Friday, May 16, 2014

Saturday Snapshot



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May 2009 - Beijing China

I had only begun blogging in 2009 so I didn't post details about our trip to China. I've been looking at the photos this week and thought I would post some of our itinerary.

I posted some photos earlier this week (out of sequence) that have inspired me to look back at our trip to China.
Boarding our river cruise.
Laundry Day
Signs

Arriving in Beijing

Today I am writing about our first full day of sightseeing. We started with  Tian’an’men Square.
Photo taken on our way.

Our guide Sean, picked us up and we drove to the Square. 

 Approaching the Square with the Forbidden City in the background. That is smog you see as it was hot, in the high 20s C or low 80s F.


Located in the center of downtown Beijing, to the south of the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square is the biggest square in the world, as it is 880 meters long and 500 meters wide. It was named ‘Tiananmen Square’ because it is situated in front of the south gate of the Forbidden City- Tiananmen. To the north of the square is China’s national flag. The flag is hoisted and lowered every day at sunrise and sunset.


We were amazed to find ourselves standing in such a place! It was crowded but not uncomfortably so.




These buses on the grounds were for soldiers.




The Monument to the People's Heroes is a ten-story obelisk that was erected as a national monument of the People's Republic of China to the martyrs of revolutionary struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries.



Mao Tse-tung is interred in this mausoleum in the background.









13 comments:

  1. A lot of history there... some of it very bad, thinking back to 1989.

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  2. Wonderful pictures! What an experience!

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  3. Awesome photos! I would have expected a lot more people...how nice that it isn't that crowded. Here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST

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  4. Wow! Great pics! I do have a question--was the smog as bad as they say it is? It looks so in the pictures, but that could just be the weather...

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  5. Fascinating photos! I'm sure that was a trip you'll never forget. Two of my friends have visited China in the last couple of years and they have many stories to tell. I'm sure you do too! Both were surprised by the crowds of people everywhere they went.
    You'll find my Saturday Snapshots HERE.

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  6. Wonderful photos! A great journey!!


    Here is my Saturday Snapshot post!!

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  7. Is it just overcast or is the air polluted? What an experience.

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  8. Guess it must be hard to find a non-smog day in Beijing. :) Thanks for sharing with us your journey. Your commenter above, William Kendall, is right to remind us of the Episode. It's definitely a sad day there June 4, 1989.

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  9. What a journey ... the old and the new ...the Forbidden City is opened or closed to touring? And boy, it does look smoggy ...

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    1. The Forbidden City is open to tours. I posted some photos in a newer post.

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  10. I'm a week late stopping by, but wanted to catch up. China looks such an amazing place to visit, but I'm not sure that I want to go. It's always amazing to see how well Asian peoples can squat, I know my knees can't cope with that.

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