A Month of Family, Part Two May 31, 2010
Posted by freda in China.1 comment so far
The boys arrived late in the afternoon on Thursday, April 22nd. Poor guys were back on a plane first thing Friday morning, as the four of us (the boys, Mom and I – Don had gone the day before to attend the Beijing Auto Show) flew to Beijing. After the usual suitcase retrieval, we met our tour guide, Selina, and were taken to our hotel to check in and freshen up. Don met us there, and then we were off to the Ancient Observatory. Astronomy is one of Nico’s passions, so I knew this would particularly interest him, but it was fascinating for all of us. The observatory is one of the oldest in the world, dating back to 1442, and has several bronze instruments on the roof, including an azimuth theodolite, used to measure the altitude of celestial bodies, and an armillary sphere for measuring the coordinates of planets and stars. (Yes, this info comes from the guide book!)
Ecliptic armillary sphere on the left
one of a collection of reproduction astronomical devices in the courtyard
Our next stop was a rickshaw ride through one of Beijing’s hutong neighbourhoods. As I described in the blog of Elsie’s visit, a hutong is an old courtyard-style of housing, found in the alleyways and particular to Beijing. (The old-style housing in Shanghai is different, and I’ll talk about them next blog.) It was a lovely afternoon for a rickshaw ride.
Nico and me
Don and Lucas
Mom
shop-lined streets
narrow lanes
and roasting ducks in the windows...
The traffic in Beijing was horrendous, and we’d had a bit of a late start, so by the time we finished in the hutong, we were pressed for time to get to our reserved acrobatic show. It was decided, as we sat idling in traffic, wondering how we’d fit dinner in before the show, that we would have pizzas delivered to the theatre, and we gobbled down a couple of slices each sitting on the theatre steps. I wish we’d taken pictures! The show was spectacular…
these ladies were amazing!
and these men and women also!
All in all, a great finish to our first day in Beijing. Back to the hotel for a good sleep before tackling the Great Wall.
Saturday was a gorgeous, sunny day. Don and I were excited to be going to the Great Wall in such perfect conditions, especially after our snowy visit in early March!
This time we went to the area called Mutianyu. It was a long, steep climb just to get to the cable car to take us to the top….
walking the hill up to the cable car - our tour guide, Selina, was a great help
and I was worried about mom making it, given she is waiting for hip-replacement surgery and in some pain, but she was determined.
On the Great Wall
We walked a little of the wall all together, and then Don and the boys went off on a longer walk, while Selina and I helped mom to make it up to the first tower and back again….
Mom did it!!
some steep steps to climb on the Wall
so amazing...
view through a tower window
very mountainous terrain
wedding photos at the Wall
the bride was beautiful
it was a lovely spring day
a great day to be on the Great Wall
After clambering about, the boys tobaggoned down while Selina, mom and I went back by cable car. Then we went to lunch.
After lunch we went to the Summer Palace. This is where the emperors from the Qing dynasty spent their summers. Housed on extensive grounds (716 acres) with a large lake, on a beautiful day it’s a lovely place to stroll. After climbing the Great Wall, however, we were a little too tired to stroll for long, so we took a “dragon” boat ride across the lake. We also walked the “Long Corridor” which is 2,388 (728 metres)long, and decorated with over 14,000 different paintings.
scenic bridge near the entrance
small boats to hire
"dragon boat" to cross the lake
the 'dragon' points the way
various structures on the palace grounds
Long Corridor
one of the 14,000 paintings on the corridor
a perfect day for flying a kite
and a lovely place to be as the sun went down
We went back to the hotel to clean up, and then out for dinner to the Beijing Noodle King Restaurant, where we had eaten in March, and loved – great food!
the 'welcome' at the restaurant entrance
We went back to the hotel for a drink in the lobby, and then fell into bed.
On Sunday, after breakfast and checking out, our first stop was the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven, was completed during the Ming dynasty and is more correctly known as Tian Tan. It is one of the largest complexes in China, and it was here that the emperor would make sacrifices and pray to heaven and his ancestors at the winter solstice for a good harvest .
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests
detail of the building
The roof of the hall is supported on 28 highly-decorated pillars. At the centre, the four huge columns, known as Dragon Well pillars, represent the seasons, while the other 234 smaller pillars symbolize the months in a year plus the two-hour time periods in a day.
inside pillars
But, the best part of visiting the Temple of Heaven on a Sunday morning is the surrounding park that is a meeting place for practitioners of tai ji (tai chi), as well as dancing groups, musicians and players of dominoes….
waltzing through the park
tai ji ball
tai ji ball
Don gives the tai ji ball a try
dancing with a ribbon
I love the concentration on these faces
After the Temple of Heaven we went to the silk carpet factory we’d gone to in March, and bought two smaller carpets for our cavernous hallway. Mom bought one too. After lunch we were off to Tian’an Men Square and Forbidden City.
The boys were blown away by how large Tian’an Men Square is, which can hold one million people.
Tian'an Men Square
Mao's Mausoleum, where his embalmed body lies
revolutionary statue outside Mao's Mausoleum
Forbidden City is also massive…. every time mom and the boys thought we were through the last gate, there was another one!
just one of many sections of Forbidden City
Forbidden City
lions guard the entrance
We made it through the Forbidden City just in time for the skies to open and the rain to pour down. Back into the van and off to the airport. Unfortunately our flight out was delayed by 3 1/2 hours due to bad weather. Not such a great ending, but a wonderful weekend.
Next up, the boys in Shanghai….
A Month of Family May 16, 2010
Posted by freda in China.add a comment
First, my mother arrives:
My mother arrived on April 10th for 2 1/2 weeks with us. Spring had sprung,
beautiful flower boxes
and adbundant gardens
the weather was warming up, though still cool and rainy at times, and the city was coming into full bloom. Expo preparation was in high gear, as well, and every day we saw a few projects completed.
The “beautification” of my walking route progressed daily….
construction site wall painted and decorated
planters placed down Puming Lu, one of the main routes to Expo
planters feature poinsettas and marigolds; my driver calls them "Merry Christmas-Expo" flowers!
stringing lights in the trees
sidewalk planters added
Displays around the City:
me and Haibao
I showed mom some of the same sites I showed Elsie (such as YuYuan Gardens, Taikung Lu artist enclave, Shanghai History Museum in the Pearl Tower), and some different ones. One site that was completely new to me was Soong Ching-ling’s home. She was married to Dr. Sun Yet-Sen, and after he died, became one of the most significant political figures of the early 20th century in her own right. There was a very good display of information regarding her life and work to go through first. Then we took a quick walk through the home, which displays pieces of furniture, personal items and photos from when she lived there, and finished our visit in the lovely back yard.
Mom in the garden
Another thing mom and I could do, which wasn’t possible when Elsie was here, was to walk on the newly-re-opened Bund, definitely the landmark associated with old-Shanghai. If you’ve read my previous blogs, you will know Don and I had walked a good portion of the new Bund a few weeks earlier, but mom and I started at the Peace Hotel (which the guidebook says is “the most distinctive building on the Bund, built in 1930 by millionaire Sir Victor Sassoon”), made our way past all the classic 1920’s and ’30’s buildings (including chartered banks, Customs House and the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank, where the entrance is flanked by bronze lions), and all the way to the end (where Don and I had started) to take the ferry home. It was a glorious day for a long walk. I had had Mr. Shi drop us off by the Peace Hotel and told him we’d take the ferry home. Well, he actually pouted!! He was so worried that mom wouldn’t be able to walk that far, or that we might take a taxi home. He said, “no taxi!” and I had to reassure him that if we had any problem we’d call him. About an hour after we were home, he called me to make sure we got home okay! He’s such a good man.
Mom on the Bund walk, with Pudong and the Pearl Tower backdrop
Customs House (with the clock) and the HSBC building, with the Peace Hotel (with the green triangle roof) at the far right
the Pudong skyline - World Finance Centre, Jinmao Tower
a great view of our apartment complex
This is so China!
Backwards? Really??
And these two pictures are so China also!
first he climbs up for a better view
and down he crouches to see better (!)
Mom and I also went to the Shanghai Museum. We picked oneof the rainiest days she was here for this outing. It turned out a large number of others thought it was a good day for the museum, as well (!) and we had to stand in line, outside in the wind and rain, for 20 minutes, as the line of people slowly moved through the inside security check.
lining up in the rain outside the beautiful Shanghai Museum
That was an unfortunate start but, once inside, the museum is really wonderful, displaying cultural relics from China’s neolithic period through the Qing dynasty, a span of over 5000 years, and is divided into sections for bronzes, sculptures, ceramics, paintings, calligraphy, coins, jade, furniture and traditional minority costumes, with the bronzes and ceramics being their highlights. Mom and I only managed a few hours and about half the displays, but I went back with the boys and we spent 3 1/2 hours going through every display.
bronzeware
bronze wine vessel
more bronze wine vessels
bronze water bowl
Ming dynasty ceramics
ceramic bowl
and a ceramic plate
glazed pottery figures
masks
sculpture
Chinese furniture
One day we wandered through the Shanghai Art Museum’s displays, and then ate lunch at the lovely roof-top restaurant, where the views would be excellent on a sunny day!
a rainy view, but mom is spring-sunshine-bright
After lunch we went to the Old China Hand Reading Room, a lovely space opened by photographer and publisher Deke Erh, filled with antique furnishings and stuffed-full bookshelves…
Old China Hand Reading Room
and then wandered along the tree-lined French Concession area streets….
these are Plane trees - the ones I despaired of during the winter, sure they wouldn't bud.
We went to the flower market…
with Mr. Shi
and early in the visit, we went to the fabric market, where mom had great fun having custom made coat, suit and blouse made at one of our favourite stalls….
Sun (pronounced 'soon'), one of our favourite shop owners
And of course no visitor is fully initiated into Shanghai life without a trip to the grocery stores or wet markets. Mom took several pictures in the Carrefour (my usual grocery shopping stop), and the boys supplemented her pictures for your viewing pleasure, because mom wouldn’t go anywhere near the snakes!!
dried fish products
open meat bins
more open meat - really! ... all the meat is 'open' for grabbing
I don't actually buy meat from this store... it's too disgusting!
the fresh frog department
lots of snakes - eww, gross!
I usually by-pass the snakes; they give me the creeps
the dumplings look good
and these ones are so cute!
fruit
lots of great vegetables
what kind of fruit is this??
The day before the boys arrived, mom celebrated her 78th birthday with us. Before going out to a great fusion Thai-Burma restaurant, we took her to the Glamour Bar for a pre-dinner chocolate martini – mmm, delicious!
Mom looking glamourous in the Glamour Bar
Cheers and Happy Birthday Mom!!
Next up: the boys arrive and we all go to Beijing….
freda's world adventures 