April 5, 2016

April 5    flying home from Beijing

   There was no need to set an alarm for this morning. We are saying good bye to China today. The clear sky, temperature about 12 C, the predicted particle count was 102 and there was a noticeable light haze. There were a few familiar faces at breakfast, but our group had flights leaving between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. including extensions for some people to Hong Kong. 

    We were transferred to the airport from the hotel at noon with 12 people from the three guide’s (Gao, Tom and Arnold) groups. It was just a quick 25 minute drive, part of it on the toll road, to the airport. The haze was thicker at the airport. Our flight was scheduled to depart Beijing at 4:05 p.m. (3:05 am at home) for Vancouver. It was delayed about 40 minutes in Beijing. Even though we were at the airport 3 hours early, there was a lineup at the Air Canada check-in, which was only open for the Vancouver flight. Next we found Gao directing the Viking passengers in the proper direction to get to the gate.  He told us where to go to catch a train to get to our departure terminal.  This was something new.  First we had to pass through security, then had less than a minute to wait for the three subway-like cars taking passengers to terminal 3D for domestic flights and onward to terminal 3E for international/Hong Kong/Macau & Taiwan flights. The ride was less than five minutes.  We followed the signs for our gate and found another security line where the staff actually rummaged through your carry-on bag, laptop case and purse and took out keys and a few other things and put them in the tray along with carry-on bag, case or purse. Once through security and with everything put back in place, we located the gate. To make use of the wait time, we decided to walk around the large terminal and see the kiosks, cafés and shops. The walk around the terminal’s perimeter took 55 minutes and the distance was almost three miles!  We took a break for a snack and walked a little more until the plane boarding was announced.

    The plane was a Boeing 777-300ER. This is a larger plane than the one to Shanghai.  It had 42 Business class seats and 328 Economy class seats.  Customs declaration cards were passed out once the plane was in the air.  A dinner was served about two hours into the flight and breakfast was served about 90 minutes before the plane landed. Neither of us was tired enough to sleep on the plane There was a good variety of recent movie titles to watch. The plane landed at 12:35 p.m. (we flew across the International Dateline) to a light rain and 9 C.  We had three hours in Vancouver before the next flight.  There were several planes with passengers that were going through Border Services and Customs. We still had not purchased enough for all of one person’s duty free allowance. We picked up our luggage in the Customs Hall and then when we exited it, put them on the conveyer belt to go to the connecting plane. The declaration process was automated. About one hour after landing we had found our gate. While waiting in Vancouver, since Google and its associated programs were no longer blocked, we were able to post some of the blog entries with photos. 

    When the plane landed at home, there was a snowy drizzle, 18 km/h northeast wind and the temperature was 0 C.   We walked into our house about 9:15 pm., just 27 hours since we had awoken in Beijing. 

Distance walked today was 6.4 miles.

   

April 4, 2016

April 4    Beijing    Imperial Palace   a.k.a. Forbidden City

     Today the sky is clear with a few thin wisps of cloud, temperature about 15 C. The predicted particle count was 60; if you looked into distance of a long street, there was a bit of a haze. Our group, we are calling ourselves Gao’s cousins, was on the bus at 8 a.m. for a short drive to Tian an men Square to start today’s walking tour of the Imperial Palace Museum.  Only 80,000 visitors are allowed each day.

    The Chinese name for their country means Middle Kingdom, as in Heaven, Earth and Underworld.  China was believed to be the center of the world.

     Tian an men Square is large enough to accommodate one million people. We needed to go through two security check points to enter the square. There were thousands of people already visiting the square and a long line had formed for viewing the embalmed body of Mao Zedong in his mausoleum. There was lots of room to walk and take pictures. Our group traversed the square photographing the surrounding buildings, including the Great Hall of the People and the Chinese Revolution History Museum. In the center of the square is the granite Monument to the People’s Heroes commemorating the heroes from 1840, when China opened up after the first Opium War, to 1949, the year of the creation of the People’s Republic of China. Tian an men Square covers 100 acres, making it the world’s largest public square. In the time of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was much smaller and led up to the main gate, the southern Meridian Gate (Wu men) and considered to be the “front door” of the Forbidden City.

   We continued toward the Forbidden City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since 1925 it has been known as the Imperial Palace Museum.   It is the world’s largest palace complex, covering 720,000 square meters, all of it protected by a 20-foot moat and a 32-foot wall, with 9,999 rooms. The Forbidden City was the Ming and Qing Dynasties’ imperial palace, built between 1406 and 1420, containing many gardens, the largest one in the concubines’ compound.

   The Forbidden City imperial palace was occupied by the reigning emperor and his families until 1911, when the Sung Revolution forced an end to the dynasties.  The young emperor, not yet five years old, was forced to abdicate, but allowed to live in the complex, but not leave it. Then in 1924, another revolt occurred and he was forced from his home.  The Imperial Palace Museum was opened in 1925.  To learn a bit more about this period and the last emperor’s life, the Hollywood movie, “The Last Emperor”, will give you an idea.  Also the books “Twilight in the Forbidden City”, written by the emperor’s English teacher, and “Emperor to Citizen” are recommended for more insight. 

   The emperors believed that the Forbidden City was a replica of the palace in heaven which had 10,000 rooms.  Common people were not allowed into the Forbidden City and officials of the government were only allowed in certain areas depending on their rank.  It has 9,999 rooms with a portico space measuring 1 metre by 4 metres between exterior columns counting as a “room”. The nearly 1,000 buildings are made of marble; wood with either mortise and tenon joints or dove tailed joints, but no nails; or hand-made bricks which the maker had to date and make his mark on the back or stones (the mortar between bricks or stones was sticky rice juice, as used in the Terra Cotta warriors).  If the brick maker’s product was not up to the standard he was punished.  There was an earthquake in 1976 registering 7.8 with the epicenter close to Beijing and the thick walled (over 10 meters) buildings were not damaged, but the marble banisters in some areas cracked. 

       The group approached the gates of the outer court where the Dynasty officials conducted the affairs of state. The imperial colours are yellow and red and the common people were not allowed to use those colours. Yellow stands for Earth while Red stands for happiness.

   Just before the next gate was the ticket office, so the group filed through another security check and passed through the Meridian Gate into the outer courtyard.  The roofs are ornamented with dragon heads and smaller mythical sons of dragon.  The greater number of small mythical dragon’s sons, the more important the building with the Hall of Benevolence having 10 sons of dragon.  It was the throne room.  Behind the Hall of Benevolence is the Hall of Complete Harmony where the emperor stopped before appearing in the throne room in order to receive his “briefing notes” of the day’s events. The staircase from here going further into the complex is the residence of the family and the huge triple staircase is made from one slab of local marble.  The third building, Hall of Preserving Harmony was where the examination for officials was held every three years with the emperor presiding. In this area, there are drains which are shaped like dragon’s heads and the mouth spews water when it rains, draining the flat surfaces.  Around the complex are huge 50 and 100 liters vats to hold water in case of fire. The water in the garden and the moat could also be used for ancient fire fighting.  Next we toured the concubine complex, where the women lived and could not leave.  There was some original furniture.  More of the imperial furnishing can be found in the Taiwan Museum.  They were evacuated from mainland China in 1949 by Chaing Kaichek.  The garden adjoining the residence was the last area we toured before leaving.  It contains trees that are between 200 and 500 years old that have coloured tags attached to their trunks telling their age.

     As we walked out of the complex at the northern Gate of Spiritual Valor (Shenwu men) and across the moat, we had walked three miles in just over three hours.  A hill rose in front of us created from the earth dug for the moats, there is a building at the crest.  In the past the hill was part of the Forbidden City land.

By noon, the temperature has risen to a comfortable 18 and no thicker haze.  We had a traditional Chinese set menu 10 course lunch at a restaurant on central Beijing’s restaurant street. The fish selection was a whole fish, head, tail and bones included in a tasty peanut sauce. Some of the other platters were a broccoli plate, beef, deep fried shrimp, deep fried chicken  nuggets, steamed bok choy and steamed rice  The fruit platter served at the end of the meal contained orange slices, watermelon slices and honeydew melon slices.  In China, fortune cookies may appear at Chinese New Year but not likely at any other time.

   We returned to the hotel about 2 and completed the tour evaluation form before going out for a little exploring.  We took about 30 minutes to walk to the Imperial Palace Museum area and pause to admire a lake which was the start of the Grand Canal, a man made waterway extending from Beijing to south of Shanghai. WE passed many small shops and several bakeries displaying tempting pastries. The walk added another three miles to the daily count.  Back at the hotel we caught up on emailed and wrote part of the blog before joining Bill and Marianne for dinner in the hotel café. 

   The buffet was a bountiful buffet of Chinese, Japanese and western food.  There was a separate corner for desserts including a selection of fruit slices, but also a mouth-watering selection of slices, cakes and cookies as well as crème brulé and tiramisu.  When we were finished we said our farewells and returned to our rooms to prepare to leave in the morning.

  Our daily walking distance today was 7.9 miles. 

April 3, 2016

April 3    Beijing - Great Wall of China

                         

   Today we were up in time to have breakfast and be on the bus by 6:30 a.m. for a trip to see part of the Great Wall of China. The temperature was about 10 C and a mostly sunny sky, no haze; you can easily see the mountains.  The Ba Da Ling section of the wall is about 70 km from downtown Beijing. By 7:30, we were approaching the Ba Da Ling Hills and could clearly see the mountains and our first glimpse of the Great Wall of China, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We passed the zoo which was close to the parking lot where the bus was going, there are elephant sculptures at the entrance.  Elephants were used as transportation in southern China long ago and camels were used in northern China due to the Gobi Desert only about 500 km west of Beijing.

    The Ba Da Ling Great Wall gates and the expressway leading to the Great Wall were the site of the finishing round of the Urban Road Cycling Course in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

    Most parts of the preserved Ba Da Ling Great Wall were built in the 5th century then reinforced and extended during the Ming Dynasty 1368 - 1644 AD to defend Beijing against the intrusion of northern Mongolians. The continuous wall extended over 8,850 kilometres. The total length of this section is 12 kilometers with 43 watchtowers, but only 3.74 kilometers and 19 watchtowers have been restored in the last 25 years and opened to visitors. The Ba Da Ling section of the wall is about 7.8 meters high on average and over five meters wide which would allow five horses to travel along the route or ten soldiers marching shoulder to shoulder (or two tour buses). It is built of huge bar-stones and bricks. The interior of the wall was stuffed with rammed earth and small stones for a solid base. The small holes in the battlement walls were to allow for shooting arrows and watching enemies. Like the Xi’an City Wall, the distance between the towers was a bit shorter than the distance that two arrows, in opposite directions, could be shot so that there was no unprotected spot on the ramparts or down below. Garrisons of soldiers would be stationed at each stone tower where they lived and defended their section. The towers were also used to signal. The wall meanders through the Juyongguan Pass, one can almost imagine the winding rise and fall of the wall as a giant Chinese dragon.

   Our bus took us to the entrance’s closest parking lot, but we still walked for ten minutes to arrive at the ticket office.  There were souvenir shops along the way but, other than calls to see the goods, there were no aggressive vendors.  Before the group mounted the steps to get onto the Great Wall, Gao’s cousins – our group – posed for a professional group photo.  Then Gao took orders for the photo that came in a 38 page booklet of pictures of the Great Wall at Ba Da Ling in all seasons plus other locations such as the Mutianyu section and other areas in and around Beijing.  The cost was ¥ 100 about $20 Canadian. Then the group dispersed for a little over two hours to either the Northern section on the right which had lots of stairs to aid the ascent but was by far the  busier side or the left Southern section for a more difficult climb which fewer people chose.  We joined Lorraine and Gary for the climb to the “7th Tower of South Side” where further access was barred. We had walked one demanding mile from the entrance turnstile. There were steep climbs of ramparts and uneven steps, some almost 30 cm high, although the average step height was about 20 cm.  The views were spectacular from the battlements.  We took pictures and admired the views in the many pauses we took.  Several Chinese groups asked if Lorraine and Gary would be in their picture. The route back was taxing as slopes were steep, and stairs uneven, but there was a railing. Your knees got tired from the constant braking that the steps needed.  There were more people ascending the path as we walked down and the North side looked quite crowded as people stopped for photos and rest.  We found some flatter parts around the shopping areas and cafés.  The crowds were not as congested as we expected, but the traffic going to the Wall by noon was backed up for kilometers on the expressway.  For this holiday weekend the toll highways are free to cars.

     At 11, when the bus left the parking lot we had accumulated over five miles so far. The temperature was about 17 and the sun felt warm. Our route was returning to Beijing. We passed a statue of General Li who led a Farmers Revolt in 1600s, but his victory only lasted 100 days. Thirty minutes later we alighted at a Jade workshop and gift store where we were shown the artisans at work and given a brief lesson in the types of jade and jadeite. Then we were ushered to the second floor restaurant for a Chinese set menu lunch served to tables for 10, with a spinning platform where a dozen different platters of food were set for you to help yourself. The meal ended with a fruit plate of watermelon, melon and dragon fruit slices.  Beer, soft drinks and bottled water was served as well.  After lunch we had lots of time to browse and shop in the jade showroom.  There was jade and jadeite of many colours in earring, pendants and bracelets as well as zodiac signs, family tree globes, and sculptures – even a meter high and 2 meter long Dragon Ship which took three and a half years to carve.

    The next stop, which had lots of traffic due to the holiday weekend, was the Ming Dynasty Tombs and the Sacred Way.  There was a slight haze in the distance.  The Sacred Way, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a wide tree-lined boulevard lined with enormous 15th century marble sculptures of Ming officials, Chinese mythical creatures (like Qiling a type of double horned unicorn), elephants and camels.  The Sacred Way leads to a 50 square kilometer area of 13 Ming Dynasty emperors’ tombs. The length is one mile and our group strolled along the avenue for about an hour on a beautiful spring day.  Set in the foothills of the Tianshou Mountains, the feng shui of a horseshoe shape of mountain on three sides was ideal for tombs and would deflect evil spirits. Thirteen of the 16 Ming Emperors built mausoleums. The tombs look like hills and until the Farmers Revolution the hill tops contained buildings which were destroyed.  The first tomb was built for Changling from 1409 to 1421.  He had decided to move the Ming capital to Beijing in 1406.  Marble from the surrounding area was used for the sculptures and a large 400 year old three arched gateway.  There is also a large red building at the southern end. In 1956 one of the tombs was opened and its contents catalogued.  It was the tomb of Emperor Dingling. He and his two wives were found in the one of the five chambers and were surrounded by thirty wooden boxes of treasure.  We returned to the bus and on the route back to the hotel we passed by the grounds of the 2008 Olympic Games to pass by some of the buildings such as the swimming pool and stadium, both unique structures.  There is a newer building nearby called the Five Nails since it looks likes giant nails.  Near this building is a large open area where people were flying several dozen big kites over 200 meters in the air.  We returned to the hotel around 4 and had 6.7 miles registered.

  Dinner tonight was split between a Peking Duck optional dinner or the included dinner at the People’s Commune restaurant with a decor honoring Chairman Mao Zedong. Those people, from Arnold and Gao’s groups not going to the Peking Duck dinner, mingled  to have a Chinese set menu in a fun setting.  The food was a different 12 course meal in a family style restaurant.  The meal ended with a fruit plate of watermelon, apple and orange.  We were back at the hotel by 8. Today’s mileage was 7.10.