I’ve decided the only way to properly document a trip like this is to do it just like I did – a little at a time. I can’t possible squeeze all the photos and video clips and words into a single place and do justice to the beauty, pageantry and and just plain awe inspired by such a place. Beijing simply reeks of the glory of a history that spans thousands of years, and whatever upheavals they’ve had along the way, they’ve managed to protect and refurbish as needed their valuable treasures. Nearly everything we saw, whether it was ancient history, recent political turmoil, the grandeur of royalty or just the stark reality of poverty caused us to suck in air followed by an exclamation of wonder.
I’ve also decided to continue my recent trend in multimedia. Sure, stills are great and they’ll continue to be a big part of this blog. But photo galleries just don’t capture, for me, the essence of a journey. I like the immersion of a video, photos and music all combined into a single focal point.
And with that having been said, here’s Day One of our trip to Beijing.
We started out on Sunday morning to Badaling, the closest to Beijing of several areas accessible to the Great Wall. Along the way, we stopped at a jade factory to watch them carve, polish and finish jade artwork. I’ll publish more photos and video from this stop and others, including a pearl shop, an earthenware factory and a porcelain factory, in another posting. But one of my favorites is this piece of carved jade – worth over US$100K
It took almost 90 minutes to get to Badaling, and it was swarming with tourists, both Chinese and foreigners such as ourselves. We had another 90 or so minutes to explore the wall and climb as much as we wanted. Ultimately, we ran out of time before energy and had to double back before seeing all we wanted. MyeongHee had always wanted to visit the Wall ever since she was a little girl. She was thrilled to be able to see it firsthand, despite the hot weather, terrible humidity and horrible pollution surrounding it.
After the Wall, we headed back to the city and stopped at a stoneware factory and store where they also served a hearty lunch. Fabulous food and Chinese beer and tea and we were all primed for our next outing, the Summer Palace. Designed as a place for the Emperor and his court to retire during the hot summer months, the Summer Palace is a beautiful getaway on a man-made lake in the city. Again, the pollution was terrible and some of the photos show just how murky the air was. Distance shots were nearly a waste of time. Still, the Palace was phenomenal and made me wonder how many royal feet walked along the same pavilion and strolled the same gardens and we were. I could even imagine them, dressed in brightly colored silks, being rowed about on the lake in front of the palace. Little has changed since those days and the Chinese have kept the place remarkably well.
After the Summer Palace, we headed back into town and had a Xiabu Xiabu hot pot for dinner. That’s a boiling spiced soup in which you drop pieces of meats and vegetables to be cooked right at your plate. Each of us had our own hot pot, adjusted for our own spicy tastes. MyeongHee and I had ours on the hot and spicy side – Korean dishes are, in general, far hotter than their Chinese counterparts, so we’re used to the red.
After walking several miles at the Wall and Summer Palace, and pounding down two scrumptous meals, we were ready for a rest. A short nap at the hotel and we hit the streets to inspect Beijing without our tour guide. No surprise, things in town are different, too. Who needs a ballroom? Locals regularly will form an outdoor dance floor in summer after a good meal to help beat the heat. The music was some sort of waltz, done with a classical one-two-three beat, but with more typically Chinese instruments. I wish I’d had the video camera instead of the just the still camera.
