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China

A 14-day adventure by Destination Unknown Read more
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    This is Us

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 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.Read more

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    Where is Everyone?

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 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!Read more

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    Ready to See China

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 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.Read more

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    Let's Start the Tour!

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 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.Read more

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    The Workers

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 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.Read more

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    Red and Gold

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 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.Read more

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    Tiananmen Square

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 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.Read more

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    It's Me!

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 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.Read more

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    Just the Two of Us

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 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.Read more

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    Entrance to the Forbidden City

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Although crossing the street in front of this building looked very treacherous and dangerous because of so many cars, it was actually very easy. I'm getting more and more excited as we get closer to the Forbidden City. I feel like I'm walking back into historyRead more

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    It's Me!

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 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.Read more

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    Kathy

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 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.Read more

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    This is Us

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 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.Read more

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    Me Again

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 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.Read more

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    One More Selfie

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 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.Read more

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    Another Gateway

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 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.Read more

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    Checkpoints

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 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.Read more

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    Soldiers

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Almost as soon as we got inside the Forbidden City we saw a group of soldiers marching across the square. This really surprised us since we didn't expect to see Chinese soldiers inside what has become, essentially, a tourist attraction.Read more

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    Marching

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    The Chinese soldiers marched by us so quickly that I couldn't get any shots of their faces. I'm so glad that I saw them but I think that a photo of them from the front would have been a fantastic, and rare, capture.Read more

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    Chinese Soldiers

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    The soldiers are all so synchronized! Not only do they all do the same thing at the same time, they all look exactly the same too. It almost makes me think of the Borg, where there is no individualism or independent thought.Read more

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    Off They Go

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 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.Read more

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    More Gates

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 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.Read more

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    Details

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    We aren't even fully inside and I'm already loving this architecture. If everything looks this good already, I can only imagine how great things are going to be inside!

  • Destination UnknownChinaDestination Unknown

    The Imperial Palace

    September 27, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    We're finally inside the Forbidden City and it's even better than I had expected. I'm glad that it's not so crowded today. I'm going to go through this place as slowly as possible. I want to see all of it!Read more