I am not sure why I have been struck by the modern feeling of this ancient city. Everywhere you look there is construction, new towers, wide new roads. Perhaps this would not have been here without the Olympics however even in this global recession, the Chinese economy is growing at above 6%. One of the consequences of this however is also the daily smog that encases the city..17 million people, over 5 million cars and lots of factories pumping out CO2 emissions....It is a city of many personalities. The modernity and some of the unfortunate consequences of this form of capitalism is balanced with an incredible history and so much to see and do. We tried to squeeze in as much as we could outside of the big trip to the Great Wall and the Forbidden City that we have already talked about. Here I thought I would share some of the pictures and stories of the other places that we visited.
Beijing Zoo and Aquarium
Well....the pandas were good and in a slightly larger space than the rest of the (poor) animals. It was a better zoo than Saigon...you get the picture. I am not a fan of zoos but we had to see the Giant Pandas. It was worth it. Erica was excited as she got to see her first Cassowary (see picture)
- a native Australian animal from northern Queensland that she was tracking down whilst were in Port Douglas.
Oh ya...and we lost Joshua! Yes - complete panic and tears and running around convinced of an abduction. We lost him for about 40 minutes but as I was heading to the main office, a Chinese couple guessed that I was the father of a boy they had found and accompanied me back to the office. Thew knew little English but kept telling me "he is alright". I was so relieved to see him, we must have hugged and cried for 5 minutes. He was a scared boy. Kristen and the girls were the same once they were reunited. It was a tough midday.
We went across the bridge to the aquarium which in some ways reminded us of the Montreal Biodome as it had several areas that represented parts of the ocean, different animals etc.
We saw a dolphin and seal show which was good although completely in Mandarin - fun nonetheless.
One of the highlights was seeing this kite on the way out of the aquarium. Kite flying is an art practices predominantly by older men and some of these are quite elaborate as you can see.
Markets, Markets, Everywhere Markets (and cheap counterfeit products!!)
Shopping is the Number 1 pastime for the locals. I wish that were an exaggeration and not an accurate stereotype. We managed to visit a few places for last minute Xmas and Back to School shopping for the kids...and a few inexpensive knock-offs for fun!!
Hou Hai and Bei Tai Parks
Interestingly you have to pay to enter most public parks but in behind these walls are places of beauty...pristine lawns, lakes, pagodas and temples. Lots of people mingling. We spent quite some time exploring these parks - mostly walking and taking in the scenery. Enjoy the pictures.
Temple of Heaven
Constructed between 1406 and 1420, the Temple of Heaven is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty for annual ceremonies of prayer to pray for good harvest.
Surrounding these temples are beautiful gardens that were FULL of locals flying kites, doing calligraphy on the stones
, ballroom dancing,
playing badminton, ribbon dancing
and shuttlecock.
It was quite busy and lots of people-watching. We met one interesting retired journalist who was doing stone calligraphy who taught us some great Chinese riddles. He was quite happy to be speaking English and he taught us some poetry as well.
This was our last day out and about as we started to pack to ready for the journey home. It really was a nice day and great to see how the locals spent their Saturdays!
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