China Part 1~ Beijing

China

(Part 1)

After traveling 25 countries (before Children) I was able to travel again with a fantastic opportunity.

I have been trying to get pictures together to show my blog followers, Facebook “likers” and Friends some pictures.

As expected every picture has a story and the trip starts off with a story…

We left to start our trip on a clear day in Erie PA….the issue started when we only had 2 hours to connect to our next flight in Detroit.  We missed our flight by 15 minutes.  The only reason we did not have to wait 24 hours for the next flight to Beijing was my husband was making phone calls on the airplane (while sitting on the runway in holding).  We were able to run to a flight leaving for Japan with a connection to Beijing.  The adventure has just begun.

It was a huge highlight to me to travel Etihad airline.  It was the most wonderful airline I have ever travelled on.  The flight made a stop in Beijing then onward to Abu Dabi.  There were only about 25 people on this flight and the service, food and airline entertainment was fantastic.  I barely wanted to get off the flight.

Welcome to to Beijing…27 hours later.  It was middle of the night and unfortunately our bags did not arrive.  The airport was empty and it was a little difficult the missing bag claim.

While in Beijing It is a “MUST” to have a tradition Peking Duck experience.  This is a dish that stands out as a legacy of Beijing’s era.  Before Beijing was what it is, it was named Peking, China.  Here at this local area dinner location our friend and Chinese speaking local order our meal for us.

The duck us prepared and then the crisp skin is wrapped around paper-thin pancakes flavored with a savory -sweet dark sauce.
The meal was delicious and the menu had many other items that I did not try.  Notice…the Scorpian dish on the menu?

Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics

From my hotel, this was a short (but interesting) subway ride.  It was pretty easy to navigate and it really was worth the trip to see the famous “Birds Nest” Dome.  I thought it would’ve been bigger.

The center image is not uncommon to see street venders around all areas of China.  My personal feeling was not to eat anything, I first did not recognize and secondly …if there was no hand washing station~I am not eating it.

~PHOTO SHOW~

This was the coolest!

Seeing China and seeing the trade I love in an arena that was totally out of the ordinary.  The language issue was huge, but this was so much fun.  The energy of this trade show was fantastic.  It was like nothing I have ever seen in the USA.

They had many big names there and the had one of my favorite camera bag companies there…“Crumpler” (check em out.)

The Next Day Was a full Day of Adventure~

The morning started at 3am when front desk of the hotel called the room to mention our bags have been delivered.  Whoo Hoo~ Can it get any better?  Clean cloths, hair products, and I was up anyway because my body was telling me it was 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
This was okay, I planned to tough it out and slowly get ready for my day at Forbidden City in Tian’anmen Square then off to the Great Wall of China.

While visiting this historic area of China the massive structure and history takes you a moment to let is sink in.  When our driver dropped us off, we really did not know where the entrance to the Forbidden City was.  There were crowds and crowds of people everywhere.  We notice a really long…I mean very long Line….so we thought this must be it.  LOL

Now we can laugh at it because the line was not where we needed to be at all.  The line was a massive line to see the (dead) body of Chairman Mao.

With a little wondering and Map reading and what felt like a silly game of charades to communicate the language we made it to the Forbidden City.  Once we were inside the crowds were still present, but this did not take away from the amazing history I was experiencing.

Within the Forbidden City the simitry and Architechure is really absolutely amazing…even more amazing when you factor in the era in which the City was built.

My next blog post …China part 2 will show my visit to the Great Wall.  The great Wall was built to protect from the Mongols, Jurchen, and Japanese invaders  from coming into China and invading the Forbidden City of the Chinese Emperor .

This Forbidden City is comparable to London’s Buckingham Palace or The Palace of Versailles in France….But I think personally it’s Bigger~

The top picture was taken in a little snack shop.  I thought this was interesting.  Although I can not read Chinese, I am pretty sure this item was a hamburger in a box…

I skipped the hamburger in a box and I went to the most fabulous restaurant for Dumplings and noodles.  The picture of the water is funny to me because I just wanted water and I was fine with bottled water that they brought.  When I reviewed the check I learned this bottle of water cost $12.  Not really that big of a deal…because that meal was the best meal I had while in China and it was only day 2~ and I still can taste the dumpings…..mmmm good!

Thank You for looking at my China blog…part 1

I will be following up next with The Great Wall, then my travels to Shanghai.