Saying that, this is a picture of the outdoor mall just down from our hotel this Saturday morning. The haze and smog from the previous day is still there. Just before I took this picture, I had power walked down to Tiannemen Square, which was about 4 good sized city blocks from out hotel. I had hoped to see the daily raising of the Chinese flag. However, I did not make it in time, and even if I had, they haze would have made it too difficult to snap a photo. I even tried to go a few blocks north of the outdoor mall to get a photo of the big Catholic cathedral in Beijing, but again the haze prevented the early morning sun from shining enough light to get a decent picture.
After breakfast and packing our bags, we headed to the old Beijing bell tower, where the end of the day was signaled by the tolling of a gigantic bronze bell. The tower gives you some impressive views of the city, and luckily it began to rain and the haze started to clear away.
As we entered this bell tower, we were checked with metal detecting wands. This was odd because at no other tourist attraction did this happen. Then someone in our group remembered. It was at this bell tower that an insane Chinese national stabbed the father-in-law of the coach of the U.S. volleyball team. Obviously, we ran into no trouble here. But it is nice to know that America is not the only place that over reacts to isolated incidents.
However, I was finally able to get a picture of a Buddhist monk. I had seen a few before, but they moved to quickly for me to snap there photo. Apparently, their bald heads get quite cold in the damp autumn air.
After the tower, we had to tour a hutong, which is the name for the older neighborhoods in Beijing. Some of them are about 900 years old. Unfortunately, the one we were taken to was spruced up for the Olympics and is something of a tourist trap. My friend David form Chattanooga Christian and I had to ride in this pedicab to the "authentic" neighborhood. Again, I felt like quite the imperialist.
We felt especially odd since the guy below was our driver. How stereotypical can you get! I was not impressed by this part of the tour, especially since it ended at a Starbucks made to look like an old Beijing storefront. I guess the highlight was the man who pedaled his bike up next to our pedicab and tried to sell us a "Rolex" while still keeping pace with our hard working driver.
After lunch, we headed to the airport to make our way to Japan. In fact, we had a brief layover in another Chinese city, Tsingtao. For those of you out there who are over the age of 21, you may recognize the name of the city from the beer of the same name you can order at Chinese restaurants in America. The city of Tsingtao was once a German concession at the turn of the century, so they are known for their beer making. Unfortunately, our time spent here consisted of getting off the plane, going through customs, and getting back on the plane. Sorry, no pictures, but they had a nice new airport as well.
I am now writing to you from Nagoya, Japan. We arrived at 10pm local time, so again, I had no time or light for pictures. The hotel room is small and the neon lights in the city were plentiful. We go to an art museum and other cultural landmarks tomorrow.
Chuck Newell
Nagoya, Japan
10/18/08
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