Beijing

Temple

After we cleared customs, our tour bus took us directly to the Temple. That was a most interesting introduction to China. First, we saw people, lots of people. Older Chinese, most of whom are retired, enjoy gathering in these park-like settings to play cards, excercise or just visit. Many of the photographs on the People: The Old page were taken here.

Second, the temple was stunning. I think we were most fortunate in the timing of our trip to China. We were there mere weeks after the Olympics had ended. Undoubtedly, the city and all of its sights had been meticulously prepared for the foreign spotlight and we benefited from that. So, quite likely all of the colorful painting in the temple had recently been restored. Even so, the detail was magnificent, a beautiful sight.

John, our tour guide
John, our tour guide in Beijing. Both of our tour guides were excellent. They were quite knowledgeable and spoke perfect Engligh. John invited us to teach him new words and delighted in telling us of his misuse of other words he had learned.
Temple
This is the temple as we entered. One first walked through a gorgeous park area and then into the temple compound. All of these areas were meticulously maintained.
Building in temple compound
A building in the temple compound.
The temple
The Temple
Temple roof
The temple roof. Note the exquisite detail.

Tiananmen Square

After the temple we went to Tiananmen Square. This is an extremely popular place for Chinese tourists to visit. As you will see in the photos, there were thousands of people there, practically all Chinese. This is where the fateful demonstrations occurred. The main building is in the first picture. To the left is Mao's tomb. To the right is the entrance to the Forbidden City.

Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square.
Mao's Tomb
Mao's Tomb. The lines to enter are very long all day long.
Soldiers
Soldiers were everywhere. At first it was a little disconcerting, but after you became accustomed to their presence, you began to realize that you were in a very safe place. Our guide told us that it was OK to take pictures of the soldiers, but do not ask them to pose for you. If you did that, you would be interfering with their duties.
Soldier
At one point as we were walking along, our group became a little strung out and a Chinese woman moved in amongst us. An alert soldier spotted her and immediately called her aside.

Forbidden City

The fabled Forbidden City. This seemed to be the second most popular tourist spot for the Chinese, right after Mao's tomb.

Forbidden City
Magnificent architecture
Temple roof
Extraordinary detail in the roof.
Temple
Temple. We were told that if the building had a gold roof, it was a building for royalty. The vast majority of the people you see are Chinese tourist, also visiting the campital.
Bird
Stunning artwork
Urns
I initially thought these were huge decorative urns. Our guide explained that they were actually used to store water for use in fire fighting if needed.
Exercising
John insisted that our group pause for a little exercise session in the Forbidden City to refresh ourselves.
Four star toilet
The toilets we used in the Forbidden City sported a Four Star rating!
Toilet
An example: they're different, but clean and quite workable.
Leaving the Forbidden City
Leaving the Forbidden City we were greeted by yet more temples on the distant hill.
Check out the other pages:
Return to Dave & Dru's Home Page