Six Girls and One Boy

Great Wall of China

We traveled 2-1/2 hours by our tour bus to the Mutianyu Section, which is the longest section that is restored and open to tourists. Construction began in 500-577 and was finished in 1568. We climbed 900 steps up to the wall and then a few hundred steps more to reach the top tower where we took the gondola ride back to the bottom. Doug took the gondola both ways.

Tyson, Alison's son, with a warrior for hire

Walking up one step at a time

On top--Now only a few hundred more to go!

Joyce with Mary and Katie Conley--the only members of our group that wasn't family.

We finally met up with Doug!

Large memorial to the Henkel Group for restoring this section of the wall

Gondolas Doug rode up and we rode down

Doug bought an emperor's hat (complete with pigtail) from one of the many vendors on the way down.

Who would have ever thought I would sit on a camel at the Great Wall of China?!?

Bananas are actually grown in Southern China!

Sun Village Orphanage

A non-governmental organization dedicated to foster and educate the underage children of prisoners. We had a wonderful experience here and were so glad we came.

Outside the main offices

A volunteer from Holland explaining the orphanage.

Two of the buildings

The dormitory rooms were neat and clean

Kent Copeland, a dentist in Washington State, provided much needed dental work to some of the children--he pulled 10 teeth in the time we were there.

Each of us brought toys, games, blankets, paper, etc. These two little boys received our toys (purchased in WalMart at home--made in China)

Doug and I brought some cute sock dolls our ward RS had made; this little girl was one of the recipients of a doll. She is an orphan because her father is in prison for shooting and killing her mother. She also had some hair disease and wore that bandanna with fake hair attached. And, on top of that, she had three teeth pulled!!!

Another recipient of a sock doll.

Kentucky Fried Chicken
There are Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants everywhere; the largest one in the world is here--three stories high!

Tiananem Square
Large plaza near center of Beijing, which has great cultural significance because of several key events in Chinese history--most recently massacre of Chinese protestors in 1989. The square was closed the day we were there because of a marathon.

Gov't bldg across from the Square

Forbidden City (now called Palace Museum)
Built in 1406-1420, the Forbidden City was the permanent residence of the emperors (24 of them) of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Its buildings (9,999 rooms) are divided into two parts: the front part where the emperor held important ceremonies, and the rear part where he lived with his empress and his 3,000 concubines.

Gate of Heavenly Peace separated the Forbidden City from Tiananamen Square

The green uniform means he is a member of the Chinese Army.

Taylor with the start of many beautifully painted buildings.

There were nine (a lucky number in China) of these buildings and courtyards that we walked through--masses of Chinese tourists!

Imperial red door with 9 rows of 9 golden bolts

4/1,412 marble dragon heads to disgourge rainwater

We would have gotten lost without our guide's green flag to guide the way!

Shelly & Alison Rigby with 1/308 bronze vats that held 200 gallons of water in case of fires.

Jerry in charge of the flag while guide showed some of us where the restrooms were.

Little Chinese boy wanted to meet an American boy!

Parker Wilde and Lauren Copeland with beginning of Emperor's private quarters in the background.

Large stone carving of 9 dragons playing, weighing more than 200 tons.

Laura with gate wall separating outer and inner courts.

Looking inside one of concubines' rooms

Doug talked the mother into letting him hold her children--very unusual to see two children--parents must be well-to-do!

Doug missed his granddaughters!

Jace with dragon's claw tree (strongly twisted & coiled branches).

Hall of Imperial Peace in Imperial Garden--retreat for Imperial family since they couldn't go outside the palace grounds.

Moat around the palace

Chinese Restaurant after touring the Forbidden City

Doug and George

Jade Factory

Budda has a big tummy because he puts all of his troubles there!

Carving a 4-6 layer Jade puzzle ball from a single piece of jade. Jade is considered the most lucky stone in China.

Beautiful solid Jade carving

Ming Tombs
The tombs are located about 30 miles NW of Beijing. Although 13 of the 16 Ming Dynasty emperors are buried here, only two tombs are opened to the public. We visited the Ding Tomb, Zhu Yijun's tomb, who died in 1620. He was buried with his two empresses (actually one was his concubine). Archeologists didn't know where the tomb's entrance was until 1956 when they found a stone slab telling where the diamond wall was located.

The tunnel where the tombs are located.

The emperor and his two empresses

One of the thrones in the tomb

Dragon-carved back of throne

Kevin, Alison & Kent (Copeland siblings)--diamond stone wall, 56 layers of brick sealing off tomb.

Location where stone slab was found in 1956
--a map to the entrance of the tomb

Stone slab

It's hard to see, but each brick has the brickmaker's name recorded on it. If any brick was broken, that person would be executed--talk about quality control!!

Stele Pavilion (Dragon-headed Turtle Tablet Pavilion)

A pavilion separating the emperor's tomb from the Sacred Way where the funeral procession traveled.

Group Pic--Dragon-headed Turtle Tablet Pavilion

Dragon-headed Turtle with Chinese tablet on its back containing more than 3,000 words (lifetime achievements of the emperor and poems)

Sacred Way (or Divine Road)
Each emperor's tomb was constructed at the foot of a separate small hill, but they all share this divine road leading to heaven. Constructed in 1540, the road is lined with 18 pairs of whole stone statues as guards (larger than life size), 12 human figures and 24 animals. There are four carvings of the same animal; two standing and two squatting (reading to change guard).

For the first time while we were in China, we had the whole place to ourselves since it was almost dusk and everyone had left for the day. The walk was quiet and tranquil as we wandered along the path lined with willow trees and marveled at the magnificent statues.

One of the human guards

Taylor having fun with another guard.

Tyson with a Mongolian horse (short legs)

Laura and Joyce standing close to where Chairman Mao stood when he visited the Sacred Way (see picture to the left).

The Temple of Heaven Park
This park is twice the size of the Forbidden City where elderly Chinese come by the hundreds daily to exercise and participate in Chinese cultural activities--Tai Chi, Chinese aerobics, stretching, dancing, singing, exercising, musicians, game players, etc. We joined the locals in some of these activities.

Walking to the park--Doug had quite the following after he played "Truth or Dare" at lunch everyday with the girls!

Interesting way workers were patching bare places in the lawn (click on picture to see close-up).

Fan dancers

Stones installed spine side up for foot massage

I almost stretched as far as this man, however he had quite the endurance stretching there for about 30 minutes!!

Doug even tried! This was like playground equipment, but actually exercise equipment!! It wasn't hard to catch the spirit of moving the parts of your body to feel good.

Flag routines

Line dancing--these women had the routine down!!!

This gentleman invented this ring toss game that is caught with your neck. The kids had a lot of fun at this game, which pleased the inventor!

Temple of Heaven

A biannual procession of thousands of eunuchs and ministers, plus the emperor (the Son of Heaven) would make its way from the Forbidden City to the Temple of Heaven. The emperor would perform animal sacrifies and other rituals. The entire empire relied on the emperor for good fortune and abundant harvests, so he had quite a responsibilty.

Hall of Prayer for good harvests

This building, along with so many others, was repainted for the Olympics--beautiful!

Looking in between the columns, you can see where calves were prepared for sacrifice.

The Silk Factory

We were led through the steps of making beautiful silk products beginning with the actual silk worm itself.

Taylor with raw silk (he was great to pose for me since Doug got tired of it!

Workers finding the end of the thread

Extracting the silk worm out of the cocoon

Starting the stretching process

Watching the workers stretch the cocoon to make a silk blanket.

Another Chinese lunch

Even though we ate a lot of Chinese food, none of the restaurants served the same sauce, etc. Eating was as much a part of the culture experience as anything else.

Rice was always a given!

At this restaurant, we were even entertained!

Hutong and a ride on a rickshaw

We enjoyed a wonderful glimpse into the world of yesterday while riding through the narrow streets of the 700-year old Hutong (means a lane or alley) on bicycle-pedaled rickshaws. Many of Beijing's hutongs have disappeared to give way to wide boulevards and modern buildings. More recently, some hutongs have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history. Some old neighborhoods survive today, offering a glimpse of life in the capital city as it has been for generations.

We winded down the small, narrow streets in these bicycle-pedaled rickshaws.

Group of rickshaws. The building in the background of the picture is the Drum Tower where the knife-welding Chinese man stabbed and killed the American man whose son-in-law was the American women's volleyball coach during the Summer Olympics last year. Afterward, the Chinese man jumped to his death from the second story of the building.

These baby/toddler pants look like they have cuts or tears in the crotch. Well, they are constructed that way for a reason. Not all, but surprisingly many, parents don't put diapers on their toddlers. When they have to go, they just squat and do their job!

The entrance to a Chinese family's home that we toured on the rickshaw ride through the alleys.

Chinese homeowner welcoming us into her home

The Chinese leaders' picture above the door reminded me of our church leaders' picture!

Most Chinese are practicing Buddhas with their place of worship in their homes.

We saw so many of these bicyclists with huge loads expertly tied on their little carts.

2008 Summer Olympics Venues

This was fitting that our last sightseeing experience was walking around the Olympic venues! We told our Chinese guide that he should be proud of his country for the wonderful job they did!

The Bird's Nest

The seats inside the Bird's Nest

The Olympic mascots were performing, the music was loud and there were many Chinese when we walked in, which made us feel as if we were actually at the Olympics.

This is where the Opening & Closing Ceremonies and Track and Field events were held!

More requests for pictures by the Chinese

Look at how huge the steel beams are compared to the people walking in the lower left of the picture.

Even the sidewalk lights were in the shape of the Bird's Nest

The Water Cube where Michael Phelps won all of his medals!

The gymnastics building

Dragon-shaped Pangu Plaza, which is adjacent to the Olympic Green--seven football fields long

Soft sleeper train from Beijing to Xi'an
We took this 11-hour train ride sleeping all night. When we awoke in the morning we were able to see the countryside as we finished the last couple of hours--very interesting!