A tomb, tea, and a temple...

A tomb...

Just outside of Beijing are 13 tombs containing the remains of most of the Ming emperors.  When I think tomb I think graveyard or crypt or something similar...not the case when it comes to the Ming Tombs.

The Ming Tombs actually take up quite a bit of space and have more than one building.  You enter through a gate and then walk through a courtyard and come across the main hall - pictured above.  We visited the Chang Ling tomb.  The main hall has been converted into a bit of a museum...including a statue of emperor Yongle who is buried within the tomb.

After you pass through the main hall you come to another courtyard.  Within the courtyard is an archway which leads you to the Soul Tower.

One would assume by the name that the Soul Tower building is where the emperor is buried.  In reality, the emperor is buried somewhere beneath a very large hill behind the soul tower.  The exact location of the emperor is kept secret and apparently anybody who shared the location would be buried alive.

One of the coolest things about the tombs were the bricks around the Soul Tower.  Based on the markings these have been confirmed as original bricks so they date back to the 1400s...or, the tour guide told us this and we believed her since we can't read the local language.

Tea...
We were able to participate in a traditional tea ceremony.  You go into this little room and this very nice lady explains all of the tea and how to prepare it and what it is good for and all sorts of other useful information. 

We tasted about six different types of tea.  We had green, black, wulong, jasmine, and chrysanthemum.  They all had very distinct and different tastes and I actually enjoyed them all.  The best part of the tea ceremony is that you got to sip the tea from these insanely tiny teacups...

The chrysanthemum tea came a couple of different ways.  The most interesting was like this:

That is actual tea steeping from that flower.  It was really unique and would make for a fun way to serve tea to guests.

A temple...
My last day in Beijing was actually a holiday so the office was closed.  My flight didn't leave until later in the day so my friend and I walked up to the Temple of Heaven. 

The temple itself was a big round building.  It is where the emperors would come and pray to heaven for good harvests.  The building above is actually the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

The most interesting part about visiting the Temple of Heaven were the goings-on in the park that surrounds it.  There are loads of people doing various sorts of exercise.  Some were doing tai chi, some were playing a game that sort of resembled hacky sack, and some were dancing.  The dancers were mainly groups of older people that were dancing to music and following along to the instructions of a lead dancer or instructor.  One group, that was quite large, had a guy instructing them via a bull-horn...he appeared to be pretty strict but they all seemed to enjoy themselves.  The scene struck me as so completely opposite of what we would see in a park in the US.  If there was dancing going on it'd likely be younger kids...I doubt it would be organized...there certainly wouldn't be costumes...and I suspect a guy yelling at them with a bull-horn is really unlikely.

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Silly signs - Beijing edition

Yet another installment in the continuing story of silly signs in Asia...this time from Beijing.

Do not slide down the hill...if you do, please do so with caution.

Do not pose in an awkward manner when attempting to climb up a ladder...this is not America's Next Top Model people!

Do not jump over the empty moat.

It is okay to walk opposite ways on the stairs.  I sort of think the little people on the sign were either walking up or down together...got into a big fight...then decided to part ways.

I sort of feel like this sign is saying it is okay to ride your wheelchair but just don't ride over cars or bicycles.

Do not take off your shirt, cut off your arms, and stand inside of a cart.  Although, if you cut off your arms...how on earth did you get the shirt to hang up like that?

Do not spill the ice out of your drink nor use jazz hands.

And my personal favorite of the trip...

 

Do not drive down the road with a campfire on top of your car...it just is.not.safe!  

I seriously have no idea what this sign actually means.  I wonder if there is an issue with cars catching on fire in Beijing?  Any suggestions from anyone?  Audience participation is strongly encouraged.

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Around town

It wouldn't be fair for me to blog about my trip to Beijing and only show you the touristy spots. 

The streets of Asia are almost always some of the most interesting places you will see.  There are usually a ton of people, hawker stalls selling food, night markets and interesting buildings.

I like to see the signs in different languages.  I especially like them when they use Asian letters instead of Western letters.  It is a really simple thing but it very quickly reminds you that you are in a completely different part of the world.

The night markets are some of the most interesting places to wander through.  Some of them are primarily focused on goods and some are more focused on food.  There was a little one not too far from my hotel that was predominantly food but they also sold tourist gifts.  It is a cheap way to pick up souvenirs for people back home.

One of the fun things about the night markets is that you are almost expected to haggle on the price. 

You start out by asking how much...

The vendor pulls out a calculator and types in a price which is typically insanely priced (my friend was quoted the equivalent of $100 US for two cheap t-shirts)...

You say no...

The vendor asks how much you pay...

You type in your number which is typically much, much, much lower than the price they quote...

They type in a counter offer...

You decline because the price too high...

You start to walk away while they are typing in more prices...

You say no...really start to walk away...

They give you the price you originally typed in...all why cursing in the local language...I'm not really sure they are cursing but it really sounds like that...

I love it!  Everybody should haggle with a street vendor at least once in their life and I get to do it all the time!

So, some of the food vendors can be interesting.  There are a lot of things here that I have no idea what they are.  A lot of the time I'm happy to try them...some of the time I just flat out refuse...

Yep, those are starfish...if you double-click on the picture to blow it up you'll see that those are bugs on the sticks in the buckets.  The one thing that you cannot tell from this picture is that the bugs were still moving...ick...and now for the true ick factor...

 

Once again...double-click on the picture to check out these tasty looking local delicacies.  Those are exactly what you think they are...marinated critters...people were eating them...ick...ick...ick!  Would be daring enough to try them?

One of the very noticeable things in Beijing were the number of bicycles on the road.  They have dedicated bike lanes and tons of people use them.  I'm not sure I'd want to cycle in the smog there but it is nice to see people cycling around.

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Smog

Smoggity, smog, smog...there is a lot of smog in Beijing.  I heard a lot about it leading up to the summer Olympics there a few years ago.  I never really realized just how bad it could possibly be.  I've been to LA and London and New York and Mexico City so I have seen smog...um...not Asian smog...holy cow is it bad in Beijing.  Want an idea...take a look...

 

That sky is all smog people...there were no clouds in the sky...just smog. 

BTW - this picture was taken whilst I was standing on Tian'anmen Square.  I particularly like it because of the guy walking toward me in red.  I suspect I am in many, many pictures looking just like he does.

Back to the smog...walking around Beijing makes feel like you a sort of have a film on you that makes you want to shower again.  I cannot imagine living there and breathing it in all of the time.  They really should get an EPA and some air cleaners and maybe less cars and a lot wind to blow the smog far, far away.

That is the best picture that I could get of the Bird's Nest...apparently the smog made me take a crooked picture too...

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Great Wall

Visiting the Great Wall in China has always been on my to-do list.  My main reason for arriving so I'd have the weekend was to be able to fit in a trip to the Great Wall.  A friend of mine from work was also in Beijing and hadn't been before so we booked ourselves a tour and off we went.

We chose to go to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall.  It is a little bit further away from Beijing (about an hour drive) so there would be less crowds.  I had read this in a guidebook and my friend had heard it from a few people that had been to the Badaling section.  Apparently it can be pretty tough to even see the Wall because there are so many people.

As you can tell from the picture above, it was quite smoggy and foggy the day I was there.  I was still able to see some long stretches of the Wall but I couldn't get any great pictures of it.  They are in my head though and I'm thrilled that I was able to hike on the Great Wall of China!!!

The Mutianyu section was built during the Ming Dynasty.  There are quite of few guard towers to see:

I cannot imagine living as a guard in one of these towers...especially during a winter season.  We had a nice breeze and it was mid-June...I'm sure it got pretty darn cold in there when it was snowy and in the middle of winter.

This is probably the best picture that I got of the winding section of Wall that I was on.  It was so amazing to see in person I bet it is just gorgeous when there is blue sky and no smog/fog.

Once you hike across all of that and through the guard towers you come upon this:

See the hill in the background?  It looks kind of steep, doesn't it? Well...I can confirm that it is.  Here is the view from the bottom:

And here is the view from the top looking back down:

I would make you guess how many steps there were but if you've looked at my Flickr site you'll already know the answer.  There are 454.  I counted all of them because I wanted to know.  I counted them on the way down because on the way up I was too busy trying to remember to breathe.  Everybody that I saw hiking up them would stop every few minutes to take a break.  It was a lot of work but it was totally worth it.

We hung out up on the top for a little bit since we worked so hard to get up there.  In the span of maybe 10 or 15 minutes the view turned into this:

Mother Nature just didn't want to cooperate from a photography point of view.  Oh well...now I just have to go back.

If you ever are in China and have a free day please, please, please go and visit the Great Wall.  It is totally worth it!

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Tian'anmen Square

After wandering around the Forbidden City I walked through Tian'anmen Square.  I was really looking forward to it because I vividly remember the pro-democracy protests there in 1989.  I love being in places like the Forbidden City which are so very old...but there is something really amazing to me about being in a place with such recent history.

On one end of the square is the Gate of Heavenly Peace which is pictured above.  In addition to being guarded by soldiers, it is also guarded by two stone lions.

What I found really interesting is that right in the middle of the square is a very busy road...not sure why that is but there is...

And I just realized that the street doesn't look very busy in this picture...hmm...

So a bit of trivia, Tian'anmen Square is actually the largest city square in the world.

You have to go through a security checkpoint in order to enter the square.  Once inside it is really just a big cement square.  There is a memorial in the middle as well as the flag of China that is guarded by three soldiers.  Otherwise, there isn't a heck of a lot to see.  I suspect if there was a public gathering it'd be packed with people but with the amount of security around it there were no homeless people nor people peddling their goods.

At night there is a flag-lowering ceremony.  They actually stop traffic on the busy street for a troop of soldiers to march across and carry it through the Gate of Heavenly Peace.  As soon as the ceremony is over they very quickly...maybe within 10 minutes...they clear the entire square and it is closed until dawn the next morning.

Here are a few night pictures:

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Forbidden City

My first act of tourism in Beijing last weekend was to visit the Forbidden City.   It was the home of the emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties.  It is named the Forbidden City because for over 500 years it was off limits to commoners.  It is now one of the main tourist destinations in China...check out all of the people in the picture below:

When you are walking into the Forbidden City there is an instructional announcement.  One of the things that they tell you is to please not push.  I chuckled at this as I walked in thinking it was maybe some misunderstanding in translation.  Oh no...when you got up close to the buildings (which you weren't allowed to enter) you were literally pushed and shoved and cut in front of and bumped by the loads of people trying to take a look.  Personal space...not something that is observed in the Forbidden City.

The complex is massive and covers just under 8 million square feet.  I entered through the Meridian Gate which is the south entrance.  It is also the entrance that the emperors used so  I saw it fitting that I should use it...kidding...it was the one closest in walking distance from my hotel.  The Forbidden City actually straddles the meridian of Beijing so it splits the city in half.  There are three main halls that lie along the meridian which are the main focus of the guided tours that come through...also the main areas where one is likely to be pushed.  This is one of the three buildings:

I was surprised that almost all of the buildings were constructed of wood.  If you look closely at the picture of above you'll see some big vats at the base of the building.  These were used to keep water in case of fire.  Some of them were actually bronze and must have looked amazing when they polished.

I very quickly got tired of the massive crowds and the tour guides along the meridian buildings.  If you walk on either side of these there are all sorts of halls and walkways that were far less crowded...and I found to be far more interesting.

These side alleys haven't recently been restored so the paint is peeling and the wood is faded and I found them to be far more genuine.  I spent more time wandering around them and snaking my way in and out of the alleys.

Red is considered to be good luck so almost all of the buildings and walls were painted red.  However, the rooftops were all gold (hard to see in the pictures because of the lighting).  Gold represents wealth and power...of course...so it was only fitting that the roofs of the buildings in the Forbidden City be gold.

As with most older buildings, there were gargoyles all around for decoration and to ward of evils spirits. 

This guy was trying to talk to me...

There were also all sorts of dragons decorating the City.  I'm not sure if you recall from a former blog post but dragons of royalty will always have five claws.

I think I wandered around the Forbidden City for about four hours.  I saw quite a bit of it but am sure I missed heaps.  It is definitely worth the visit if you are in Beijing....just don't push.

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China

BTW - I have not forgotten to blog about China.  If you want to get a sneak preview check out the pictures on my Flickr site...the link is over there on the right...

More to come...

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A day of nothingness...

Today was one of those weekend days where I only had one item on my agenda that I absolutely had to do.  I have very few of those days in my life so I totally enjoy them when I can. 

I had every intent on sleeping in this morning but woke up at 6 am.  Wide awake at 6 am on a Saturday morning.  I stayed in bed for a bit thinking that surely I'd be able to fall back asleep.  After about 15 minutes I got totally bored and just decided to get up.

The rest of the day, aside from going to the gym was totally up to me.  I did a heck of a lot of nothing today.  Woohoo!  I ran a couple of errands, got a manicure/pedicure and that was really about it.  Well...except for watching some really bad television...but isn't that what it is there for?

Now I'm making dinner...having a glass of wine...enjoying the rest of my day of doing nothing.

I hope that all my US peeps have a similar Saturday!

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The Cable Guy

I returned home from Beijing to find out that my cable box decided to go on a permanent vacation.  I called the customer service line to see if they could do anything about it from the office but they weren't able to.  Instead, they said they'd have to send somebody out to my apartment to have it swapped out.

Initially, they said the first available appointment was Saturday.  I must admit...and I am not proud of this...I sort of panicked about not having television for three entire days...what on earth would I do???  I realized I had plenty to read and plenty of dvds to watch so would be fine.  Regardless, I asked if they had any earlier appointments and sure enough, they did so we scheduled the appointment for last night.

They were scheduled to arrive between 6:30 - 8:00 pm.  How nice is it that it was only an hour and a half window...back home it'd be at least a 4 hour window.  The cable guy showed up at about 7:15 pm and was gone by about 7:30 pm.  It was a quick swap and the guy was really nice.

It was the first service that I've had at my apartment.  Not too much different than those at home.  It was nice to have an evening appointment and to have it be a shorter window to have to wait.

And now...I've got the television on in the background sort of watching some silly show.  Phew!

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A message to my fellow Americans...

Just because you are an American and are at the US Embassy does not mean you are entitled to special treatment...nor does it allow you to act like a jerk...or not follow the rules...and people...come prepared!

I just returned from dropping my passport off at the US Embassy here in Singapore.  For me, it has been a relatively quick and easy experience thus far.  Before going, I went online and completed the proper form, printed it, and signed it - the US government actually has a pretty nice website when it comes to completing forms.  When arriving at the embassy we do actually get a bit of special treatment as US citizens...we don't have to wait in a long line outside like the people seeking visas for entry into the US...there had to be about 30 people waiting in that line.  You walk through security where they took my phone and headphones...no problems from me.  You then enter the main building and a nice lady directs you to the proper room where just outside the door is a GIGANTIC sign that asks you to take a number and be seated until said number is called...which I did.

As I'm sitting and waiting for my number to be called I witness 2 people ignore the instructions and try and jump the line.  Next, I see a woman ignore the nice embassy worker calling her number 3...yes THREE times and then getting upset when I tell her that she missed it.  She was apparently still filling out her paperwork and her son was somewhere getting a photo taken.  I let her go ahead of me and sat down and overheard her conversation.

She is renewing the passport for her son...who is off getting his photo taken...she told this fact to the embassy official numerous times.  She also was trying to figure out how to get her son to register for the draft.  Let me just say that I had no idea that you still had to register for the draft.  Guys out there in blogland...did you have to do this?  Back to annoying mommy...she was complaining to the official that she couldn't get the form completed online...she had tried numerous times and needed their help (as a side note - she wasn't being very polite and was actually pretty demanding).  The nice gal on the other side of the desk went and checked on it for her and said they weren't allowed to print forms for her and she'd have to do it online.  Annoying mommy proceeds to complain, quite loudly, that if she can't get it done she's going to need an affidavit from a senior person to document that they tried...multiple times...to do the right thing.  The official was very polite and told annoying mommy that she was looking at the website as they were speaking and that they didn't have any problem accessing it and hadn't ever heard of this issue from any other Americans living in Singers.  Annoying mommy huffed and puffed a little bit...quite loudly...and went off to complete her form and wait for her son...who was off getting his photo taken...btw.

It is now my turn and I walk in, say hello, and hand her my pre-completed form and passport.  She smiles at me, tells me it looks great and to come back the next day to pick it up.  It took all of 60 seconds...since I came prepared...

Why, why, why...is this day in age would you head to the US Embassy to do passport things without having completed the forms before arriving?  Why would you show up without the appropriate pictures in hand?  Why would you be a pain in the ass the people who are a) just doing their jobs and b) can't make up for your incompetence?

I know that we see lots of this sort of behavior back home and I'm sure it happens to other nationalities as well.  I guess I just haven't experienced it in awhile or I'm getting desensitized to it since most people in Asian countries are so polite.  It'll be interesting what I see tomorrow afternoon when I head back to pick-up my passport.

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SIN to PEK

Yep, you read it correctly, I'm headed to Beijing, China today.  Woohoo!  A new country to visit.

I'll have tomorrow and Sunday to tour around and then will be at the office early next week...the actual reason for my visit.  I'll try and blog while I'm there but have heard mixed reactions about the access from China.  I'll do my best but will certainly update when I return next week.

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Silly signs

We have yet another fun installment of silly Singapore signs.

My interpretations moving clockwise from the top left:

• Do not stand at attention with streamers flowing at your knees.
• Do not try to catch a fish without bait.
• Do not let your hand crumble to pieces.
• Do not let the fish eat your mitten & do not expose the turtle to radioactive material.
• Do not let your dog stand with streamers flowing at his knees.

Apparently it is important that you keep off the pier or it will throw you off.  The pier possibly could use some counseling on being a team player.

And last but not least:

The sign itself makes perfect sense.  The part I find so funny is that this is from the Singapore Botanical Gardens and clearly the type of dogs that frequent it have much bigger heads than the dogs at other parks in Singapore.

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