Asia-How I Spent my Summer-Part 3

KbikeKbike Registered Users Posts: 52 Big grins
edited December 26, 2006 in Journeys
How I spent my summer: Or why would anyone want to tour Southeast Asia in the Summer?

Part 3
Next stop on the tour, Hong Kong and Beijing. We arrived in Hong Kong to fog and over cast skies. We had one day to look around Hong Kong before flying to Beijing for 4 days.
Every night at 8pm, Hong Kong has a laser light show from all of the buildings close to the harbor and it is very impressive.
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Apartments are the only way to expand.
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More drying laundry.
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Beijing is one of the most polluted places I’ve ever been. It was so hazy that I was only able to take pictures of roofs and doors and then I had to raise the contrast and brightness a lot just to show any detail. Kate and I led a group of 19 college students to the University of International Business and Economics. Our students were supposed to meet students from IBE and exchange experiences, but IBE was on vacation, so we spent our time eating and touring Beijing. The Chinese tour leader was an administrator from IBE, so he was not as knowledgeable as a regular tour guide, but he was way more flexible about what we did and where we went.
Here is a typical daytime city street view.
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The first place we went after checking in to the hotel, was the Summer Palace. This is the east entrance, one that is not as popular as the main entrance.
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Roof tiles.
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One of the excursion boats on the Summer Palace Lake.
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The second day we started at Tiananmen Square. This is one third of the line to view the body of Chairman Mao.
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A guard at Tiananmen Square.
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Too cool students, at Tiananmen Square.
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Chairman Mao’s resting place.
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Entrance to the Forbidden City.
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Doors, roofs, and buildings in the Forbidden City.
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Resting after a hard day.
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Street cleaning lady.
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Bicycle pickup.
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Next stop, The Temple of Heaven.
Musicians, along a covered walkway, a gathering place for visitors.
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Decorative columns.
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Here is one building out of the smog.
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The first and only time that I saw the sun.
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There are 2 main places on the Great Wall to visit and the one we went to was the furthest from Beijing at Mutianyu. Unfortunately it was covered in clouds.
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And another loaded Pedi cycle.
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Comments

  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,938 moderator
    edited December 24, 2006
    Wow! I had no idea the place was so smoggy.
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • ed_hed_h Registered Users Posts: 191 Major grins
    edited December 26, 2006
    ian408 wrote:
    Wow! I had no idea the place was so smoggy.

    this could be a problem for the next summer games, from what i've heard the authorizes have contingency plans in place to shut down various things to keep the air clear/clean.
    Ed
    A dog is for life, not just Christmas
    http://www.dogshome.org.au/
  • ed_hed_h Registered Users Posts: 191 Major grins
    edited December 26, 2006
    interesting shot of the roof tiles, I like this one
    thanks, ed
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    A dog is for life, not just Christmas
    http://www.dogshome.org.au/
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