The Forbidden City

The end of our time in China and we still had to visit the Forbidden City, the old palace in Beijing. We had already attempted this once, but it was so busy that we decided to wake up extra early the next day to get in line for tickets before it even opened.



And so we did. And I learned that China doesn't do lines. A line formed before the ticket windows opened, but once those ticket windows opened it was a mob scene.



You will notice that there are few, if any, strangers in our pictures. That's because I HATE having strange people in my photos. I want to remember the beauty of the place, not the mobs of people I had to fight through to see it. So, don't be deceived. It was busy. Very busy.

Neil chills out with his good friend Mao.



Another Lost in China moment.



And another Unbearable Heat in China moment.



A turtle-lion thing. Perhaps the original ninja turtle?



More beautiful architecture - and everything was highly detailed.



















China apparently has put into place a star rating system for public toilets. I expected great things from the one in the Forbidden City.



And I wasn't disappointed.



Goodbye China!

The Great Wall of China

Back in Beijing. Up bright and early for our trip to the Great Wall of China.

Neil has been to the Great Wall 2 times already, but this time we opted to go to a different section of the wall. We chose a tour that would take us to the Jinshanling part of the wall - 10.5 km, much of which has not been restored and as such this is one of the least busy sections of the wall.

We had two options - take the cable car up or hike, but since I was catching a cold we opted for the slow cable car.



At the top!











Now when I think of wall I usually think "flat". So I was ready for a peaceful stroll along the wall, looking out onto the scenery and imagining myself as a Chinese guard in old times. This is not so much the case. The wall is cracked, crumbling and falling apart. It has many steep hills and staircases and Chinese guards in the old time would have had an excellent cardiovascular system.

So we began our hike.





Another Lost in China moment courtesy of Neil (can you find him?)



Hmmmm - am I up for a climb?



Victory!



Time for a rest - don't fall.



The trip down is easier - sort of.....



And no better way to complete a tour of the Great Wall than with a cold beer.

Qingdao and the Strange Hotel Room

So hot on the heels of our winter vacation I decided that MAYBE it was time to finish the posts about my summer vacation. Nothing like procrastination! So bear with me as I try to wipe away the cobwebs and remember exactly what we did in China.

Qingzhou; a really small city. This is where Neil lived for a year when he was in China and we decided to take the long, dirty eight hour bus ride there to visit his old co-workers and for him to give me a quick tour of the place. They met us at the bus station and took us out for dinner across from the old university campus.



The food you see on the table is what was left AFTER we finished dinner. There was a ridiculous amount of food, but it was all really delicious. They ordered all of Neil's favourite's and he was seated in the place of honor at the table.

After we stuffed our belly's we went to our hotel for a very brief sleep. We had to meet Jenny and Annie the next morning at 5am to hike the famous mountain in Qingzhou.

Hiking in China is different. Hiking in China is a series of cement steps put onto a mountain. When you go hiking in Banff or elsewhere in the Rockies, the trails usually gently zigzag up the mountain, to spare your cardiovascular system as well as allowing you to fully absorb the scenery. In China (and Korea) the trails are built for the quickest way to the top - straight up. That makes for some very steep cement stairs. Mix that in with 100% humidity and plus 35 heat and you have two very sweaty Canadians posing for photos.





After our hike we headed back to our hotel to shower off and then join Jenny and Annie for a great lunch before we headed out by train to Qingdao.





Qingdao is beautiful. It has a lot of European influence from the German settlers who lived there and it's very clean. Despite all this, once we arrived I was exhausted (remember - we had climbed a mountain earlier the same day). After an uncomfortable experience in a strange, basement hostel we decided to splurge on a hotel for our 1 night there. We walked down the busy shopping district until we found a hotel that looked like it would fit our budget. And that's when we met;

The Strange Hotel

The outside was non-descript, as are most hotels in Asia. With building tenants fighting for advertising space on the outside of neon-lit buildings, most hotels choose a more subtle and sophisticated approach.

The lobby was small but the staff was friendly and more importantly - the hotel had VACANCY!!! Sure, there was a bookshelf full of old stuffed animals on display in the lobby, but other than that, everything seemed normal.

Up to the room. What a treat!!!! When we opened the door we saw a mini-bar and a computer with free internet! This is high class for China. Above the computer were shelves displaying more old stuffed animals. Okay.....



We entered further into the room and our eyes met the bed - colorful and cute, all Asian-pop style. And beside the bed was a huge picture window with a beautiful view of - well - see for yourself.



Yup - that's a big window displaying the bathroom - shower, toilet, the whole business.



Now you have to know that in Asia, love motels are very popular. Because young people often live with their parents until marriage, if they want any privacy they have to go to a love motel. Love motels provide special touches like round beds and glow in the dark ceilings complete with disco balls. They also charge by the day or by the hour - your choice. So you have to be careful when you're booking a hotel. We've stayed in a couple love motels in our time here, as they're usually cheaper than chains like the Hyatt, but most have them have been decent.

When we put together the window into the bathroom, the old stuffed animals and the expensive web-cam attached to our in-room computer we had to wonder what kind of clients this place catered to. But - for the sake of our mental health, we decided to put that out of our minds and enjoy the good night's sleep this hotel would provide us with.

We were only in Qingdao one night, so we spent most of our time wandering the beach, where the 2008 Summer Olympic swimming events were held and visiting the local markets. Neil returned to his favorite little dvd store and we went for dinner at Lisa's - a little restaurant that Neil used to go to that offers great pizza and western food.

Then back on the train to Beijing. Next stop - the Great Wall of China.

Beijing; Tienanmen Square, Chinese Advanced Cell Phone Technology and the Cutest Puppy in the World

9 Days in China....

Not long, especially when you are battling two highly populated countries in the busiest travel season. But somehow we made it through all the sold out buses, standing room only trains and lost airline reservations and made it to 3 different cities in China! So without futher ado I give you

China: Days 1,2 & 3

We left Incheon on Saturday, July 31st. Nothing too remarkable about our flight out, but a glimpse of the airport security guards left us with the "we're definitely not in Canada anymore" feeling.



I have no idea what kind of gun that is, but I do know these guys looked maybe 19 years old. Picture mall security guards, but with AK 47's and you'll know how we felt when we saw them.

We arrived in Beijing that night and made our way to our hostel. It was in downtown Beijing, about a 5 minute walk from Tienemmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was cute and appeared to be the place for foreigners to hang out at night.



We had to take a table under the Canadian flags.



Words to live by.



The next day we explored a little bit of Beijing. We walked through Tiennammen Square toward the downtown marketplace. Our photos of Tiennamen are scarce because it was absolutely boiling outside. It had to be at least 37 degrees and we were both dying walking across the hot pavement.



One thing Neil pointed out is that there were people walking everywhere BUT the grass. Last time Neil was in Beijing there were guards and signs to prevent anyone from walking on the grass. With millions of people travelling through there everyday the grass would be non-existent if everyone walked on it. The scare tactic of guards seems to have done the trick though, because the only section of Tiennemen NOT covered in people was the grass.



There were huge lines to see Mao's body but since Neil had already seen it, and I had no interest waiting hours to have 5 minutes to look at a dead dictator, we passed on this.

Later in the week though, I did get the chance to see one of the highlights of the trip across the street from Mao's body. And there were no line ups to wait for this one!



Isn't he cute!!!!!



He is so small - smaller than my feet, as you can tell by the picture.



I spent about 15 minutes petting, playing with this little guy and taking pictures, while Chinese people in the restaurant behind me stared and wondered what's going on with the crazy foreigner.



I'll take an adorable puppy over Mao's body any day.

On Monday we went to the bus terminal for our long trip to QingZhou, Neil's Chinese "hometown". At the bus terminal I got to experience a little bit of the Advanced Chinese Technology when I spotted this little cellphone charge station.






Seriously - hook your cell phone up to a battery and give it a boost. I love it.

And off we went to Qingzhou!!!