Jennifer, us, Isabel
Matt, Claire, Anna, Grace and Loren
Matt, us, Claire (Loren)
David, Jennifer, Paul, Sarah & Beth (David)
Anna taught Sarah to play "Fudge" on the trip
It was a fun game that we played pretty much every day!
Beijing was a fascinating mix of old and new (and smog....).
We spent our first morning at the Ghost (aka Dirt) Market.
We were there by 5:30, so watched them set up their booths.
It's a large open-air market with rows of jade, pottery, antiques (fake and otherwise), calligraphy scrolls, fans, & Mao memorabilia.
No Spitting!
This is going to be the new CCTV office building
We think all of the pictures we've seen of it in the US have been doctored to show blue skies.
A plant shop in the hutongs.
The Bell tower.
Taking a ride in a rickshaw
Laura and Alex
Anna and Isabel
The drum tower peeking behind the rickshaws
We took a tour of the hutongs (the back alleys) of Beijing.
This is inside the courtyard of a courtyard home in the hutongs. The hutongs (alleys) are formed by the alleyways created by the courtyard houses.
The north building, which is the most important one in the household and where we were invited.
Beth, Gary, Lindsay and Jessica
Our hutong tour guide on the left with our host on the right
In the courtyard
Beth & Lindsay
We were amazed by how prevalent these brooms are.
The name of the hutong we visited.
Ghosts can't jump (that's why the step inside is so high).
Allison & Nathan
Gary & Sarah in front of the Drum Tower sign.
There are so many steps everywhere!!
Mike, Cayla, Beth, Nathan and Allison walking up the Drum Tower
You can't see the Forbidden City because of the smog, but it's right there.
The Bell Tower
Looking down at the hutongs
Behai Lake in the distance
A very old machine used to keep time.
Sarah and the only remaining old drum
They used to beat the drums every hour to mark time.
Now they do it for tourists!
Looking at the Drum Tower from the Bell Tower.
Us in front of the Bell, which was rung every night at 7 pm until 1924.
A store in the Houhai Lake area.
The marble bridge
Lunch at the lake (clockwise): Allison, Nathan, Sarah, Mike, Paul, Beth, Cayla, Gary and Dwight's shoulder
Gary, Dwight, Allison and Nathan
Sarah & Mike (Loren)
A Starbucks! This is for you, Mom & Dad! :)
A fantastic 8 year old gymnast prepares for the cultural ceremonies performance.
The "nest," one of the Olympic sites, is pictured behind him.
Getting ready.
The teapots backstage.
Danny & David
The Greeks!
Chinese Ballet--very much like old MGM movie musical syncronised dancsers
The drummers were mostly drum-synching to backing tracks..but they wore pleather.
These performers are deaf and perform with the aid of two conductors on the side.
Hooray, Olympics!
The main Olympic store was across from our hotel.
The Forbidden City (I am wondering if they see the irony in keeping Mao's picture in front, seeing as he tried to destroy it, but ran out of funding).
Sarah & the Gates to the Forbidden City
Training activities
Paul in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony
The lion with the cub under its claw is the female and the one with the orb under its paw is the male.
It's hard to describe how immense the Forbidden City is. It covers 180 acres of land!
Construction was started in 1406 and completed around 1420.
They were in the middle of massive renovations in preparation for the games.
A marble staircase.
one of the Emporer's thrones
30 ton block of marble.
It was transported to the city by freezing the road with ice and sliding it.
Dragon Wall---old ceramic tiles.
A vat for fire-fighting or incense burning
The 12 animals representing each birth year. (We're snakes)
The number of animals indicates the importance of the building
Imperial Theater
Trap door that ghosts and acrobats descend through
A model of the theater
Great restaurant
Diced carrots wrapped in daikon in a sweet-sour sauce
Shanghai style soup dumplings (like in NYC!) Then they lost power and we had to leave. Sad.
Our Olympic concert was delayed by rain.
Waiting on the bus. (Loren)
Loren and Paul. (Loren)
The rain stopped! (mostly)
Wildly cheering crowd!
Group photo! (Loren)
Terry spoke Mandarin--the Chinese speaker introduced us correctly, but the English translator introduced us as the New York and "Harvard" choir (Hartford, CT)
And it started raining again...
Duck Dinner--duck every way possible
Beth, David and Jennifer
Alex, Gary and Laura
Kate and her folks
David, Jennifer, Beth, us
Group picture outside the Duck restaurant. (Jessica)
FIsh waiting for our hotel restaurant
Summer Palace
The phoenix and the dragon.
Our favorite guide, Tina
Empresses' outfits
We lucked out and caught a show!
These ancient instruments were really neat
Water Calligraphy
This Fragrance of Buddha tower
There were lots of stairs here, too!
Multi-armed Buddha
Looking down at the lake at the Summer Palace
Sarah doing the standard Chinese tourist pose in front of the Marble Boat.
At the Confucius Temple.
OLD instrucments at the Temple of Confucious.
Most traditional Chinese instruments were created 2000 years ago
Chinese Checkers in the Street
Lama Temple---large Buddha temple. There's an incense smell for blocks.
80' Buddha
Badminton! The Chinese will crush us.
They also like ping-pong. Yeah!
Take 2 at Tiandi Yijia. Power was back! Sichuan poached chicken, shredded porks wrapped in lettuce.
Serene
Acrobats--young kids!
Beijing Concert Hall Poster
National Theater-new! "the Pearl"
Smoggy.
Great Noodle King! Check out the tattooed guys behind Allison
Yum.
Us with Jessica, Allison and Nathan
At the Silk Factory outlet store--silk cocoons
How they make silk thread
stretching a layer of silk--a duvet has 80 layers like this
Subway was easy--everything was in English
Our big concert!
Sarah and Siobhan
Paul, Liz and Nathan
David and Sarah
Isabel and Ralf
(Jennifer)
Our conductor, Jack, with the flowers.
National Theater at night
A late night dinner after our Concert. A dive place, but yummy! (Loren)
Sweet and Sour Carp. A Shangdon regional specialty. (Loren)
Dig in! (Loren)
Yangjin Beer
Farmland on the way to the Great Wall
We did a 10K hike from one part of the Great Wall to another.
It was pretty ambitious, as the Wall is not restored in this part.
Some sections were VERY steep!
Our guide, Paul
Did we mention that this section had not been restored?
So many stairs!
We randomly ran into Charlene Lee--a nurse at Paul's residency
Almost there!
Here's the proof! We took a zip line from the great wall! (Matt)
Off we go! (Matt)
Hooray! (Matt)
It started at the highest tower you see here.
Sarah & Huan-Huan at the official 2008 Olympic store.
My Humble House--another great meal!
Tuna tartare salad
Mousse with dry ice and mango
My Humble Home---not exactly humble--fancy restaurant
Qingdao theater
(David)
Qingdao is home to the water sports for the Olympics
German Restaurant--Qingdao was founded by Germans
They started Tsingtao brewery (Qingdao was renamed by the communists)
lots of beer sampling
lots!
Very popular w/Chinese tourists, including these kids, who drank more than me
Eric was very popular
Algae bloom--could cause problems for the Olympic Boats
Couples liked to dress up in rented gowns for pictures
The crepe guy
Matt and Claire with some of the algae raked up
Yeah, we swam. But we kept our heads above the water!
The algae looked like seaweed
The army and volunteers were scooping up the green stuff
At LaoShan--Daoist mountain/temple. (David)
Back in Qingdao
Playing in the fountains with Anna and Jennifer (David)
Anna! (David)
Paul and his corn ice cream... mmm...
Freshly painted! (David)
Sarah & Grace at the tour dinner (Loren)
Allison, Nathan and us (Loren)
With Jennifer and David (David)
Hooray China Tour! (Loren)
