Long post coming!! Air China--here we come!
Tiananmen Square, in Chinese translates to "the gate of heavenly peace." it's also one of the entrances to the Forbidden City. Our tour guide told us to hold on tight to our belongs, b/c this was a popular pickpocketing site.
The Forbidden City! The former imperial palace and home to 24 Chinese emperors over 500 years. Ordinary people were not allowed inside its gates—which is why it was called the Forbidden City—until 1925 when members of the public entered it for the first time.
stopping for pictures--everybody loved Jake, especially. notice my death grip on Jake's hand? We held hands the entire trip. no joke. I was so paranoid and nervous to take the kids to China. I think I'd heard too many stories...
I can't even begin to tell you how massive this place was. It took 3 hours to walk from one side to the other. 178 acres, 800 buildings.
this is my "Ryan, put the camera down and get over here and help me" look
most of the walls were red and tiled roofs were yellow. and the rest of Beijing, outside the Forbidden city were other not as bright colors. It was interesting that there were laws about what color your roof could be, and each color meant something.
and then after a long, hot day at the Forbidden City, our tour guide took us to a Peking Duck restaurant. yum!
Tiananmen Square, in Chinese translates to "the gate of heavenly peace." it's also one of the entrances to the Forbidden City. Our tour guide told us to hold on tight to our belongs, b/c this was a popular pickpocketing site.
The Forbidden City! The former imperial palace and home to 24 Chinese emperors over 500 years. Ordinary people were not allowed inside its gates—which is why it was called the Forbidden City—until 1925 when members of the public entered it for the first time.
stopping for pictures--everybody loved Jake, especially. notice my death grip on Jake's hand? We held hands the entire trip. no joke. I was so paranoid and nervous to take the kids to China. I think I'd heard too many stories...
I can't even begin to tell you how massive this place was. It took 3 hours to walk from one side to the other. 178 acres, 800 buildings.
this is my "Ryan, put the camera down and get over here and help me" look
most of the walls were red and tiled roofs were yellow. and the rest of Beijing, outside the Forbidden city were other not as bright colors. It was interesting that there were laws about what color your roof could be, and each color meant something.
and then after a long, hot day at the Forbidden City, our tour guide took us to a Peking Duck restaurant. yum!
We took a cycle rickshaw ride through the hutongs, old traditional alleyways and courtyard homes which once covered all of Beijing. These were hundreds of years old. a great way to see how people lived in the past.
This was Mrs. Li, our tour guide, a definite MUST when travelling in a foreign country. She was great at fiending off groups of crazy Chinese girls with cameras trying to get pictures of Jake. She would plow through them all saying, leave them alone. They don't do pictures. etc.
This was Mrs. Li, our tour guide, a definite MUST when travelling in a foreign country. She was great at fiending off groups of crazy Chinese girls with cameras trying to get pictures of Jake. She would plow through them all saying, leave them alone. They don't do pictures. etc. It was also interesting to hear her talk about her life, since she was older. I asked her how she became a tour guide and she said, "after going to college, back in the 1960's I was assigned to work as a tour guide" that's it. the government told her what her job would be. can you imagine?? She also talked about how she and her husband were assigned to work in separate cities for 5 years! and then how happy she was to be reassigned to the same city her husband was working in so they could live together again. so strange. but so matter of fact for her. like, it's just how it was. no big deal.
a hutong alleyway
a group of older people playing a Chinese version of dominos.
The Olympic Park--from the 2008 Olympics. This is the birds nest, called that b/c of the very interesting architecture. 
inside the birds nest
The Olympic park was huge, with many buildings and open areas. we walked a ton this day. and also ate at a McDonald's that only had 2 things on the menu. Chicken nuggets and Big Macs. That's it. and it was a full sized, huge McDonalds building. but had only 2 choices. It was so strange!
The Olympic pool. I met a lady at swimming lessons this summer who had recently moved to Seattle from Beijing and she lived just a few minutes from here! what a small world. The water building, called the cube, has been transformed into a great public swim area with water slides etc.
a hutong alleyway
a group of older people playing a Chinese version of dominos.
The Olympic Park--from the 2008 Olympics. This is the birds nest, called that b/c of the very interesting architecture. 
inside the birds nest
The Olympic park was huge, with many buildings and open areas. we walked a ton this day. and also ate at a McDonald's that only had 2 things on the menu. Chicken nuggets and Big Macs. That's it. and it was a full sized, huge McDonalds building. but had only 2 choices. It was so strange!
The Olympic pool. I met a lady at swimming lessons this summer who had recently moved to Seattle from Beijing and she lived just a few minutes from here! what a small world. The water building, called the cube, has been transformed into a great public swim area with water slides etc.
2 comments:
Wow! Your pics are all so great! Helped me re-live our trip there in 2007 (except the Olympic stuff wasn't quite completed...they did have this huge digital sign across from Tiananmen Square, counting down the seconds until the beginning of the Olympics) - I digress...what a great experience!
Jill! Thank you for sharing your pictures. What a great opportunity your kids have had as world travelers. The Olympic pics were especially fun. I can't believe Emily is taller than you. When did this happen? Amazing. I love your family, take care and miss you so much.
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