China Trip - First Photos
Hi All
Back from China and it was a blast! I have about 400 photos plus some video but don't worry, I will try to be selective in what I post. I went through the first cut yesterday and paired it back to 100 but that is probably far too many as well - I will try to do a second edit and reduce it further.
The first batch today are from the first two days in Beijing - 24 million people and 6 million cars. Highlights here were Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Great Wall at Juyang Pass and the Summer Palace.
First up a map showing the places we visited:
I think the best idea will be to post images based on what we did and where we were, so today I will cover the first two days in Beijing:
Tiananmen Gate - from which the Square takes its name. Our guide warned us not to talk about "the tank incident" as it was within a day or two of the anniversary of the day it happened and there was extra security, including undercover English speaking agents "from the Chinese FBI" and if we were heard talking about "it" the guide could get in trouble.....
A plan of the Forbidden City - we entered from the Gate of Heavenly Purity and exited at the Meridian Fate
The Forbidden City has about seven levels (I think) as you progress inwards.
We came across several Chinese Ladies wearing period costume for a photo shoot - so of course hundreds of tourists wanted to take pictures too!
I think this one is the Dragon Lady (Dowager Empress)
The third level of the Forbidden City
Inside the Fifth Level
The moat at the exit of the Forbidden City
Day Two - The Great Wall at Juyang Pass. It took about 90 minutes to reach from the hotel we were staying in. The images start from Watchtower Number 7 and finish back at South Pass Gate Tower. It took about an hour of hard climbing to reach Watchtower Number 12, which was as far as we had time to go before moving on.
The Wall from Watchtower 9, with 10 and 11 further up
View from Watchtower 10
Finally made it to the top!
Watchtower 11 from above
"Artillery" at the South Pass Gate
The Temple of the Horse God
Chinese Warrior in Jade at the entrance to a Jade factory we visited on the return trip
Stages of carving (from right to left) a solid lump of Jade into four balls within each other that can move independently - my parents had a similar one but carved from ivory, purchased in Hong Kong around 1985
Adjacent to the Jade factory was a Cloisonné factory, where they spent several days adding enamel to items fashioned in brass, to produce items such as those below - really vibrant colours!
Final item of day was a one hour music and dance show called The Golden Mask Dynasty - based on a Chinese Legend of the battle between the Red Queen and Blue King - they all ended up friends in the end of course!
The Blue King and Red Queen got together
The part below was pretty impressive as the stage is able to open up and allow thousands of gallons of real water to cascade down, representing a great flood....unfortunately, to save her people, the Red Queen had to sacrifice herself to the flood....
That's it for today - I will leave it a couple of days then post the next batch - hopefully they are of interest - even though no toy soldiers are involved!
Great stuff Keith. I liked China and Bejing in particular, although we were there in the middle of winter at -12C with a 20 knot wind on the Great Wall! It surprised me how steep the wall was in places. Also looks as though you had clear air too, a real plus.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark - yes, we originally wanted to go in March but was fully booked until June - which I think was a blessing! Temps were consistently high 20 - low 30 deg C. The air was not that clear - we probably saw actual blue sky twice in 13 days - but it was bright and sunny despite the sky looking grey...weird!
DeleteWe were lucky with clear skies for the six days we were in Beijing. We arrived on Christmas Eve and you couldn't see clearly across the courtyard of the Forbidden City. But that night a strong wind came through and blew it all away and the skies were clear and blue for the rest of the time.
DeleteSuper photos, Keith! The lighting in the show makes the colors look so vibrant. I really like your photos of this section of the Great Wall.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jonathan - I hope I have not overdone it with the photos - this is only two days out of thirteen - but I found it hard to leave at least 50% of them out! I am not really a big fan of live theatre or shoes but that one was pretty spectacular and at one hour duration was just right for my attention span. The fact it was jam packed full of pretty young women did not hurt either :)
ReplyDeleteWish I'll be there one day, most impressive pictures rross, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIts very easy from New Zealand Phil - from France, not so much! All up including trips and spending money it probably came in under NZ$ 4,000 - the actual flights, hotels and tour package was only NZ$ 1,050 per person! 10 hours to Hong Kong then 4 hours to Beijing.
DeleteGreat looking trip and nice photos,we all like a bit of panto!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Cheers Iain - it was well worth it and I would recommend the trip to anyone - lots more photos to come too, if you can handle it!
DeleteGreat photos Keith. I was surprised how difficult it was to climb the wall and was unprepared for how uneven the steps were. Some of them were quite a stretch.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed Lawrence - we had a lot of "Panda's" (pensioners) on our trip who did not even make it to the first watchtower - even my wife, who runs 5km most days, could only manage the first level! Some of the steps must have been 300mm or more, quite a climb when you are only 150cm tall, as she is!
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