Beijing Travelogue 05 - Clubbing

Life in Beijing wasn't all sight-seeing. Some went out more, some went out less. As for myself, I went clubbing twice at VICS, next to the Outback Steakhouse at the North Gate of the Workers' stadium.

The first time, there weren't as many of us. It was also a Monday night.

On Tuesday, after gorging ourselves at Lush (see food), we ran into some other Americans at Propaganda, a bar with a dance floor. We joined their group for some dancing.

We saw them again the next day at VICS. By the way, Wednesday nights are Ladies' Nights.

On Ladies' Nights, the hot locals come out.

Still, the Americans were there to keep it real ...

... sort of.

Nobody flashes signs like the West Side!

Ted was a little tipsy.

Beijing is happenin'!

[Cross-posted from Between Worlds]

Beijing Travelogue 04 - The Great Wall

You know, it's one of those things that's on everybody's list of things to do before we die. Well, one subdued morning early in June of 2007, members of our program found ourselves trudging up to a renovated Mutianyu Pass (慕田峪) on the Great Wall (長城). Mutianyu Pass is the highest elevation of the Great Wall within the boundaries of Beijing Municipality, and is far less touristy than the better known Badaling Pass (八達領), which even has a highway named after it. In fact, the chartered bus to Mutianyu was on the Badaling Highway for most of the journey.

Mutianyu's status as less of a tourist focus is evidenced by the interesting English at the ticket office.

Organizing a large group is pretty hard, so while we were waiting around ...

... some, like Rob, decided to start shopping.

At the start of the climb, it was easier to make fun about "mounting" the Great Wall.

It didn't take long before we were feeling pretty hot and sweaty.

Finally, we reached the wall ...

... but there was still a ways to go to get to the westernmost end of the renovated section of Mutianyu Pass.

Along the way, before we started climbing the really steep towers, Erica decided to demonstrate another use for the arrow holes.

A few of us decided after a while that since we couldn't see any higher points on the Great Wall, this high tower would be the last one we would climb.

Although looking westward had been intimidating because of the heights, looking eastward was calming, and impressive in that we finally saw all that we had scaled.

Looking back westward once more, we saw one of the cable ways that could have ferried us up to the Great Wall. But that would've been cheating.

As we took a snack break on the way back toward the eastern portion of Mutianyu Pass, Paul left his mark on China.

Getting down from the Great Wall was made considerably easier by a toboggan.

I captured two video clips of what we law students spent our entire time in line referring to as a tort liability just waiting to happen. Fortunately for the more adventuresome among us, tort law is not well developed in China.

At the bottom of the run were these two fellows. They charged me ¥20 for this picture. I hope to get my money's worth by posting it here.

Ted and Emil bought these hats before the climb; now that the climb was over, Sara and I decided to take the opportunity to pose with the hats before Ted and Emil could really object.

Here's a brief clip of what the countryside between the city proper and the Great Wall looks like, as we came back to the city from the Great Wall.

[Cross-posted from Between Worlds]

Beijing Travelogue 03 - Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City

Some parts of Beijing are still pretty old, and have not been touched by the rebuilding frenzy. They may have acceded to the beat of the commercial pulse, but they are nevertheless old homes. I remember reading that there was much concern that too much of the old housing around the Forbidden City was being seized for renovation. Still, some samples of older structures remain, and I recognized them from having seen similar buildings in Taipei before.

The southern tower of Tiananmen Square (天安門廣場) is very ornate ...

... and it faces the Chairman Mao Memorial ...

... behind which is the Hall of the People's Heroes.

The rest of the square is huge. The next three images show how far the actual Gate of Heavenly Peace (天安門) really is.

At least the guard here, unlike the ones on the square, was almost as rigid as a Beefeater. I'd seen similar guards in Taipei's public monuments as well. The guards on the square itself in Beijing couldn't help turning their heads all the time to indulge in a bit of people-watching while on the job; I was far less than impressed with them.

This is the Meridian Gate, one of the main gates that leads to the main courtyard and throne room. The first picture doesn't give a great idea of just how huge the walls are, but the one below gives an idea of scale.

The audio tour is very modern: The audio recording for specific sections switches on when the visitor is near that section. Location is monitored through a GPS unit in the device, which includes a map.

The main courtyard and throneroom are stupendously large. There's no doubt that the emperor intended to intimidate his visitors.

These dragon heads are in the rear part of the main throneroom; they are reminiscent of European gargoyles.

This cauldron, and others like it, are not just for decoration; they hold water for purposes of extinguishing fires, and in the winter, wood and coals are burnt in slots in the stone platforms these cauldrons rest on, so that the water does not freeze.

This posterior courtyard leads to the Inner Forbidden City, where the residential palaces were.

The north or posterior side of the relatively smaller rear throne room features stone carvings of dragons cavorting in the clouds. Exorbitant sums were spent bringing the source stone from faraway quarries. Several stone carvings came together to remind visitors that the throne room sits in the clouds with the dragons.

This lion is one of a pair guarding the entrance to the residential palaces.

Some of the side palaces featured models replicating scenes from scroll paintings.

If I heard the audio recording correctly, only the best concubines were able to climb up to this pavilion.

The last Ming Emperor hung himself from the eaves of the central of three pavilions on the man-made hill. Why? The Manchurians, who would establish the Qing (or Ch'ing) Dynasty, had invaded, and breached the Forbidden City.

To see everything in the Forbidden City, the visitor is advised to reserve at least a full day.

[Cross-posted from Between Worlds]