One Man in Beijing

FACE TO FACE WITH THE ARMY OF TERRACOTTA WARRIORS

2007-08-27T22:29:00.001-07:00

Xi'an is full of great archaeological sites, but the main reason people go there is to see the famed Army of Terracotta Warriors. This 2000-year old collection of statues and relics was discovered by farmers in 1974 and is believed to be the guards of an ancient royal cemetery. It took about an hour (by bus) to get there from downtown Xi'an, but was well worth the trip. When we arrived, I was immediately impressed by the site's presentation. I hadn't expected each pit to be covered by its own museum, but the fact that it was made it that much easier (and pleasant) to view.

Pit 1 is the main site and is housed in a well-lit building that seems about the length of three (or more) NFL football fields. Upon entering, you're immediately impressed with the enormity of it all.

There are a lot of impressive things about these statues including the fact that each one has unique facial expression and that most of them survived despite being buried for over twenty centuries. Also, each one carried its own weapon, but those were not on display for us to see.

Towards the back of Pit 1 stands another whole army of statues that have been reconstructed.

Pit 2 was too dark to take any decent photos, but it is unique because there is still some digging going on there. Most of what you can see are remains of a distant past, but it did have a few statues on display (behind glass - sorry for the glare) so one can see what the guys look like up close. These included this calvary man and his horse...

A pair of officers...

And two archers.

Over at Pit 3, you'll find still more warriors and remains (but only about 60 or so). While not as impressive as the first Pit, the last two are still fascinating to see and makes one wonder what other treasure remain buried at the site.

Towards the end, there are a few places to get a cheesy picture taken with replicas of some of the warriors. I am including it here to illustrate just how difficult it is to get five people to pose nicely for the same photo.
The Army of Terracotta Warriors is not just one of the must-see sites in all of China, but perhaps in all of the world, especially if you have an interest in archeology and ancient history. I for one am glad we made it the final trip on our world tour.

HOUSES OF THE HOLY: LITTLE GOOSE PAGODA

2007-08-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

The Little Goose Pagoda is part of the Jianfu Temple, a complex that dates back AD 684. The 15-tiered Pagoda itself was built between AD 707 and 709. The top fell off during an earthquake 16th Century, but you can still climb to the highest level and check out smoggy Xi'an and the rest of the complex.

Throughout the grounds, you will find interesting statuary...

Carved trees...

And a giant bell.

There is also a modern park...

And a museum that houses many antiquities and other ancient works of art...

This was another pleasant side trip and there's always a certain thrill to know that you're stepping foot in a place that has existed for thousands and thousands of years. I'm not sure if my kids will remember all of it, but I still think it's kind of cool.

OUTSIDE BEIJING: ONE MAN IN XI'AN

2007-08-27T21:22:00.001-07:00

Before heading back to Bangkok, we made a quick (two-night) stop in Xi'an to check out the town and see the site that some people refer to as the the "Eighth Wonder of the World."

PEKING PAPARAZZI

2007-08-27T06:36:00.001-07:00

No matter where we went in China, our kids (specifically our girls) were mobbed by local citizens who wanted to take their picture. Living in Thailand, we are kind of used to this, but in China, the people always asked first and told us how beautiful, pretty, cute and even clever they were. As a parent it is always nice to hear that kind of stuff and I can't say I disagreed with the comments.

Julia and Olivia seemed to enjoy the extra attention and were only too happy to pose with a bunch of total strangers. At the Summer Palace it did seem like all the stopping and posing added at least another hour and a half to the trip.

The pictures posted here account for less than half of the ones the girls had to take. It got to a point where I had to start refusing the requests in order for us to make it out of there with enough time to see all of the sites.

I'm not sure why this guy needed such a long lens to take a picture of a three-year-old white kid from four feet away, but I'm not a professional photographer, so what do I know?

This phenomenon continued at the Forbidden City...

On the streets of Beijing...

And at the Temple of Heaven Park...

I really don't know why people would want a picture of a stranger's kids, no matter how pretty they are. After a few days I started to feel that we would have attracted less attention if we had been traveling with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie...

It got to the point where I told this guy "If you want a picture of yourself with my kids, then you're going to have to take one of me with you as well!" (I also was dying to get some shots of myself carrying my wife's luggage-sized handbag).

By the time we got to Xi'an (more about that later), I think Julia and Olivia were getting tired of acting cute and saying "cheese!"

I really wasn't bothered by all of the photo opportunities that were bestowed on us. The people that requested them were not rude and seemed sincere. In fact, I hope they're all enjoying their photos of my kids right now!

FLEETING IMAGES OF BEIJING

2007-08-26T19:09:00.001-07:00

Our family really saw a lot in Beijing, but there were a few attractions we missed out on (the major one being Tiananmen Square) because we simply did not have the time.

We did stop and check out the city's famed Bell and Drum Towers, but were just too tired to ascend the stairs to the top.

Beijing is undergoing a rapid transformation to get ready for next summer's Olympics. It is still a city steeped in ancient history, but there are many modern and radical style buildings mixed in as well.

Everywhere you go, there is Olympic gear for sale (both legitimately and illegitimately).

We did eat at the local Hard Rock Cafe one night. It was pretty much like every other Hard Rock Cafe I've been to.

No matter how many famous, historical, and fantastic sites we visited, nothing topped the guy on the street with the inflatable chef costume.

I think I can speak for the whole family when I say that we had a great time in Beijing. There was so much to see, but it will also always be remembered as the place where Julia lost her first tooth (after much drama).

HOUSES OF THE HOLY: TEMPLE OF HEAVEN PARK

2007-08-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

One of Beijing's most enduring the symbols, the Temple of Heaven is considered by many to be the most perfect example of Ming-style architecture.

It is surrounded by the Echo Wall, a circular enclosure where one's whispers can supposedly be heard all the way at the other end of the wall. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to work when a couple of hundred people are around.

Another interesting at the Park is the Round Alter. It has nine rings of stones, each containing a multiple of nine (9 stones in the 1st ring, 18 stones in the 2nd and all the way up to 81 stones in the 9th) to symbolize the Nine Heavens.

It is said that if one stands in the center stone, there voice becomes particularly deep and full. I'm not sure if this works when four people stand on the stone.

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is a beautiful structure. It was originally built in 1420 but was destroyed when it was struck by lightening in 1889. This exact replica was rebuilt one year later using the original Ming designs.

HOUSES OF THE HOLY: LAMA TAMPLE

2007-08-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

The Lama Temple is the most famous Tibetan Buddhist temple outside of Tibet and considered to be the most colorful temple in Beijing. From what I saw, I would agree with this statement. Many of the buildings and statues were much brighter than others we had visited.

The complex consisted of many different buildings, all of which housed different Buddha statues. You weren't supposed to take pictures inside each temple, but there were windows on each building so technically you could take the pictures from the outside. I don't know if this qualifies me as a rule-breaker, but it's all in the past now.

The most famous site at Lama Temple is a towering (55-feet tall) statue of the Maitreya Buddha carved from sandalwood. This picture doesn't do it justice: it's too dark and the statue was too big to fit in the frame, but you can get the general idea. Maybe it didn't turn out because I wasn't supposed to take it (shhhhhh...)

Everywhere we went, we saw colorful and unique statuary.

To me, the head on the scepter of this one looks like Jake Skellington (fans of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" will know what I'm talking about). I wonder if this is where Tim Burton got the inspiration for that character's design...

All of the buildings had places in front of them to offer incense to the various Buddhas.

It's easy to get worn out on this type of thing, but we found the Lama Temple to be another worthwhile excursion (especially for those of us who enjoy visiting temples).

ONE WONDER DOWN (SIX TO GO): THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

2007-08-26T04:46:00.000-07:00

Mao Zedong, the longtime former Chairman of the Communist Part of China once said "He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man." Thankfully, I can now say that I am able confirm my manhood (and I guess my wife can now confirm her womanhood and my children can confirm their kidhoods).

Since the Great Wall is so, uh, "Great" there are a lot of places you can go to see it, many through organized tours. We chose to tackle it ourselves and visited a 2250 meter-long section at Mutianyu, which is about 90 km northeast of Beijing. It dates back to the Ming Dynasty and parts of it have been refurbished over the years.

These days it has all of the typical tourist traps associated with these types of sites. It is impossible to get to the Great Wall without being hounded and harassed by people hawking water, soft drinks and every type of souvenir available.

The wall is accessible by cable car and former US President Clinton was here a few years back and got to the Great Wall in the car right before the one we got on (it had a big sign on it indicating this fact)!

Once you're at the top, you get fantastic views of the rest of the Wall. This section is unique because it has several watchtowers along it.

There is also a sign right at the beginning that explains the history of the Great Wall and what it stands for today.

One thing that I noticed about this site (and most others throughout China actually), was the lack of graffiti and other traces of vandalism. Sure, there was a little bit here and there, but compared to Florence, those marks were minimal at best.

Another rare feature about this section of the Wall were cannons that were once used to fire at approaching enemies. Luckily for Max, that didn't appear to be in working order anymore.

I think the next series of pictures speaks for itself: It's part of the Great Wall of China and I took them!

No matter where we were on the Wall, we had a spectacular view!

Also, this is one tourist spot that you can actually let your kids run around at!

There are two ways to finally get down the mountain: by chairlift (the kind you would see at a ski resort) and by a wheeled toboggan ride that slides down a metal track (this is another unique thing about Mutianyu). Joanna and Olivia rode the chairlift and the rest of us took the slide. It was actually pretty fun!

When it comes to the Seven Wonders of the World, there are a couple of different lists. The Great Wall of China appears both on the list of Ancient Wonders (along with Stonehenge, the Colosseum, the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, Hagia Sophia and the Leaning Tower of Pisa) and the New Seven Wonders (along with Petra, the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Machu Picchu, Chichen Itza, the Colosseum and Taj Mahal) which was just revealed on July 7, 2007. We still have a lot of traveling to do to see them all, but this was a great start!

BEIJING RESTAURANT REVIEWS: QUANJUDE AND DONG LAI SHUN

2007-08-26T01:50:00.001-07:00

It's been said that a trip to Beijing is not complete until you visit the Great Wall and eat some roasted duck. On the night before we were going to go to the former, we decided to partake in the latter. In guidebooks, on the Internet and at our hotel's concierge desk, one restaurant name kept coming up as the best place to sample this local delicacy: Quanjude.

This is a large chain of eateries that specializes in roast duck. The one we visited was near our hotel and had six (I think) levels to satisfy the hoards of hungry duck connoisseurs that converge at the place on a nightly basis.

So we went in and ordered a whole roasted duck and a few side dishes (some shrimp and some appetizers that contained "duck treasures." I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it was still pretty good. We were a bit nervous about ordering the whole duck and going through the hassle of carving it, but luckily the chef brought it right to our table and took care of the whole thing for us.

It was pretty delicious, but quite honestly, not that filling. I would have thought that an entire duck would have had more meat, but I was mistaken. We did receive a card indicating that we had ordered and eaten a genuine Quanjude roasted duck (#252859). Since the restaurant had been around since 1864, that number seems a little low but whatever.

Still, it was a good dinner and the atmosphere at the restaurant was fun too. We had a great time at Quanjude!

The following night we decided to try another popular local cuisine: the Chinese hot pot. This time, the recommendations were to go to Dong Lai Shun.

At this place, they bring you a metal pot with charcoal in the middle and to boil the water. You then order a selection of raw meat and cook it yourself in the pot. We picked mutton, chicken, beef, scallops and some local vegetables that kind of tasted like spinach. After the meat is cooked, you can top it with some kind of sweet-tasting sauce. It was fun to cook and pretty tasty too.

If you are heading to Beijing and want to eat some authentic cuisine, I would suggest these two restaurants or similar places that offer the same type of experience.

MING AND QING'S PLACE: THE FORBIDDEN CITY

2007-08-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

When you go somewhere or do something that is "forbidden" there's a certain thrill that's involved. Why is the activity forbidden? What will happen if I get caught?

For these reasons, our trip to the Forbidden City had a certain aura surrounding it. It was the former home of not one, but two dynasties of emperors (the Ming and the Qing) and dates back to the early 1400s. They declared this collection of ancient palaces off limits for over 500 years and people were not even enter or leave the City without first receiving their consent. And now we were going to walk in their footsteps.

And what a lot of footsteps there were! The Forbidden City has been named by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. Another organization (the Beijing Tourist Administration) bestowed another honor on the Forbidden City:

The main area of the City is the Inner Court which contained buildings with names like "The Palace of Heavenly Purity," "The Palace of Earthly Tranquility," and the Hall of Union.

The Forbidden City is also a classic example of classical Chinese and east Asian architecture, with many amazing details everywhere you look.

There were also several museums that housed priceless antiques. I've heard terms like "ancient Ming vase" used in movies and television before. I guess this is the kind of stuff they were referring to.

Several of the structures were undergoing and extensive renovation. I guess that can be expected for buildings this old.

There really was so much to see at the Forbidden City that it could take days if you wanted to soak up every detail.

Across the street is Beihai Park, which has its own temple situated on a high hill. This vantage point is the perfect place to really see the Forbidden City in all its expansive glory

NICE GETAWAY: THE SUMMER PALACE

2007-08-25T17:13:00.001-07:00

The Summer Palace is a huge cluster of palaces, temples, and gardens that was used as a refuge by members of the Royal Family in years gone by. Over the years it has survived a variety of attacks and has been renovated several times. Now it is one of China's most overrun tourist attractions and on the day we visited it (a Sunday) it was packed.

The property is dominated by the Kunming Lake, which was enlarged by Emperor Qianlong in the 1700s.

Another dominant feature of the complex is Longevity Hill, a 60 meter-high mount that really lives up to its name (especially when you're climbing it with three little kids).

At the top of the following photo is the Tower of Buddhist Incense, the highest building at the Summer Palace. Other buildings toward the top include the Cloud Dispelling Hall and the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity.

No matter which one you're at, it will offer a great view of the Palace and its surrounding areas.

I could probably fill twenty blogs with photos from the Summer Palace, but I just don't have the time. Instead, I am offering a sampling of the exquisite details that can be found seemingly at every turn.

One of the Palace's most famous features is the Marble Boat. I'm not sure if it works or not.

While a bit overwhelming (and somewhat exhausting), a trip to the Summer Palace is pleasant and rewarding and should be included on every Beijing tourist itinerary.

ONE MAN IN BEIJING

2007-08-23T22:51:00.001-07:00

With the 2008 Olympics less than a year away, some are saying that Beijing's transformation is among the most radical in history. Many ultra-modern, Western-influenced structures are popping up all over town, but the city still has enough old-world, ancient history to keep globe-trotting tourists like us enthralled. We were there for less than a week, but saw so much.