That's the sound we make going through China. There is a lot to tell but I have no time so I'll make it short, if I can.
We are now in Xi'an (She-an) where we saw the Terra Cotta Warriors, but let's start in Beijing.
There is a major national holiday going on for 8 days. It's like the Fourth of July for a week without the fireworks which sounds bizarre, especially in China. The only fireworks we have heard are during the day, associated with weddings. We've seen brides on the beach in their wedding gowns, driving through the street in processions, etc. There is no religious ceremony but that's off topic.
Beijing was great. We visited the Grand National Theater performing arts center which is a marvel of architecture. That giant dome behind us is self supporting and holds three elegant theaters inside. It is even more spectacular on the inside.
Six million people live in Beijing City (20 million if you include the suburbs) and they were all in Tiananmen Square with us yesterday. Security all over the place, almost as bad as George W. Bush's USA. I was carrying my Swiss Army Knife with me as always but knives and lighters are not allowed anywhere so I had to smuggle it through security. We are not considered security risks and breezed through but we do stand out as very few tourists like us are around. They also perform temperature (fever) checks everywhere. In fact, if I may jump around, when we disembarked the ship Monday morning we passed in front of a thermal scanning camera which shows your picture by temperature represented as colors on a computer screen. They can tell your temperature by the color of your face. I now have the sniffles so these temperature checks are somewhat troubling. If we didn't pass that temperature check it's back on board for us and our prepaid tours evaporate. Every time we enter a venue we're measured again and again. Obviously, we need to pass all subsequent checks if we are to rejoin the ship in Shanghai which hopefully happens tomorrow. Next potential hurdle is at the Xi'an airport where we MUST board the plane or the ship sails form Shanghai without us. Having passed two temperature checks today we feel confident.
This is still the national holiday celebrating 60 years of communist rule. Tiananmen Square is below. Times square on New Year's Eve would seem deserted by comparison. Easy for me to hold a camera over everyone's heads for pictures. Those three soldiers on the right are looking for an American with a knife. You can barely see Chairman Mao's picture under the big yellow roof on the left. It's wall to wall people from way behind us and all the way to the Forbidden City. Mao's tomb is behind us on the square.
The Forbidden City is across the street and overwhelming. Built by one million workers over forty years as a sanctuary for the emperor and his 60 wives. Party time in there and I'm not referring to the Communist party. That's Mao above the tourists, welcoming visitors to the Forbidden City. The National Day holiday celebrates 60 years since Mao founded the new China. If you want more detail, there are plenty of books out there and I would mix it up anyway.
There were more museums and a jewelry exhibit inside but like it said it was overwhelming.
Next day we visited the Birds Nest and Water Cube Olympic venues.
Saw the Bird's Nest (Wow)
And Water Cube (Wow) both inside and out.
Then off to the Great Wall. (WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOw!!)
The Great Wall moved me in a way I did not expect and cannot explain. It runs for 4,000 miles! That's probably the equivalent of a trip from Philadelphia to Palm Beach Gardens three times, and then some. If there is anything you can do to see that wall, do it. We were there for under an hour but it will never leave me. I can't say enough.
Today, we are in Xi'an to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, but anything is anti-climactic after that wall. Thousands of terra cotta statues, all different, built to protect an emperor in the afterlife. A farmer found them by accident in 1978 and it took 5 years before anyone realized what they stumbled onto. The farmer is now rich and is still alive and we got to have our picture taken with him and he autographed a book for us for a small tip. You can't use a flash because it bothers his eyes and his hands are soft because he gave up farming for book signing.
They are hard to photograph for the most part because they are far away and the lighting is dim but they have a few specimens out so you can see them up close and the detail is amazing.
Well, I have to cut it short because we have to catch a plane to Shanghai tomorrow morning and I'm up too late already. I was able to send pictures a little bigger because we have internet at the hotel but tomorrow we're back on the ship so the pictures must be smaller.
Regards,
Steve & Laurie
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