A tiny bit more of the Olympics!

So we took the new subway to the the Olympic Village. It was before the Olympics had started and we were keen on seeing the "bird's nest". Turns out you have to have credentials to see it, so this was as far as we got. It also turns out that the second half of the Olympic subway line is only for those with credentials as well, so we took the bus the rest of the way. It was a great experience -- for starters it was air conditioned to the max! Second, it went all around the village area in a circle, so we treated it as our own hop on hop off bus. Here we are in the parking lot of the Cube and the Bird's Nest. I happen to think the view is particularly accentuated by the lovely haze and smog -- don't you??? ;)

We are wearing sunglasses because between the haze and the white concrete -- our eyes were killing us!

More subway pictures. It was so clean and new -- I couldn't resist!

Confucius Say...

Confucius say "Come and meet me and explore my temple."

So we did. By the way, they estimate Confucius to have been about 6'5". Wow! Apparently what Confucius say -- people do!

Confucius say "Go now and drink Chinese tea."

So we did. And it was a wonderfully elaborate ceremony. I learned the art of white and green tea. How to hold a cup. How to smell the tea. And of course, because we are not Chinese how to make a mess. (The cups are so tiny!)

Lama Temple. Beijing.

The Lama Temple. From the guidebook: Beijing's most spectacular place of worship is also the most famous Buddhist temple outside of Tibet. It has five main halls each taller than the last, as well as some stunning statuary. The path through the Lama temple proceeds from south to north -- from earth to heaven."

The monks at the Lama Temple are of the same Yellow Hat sect as the Dalai Lama -- however, in China they are forced to reject Tibetan independence.

On more thing: "While the Dalai Lama lives in exile, the second head of the sect, the Panchen Lama, resides in Beijing (at the Lama Temple). In contrast to the Dalai Lama, the Panchen recognizes Chinese authority. However, the matter of the true identity of the Panchen Lama is a matter of controversy. China supports one candidate, while the Tibetans recognize another -- only he disappeared under suspicious circumstances in 1995."

With all this history and controversy, you would have thought that the Temple would have an odd feeling to it -- instead it was gorgeous ad welcoming, filled with the smell of incense and loaded with the faithful.

We weren't sure if we should be smiling, but it was such a lovely place -- only a smile would do!

Jason and I are always keen to join in a bit of good wishes and hope for good luck. Here I am bowing the three traditional bows (for good luck) and offering my incense to Buddha. You may kneel or stand, and interestingly I had only ever seen kneeling. So I opted to kneel -- thinking it was more traditional -- actually, no. The people around me are standing because the kneeling slab is steel. I nearly burned the tops of my knees off in this picture! But I didn't -- a clear sign luck was on my side!

Jason is spinning the prayer wheel. By spinning the wheel you are sending a prayer written on the wheel to heaven! And proof that religion need not be that serious, we saw many an old woman, man, girl or boy spin the wheel as hard and as fast as they could!

And proof that religion is that serious -- the man (in the photo with the boy) is teaching the boy about the wheel and the prayer. It was a charming sight to see!

My two cents (pence) on the weather.

These photos were taken outside our hotel room window this morning. Obviously the weather conditions have changed!

Jason took this video from the same position (outside our hotel room window) on the day we checked in! Judge for yourself!! :)

Bai Hai Park (Beijing)

After such a long morning in the Forbidden City, we needed some relaxation! There is no better place than Bai Hai park. Here paddle boats, picnics, music and dance are all the norm. So we brushed up on our Chinese for "we would like to rent a motor boat" and five minutes later we were on the water!

There are paddle boats and motor boats. Given that it was about 95 degrees in the middle of the afternoon, we opted for a motor boat!

Behind me is the Dagoba. It tops Jade island and is 36m high. It is a Tibetan style stupa built to honour the visit of the fifth Dalai Lama in 1651.

Jason at the wheel! We were expecting the wind to whip through our hair as we zipped around the lake, but at a top speed of 5 mph, it was more like a cool breeze. Still though -- it was a wonderful lake!

This is the Pavilion of Calligraphy. Inside it contains nearly 500 stone tablets engraved with the work oof famous Chinese calligraphers.

A little video of the water, our boat and of course -- us!

Inside the Halls (Forbidden City)

This is inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Raised on a tier of marble of terraces, this largest of halls houses a sandalwood throne used in the coronations of 24 emperors.

The throne again.

The side wall of the hall. Everything was so detailed and intricate!

More Sights! (Beijing)

Just some cute pictures of Jason and I!

At the Hall of Preserving Harmony -- the most spectacular aspect of this hall is the great cared ramp on the north side, sculpted with dragons and clouds and made from a single piece of marble weighing more than 200 tons!

Another shot of the female lion. You can really see the cub in this one!!

The Forbidden City (Beijing)

Jason (and a number of others) are standing on one of the five marble bridges, symbolizing the five cardinal virtues of Confucianism. In other words, we have just gone through the ticket gate!

Chinese palaces are always guarded by bronze lions. They symbolize imperial power and dignity. Of the two lions, one is male and one is female. The female lion in this picture (and all the female lions) have a cub underneath their foot.

We are on the balcony of the first hall, looking back at the entrance. You can see the five bridges we were standing on!

A little info for you on where we are and what we are going to see in the museum.

Some architecture. The palace buildings are really beautiful. As in Korea, they are wonderfully painted in the most ornate manner. There are roughly 700 buildings in the palace complex and it was in use until 1924.

Olympic Changes!

Much as the scenery of Beijing changes daily, so to does the attitude of the people. As far as we can tell, everyone here is thrilled to be a part of the Olympics. The official merchandise stores are rammed, people are sightseeing, talking about the Games, and generally abuzz with excitement. We aren't here to comment on much else about the Games, but from a street's eye view, it is infectious. We are having a great time! In addition to new street signs, and a fresh coat of paint, Beijing has asked for volunteers to man every corner in the city to help visitors find their way. Its really sweet -- generally retired persons sitting umbrellas! There are also armies of interpreters able to help you find a metro station, sight seeing destination, or just simple directions. Its very helpful, and frankly, really amusing seeing tons of people running around in "I speak XXX language" t-shirts!

Airport Greetings! (Beijing)

We flew on Korean Airlines from Seoul to Beijing. We thought it was entirely too cool that we were flying with the logistic support for the Korean Nation Team (as well as some athletes)! We were also flying with the Australian football team and a number of the Mexican team athletes. As we were photographed exiting the airplane and caught in the middle of all the excitement of the athletes arrivals we were thrilled! It wasn't until baggage claim that we realised how much logistical support is required for the athletes and the Olympics!

Cameras greeting everyone!

Mascots and cameras!

Here is where we realised just how much effort the Olympics requires! Looking dow the baggage carousel is all the Korean supplies. Box and after box! In fact we waited nearly an hour until after all the boxes had been collected to even begin to see passenger luggage come off the plane! Still -- it was an incredible sight!

Tian'an Men Square

So -- you've seen the video! Here are the pics!

Firstly, Tian'an Men Square is enormous. You can't imagine how large it is. Even more interesting is that a large portion of the Square is taken over by Olympic statues, banners and flower arrangements -- and its still the largest plaza I have ever seen! In fact in this picture I am standing across the street from what I (and everyone else) would recognize as the Square from television.

Here is Jason standing in front of one of the large arrangements welcoming the Olympics.

These next statues are also throughout the square. And the statues below are on opposite sides of the entrance to the Mao mausoleum.

Markets.

Of course, there are many markets in Beijing. Two of our favourites have to do with local street food. Interestingly, in order to bring the regional cuisine to Beijing, and in the sense of novelty, right by our hotel are two street markets offering unique regional Chinese foods. Okay -- I say food, meaning something to eat -- however in these markets, food means something else. As you can see in this picture food is essentially anything you want it to be. The best part is that sometimes the food need not be cooked or dead -- in fact the scorpions in the market are skewered, but not dead. *shudder*

So, in light of all these interesting delicacies -- I'm going to eat grapes. Simple, vegetarian and dead. Classic Beijing snack -- fruit on a stick covered in simple syrup (sugar)!

The Demilitarized Zone (The Border -- North and South)

No trip to South Korea would be complete with a trip to the Demilitarized Zone. Its the most interesting area on earth. Its a contrast -- in everything really -- its a tourist trap (with gift shops), its a war zone, its guarded (on South Korea's side) by the free world, you stand 50 yards from the enemy. Its bold and scary and yet surreal and amusing. It was the strangest day of my life and yet one of the most interesting.


Our intro-briefing.

Our guide / main protector. Every move a civilian makes in the DMZ is protected by the Americans, the UN and the South Korean military. We felt free, uninhibited and yet safe and protected.

The actual current border is the cement strip, between the two buildings, running across this picture (just in front of the guards). Here's how the DMZ works -- in this area we are standing in the JSA (joint security area). Its a carved out area with the border running through the middle that is jointly patrolled by both nations. Its also the where the monthly communications meetings between the two sides are held. In reality, its much simpler. For every South Korean building, there is a North Korean one. They are differentiated by the colours. Blue is the UN and gray is the North Koreans.

In this picture the South Koreans guards are staring at the North Korean guard. The SK guard standing half-protected by the buildings in case of gunfire. The SK guards also are standing in a defensive position, designed to create an intimidating stance for the North Korean soldiers.

Here's the odd part. Everyone was taking photos. We felt odd smiling, even taking photos, but o the other hand it seemed like any other tourist destination
and completely normal to take photos!

More on the stance. Its a modified Tae Kwon Do position. Designed to create fear and intimidation in the person it is directed at. The sunglasses and the helmet are also wore to do the same. In all fairness, the hostility wasn't directed at us and we still felt slightly intimated! :)

This is my head in the picture. We are standing at one of the check points on the border. At this particular space we are standing surrounded by the NK border on three sides.

This is the NK checkpoint directly across from us. My video camera has an incredible zoom lens so as I zoomed in on the tower, I caught -- big and bold -- in my screen a NK guard with binoculars zoomed in on me! It was so surreal!

The SK's have a village in the DMZ and it has a very large flag pole. It is entirely visible from the border so the flag is there as a reminder of SK. The NK's (not ones to be out done) doubled the height of the flag pole in the NK village on the border and constructed one of the largest flags in the world to fly from it. It is easily the most visible sight for miles upon miles. The flag weighs 600 pounds dry and the flag pole is 160m tall!

This is the bridge of no return. At the end of the Korean War, the POW were returned to their home country -- the terms of the agreement were that the soldiers were allowed to select the country they wished to return to -- however once they crossed the bridge to that country they would never be allowed to return.

The second stop on the tour was another observation tower. It was raining when we arrived so the sights weren't that great, but the view was still incredible!

The third stop was to the tunnels. This particular tunnel was discovered in the 1970's. It was built from the NK side and it would allow 30,000 NK troops to enter SK by the hour. It is an impressive tunnel and on the tour you are allowed to go in it. You walk down a distance of 79m and then you are able to walk about 360m into the tunnel. You can see the dynamite holes through the tunnel and interestingly, the NK government had the tunnel painted with black paint and smeared with coal. When the tunnels were discovered, the NK's declared that they were abandoned mine shafts, even though there is no coal in the region whatsoever!

We are standing at the entrance to the tunnel. Originally we were not going to wear the hard hats, but boy are we glad we did! The tunnels were so short! Jason must have hit his head on the ceiling at least 15 times! So hard hats are a must!!