Summay Part 3 - Beijing

27 August 2007 7:50pm Guangzhou (7:50am EST)

What a day (or two)! The last two days have been quite a blur. We spent all day Sunday the 26th touring Beijing. After sleeping for a few hours we woke up and experience our first breakfast buffet in China. It had the usual items you would see in the states (eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, rolls) and some things that are common here in China (noodles, coddled(?hard boiled?) eggs, some type of wonton soup (it appeared)).

Beijing:
After getting some sustenance, we met our guide for the day (Belinda) and proceeded with our driver (Master Li) to Tiananmen Square. Our Honda Accord stopped right at the edge of the square and we hopped out into a light drizzle. As we walked across the massive layout we passed the large memorial to soldiers that fought in the wars. It is a large square pillar type structure near the center of the square. Next we swung by the Olympic countdown clock located on the east side of the square and then headed to the south entrance of the Forbidden City.

The former city of the emperors is quite an imposing complex. There was much renovation underway because of the Olympics next year. Everyone is VERY excited and proud that they are hosting the games in 2008. The motto (One World, One Dream) can be found everywhere, including on the side of the mountain at the Great Wall. You could tell that in its prime the Forbidden City must have been a spectacular site. We walked all the way through the city and took at good picture at the “Couples Tree”. This is two trees that have grown together and appear to have interlocking arms. Once we came out the north entrance, our trusty Master Li delivered us to a jade market. The young lady there gave us a brief overview of the jade refining/carving process and helped give us clues on how to determine the quality of different jades. They had an excellent array of choices, but I just could not pull the trigger to bring home the 4’ tall tiger. I think it may have been over the weight limit for checked baggage.

After an “authentic” Chinese lunch at the Friendship Store, we were off to see the Great Wall. It is quite amazing that as you enter the mountain range north of Beijing you almost immediately start seeing parts of the wall. It was wet and cool when we arrived but we know it sure beat being 100 degrees and muggy. Gram and Belinda (our guide) were able to make it to one tower, while Elizabeth and I skipped on to the second. Let it be known here that I was ready to keep going even though the next stretch looked pretty darn brutal, however, I could tell that I would have to pull Eliz up the last bit. Since I was not sure I would make it all the way, we decided discretion was the better part of valor and just soaked in what we could at the tower we made it too. Again, I found it remarkable to look over the ranges and see the wall and towers as far as you could see. It was just a really cool thing to see. I would love to hike more just for the experience, but that will have to wait for another time, if ever.

Well, Beijing is almost done. After the Great Wall, we were dropped off at the airport where Miranda (local volunteer who picked us up at the airport Sat. night) brought us our checked baggage. We spent an hour or so waiting to check in and had a chance to talk to both Belinda and Miranda more. They both expressed and interest to come to the US, but said that it is very hard to obtain a visa for entry. It appears the best chance it to find a school that you can attend for graduate studies and go on a student visa. We eventually said our goodbyes and went past security to wait at our gate for the flight to Guangzhou. The flight to Guangzhou was very smooth and the flight attendants were some of the nicest we’ve had this trip (right up there with the Tokyo to Beijing crew).

One more to go....