Wednesday, December 27, 2006
'Twas a Jolly Commi Christmas
What can I say? Christmas in China was awesome.
Sam, Tim (Sam's brother), and I were able to spend 4 days, and 3 nights touring around Beijing and it's outskirts...we only saw a drop of what China has to offer, but it was a great first introduction to Chinese culture.
Some highlights:
- spending Christmas Eve day hiking the Great Wall
- bartering with the local market vendors ("Hey lady, come in my shop", "Special deal for a special customer", "This price, just for you", "This is authentic leater, hand painted")
- a run-in with Communist soldiers, in which our bus driver was punched through the bus window, and almost dragged out of his seat. Tim's response: running to the front of the bus, opening a window, and yelling "NO" at the soldiers, while waving his hands back and forth...probably not the smartest thing to do, but a valiant effort on his part. The other guys also all ran to the front to try and hold the bus driver in, while us girls just sat shocked in our seats. Corruption at its finest.
- a 30 minute free foot massage at the Tibetan Medicine Center
- visiting a jade factory, a pearl factory, a silk factory, and a cloisonne factory (where they decorate brass vases, pots, plates, rings, etc.)
- viewing a Chinese circus, where performers bent, twisted, and threw their bodies around the stage...I never knew people could balance and stretch the ways that they did
- Western breakfasts with a Chinese flare (at our hotel) - we could have toast, yogurt and fruit, OR egg rolls, fried noodles, and curry
- and a glimpse at parts of the 5000 years of Chinese history
Here are a few pictures from our trip...Enjoy!!
Merry Christmas :0)
Our first night, at the Chinese Circus, where we saw amazing acrobatic stunts.
Here's Sam and I on the Great Wall. We climbed all the way up to the little building you can see at the top...45 minutes of stairs. This was probably the half way point.
Sam and Tim...a little higher up.
Here's Tim at the top, looking down on where we came from.
This is us at the high point of the wall (the top of where we climbed to). We had quite the view...beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
This is the main building at the Ming Tombs...where an emperor was buried. Inside was a huge statue of him, and tons of artifacts from his burial site.
Sam...making friends with a local dragon.
One of the very pretty buildings at the Ming Tombs
This was one of our dinners. The food was delicious, but very greasy (seems like everything was fried). We got to sample duck, lots of fish dishes, as much Jasmine tea as we could take, and tons of delicious stir-fries and meat dishes.
Here we are at the Temple of Heaven. The building structure was so cool, and the colors were beautiful. This site is where the Emperor would come 4 times per year to pray for rain. Inside this main building were lots of water buffalo statues (since they were an animal that could retain a lot of water), and other altars and such.
Yellow is the Emperor's color. We found this pretty mural in the Forbidden City. Supposedly, any common person who used yellow to decorate their house was put to death. Only the Emperor was allowed to use this colour.
This is the longest corridor in the world, and it's at the Summer Palace in Beijing. The Empress who lived here had her dreams painted on the eaves of this corridor...14,000 paintings in all.
Sam, Tim (Sam's brother), and I were able to spend 4 days, and 3 nights touring around Beijing and it's outskirts...we only saw a drop of what China has to offer, but it was a great first introduction to Chinese culture.
Some highlights:
- spending Christmas Eve day hiking the Great Wall
- bartering with the local market vendors ("Hey lady, come in my shop", "Special deal for a special customer", "This price, just for you", "This is authentic leater, hand painted")
- a run-in with Communist soldiers, in which our bus driver was punched through the bus window, and almost dragged out of his seat. Tim's response: running to the front of the bus, opening a window, and yelling "NO" at the soldiers, while waving his hands back and forth...probably not the smartest thing to do, but a valiant effort on his part. The other guys also all ran to the front to try and hold the bus driver in, while us girls just sat shocked in our seats. Corruption at its finest.
- a 30 minute free foot massage at the Tibetan Medicine Center
- visiting a jade factory, a pearl factory, a silk factory, and a cloisonne factory (where they decorate brass vases, pots, plates, rings, etc.)
- viewing a Chinese circus, where performers bent, twisted, and threw their bodies around the stage...I never knew people could balance and stretch the ways that they did
- Western breakfasts with a Chinese flare (at our hotel) - we could have toast, yogurt and fruit, OR egg rolls, fried noodles, and curry
- and a glimpse at parts of the 5000 years of Chinese history
Here are a few pictures from our trip...Enjoy!!
Merry Christmas :0)
Our first night, at the Chinese Circus, where we saw amazing acrobatic stunts.
Here's Sam and I on the Great Wall. We climbed all the way up to the little building you can see at the top...45 minutes of stairs. This was probably the half way point.
Sam and Tim...a little higher up.
Here's Tim at the top, looking down on where we came from.
This is us at the high point of the wall (the top of where we climbed to). We had quite the view...beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
This is the main building at the Ming Tombs...where an emperor was buried. Inside was a huge statue of him, and tons of artifacts from his burial site.
Sam...making friends with a local dragon.
One of the very pretty buildings at the Ming Tombs
This was one of our dinners. The food was delicious, but very greasy (seems like everything was fried). We got to sample duck, lots of fish dishes, as much Jasmine tea as we could take, and tons of delicious stir-fries and meat dishes. Here we are at the Temple of Heaven. The building structure was so cool, and the colors were beautiful. This site is where the Emperor would come 4 times per year to pray for rain. Inside this main building were lots of water buffalo statues (since they were an animal that could retain a lot of water), and other altars and such.
Tim in front of the main Temple...you can see the colors a little clearer.
Outside the Temple walls was a big park where lots of elderly Chinese people hang out each day. They were playing music, singing opera, playing games, dancing, twirling ribbons, playing ball games, and practicing sword techniques. It was neat to see some of the local culture.
Sam and I in front of the big picture of Chairman Mao that hangs in Tianamen Square.
Here we are in front of the entrance to the Forbidden City. We were told that many, many people were beaten to death outside of this gate. No common people were allowed to enter the Forbidden City...it was strictly for the Emperor, his wife, his servants, and the 3000 concubines that kept him company.
Yellow is the Emperor's color. We found this pretty mural in the Forbidden City. Supposedly, any common person who used yellow to decorate their house was put to death. Only the Emperor was allowed to use this colour.
These were our tour buddies...a great group of people. The man in the middle was our tour guide, David (he was awesome!)
# posted by Becky @ 5:56 PM 
Comments:
<< Home
LOVE THE PICS!!!!!!!!! so cool! i can't wait to see more! you guys are always having great adventures! i love your toque becky. it's so cute!!!
Hey Bec and Sam,
Loved the pics and some of the history you shared.
Glad you were able to spend Christmas with Tim.
Miss you like crazy!! Love, Aunt Sheila
Loved the pics and some of the history you shared.
Glad you were able to spend Christmas with Tim.
Miss you like crazy!! Love, Aunt Sheila
That wall looks pretty great! And all those factories you got to go to...you would make Mr Rogers very jealous. All you needed was a jelly belly factory and what more could you have asked for! Miss you guys a lot...if the great wall was a representation of how much I missed you then imagine two of them, and there you have it!
Post a Comment
<< Home
