We celebrated Chinese style this year during an 8 day trip to China. This tour was intense-- three major cities (Shanghai, Beijing, and Xi An) and lots of sightseeing in sub-freezing temperatures! The advantage of the time of year, though, was that we didn't compete with throngs of tourists to see places of interest up close. For fun, we took this picture as Emperor and Empress just north of the Forbidden City in Beijing. First Day- Shanghai
Our tour started off in Shanghai, where we went to the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower for 360 degree views of the city. Yes, in case you were wondering, it's smog.
"The Bund"- the most well-known street in Asia, home of gorgeous colonial buildings, banks, and hotels.
Jin Mao Tower, the highest building in China. Mission Impossible III was filmed here a few years ago. There is a skywalk observation deck on the 88th floor!
Another fun excursion this first day was a ride on the Mass levitation train. The "Maglev" reaches a maximum speed of 430 km/hour, faster than the famous bullet train of Japan. At one point, we passed another Maglev train and it happened in the blink of an eye. Awesome.
A wacky site-- Live hairy crabs for sale at the airport. Forget about Pizza Hut express!
Highlights of Beijing
One of my favorite places in China was the Temple of Heaven and Earth. We glimpsed so many interesting examples of people living every day life there like playing hacky sack, or strangely enough, bellydancing. Here are some other sights--
Painting calligraphy on the sidewalk
Group Line dancing
Perhaps the most surreal one was the crowd of people singing "revolutionary" songs. We heard them from far away and when we walked up close, it was freaky!
Ofcourse, Tienanamen Square was awesome. Our tour guide told us that up to half a million people can congregate there, and I kept thinking about the student protests in 1989 and that famous photo of the lone student facing the tank. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man)
Red flags were in abundance, as were police officers and military on this day.
We also had a great time touring around the Forbidden City. I loved all the huge ancient doors leading from one sacred area to the next.
The Great Wall
"You are not a real man if you have not climbed to the top of the wall." -- Chairman Mao
Frozen Lake at Summer Palace
Chinese tradition states that if you walk down this entire promenade with your loved one, you'll be together forever.
Xi An Highlights
By far, our favorite historical place was the Museum of the Terra Cotta Warriors. Amazingly, this ancient place was only discovered in 1974 when a local farmer was digging a well. 8,000 ceramic warriors are on display and each one is individual and unique. They have different facial expressions, hair styles, body builds, and military ranks. The warriors were commissioned by a benevolent chinese emperor, who instead of sacrificing his own military to accompany him into the afterworld, requested the construction of thousands of these ceramic pieces.
Golden Goose Pagoda
"To understand the prey, one must be like the prey"-- cat in the tree at the buddhist temple.
Dumpling Banquet
Parting shots of Xmas Eve in Shanghai
1930's Shanghai girls
Modern Shanghai girl
Old buildings and New
Famous Shanghai soup dumplings
Old Hand Reading Room where we leisurely sipped Irish coffee and read books to get out of the cold for a few hours.
Modern Glass Art Bar where everything from bar stools to countertop is made of stained glass
Who needs apple, when you can have Taro pie?
Finally, from Shanghai we wish you a
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