Beijing Express Packaged Tours
Dust collecting, kung fu, etc.
by Tony Nievera | April 25, 2015
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China is a huge country with rich culture and history, resulting in its many scenic tourist places. However, local and foreign tourists to the capital city of Beijing may feel short changed at the end of a short visit. Despite a hectic and tiring schedule, one realizes that not much was seen. My future visits to China would be to the southern rural areas and scenic mountains.
All these places are crowded by local tourists and require long walks. I had to wait or change my camera framing composition to hide the people when I took pictures of the places we visited. The images below include some of the other tourists. Look at these Beijing tourists stops most tourists visit.
The Summer Palace is a vast man-made lake and hill, the earth dug to form the lake created the hill, with bridges, pavilions, palaces, and temples designated as a masterpiece of Chinese garden design with plenty of lotus and other beautiful flowers. Most local visitors rent boats for a leisurely hot summer afternoon on the cool lake.
Temple of Heaven is a large complex of buildings and temples, now a Daoist shrine. The main altar mount is a circular building flanked by ornate two other large ornate buildings serving as prayer halls.
Seen here is the Tiananmen square gate to the Imperial City, is one of the largest squares in the world. It was the site of the 1989 protest. Chairman Mao mausoleum, also a monument in his honor, is in this square.
Forbidden City,the imperial palace in the center of Beijing, was the home for the emperor and seat of his government for over 500 years. Several gates with large buildings divide the many palaces and halls within this complex.
The Great Wall of China, also known as the long wall, is an engineering marvel built to protect against marauding “barbarians.” The long wall hugging the mountain ridges looks like a long dragon. The strong fortifications seem to have been built with photographers in mind. They make amazing photographic subjects.
A rest stop to snooze in a Kung Fu opera stage show. This was a fun, well choreographed show but could be optional.
The Jade factory, a mandatory two-hour long stop on the way to the Great Wall, where the tourists are enticed to believe that buying a mythical voracious and glutton animal without an anus, carved in jade, can help in creating personal wealth and good luck. A tourist trap for expensive dust collectors.
Peking Duck, I love to feast on this delicacy, and they did feed us more than we could take. Peking duck in every dinner and lunch stops. Yummy, yes, but too much.
