China

While this is not and Irish and Scott adventure in the strict sense of we were both in China I happened to have a business trip to China in the fall of 2007 and had a couple of days to do the tourist thing while we were there. In that not everyone gets to see China because it is rather cumbersome task to get a Visa it was certainly and adventure.

I flew from Minneapolis to Tokyo Japan where I caught a flight to Beijing after only a short wait in the Tokyo airport The flight to Tokyo was roughly 12 hours in the air and having traveled to Europe many time this was the longest flight I have ever been on.

Arriving in Beijing airport a rather modern airport we were met by business associates who transported us to our hotel room and left us for a day or so to adapt to the drastic time change. (13 hours)

Our hotel room was an International Hotel and catered to westerners so it was quite modern, comfortable and familiar to us.

From China

The area around our hotel was a study in contrasts there was extremely modern buildings right across the street in one direction

From China

Inside the modern building

From China

Yet right around the corner was a shantytown and they were building the roads with shovels and ancient equipment

From China

From China

You might have noticed that all the pictures seem to be overcast or foggy however that is not the case. These photos were taken on what passes for a bright sunny day. The smog in and around Beijing and Tianjin from the coal fired power plants and vehicle emissions was so bad that it always looks like it is overcast. The photo below really shows how bad it is.

From China

Interspersed between days of work in the office we traveled to the most popular tourist destinations around Beijing. In the center of Beijing right across the street from each other are Tienanmen Square and the famous Forbidden City (The emperors summer palace)These would be the photos or videos you always see on the news with the picture of the infamous Chairman Mao

Tienanmen Square

From China

Forbidden City

From China Summer Palace

We paid a nominal fee and got a recorded program about the forbidden City and toured around the palace grounds hearing about the history of the emperors that occupied this palace before Mao and the "Peoples Revolution" threw them out. The palace is huge occupying 20-30 acres. The Emperors sure lived in style this was only the Summer palace. They moved south in the winter.




One day was a road trip north out of Beijing to the mountains and a section of the Great Wall. The Great wall runs for almost 600 miles, but most of it is run down and almost destroyed. It has been rebuilt in 2 places each popular tourist attraction. we went to the less visited one becuase it was closer. As we got farther out into the country side approaching the Wall and the foot fills the smog started to clear up and the sky turned blue.

From China Great Wall

As with any tourist area you have to run a gaunlet of souvenir peddlers and beggars to get there and the road to the Great Wall was no exception.

From China Great Wall

I got accosted by these two gentleman and was forced to pay 2 dollars for a photograph before I could escape with my life.

From China Great Wall

You could either talk a trail to the top and the wall along the mountain crest or there was a chair lift. Once to the top it was quite a sight.

From China Great Wall

While I cannot take credit for the photos below (They came from some postcards sold to me by one of the peddlers on the wall) They are of the 1st more popular section of the wall and They were so good that I though they should be included in my tour of the "Great Wall"