Grand Metropark Yuantong Beijing

... artificial facade China insists on presenting: I don't suppose the Uighirs in the west, or the people of occupied Tibet, are smiling quite as much as the show dancers who were so keen to emphasise the happy national family that is the People's Republic.

post-script... it's a couple of days later and I heard the word is that missiles were fired to disperse the clouds in order for a perfect blue sky on the day!!!

... Tian’anmen Square



Located in the heart of Beijing, Tian’anmen Square is one of its
symbols. The square itself is free to explore and is the surrounded by
monuments and Chairman Mao's Mausoleum. At sunrise and sunset, there is
a rising and lowering of the flag ceremony.Beijing is one of the cities to see in the world. With thousands of years of culture and history, it is certain to fascinate.
Cleaner Reviews

... The murals were wonderful and such ornate rooms, too much detail to take in. in one visit! The 2nd chapel also had a throne of the 5th DL near a Chenresig, 1,000-armed statue and a 3rd room showing his living room. Awesome! The main assembly hall was next to the monks' kitchen - a huge building with massive cauldrons, vats and ladles. Many chapels and rooms (in Tibetan temples generally) impose a 'camera' charge (in addition to the entrance ...

... started to look alike. And it was pity, for much as they visually did resemble each other quite a bit, each of them was nevertheless different and carried its own story. After all, a power that had shaped a good deal of eastern world had for centuries resided here and just that was enough for me to have to pay it due respect and attention. But brain can absorb only so much, and at that moment I became aware that until I pulled myself a bit together, the best I could do was take ...

... at the 17 arch bridge. Most structures in China have odd numbers meaning good luck. 17 arches because each way you count you come up to nine, if you count the middle arch each time.....Nine is a lucky number. Most of the buildings have dragons at the top corners - The dragon is known to control the water, the smaller dragon figurines are the dragon's children, also able to control water ...

... the Goddess who patched up a broken sky. The trouble started with a quarrel between two powerful gods. One of them smashed a mountain that had served as a pillar holding up the sky. The collapse caused the sky to tilt towards the northwest and the earth to slant southeast, engendering fires and floods, and frightening beasts. Nuwa then chopped off the legs of a giant tortoise, which she used to replace the pillar, and gathered stones of seven colors to seal and ...

... something so ancient and raw, and the views you have from the peaks, of the wall, which is seemingly unending, on the rolling mountains, which supposedly go as far as the eye can see. i say supposedly because unfortunately (a BIG unfortunately), we were there on a day with ********** air quality. any hopes of it clearing up as the day wore on were shot down, but even with visibility only allowing me to see as far a few peaks and watch towers reaching into the stratosphere ...

... us a tour of the place, the floor is one big circle. The walls have tons of pictures of different people who had visited the club. A few mentionable names: George Bush, senior, and Henry Kissinger. Yea, I know. This is the real deal. The view! I have a whole new love and appreciation for this city. It's huge! And it's beautiful at night, everything lit up. I stood for quite some time just staring out the windows. So ...

A day to visit new places or return to some favorites, the Shanghai Museum for example or if it should be a clear day maybe a ride to the top of Pearl Tower. This day really ended up being my rest day. I had a few stomach issues that began the night before so thought it might be in my best interest not to test things too much, plus I was completely set to grab my book find a park and read and people watch ...

... laughing hysterically. I just am not a fan of most of the food. Lunch today included something that looked like a perch with tiny sharp teeth. It had been deep fried to a crisp WHOLE and was served looking just like a tiny fish. They tried to get me to go for that...but I managed to distract them with my silliness. Whew. However, at dinner, when we were through eating (and I mean really THEY were through eating), Lori wanted to play a ...