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One Week in China It's a short time to visit such a large country, but during a one week whirlwind tour we managed to visit Beijing, Suzhou, TongLi, Hangzhou, and Shanghi. Tour packages have been getting cheaper in the last few years and an 8 day package including airfare, 4+ star accommodations, and meals can be had for under $1000. Don't wait, it's worth it! Beijing After a 12 hour direct flight from LAX, we landed in Beijing airport at 5am. Fortunately, I was able to sleep on the plane because the tour began immediately. We headed directly from the airport to breakfast (restaurant shown below). It was a strange bus ride. As we cruised along the highway, I could spot some of the locals doing exercises and practicing Tai Chi in the woods.
After a quick meal we headed to the Forbidden City (a.k.a. the Palace Museum). Entering from the north, our tour began by snaking through the many residence buildings that were once used by the emperor's concubines. The buildings were exciting but most were very dusty inside and there wasn't really anything interesting in them.
After a quick walk through the imperial garden, we moved on to the larger palace buildings. This is what most people come to see. The palaces are laid our in two groups of three along a central line.
Be warned, these huge buildings are ringed with thousands of tourists and it can be hard to get a peak inside without being shoved around a bit. The Forbidden City exits out to the famous Tian An Men square. Not much to see outside other than the large picture of Mao. We stopped and ate at a restaurant nearby before heading on to the Temple of Heaven.
Tiantan (the Temple of Heaven) was used by the emperor to communicate directly with heaven to ensure favorable conditions for his country. The main structure here, known as the Hall of Prayer, was constructed entirely of wood. It is supported with four large pillars representing the four seasons.
For our last stop of the day, we traveled to the Summer Palace. This scenic retreat includes several palace buildings, temples, bridges, and halls set around one of Beijing's most beautiful gardens.
Our second day included trips to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. One of the tombs is opened and you can descend a few flights of stairs to have a look, but I didn't find it worth the effort (especially considering how crowded it was.) The view outside was much more magnificent with green forests and mountains all around.
The great wall was.... great! I had always imagined that you could just walk up a flight of stairs and then leisurely stroll along enjoying the view. It turns out to be very steep though, at least the section we visited. The stairs were of uneven height and tended to be around 1 to 2 feet high. I wouldn't recommend running up as I excitedly did. Once I made it to level ground the exertion made me sick and I ended up leaving my semi-digested breakfast in a trash can near the first tower. We ended the day with an acrobatics show. I enjoyed the dancing and costumes but it wasn't a must see.
Suzhou On the third day in China we caught a flight from Beijing to Shanghi then hopped on a tour bus headed for Suzhou. Suzhou is considered a 'smaller' city in China with a population of only about 800,000. We visited two of the city's main attractions: Tiger Hill and the Lingering Garden. We saw the leaning pagoda (shown below) while at Tiger Hill.
Tong-Li After Suzhou we traveled to Tongli. Like Suzhou, TongLi has many canals running through the city. This beautiful ancient city is sometimes referred to as the 'Venice of the Orient'. To get into the heart of the city, we traveled in a bicycle driven cart along the narrow bumpy roads (see video below).
Hangzhou Another two hour bus ride led us to Hangzhou. We started our visit here with a trip to General Yeu Fei Temple. The photo below shows the large statue of him in the temple.
Of all the temples we visited, Ling Yin was the most satisfying. Carved into the rock face (show below) are many beautiful sculptures with paths winding all around the area. There are also several temple buildings; one housing a giant golden buddha and another with hundreds of smaller buddhist statues.
Shanghi Our final stop was at Shanghi, a bustling city of 17 million. Just 20 years ago this city had only 40 skyscrapers. Now there are over 3000 spanning in all directions. While in Shanghi we visited the Yu Yuan garden, went shopping in the crowded area outside, visited the Bund, and shopped at the famous Nanjing road.
The images below were taken in the shopping area that surrounds the Yu Yuan garden. This area has many colorful, traditional style buildings.
Like most tourist stops in China, Nanjing road was very crowded. Rather than spending the evening milling through the street we snuck up to an Ice Cream shop and had dessert in a booth overlooking the busy road.
After Shanghi we flew back to Beijing then directly to LAX. It was a long day of traveling but well worth it. I hope to return to China, but for a longer more relaxing stay. Other Images
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