Crowne Plaza Hotel (1 of 5 buildings) with huge screen on the side
The Bird's Nest (behind industrial buildings and a Chinese truck)
Water Cube and Bird's Nest
Great Wall upon arrival
Climbing down treacherous stairs
A mad dash for our bus in the rain (Jan following Ron and Eleanor Zweibel in their Cruise Specialists jackets)
The beautiful garden behind Shangri-La Hotel (at night)
Forbidden City
The National Center for Performing Arts
Tiananamen Square
The ship's crew welcomes us home (this is only one of two lines)Regent Seven Seas Cruises treated all guests to an overnight off our ship in Beijing. So, we departed in bus #7 early in the morning for what proved to be a very interesting and informative day.
Our last trip to Beijing was in 2002, so the 3-hour bus ride from the port city of Tianjin, exposed far less change than between that trip and our first cruise to the city in 1984. The road between the two cities is now on a 4-6 lane freeway lined with high rise apartment complexes, industrial and commercial buildings, and with very little farming and agriculture visible. In1984, we entered Beijing via a caravan of buses driving on a 2-lane mostly dirt-covered road. We drove past military bases (which we were not allowed to photograph) and poverty stricken farms. Virtually the only vehicles on the road were horse-drawn wagons carrying loads of bok choy and bicycles; lots of bicycles (which we learned were the major mode of 20th century transportation in Beijing). That bus ride took us 7.5 hours, with a midway potty break at a primitive rest stop where the females were instructed to use one side of a 5-foot high stone wall; the men the other side. This year’s rest stop was at a modern facility, which easily accommodated the 20 buses from our ship and offered extensive souvenirs, packaged snacks, and even a concierge booth hosted by two uniformed young girls to guide lost travelers toward the products or places they were seeking. The 21st century has been very kind to China.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics site was our first stop. Jerry took photos of the Bird’s Nest, the Water Cube, and a “drive-by shooting” of the Olympic Athletes’ Village. Unfortunately, all the major buildings are surrounded by 8-foot tall cyclone fencing…making any close-up photos nearly impossible. And, to make matters worse, most buildings surrounding major sites are stark and empty. The area is a far cry from those we saw on the postcards our tour guide passed out to us and only a glimmer of what we witnessed on TV. So, all of our photos are of the long-range variety, many with fences making perfect pictures nothing more than a wish. But, we got what we got, and felt privileged to do that. We were told, incidentally, that CitiBank has the rights to the Bird’s Nest for the next 30 years and they are planning to use it for office space! That certainly seems strange for a 91,000 seat stadium.
Following a Chinese lunch, the Great Wall was next on our preset agenda. Did you know that the Wall was begun 2200 years ago to keep out the northern grasslands people? When the snows came, they needed food from Southern China. The Great Wall kept the northerners out of the south. Most of the Wall was built in the 15th and 16th centuries, and it extended over 3,000 miles along China’s northern border. The first segments, however, date back to 210 B.C.; few parts of the original sections remain. The surface of the Wall can accommodate 5 horses riding abreast. But, the steps were built extremely uneven, making it nearly impossible for invading horses to navigate any distance without falling, breaking their legs, and causing injury to their northern intruders. When the Wall was first built, an urgent message could be transported the entire 3,000-mile length in 5-6 hours by sending messages on arrows and smoke signals (much like American Indians did). Amazing, huh?
Although it was cloudy and a bit windy when our bus arrived at the Great Wall (amid hoards of buses and tourists), a torrential downpour began about 20 minutes into our visit. Those of us up on the Wall were quickly soaked while navigating our slippery way back down the uneven steps. This was our third visit to this magnificent site, but the first to this particular stretch of wall. The views, although hazy, were fabulous…until the clouds opened up and drenched us!
Our hotel for the evening’s stay in Beijing was the Shangri-La, a gorgeous 5-star facility by anyone’s standards. We had a fabulous dinner buffet, complete with Peking duck, crab, lobster, curry and even pizza. Several of us strolled through the lobby shops and lovely hotel gardens before retiring fairly early.
The next morning’s buffet breakfast was as bountiful as the previous night’s dinner. Besides the Americanized omelets, bacon, sausage, hashed browns and toast, we were offered char sui (steamed barbequed pork in sweet buns)…which Jan dearly loved! Jerry stayed with the traditional breakfast, though. No char sui for him!
The first bus-stop of the morning was the Forbidden City, built during the 1300 to 1400’s. Much of the City was recently repainted in time for this year’s Olympics tourists. This was its first major refurbishment since 1888. The colors under the roofs were the most noticeable. We compared our 2002 photographs of the same buildings and discovered where the tones were much grayer and washed out; they were now brilliant in many jeweled colors.
Next, we stopped long enough to take photos at The National Center for Performing Arts, completed last year (just in time to be shown off to the world at the Olympics). It was a beautiful steel and glass building, looking like a huge bubble sitting just inside a very wide moat. It was definitely an awesome sight!
Tiananmen Square was our final destination before lunch. It was fully decked out, for a national October 1st celebration; with gorgeous floral displays the size of rooms and a wonderful multistory Chinese lantern with 30 foot red shiny tassels swinging in the breeze. Unfortunately no one remembers what the celebration was…sorry! Mao’s huge portrait still hangs and he is totally revered. People wait hours in line to see his body in its mausoleum where every night he is lowered and refrozen. We did not go there. The whole square unnerved most of us as we talked of the 1989 massacre that had taken place there. And then it was off to another Chinese lunch before returning to our ship.
China had gone all out for the world to see during the Beijing Olympics: construction, flowers, covering up of the poverty stricken areas (even moving many of the people out of town), new roads and freeways everywhere, well spoken English speaking guides, with wonderful new hotels and restaurants everywhere. It is evident where all the money came from with the number of English signs and structures (built with foreign money through joint ventures. In China most joint ventures are your money, your ideas, your company, BUT the Chinese government gets 50%).
Our guide for the two days owned the tour agency that coordinated our entire stay in Beijing. He was amazing: 27 years old, a Bachelor’s degree in tourism and business, speaks 4 languages, owns 3 cars including a Jeep SUV, married and has an exporting business on the side! His English was flawless with an American accent, although he has also been taught by a British gentleman and can speak fluently with that accent as well. He is an only child, due to the one child rule. The Chinese have relaxed that a bit now: if both spouses have a Bachelor’s degree, they may have a second child and just pay higher taxes. However, if they marry an outsider (foreigner), they may have as many children as they like. Max (our guide) also told us they really love “Big Noses”. There were many snickers on the bus. He said, “You do not know what that means? Well, that is the Chinese name for Americans, Australians and Brits. We believe you have big noses because you breathe more cold air than we do. Wait until you compare my nose to the noses in Hong Kong. Then you will see.” We will let you know about that one next week! By the way, they call themselves cut eyes.
Our last trip to Beijing was in 2002, so the 3-hour bus ride from the port city of Tianjin, exposed far less change than between that trip and our first cruise to the city in 1984. The road between the two cities is now on a 4-6 lane freeway lined with high rise apartment complexes, industrial and commercial buildings, and with very little farming and agriculture visible. In1984, we entered Beijing via a caravan of buses driving on a 2-lane mostly dirt-covered road. We drove past military bases (which we were not allowed to photograph) and poverty stricken farms. Virtually the only vehicles on the road were horse-drawn wagons carrying loads of bok choy and bicycles; lots of bicycles (which we learned were the major mode of 20th century transportation in Beijing). That bus ride took us 7.5 hours, with a midway potty break at a primitive rest stop where the females were instructed to use one side of a 5-foot high stone wall; the men the other side. This year’s rest stop was at a modern facility, which easily accommodated the 20 buses from our ship and offered extensive souvenirs, packaged snacks, and even a concierge booth hosted by two uniformed young girls to guide lost travelers toward the products or places they were seeking. The 21st century has been very kind to China.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics site was our first stop. Jerry took photos of the Bird’s Nest, the Water Cube, and a “drive-by shooting” of the Olympic Athletes’ Village. Unfortunately, all the major buildings are surrounded by 8-foot tall cyclone fencing…making any close-up photos nearly impossible. And, to make matters worse, most buildings surrounding major sites are stark and empty. The area is a far cry from those we saw on the postcards our tour guide passed out to us and only a glimmer of what we witnessed on TV. So, all of our photos are of the long-range variety, many with fences making perfect pictures nothing more than a wish. But, we got what we got, and felt privileged to do that. We were told, incidentally, that CitiBank has the rights to the Bird’s Nest for the next 30 years and they are planning to use it for office space! That certainly seems strange for a 91,000 seat stadium.
Following a Chinese lunch, the Great Wall was next on our preset agenda. Did you know that the Wall was begun 2200 years ago to keep out the northern grasslands people? When the snows came, they needed food from Southern China. The Great Wall kept the northerners out of the south. Most of the Wall was built in the 15th and 16th centuries, and it extended over 3,000 miles along China’s northern border. The first segments, however, date back to 210 B.C.; few parts of the original sections remain. The surface of the Wall can accommodate 5 horses riding abreast. But, the steps were built extremely uneven, making it nearly impossible for invading horses to navigate any distance without falling, breaking their legs, and causing injury to their northern intruders. When the Wall was first built, an urgent message could be transported the entire 3,000-mile length in 5-6 hours by sending messages on arrows and smoke signals (much like American Indians did). Amazing, huh?
Although it was cloudy and a bit windy when our bus arrived at the Great Wall (amid hoards of buses and tourists), a torrential downpour began about 20 minutes into our visit. Those of us up on the Wall were quickly soaked while navigating our slippery way back down the uneven steps. This was our third visit to this magnificent site, but the first to this particular stretch of wall. The views, although hazy, were fabulous…until the clouds opened up and drenched us!
Our hotel for the evening’s stay in Beijing was the Shangri-La, a gorgeous 5-star facility by anyone’s standards. We had a fabulous dinner buffet, complete with Peking duck, crab, lobster, curry and even pizza. Several of us strolled through the lobby shops and lovely hotel gardens before retiring fairly early.
The next morning’s buffet breakfast was as bountiful as the previous night’s dinner. Besides the Americanized omelets, bacon, sausage, hashed browns and toast, we were offered char sui (steamed barbequed pork in sweet buns)…which Jan dearly loved! Jerry stayed with the traditional breakfast, though. No char sui for him!
The first bus-stop of the morning was the Forbidden City, built during the 1300 to 1400’s. Much of the City was recently repainted in time for this year’s Olympics tourists. This was its first major refurbishment since 1888. The colors under the roofs were the most noticeable. We compared our 2002 photographs of the same buildings and discovered where the tones were much grayer and washed out; they were now brilliant in many jeweled colors.
Next, we stopped long enough to take photos at The National Center for Performing Arts, completed last year (just in time to be shown off to the world at the Olympics). It was a beautiful steel and glass building, looking like a huge bubble sitting just inside a very wide moat. It was definitely an awesome sight!
Tiananmen Square was our final destination before lunch. It was fully decked out, for a national October 1st celebration; with gorgeous floral displays the size of rooms and a wonderful multistory Chinese lantern with 30 foot red shiny tassels swinging in the breeze. Unfortunately no one remembers what the celebration was…sorry! Mao’s huge portrait still hangs and he is totally revered. People wait hours in line to see his body in its mausoleum where every night he is lowered and refrozen. We did not go there. The whole square unnerved most of us as we talked of the 1989 massacre that had taken place there. And then it was off to another Chinese lunch before returning to our ship.
China had gone all out for the world to see during the Beijing Olympics: construction, flowers, covering up of the poverty stricken areas (even moving many of the people out of town), new roads and freeways everywhere, well spoken English speaking guides, with wonderful new hotels and restaurants everywhere. It is evident where all the money came from with the number of English signs and structures (built with foreign money through joint ventures. In China most joint ventures are your money, your ideas, your company, BUT the Chinese government gets 50%).
Our guide for the two days owned the tour agency that coordinated our entire stay in Beijing. He was amazing: 27 years old, a Bachelor’s degree in tourism and business, speaks 4 languages, owns 3 cars including a Jeep SUV, married and has an exporting business on the side! His English was flawless with an American accent, although he has also been taught by a British gentleman and can speak fluently with that accent as well. He is an only child, due to the one child rule. The Chinese have relaxed that a bit now: if both spouses have a Bachelor’s degree, they may have a second child and just pay higher taxes. However, if they marry an outsider (foreigner), they may have as many children as they like. Max (our guide) also told us they really love “Big Noses”. There were many snickers on the bus. He said, “You do not know what that means? Well, that is the Chinese name for Americans, Australians and Brits. We believe you have big noses because you breathe more cold air than we do. Wait until you compare my nose to the noses in Hong Kong. Then you will see.” We will let you know about that one next week! By the way, they call themselves cut eyes.
A cute anecdote: Bonnie Kravitz asked her tour guide in Beijing what 10/1 was, since it is her granddaughter's birthday. He said the People's Republic of Chine was founded at 3:00 p.m. on 10/1/49.
We have some marvelous lecturers on board: Terry Breen is a fabulous anthropologist/storyteller. Many of you know Terry from Alaska cruising, and her book, Cruiser Friendly Onboard Guide to Alaska’s Inside Passage. She was also on our bus of 24 people for the trip into Beijing and added immensely with her background. Another lecturer is Sandra Bowern, who specializes in Asia and the Mediterranean. In her multimedia presentation yesterday, Sandra presented the China which the modern day Chinese claim never happened in this still- Communist country. She mentioned the Chinese people themselves are at a crossroads where they need to choose one the following four roads: 1. Red Road: Communism, 2. Black Road: Morality 3, Green Road: Immigration to another country or, 4. Yellow Road: Capitalism. Most younger Chinese seem to be choosing the Yellow Road and are excellent businessmen. Something will happen in this environment. After all, this is a 1.3 billion person country with 1/5th of the world’s entire population, but only 7% of useable farmland. China also remains a man’s world where female babies are being eliminated in huge numbers. We need to be carefully watching this stretching, flexing giant.
Next stop is Dalian, China, where we hope to see the pandas we remembered from 1984.
We have some marvelous lecturers on board: Terry Breen is a fabulous anthropologist/storyteller. Many of you know Terry from Alaska cruising, and her book, Cruiser Friendly Onboard Guide to Alaska’s Inside Passage. She was also on our bus of 24 people for the trip into Beijing and added immensely with her background. Another lecturer is Sandra Bowern, who specializes in Asia and the Mediterranean. In her multimedia presentation yesterday, Sandra presented the China which the modern day Chinese claim never happened in this still- Communist country. She mentioned the Chinese people themselves are at a crossroads where they need to choose one the following four roads: 1. Red Road: Communism, 2. Black Road: Morality 3, Green Road: Immigration to another country or, 4. Yellow Road: Capitalism. Most younger Chinese seem to be choosing the Yellow Road and are excellent businessmen. Something will happen in this environment. After all, this is a 1.3 billion person country with 1/5th of the world’s entire population, but only 7% of useable farmland. China also remains a man’s world where female babies are being eliminated in huge numbers. We need to be carefully watching this stretching, flexing giant.
Next stop is Dalian, China, where we hope to see the pandas we remembered from 1984.
1 comment:
Enjoyed your photos and blog of Beijing. Yes, the city really has become modern, and your description brought us back to our trip the year before the Olympics. We were very impressed with it.
Hope you like the unconventional suggestions we gave you for Bangkok. Let us know if you have time to go to JJJ market and the Fish Restaurant, and what you think of them!! (not your traditional Grand Palace tour, for sure!)
We leave the 22nd for London than on to India.
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