was so excited to see them!!!

Pandas climbing down to get some water.

The sign reads "Science Creates Miracle." This guy is just SO cute!

Pandas wrestling. Reminds me of family wrestling parties on my parents' bed. Good times.

--OLYMPIC PLAZA--

Water Cube on the left, Bird's Nest on the right.

Penguin. (from the zoo, not the olympic plaza. Blogger confused the order.)

Look! It's the Bird's Nest.

I made a funny face and the sun was in my eyes. This is the result. Ha ha