transportation

Traffic wasn't too bad in Xi'an. Lots of buses, but not too many cars. Beijing streets were crowded with cars and buses. Both cities had many bicycles including three wheeled ones often used like a truck. Nearly all of the bikes were old and in very poor condition - Henry said new ones were often stolen, so it was by choice that people ride junk. I never saw anyone riding a rickshaw except at touristy places for tourists, and those were modern ones - a bike, not a person pulling you.

Forbidden City

Again, I had not read enough about this before I got there. I had seen pictures of the huge courtyard-type area, but I thought most of it would be gardens. There are gardens, but we walked for a couple of hours in the inner city and went in only a few of the hundreds of buildings before we got to the gardens. A lot of the buildings are being restored. The outer area was not forbidden - anyone could go there. The inner part was just for the emperor, his associates, and military. The big slab of marble came in one piece from 50 miles away. Transporters dug wells every 150 yards to get water to help float/slide the marble toward the city! The emperor was carried up by men using the steps; the carved portion was never touched.

Ming Dynasty Tombs

The Ming Dynasty Tombs were the last place we went on our tour. Visitors actually just go to the grounds; all but two of the tombs are closed to the public. The red building is the entrance to the Spirit Way, a walkway guarded by 24 statues of animals and officers. It was the only place we went that was not crowded - notice the absence of people in the photos. It was beautiful and peaceful, and we all enjoyed walking there.

Beijing Olympics

Olympic stuff is everywhere in Beijing. I remember how excited Salt Lake City was. The opening ceremonies will be in a huge new stadium called the "birdsnest." We went past it several times, but always on a freeway at dusk or during rain, so the pictures were not very good. The signs, "One World One Dream" are everywhere, even on the Wall. I am standing in front of the Olympic countdown clock on Tiananmen Square.

China

Hello!
I got home late Tuesday evening - exhausted and still not quite believing all that I'd seen and done in the past week. I think you could tell from the emails I sent.
China really didn't look like I expected. I think I pictured the China of 30 years ago with everyone wearing dark blue and riding bikes. Not so. Everyone wore very western clothing. Xi'an and Beijing are both very modern. Building was going on everywhere. The roads were new. Business appears to be thriving. I know there's another side to it, but I didn't see it. Preparation for the Olympics was going on and we could tell that the Chinese people are very anxious to have everything nice for that. The streets were very clean. It was spring, and flowers (petunias most common) and trees were blooming everywhere.
Street vendors were also everywhere and very aggressive. Of course, I was only at the touristy places, but they were even on the Wall, not just at the base of it. Traffic was terrible in Beijing, cars and buses, mostly, with many bicycles and people. Our guide said there are far fewer bikes now than 20 years ago. Pedestrians do not have the right of way, so we needed to be very careful crossing streets.
The weather was beautiful, except for one day, when it rained hard. The day following the rain we went to the Wall. Normally, the views of the mountains and valleys are hidden by smog, but because of the rain, we were able to see far off into the distance. Our guide laughingly said we must have all prayed to Chairman Mao the night before!
I kept a trip notebook. My original intent was just to write down where I went. I ended up writing more than that, but I did not include descriptions of the places I went. If you want to know more, look back at the entries April put on the blog a month ago, or look them up elsewhere. I was not consistent in how I wrote, nothing is dated, and I was always tired when I wrote so some things are rambly and don't completely make sense. I still decided not to edit what I'd written and just leave it for you to figure out what I meant, if you choose to read it at all.
I'll get some pictures posted in a day or two. Love, Mom
(Everytime I tried to type after the last word, what I typed became part of the bold and I think part of the link. I hope the notebook gets posted)

Nancy's Journal