China - Bejing

While in China we had limited internet and no access to google - so we need to do some catch up with our blog.   Our first stop in China was Bejing.   We were on a Viking tour for our entire two weeks in China - which was quite a change from the travel pace we had kept the previous weeks.  These tours get you going early and keep you going all day...  Our group of 38 had just two other couples from the US - most were from the UK and a few were from Canada.  It was nice to have a different slant on world events as we read in the papers about the North Korea military escalation and then the visit of China's President, Xi Jinping, to the US.

Our first day we spent at Tienanmen Square and  the Forbidden City.  It was a national Holiday in China so both were packed with Chinese tourists.  It was fun to see so many Chinese excited to see these treasured sites.  

Photos of Tienanmen Square below.  The scale is so impressive.  

The portrait of Chairman Mao is re painted every month. 

The Forbidden City is 9,999 1/2 rooms large.   This was the Chinese Imperial Palace occupied from 1420 (Ming Dynasty) to 1912 (Qing Dynasty).  The bronze pots were used for fire control!

More photos from around Bejing...

Impressive modern architecture everywhere in China. This was one of my favorites in Bejing.

Our first night we went to a Kung Fu performance at the "Red Theater".  Another night we had a traditional Peking Duck dinner.

Our second day in Bejing we were up early and headed to the Great Wall at 6 am.  Again it was a national Holiday and we wanted to beat the crowds of Chinese who would be visiting.

We hiked the wall for about two hours.  Again so impressive to see and experience.  We were quite surprised by the steep pitch of many of the sections.  We could have spent a full day here but with a tour we were moving at the pace of our group.  

Later that day we visited the Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs.   Along the way, the kids were asked to pose for photos with many of the Chinese.  The Chinese couldn't believe how tall our kids were for their ages.  During our time in China the kids were asked dozens of times to pose for photos! Below is a photo we took of people lining up to take their photos.  We were all very surprised by this!  

Rubbing the statue brings good fortune. 

Site of the Bejing Olympic Games - the "birds nest".

Riding around the "Hutong" (narrow alley) district in a pedicab.

We also visited a local home in the Hutong district.  

The family preparing a meal in their kitchen.

Cameron played some hackysack with a street performer.

Tea presentation and tasting at a local shop.   We learned quite a bit about Chinese tea!

Street vendor in the Hutong district.

After three very full days in and around Bejing, we flew up to Xi'An - the next stop on our China tour.