Randomish Post

Hey everybody, Sorry it's been a while since I posted anything. We have been updating our computer to windows 8 and I am still figuring everything out.

Halloween. Matt was a cone head zombie from the game "plants vs. zombies".

Clara was a ghost, but it looks like she wants to be a zombie too.

Anna was a tiger again.

Counting and sorting the loot.

Carving pumpkins.

A puzzle company bought one of my brother  Ben's paintings and made it into a puzzle-it's rad!

We had our second snow storm of the season and we finally bought a snow blower. Kent celebrated by clearing all the side walks on both sides of the street.

Hey! this picture's out of order!

The end.

Once, Twice, Three Times a Geek in Beijing

Saturday, the last day in China, we braved the subway to get to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. The subway is usually packed, but this being a Saturday it was merely crowded. The subway train driver honked at me for leaning out to get that second picture.

 

The entrance to the Forbidden City is this gateway with the portrait of Mao. Tienanmen Square is directly behind and across the street from where the entrance is. We didn't ever walk on or through Tienanmen Square but we walked past it a few times.

After walking through the doorway under the portrait of Mao you enter a courtyard which features this tree-lined walkway leading further into the complex.

The Forbidden City was the Emperor's palace as well as a fortress. There has always been a military force here, and that continues today. The huge spaces exude a feeling of power. There is a substantial moat that surrounds the entire complex. The entryways are extremely defensible, such as the Meridian Gate, the main entryway to the outer courtyard.

This is the tower on the left which you can see a sliver of in the photo above.

After walking through the entryway, you enter the outer courtyard. It features a curved extension of the moat, like a river, with a series of five bridges over it. You can see the bridges in one of the pictures below, which is looking back to the entryway from the walkway next to the big building at the end of the courtyard.

We saw variations on these dragon dogs at entrances all over. The one to the right of the entry is male and has a ball under his paw. The one to the left of the entry is female and has a small baby dragon dog under its paw.

In times past, the dragon was the exclusive symbol of the emperor. Any usage outside of the emperor's usage was strictly forbidden. Different symbols of the dragon are painted and carved throughout the palaces.

Finally you come to this third huge area leading to the emperor's throne.

This stone fresco / carving going up the central stairs features some very detailed work and is symbolic of the role of the emperor and his relationship with heaven.

This is one of a series of private gardens behind the main buildings within the city.

Coming outside the wall on the other side of the city  opposite the primary entrance is the wall that surrounds the entire complex. This shot is from the entry/exit in the middle of the wall looking to the right.

And just prior to exiting is this view up to the temple on the hill behind the city. Climbing up allows you to look back down over the Forbidden City. The smog was thick enough that photographs didn't really capture very much. I suppose it lends an air of mystery to it, though.  ;)

Coming down the hill, the surrounding area is a public park. We enjoyed seeing the local people participating in activities like badminton, dancing, and exercising.

I went back to the North Sea area again after visiting the Forbidden City because I was with a different subset of our group this day who hadn't seen it and the old China buildings that surround it. The air had cleared somewhat also.

I risked life and limb on a few occasions during the week to get some interesting shots. This is one of those occasions.

So, there you go. We flew back Sunday morning. I took about 1000 pictures during the week. My colleagues and I are also sharing our photos amongst ourselves, so I will have their pictures also. As already mentioned, I'll bring them along to Thanksgiving and they'll be available for those that want to see them.

A Geek in Beijing, Part Deux

Continuing from my previous post, Friday morning a group of us drove an hour or so outside Beijing to visit a section of the Great Wall. There are several maintained sections to which the public can go. The section where we went is called the Matianyu area. The first thing that you do when you get there is climb. This is the view from the parking area at the bottom of the hill leading up to the wall when you first realize that the wall is up there.

 



 

Climb, climb, climb. Only part way up the path and my legs were feeling the burn. This could have been the 23,000+ steps that my pedometer had registered walking in Beijing the day before, but it's important to realize that it really is a good, healthy climb to get to the wall itself. Once you get there, it's incredible. The Great Wall stretches over 6,000 miles and is built of stone.

Once you are on the wall itself it is no leisurely stroll from here to there. The wall follows the natural terrain. The section that we visited is on hills with some significant elevation differences.

You will notice in these pictures what looks like a mist or haze. There is no mist -- the air quality had gotten progressively worse since our arrival and was pretty dense by this time. This is normal air quality according to our coworkers. There had been a storm the night of our arrival that had blown the smog away for awhile, so we didn't see the smog until about Thursday.

At the beginning of our climb of the Great Wall we approached the middle of the section and went to one end. Overall, there are sections that are maintained, but most of the wall is not. After reaching the end of the maintained section there is a sign that says that further access is prohibited. That said, beyond that point the wall looks like the following couple photos. The plants have overtaken the wall and are surviving. An unpreserved tower about a quarter mile past the end of the official road is the next shot.

If you're tired and are eager to get to the bottom of the mountain quickly, you can take an alternative mode of transportation -- toboggan.

 

Smog from my hotel window.