Ni hao from China - Ni hao de la Chine !!!
Ni hao from China !!! (even though we are now in Japan…)
China, the Middle Country (Zhong Guo), needs its own entire blog. I will humbly present our very quick trip to Beijing (Northern Capital). But honestly, can one really form an opinion about China after a speedy five day visit to its capital? This was my fourth time to Beijing because I have studied Chinese for many years and I was fortunate to travel to Beijing for professional reasons. This was Fred’s first visit to this fascinating country and to Beijing. The last time I visited Beijing was four years ago with a group of people from my company. I had organized a nice tour of the city and to the Great Wall. It was in the fall and we had nice weather contrary to this visit in winter. It was quite cold , especially on our visit to the Great Wall this time.
We arrived in Beijing after a very long trip from New Caledonia. After an excellent visit with Fred’s niece the night before, we woke at 4 am in order to get to the Nouméa airport for our early morning flight to Auckland. Once in Auckland, we changed planes for our next flight to Bangkok. Our flight out of Thailand was quite late. We arrived in Beijing very early the next day. I did not get much sleep during the various flights and was quite the zombie the next day in China. Fred sleeps anywhere and seemed just fine upon arrival in Beijing. To visit China, passport holders from France need a visa. Fred got our visas a few weeks previously in Paris. I was worried a bit about our luggage getting lost because of the various transfers, but once in China, our luggage arrived quickly on the carrousel.
The airport had changed so much since my last visit and I was quite impressed.
I forgot to say that since my last visit to China, the 2008 Olympics had taken place and massive infrastructure projects and urban renewal had been accomplished. One such project was the Bird Nest stadium where the open Olympic ceremony was celebrated. 
We visited the Olympic area and it was quite empty. Chinese tourists get their pictures taken in front of this now famous stadium. We did it too, so have a look !! We took an express bus from the Beijing airport and arrived in central Beijing after about 45 minutes. We got off near the central train central as our hotel, the Marriott Courtyard, was located quite close. We decided to walk from the bus to the hotel and were relentlessly pursued by a guy in a pushcart who absolutely wanted us to hop in and ride over to the hotel. We braved it out and arrived safely. The room was on the 10th floor with a view of some older buildings.
You can still see many bikes in Beijing despite the desire of many Chinese to own their car. Keep your fingers crossed that such a day does not arrive because our Planet Earth will not be able to support such a pollution nightmare! I have my own opinion of China which is quite different from the one held by Fred. I have learned about the long history and cultural richness of the country in my various Chinese language courses in France. I have come to appreciate the country despite its drawbacks. It indeed is not a full democracy, but one must understand that it is not an easy task to manage over a billion people and control such massive growth. In contrast to Tokyo, where we are currently, Beijing is dirty, quite drab and the people are less disciplined lacking respect and common courtesy. We visited the For
bidden City and Mao’s Masoleum in Tiananmen Square. We stood in line with a vast mix of Chinese people in order to file past Mao’s embalmed body. He is considered a great poet by the Chinese despite that he is better known by us foreigners as a butcher who managed to starve millions of his compatriots to death. It does seem strange that people, and even curious tourists like us, still want to see the guy. 
The Forbidden City was rather disappointing. I had been there previously and found it interesting but this time around and seeing things with Fred, we both found it lackluster with the paint falling from the walls and with many of the sculptures, such as those gracing the stairways, were worn down and not maintained.
Fred’s opinion was that the outside of the City, where Mao’s big portrait is displayed, is well taken care, but that the inner part of the City is run down and no one really seems to care much about preserving the heritage of such an important place. Fred said this is a good allegory for China itself, a façade on the outside, but crumbling and tacky on the inside. Each has his/her own opinion, right ?
While in Beijing, we saw three shows.
One was a typical Chinese Opera,
all characters are played by men, another was a Ku
ngfu production and the third was both a shadow puppet and musical performance.
The Kungfu production was quite Hollywoodian, but enjoyable. It was the story of a small boy who is given up by his mother to a temple in Shaolin where the boy learns martial arts and the basic principles of a Buddhist life with a Confucian flavour.
We took many pictures of the Chinese Opera performance, including a few when the actors were putting on their makeup prior to the actual performance.
Our trip to the Great Wall was a real adventure. We decided to save some RMB (the local currency) by travelling north to Badaling via a local bus. After some flip flopping and testing out my Chinese, we managed to find the right bus. We arrived at the Wall 45 minutes later and the temperature shock was drastic!
It was at
least 10 ° less and very windy. I was happy that I put on my long underwear that morning, let me tell you…
It was so nippy that Fred bought a cheap hat to protect his delicate ears from the biting cold. We managed to trek quite far up the main section of the Wall. It was surprising to see the barren terrain in winter because I had previously visited the Wall in the Fall and Springtime. What a difference with such cold. I hope you enjoy some of our nice pictures.
We got to enjoy various Chinese dishes during our brief stay. I was enthralled to eat my tofu and we ate in one wonderful vegetarian restaurant across from the Confucious temple.
We even got to taste some Korean food but stayed away from the roasted dog that was listed on the menu (really, I’m serious ! let's have a look !).
Our trip to the antique flea market was fun. Fred bought some nice prints from a local artist. We got to see some odd bric à brac and items such as musical instruments
, bird cages, and the ever present Mao era propaganda posters and all types of articles around the cult of Mao such as the little Red book which the tourists seek out. On our last day, we ventured out to find some stamps. This was a real adventure where we got lost on the large avenues and byways of Beijing. We finally got the stamps and hopefully some of you have received your precious post cards from China. Our brief trip to China was interesting. I was struck by the development in Beijing. For example, vast areas of Hutong (alleys) have been destroyed. The Hutong were full of life where I saw people outside their humble homes playing Chinese checkers, lovingly tending their pet birds and just shooting the breeze with neighbors. There are still some Hutong left, fortunately, but much has been lost forever. The Opera house built by a French architect has been completed. Many new skyscrapers have been erected but I think most of them remain empty. China is still experiencing massive growth but has its problems such as an aging population and lack of women to marry all those boys born to families who had to obey the one-child policy which existed for a long time. 
I enjoyed the trip to Beijing because I was not working and could relax and take in the sights and sounds of this dynamic city. I wish Fred could have seen Shanghai or Chengdu in order to have a more rounded view of this massive country. We’ll just have to come back !!
Click here to see the album / Pour l'album, cliquez ici
We arrived in Beijing after a very long trip from New Caledonia. After an excellent visit with Fred’s niece the night before, we woke at 4 am in order to get to the Nouméa airport for our early morning flight to Auckland. Once in Auckland, we changed planes for our next flight to Bangkok. Our flight out of Thailand was quite late. We arrived in Beijing very early the next day. I did not get much sleep during the various flights and was quite the zombie the next day in China. Fred sleeps anywhere and seemed just fine upon arrival in Beijing. To visit China, passport holders from France need a visa. Fred got our visas a few weeks previously in Paris. I was worried a bit about our luggage getting lost because of the various transfers, but once in China, our luggage arrived quickly on the carrousel.
The airport had changed so much since my last visit and I was quite impressed.
I forgot to say that since my last visit to China, the 2008 Olympics had taken place and massive infrastructure projects and urban renewal had been accomplished. One such project was the Bird Nest stadium where the open Olympic ceremony was celebrated. We visited the Olympic area and it was quite empty. Chinese tourists get their pictures taken in front of this now famous stadium. We did it too, so have a look !! We took an express bus from the Beijing airport and arrived in central Beijing after about 45 minutes. We got off near the central train central as our hotel, the Marriott Courtyard, was located quite close. We decided to walk from the bus to the hotel and were relentlessly pursued by a guy in a pushcart who absolutely wanted us to hop in and ride over to the hotel. We braved it out and arrived safely. The room was on the 10th floor with a view of some older buildings.You can still see many bikes in Beijing despite the desire of many Chinese to own their car. Keep your fingers crossed that such a day does not arrive because our Planet Earth will not be able to support such a pollution nightmare! I have my own opinion of China which is quite different from the one held by Fred. I have learned about the long history and cultural richness of the country in my various Chinese language courses in France. I have come to appreciate the country despite its drawbacks. It indeed is not a full democracy, but one must understand that it is not an easy task to manage over a billion people and control such massive growth. In contrast to Tokyo, where we are currently, Beijing is dirty, quite drab and the people are less disciplined lacking respect and common courtesy. We visited the For
bidden City and Mao’s Masoleum in Tiananmen Square. We stood in line with a vast mix of Chinese people in order to file past Mao’s embalmed body. He is considered a great poet by the Chinese despite that he is better known by us foreigners as a butcher who managed to starve millions of his compatriots to death. It does seem strange that people, and even curious tourists like us, still want to see the guy. The Forbidden City was rather disappointing. I had been there previously and found it interesting but this time around and seeing things with Fred, we both found it lackluster with the paint falling from the walls and with many of the sculptures, such as those gracing the stairways, were worn down and not maintained.
Fred’s opinion was that the outside of the City, where Mao’s big portrait is displayed, is well taken care, but that the inner part of the City is run down and no one really seems to care much about preserving the heritage of such an important place. Fred said this is a good allegory for China itself, a façade on the outside, but crumbling and tacky on the inside. Each has his/her own opinion, right ?
While in Beijing, we saw three shows.
One was a typical Chinese Opera, all characters are played by men, another was a Kungfu production and the third was both a shadow puppet and musical performance.The Kungfu production was quite Hollywoodian, but enjoyable. It was the story of a small boy who is given up by his mother to a temple in Shaolin where the boy learns martial arts and the basic principles of a Buddhist life with a Confucian flavour.
We took many pictures of the Chinese Opera performance, including a few when the actors were putting on their makeup prior to the actual performance.Our trip to the Great Wall was a real adventure. We decided to save some RMB (the local currency) by travelling north to Badaling via a local bus. After some flip flopping and testing out my Chinese, we managed to find the right bus. We arrived at the Wall 45 minutes later and the temperature shock was drastic!
It was at
least 10 ° less and very windy. I was happy that I put on my long underwear that morning, let me tell you…It was so nippy that Fred bought a cheap hat to protect his delicate ears from the biting cold. We managed to trek quite far up the main section of the Wall. It was surprising to see the barren terrain in winter because I had previously visited the Wall in the Fall and Springtime. What a difference with such cold. I hope you enjoy some of our nice pictures.We got to enjoy various Chinese dishes during our brief stay. I was enthralled to eat my tofu and we ate in one wonderful vegetarian restaurant across from the Confucious temple.
We even got to taste some Korean food but stayed away from the roasted dog that was listed on the menu (really, I’m serious ! let's have a look !).
Our trip to the antique flea market was fun. Fred bought some nice prints from a local artist. We got to see some odd bric à brac and items such as musical instruments
, bird cages, and the ever present Mao era propaganda posters and all types of articles around the cult of Mao such as the little Red book which the tourists seek out. On our last day, we ventured out to find some stamps. This was a real adventure where we got lost on the large avenues and byways of Beijing. We finally got the stamps and hopefully some of you have received your precious post cards from China. Our brief trip to China was interesting. I was struck by the development in Beijing. For example, vast areas of Hutong (alleys) have been destroyed. The Hutong were full of life where I saw people outside their humble homes playing Chinese checkers, lovingly tending their pet birds and just shooting the breeze with neighbors. There are still some Hutong left, fortunately, but much has been lost forever. The Opera house built by a French architect has been completed. Many new skyscrapers have been erected but I think most of them remain empty. China is still experiencing massive growth but has its problems such as an aging population and lack of women to marry all those boys born to families who had to obey the one-child policy which existed for a long time. I enjoyed the trip to Beijing because I was not working and could relax and take in the sights and sounds of this dynamic city. I wish Fred could have seen Shanghai or Chengdu in order to have a more rounded view of this massive country. We’ll just have to come back !!Click here to see the album / Pour l'album, cliquez ici