Movies: watched Bridesmaids..hysterical, wet your pants funny! However if you are watching if on a plane and have kids around, fast fwd through the first 30 seconds, it is crass and graphic...and you will be embarrassed if some sweet little old lady is sitting next to you.
Watched Company Men... liked it.
Hangover 2, it was Ok, funny parts, on a plane it kept me entertained but of course there were parts that grossed me out and there could never be one as funny as the first one.
Water For Elephants, also good I thought..., takes place during prohibition time, shows the life of the traveling Circus people, your basic good, sweet story, nothing riveting or like changing, sweet.
So 15 hours over to Tokyo, 3 hr layover, another 3.5 hr flight to Beijing, arrived in the Hotel and in the bed a little after 2:00am China time.
So, on to the good stuff...yesterday we had breakfast at our hotel, great needles, fried rice, and 2 different flavors of steamed buns...very good!
They had regular American stuff too but ...this was sooo good, glad I skipped the boring stuff!
Our guide picked us up at 10:00 am and we headed to the Forbidden City. It is very large...beautiful architecture.
Below is my mom with out guide Charlotte...and she is absolutely amazing. She is a single mom to an 11yr old boy...who called her crying today because he lost his retainer. My mom and I got a good laugh...I too threw my retainer away on a lunch tray when I was in middle school...in think every kid that ever had one did the same thing at some point.
Charlotte explained that the Chinese people consist of those that are of Han descent, the majority, then 55 different minority groups. The little lady below is one of the minorities from the southern region of China.Posted
Just beautiful! The traditional dress was so intricate, incredible detail. I wanted a picture with her, thought that might freak her out so I passed.
Below is one of the many large urn things that were once totally gilded in gold, now worn off quite a bit.
I love these carvings found on each corner of the buildings. Only the emperor could have 10 creatures on his corners...and commoners were not allowed to have that number or the same creatures...apparently rules like this were seriously enforced.
The carving above was made from one solid piece that was brought from far away. It was so heavy they had to wait until winter, pour water on the ground and let it freeze. Then they pushed the giant stone on the ice path all the way to the forbidden city and then if was carved here once it arrived...took many months to make its way there.
See that red step i am standing on...ghost barrier...great idea, I want one! Seriously, it is traditional tonhave one of these at the entrance to a home to keep out the ghosts and for further ghost insurance there would be a screen placed a few feet in front of the entrance to deflect the ghosts back out the door...wanna know why that screen thing is so effective...cause ghosts can't make turns! Ha, bet ya didn't know that. I find that to be very useful info. If you are ever being chased by a ghost just make a left turn!
Above and below is the ornate ceiling inside one of the throne rooms.
Below is some kind of jewel encrusted wand with a clock face on the end, beautiful.
Above is what the bedrooms looked like in the living area for the empresses and the concubines.
Above is a man that is drawing a picture of the man in the blue coat on the plate. Charlotte said he has been coming here drawing pictures of people for over 10 years.
We walked through the gardens in the Forbidden City and they were spectacular. Above is my mom standing next to large cedar trees, the red square on it indicated that it is over 300 yrs old. In a traditional Chinese garden there are 4 elements, water, a place/structure to sit in the shade, evergreen trees, and I think the last one is rock...but don't quote me on that.
Flowers are not a part of a traditional garden.
If i remember correctly, this is the North Gate. That is the only gate that the Empresses and concubines were permitted to use.
After we left the forbidden city we walked around the city of Beijing a bit. When we were driving into Beijing from the airport it completely felt like riding throu Atlanta, same look, they have more trees in the city though, very beautiful...now when traffic kicked up in the afternoon when we left the forbidden city...nothing like Atlanta, the driving is crazy but totally fun to experience when you have a good driver. If you arent paying attention here you will get runover, cars and mopeds and bikesnand pedestrians...all over the place, sidewalks, crossing over lanes into oncoming traffic, those mopeds are so quiet, you could easily get popped. But the city is beautiful and energizing. I will post the rest of our day in the next post, this one is getting long!
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