Day One - Beijing

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, our Beijing cab driver swerved into the next lane, luckily, there was no one else in the lane. Along freeways in light to moderate traffic, weaving through Hyundai, Hondas and Volkswagons at 60 mph, we suddenly realized that our driver was barely able to keep his eyes open! Lucie suggested we start up a conversation very loudly to try to keep him alert, but nothing seemed to work. Again he drifted off to sleep and the cab took on  a direction all to its own! From the back seat, I reached up and banged him on the shoulder to wake him. Our Oriental adventure had begun.

Half way round the world and 24 hours earlier, our son Christopher dropped us at the airport in Greenville to begin our tour of China. Roughly 24 hours of flying via the famed North-West passage, with stops in Atlanta and Seattle, would bring us to Beijing China. I managed to sleep most of the way and we arrived in Beijing at 10 pm, clearing customs with relative ease.

Outside into the muggy evening we found the taxi line, unfortunately, at least 150 people beat us there. Having read that impatience is considered a character flaw by the Chinese, we smiled and made the best of the experience. Finally, without wrecking, we reached our first base camp, the West International Trade Hotel, and using my handy i-phone translator app were able to pay the driver and get a receipt.

Our first night was mostly restless, remember we are 12 hours ahead in Beijing so what was night in China was the middle of the day in South Carolina. We woke to our first day in Peking under a hazy sky that was more due to pollution than cloud cover. The temperature was in the upper 80s with a heavy coating of humidity blanketing the air. Breakfast was a long buffet offering all sorts of tasty choices, from scrambled eggs and French toast to spiced fish and fried noodles. We ate heartily, anticipating the long day ahead. At breakfast we joined Jean and Danielle, Lucie's brother and sister-in-law and the ones who discovered the tour while attending a promotional seminar in Montreal.

After breakfast, we met our guide for the next three weeks, Liu, and our local Beijing guide, Nicolas, as they herded us and our 23 travel-mates onto bus number 2 (there are 3 bus loads on the tour traveling relatively together but not mingling). We headed out for our first stop, Tian'an Men Square, the birthplace of the PRC (People's Republic of China). It was here on October 1, 1949 that Mao Zedong founded of the Communist Party. Originally built in 1415, the square has been enlarged many times until the 1950s when it reached its present size, a capacity of 800,000 people.

Beijing is ringed with highways, there are 6 ring roads around the city in expanding diameters, that are clogged with traffic, but the most popular form of transportation is the bicycle. We saw every shape size and configuration of bicycle. There are three wheeled 'taxi' with closed compartments, scooters, motorized bicycles. Other than the ceremonial guards posted around the tourist areas, we saw little evidence of a police or military presence. At one point I watched as a policemen approached a man on a bicycle carrying 5 times his mass in cardboard and plastic he had collected around the city. I expected him to issue some official “move along” kind of statement but instead he pulled out an empty water bottle, carefully inserted it into the load and tapped the man on the shoulder with a smile before moving along his way.

Here we are in Tian'an Men Square among the flowers.

Lucie found herself a little friend while admiring the flowers.

From Tian'an Men Square we crossed under the highway through the subway tunnel to reach the first gate of the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was home to the Emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Constructed in 1406, almost 100 years before Columbus discovered America, it is an amazing example of old world architecture and the excesses of the aristocracy.

 The Meridian Gate. Only the Emperor can use the center gate to enter or leave the Palace.

This tongue and groove construction technique was seen everywhere, it requires no nails.

The dragon's five toes signify the location is part of the emperor's palace.

This couple was having wedding photos done at the Forbidden City, despite the fact that the actual wedding was likely months off.

Through the Gate of Earthly Tranquility you can find the Imperial Gardens.

 Jean and Danielle.

Here, our modern day Gang of Four is seen posed in the Imperial Gardens.

From the Forbidden City we walked back to our bus along a narrow pathway crowded with street vendors selling souvenirs of Beijing. Our guide recommended exact change when buying since it was likely any change you received would be counterfeit.

Our next stop was for lunch. The restaurant was located next to a beautiful Beijing park. We were seated at tables of 8 with a large circular tray in the middle that rotated like a lazy Susan. The staff brought various types of Chinese dishes, placing them in the middle. You rotated the tray until you brought what you wanted in front of you and took a serving. It was all very delicious and we ate our fill, washing it back with a refreshing glass of Chinese beer.

After lunch we took a stroll around the park, which while beautiful, had very few people. This park in an American city would be teeming with people, bicycles, and strollers.

Next stop, the Temple of Heaven. It was here that the Emperor would come to pray for a good harvest. A good harvest was key to an Emperor staying on as Emperor, too many bad years and it would be time to change Dynasties. Shown here along with the temple, is a five-hundred year old tree, planted at a time when China was the most powerful nation on the earth.

The original Temple was constructed in 1406-1420 but was burned to the ground by lightening in 1889. Shortly afterwards it was rebuild entirely our of wood with the use of no nails.

This man was practicing calligraphy using water as his ink, read fast!

We saw many occurrences of this card game, notice the number of cards in her hand!

This musical instrument sounded similar to a bass-flute.

People were often seen cleaning the streets with wisk-like brooms. The whole city was very clean in one sense but very dirty in another. There was no litter to be seen anywhere but there was a coating of dirt and dust on everything. This sweeper is on his way back from lunch.

A stringed instrument like a lyre.

In meditation with three Chinese balls to massage his Qi.

Lions, like this one, were to be seen throughout China.

From the Temple of Heaven we boarded the bus and headed for dinner. We arrived a little early so we found the bar and enjoyed a refreshing beer before dinner. Dinner was delicious, served in a similar way to lunch – perhaps a pattern of meals is developing. After dinner we were to go to see the Beijing Opera but Jean convinced us to grab a cab back to the hotel instead for an early night. As it turned out, the rest of the group said we made a good choice. So ended our first day, tomorrow were off to see the Great Wall of China.