• Destination Unknown
  • Destination Unknown

China

14-päiväinen seikkaillu — Destination Unknown Lue lisää
  • This is Us

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Greetings from Tiananmen Square! A few people in the tour group asked Kathy to take pictures of them here on Tiananmen Square and now it's time for them to return the favor. I always love pictures of Kathy and I together. I hope that we can get a lot of shots like that on this trip.Lue lisää

  • Where is Everyone?

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    For some reason, I had expected Tiananmen Square to be a lot more crowded. As I understand it, China has a population of more than a billion people and this is supposed to be one of Beijing's most popular tourist attractions so, where is everyone? Maybe everyone is busy working and this place gets really crowded on the weekends? I'm just glad that we don't have to deal with big crowds everywhere!Lue lisää

  • Ready to See China

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Kathy looks all set for us to start seeing Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. That guy behind her was in our tour group but I can't remember his name at the moment. I'm sure that it will come to me later. So far, I can't say that I really care much for him. He seems to be very sarcastic and condescending. He hasn't done, or said, anything to me yet, but he's not starting off this trip with the best attitude. Hopefully he'll settle down as we get more into it.Lue lisää

  • Let's Start the Tour!

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    With a few people in this shot, you can really see the scale of that pagoda building. It's so huge! The person holding the fish kite is Lisa, our tour guide. I'm glad that she's using something so eye-catching so I won't get lost. I tend to lag behind, because I'm always taking pictures, but now I'll always know where the group is. I'll just look for the fish! That's Fiona and David from our tour group along with their daughter. She wasn't in our group but tagged along with us for most of the trip which seemed kind of strange to me.Lue lisää

  • The Workers

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    We had a few minutes to walk around Tiananmen Square before we started the tour and it felt wonderful to walk around in such a famous and historical area. We saw this statue, a tribute to the power of the communist workers of China. It looks very inspiring and, I must admit, typical of what I was expecting to see here.Lue lisää

  • Red and Gold

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    I noticed this building as we were leaving Tiananmen Square and headed to the Forbidden City. I must admit, I had expected to see China filled with iconography of this sort but, aside from flying their flag, this is the first of it that I'm seeing. I think that if I didn't see any of it, I'd be very disappointed. Sights like this make me feel like I'm really here in China.Lue lisää

  • Tiananmen Square

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    This building is actually a gateway separating Tiananmen Square from the Forbidden City. The square contains the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China in the square on October 1, 1949; the anniversary of this event is still observed there. Tiananmen Square is within the top ten largest city squares in the world. It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history. I'm really surprised by all the traffic going past. This area is a lot more crowded than where we started off from.Lue lisää

  • It's Me!

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    I hardly ever get my picture taken but I want to be photographed a lot on this trip. I'm not sure that we'll ever make it back to China, although I hope that we will. With this in mind, I want to be in a lot of pictures, especially ones of Kathy and I together.Lue lisää

  • Just the Two of Us

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Here's another picture of the two of us together. I'm usually the one behind the camera but I'm trying to change that. I'd really like to get some nice pictures of us together in China. This is such an iconic building, known throughout the world, so getting a picture together here is a given.Lue lisää

  • It's Me!

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Here's me, in front of the entrance to the Forbidden City. I still can't believe that we finally made it here! Everyone in our tour group wanted photos taken here so the guide decided to wait for a bit so everyone can get their pictures.Lue lisää

  • Kathy

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Taking a photo of Kathy was next, of course. I love taking pictures of her and think that she always photographs very well. Of course, she doesn't think so. Still, she's always a good sport about having her picture taken and always has a smile for me.Lue lisää

  • This is Us

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Kathy got out her selfie stick and took this picture of us together. On our last shot together, we asked someone from the tour group to take our photo and, when she was finished, she asked us to take a picture of her and her husband. We gladly did it, thinking that was the fair thing to do but this woman, Nina was her name, complained about every photo that Kathy and I took. No matter what picture we took, neither of us could satisfy her. Even her husband, Steve, was getting very annoyed at her. Finally, he said what we took was fine, and thanked us, but we could tell that she still wasn't happy with the pictures. We decided that we'll never ask her to take our picture again. It's just not worth it.Lue lisää

  • Me Again

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    This seems to be a very popular spot for taking pictures. I'm glad that we were able to find a spot without other people posing for their shots right next to us. I see that happening in crowded, and popular, spots like the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. When people are packed in so closely like that, everyone's pictures come out awful because it ends up looking like you are in a photo with strangers. It's never a good look.Lue lisää

  • One More Selfie

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    We had time to take one more selfie together before we were ready to enter the Forbidden City. I was so surprised that Nina approached us and asked us if we wanted her to take our picture. We politely declined, telling her that it was time for the group to move on. We just don't want to get caught up in her drama again.Lue lisää

  • Another Gateway

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    We entered the gateway to the Forbidden City and immediately came to another gateway. I was surprised, thinking that we would have been inside already, but I guess not. I suppose that, if nothing else, these gateways build anticipation for when we actually see the real thing.Lue lisää

  • Checkpoints

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    This gateway of the Forbidden City was nothing more than a security checkpoint. Lisa, our guide, spoke to the guard and then we were all made to line up together and open up our bags. I'm thinking that this was to make sure that we all stayed together and didn't get separated as we entered the Forbidden City.Lue lisää

  • Off They Go

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    And there they go, marching off so quickly. It was exciting to see the Chinese military marching through the Forbidden City but I can't help wonder why they were here. Was it just typical exercise drills or are they suspecting some sort of trouble? I'm sure that if anything were to happen, China's army would act very fast and efficiently. Seeing them here makes me feel safe.Lue lisää

  • More Gates

    27. syyskuuta 2018, Kiina ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    I thought that, after the last gate, that we were inside the Forbidden City but apparently not. This is yet another gate for us to pass through. I'm noticing that the gateways are becoming bigger and more imposing as we get further inside. I'm really eager to get to the center of this beautiful place.Lue lisää