Beijing
On day 5 we took the bus from Suzhou Back to Shanghai in order to catch a plane to Beijing. We were all looking forward to this trip. Our first on a Chinese airline, and of course the city of Beijing with Tiananmen Square, The Summer Palace, The Forbidden City, The Great Wall of China, Silk Alley, and The Friendship Store.
The flight was fine, and there were some interesting surprises. The airline attendants were introduced to the passengers and bowed formally. We were served a snack, and most surprising of all....just before we landed the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" came over the loudspeakers. All of our luggage arrived safely at yet another modern airport, and we were met by a young local guide, Tracey, who along with Cheng, whose hometown was Beijing was going to be guiding us all over town. We were taken to The Palace hotel right in the middle of everything, and very luxurious. The traffic was unbelievable with buses, automobiles, bicycles and pedestrians all claiming the right of way.
We had been a group of eight, but now two lovely young women joined our group. Sisters Julie and Joanna, who joined Sue as the youngsters of the group.
Cheng, our guide, Sue, Fran, Fred, Norm, Ruth, Joe, Kate, Jane, Joanna, Julie, and Tracey, our city guide, in Tiananmen Square with the Peace Museum in the rear.
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Sue and Fran in Tiananmen Square |
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At the building of the tomb of Mao. There was too long a line for our group to wait. |
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We actually dressed up twice. Once in Tiananmen Square, as shown here, and then again at the Summer Palace as shown on the first page. It costs $10 for each person, and they just slipped the robe over whatever you were wearing, and jammed a headdress on top of your head. Both men and women. Your friends in the tour group could take you photo with your cameras. Hot, but fun. |
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Marble Boat seen at The Summer Palace. It is said that it was given to the husband of the Empress to keep him nearby. And I'll bet it worked! |
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This is the facade in front of the Palace Hotel. Quite a showpiece. All of the stores inside the hotel were designer's shops. |
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Here are Fred and Jane from our group who were also ready to don the costumes and pose for the photos. |
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This is a photo taken by my new friend, Rene, who was in China with his father earlier than Sue and I were. It is a photo of the beautifully painted Long Walk at the Summer Palace. He gave me permission to use his this great photo. His home page is: "http://www.oocities.org/ a4theroad/china2001/1.html" |
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Just a few blocks from the Palace Hotel Sue and I discovered a wonderful display of sculpture in honor of Beijing being named an Olympic Candidate City for the 2008 Summer Olympics. All of the sculpture was very modern, and there were many sports depicted. This is obviously soccer. |
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Here I am in front of the bicycling sculpture wearing my Beijing, Candidate City tee shirt. Everywhere in Beijing are signs that this is it, the time for Beijing to take its place on the world stage. They are anxious for validation that yes, China is a player on the world stage. |
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And this is the official flag of Beijing 2008, Candidate City. The decision will be made by the Olympic committee on July 13 of this year, 2001. |
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