Where in the World are Dave and Elizabeth?

From around 1420 to 1924, the Forbidden City was the winter palace complex for the Emperor of China.  What remains today covers 7.75 million square feet.  The museum part consists of 980 buildings.  I had no idea that it was that large!  The mystical animals on the roofs have significance both for the number and in which order they are lined up. One function was to serve as guardian totems which Feng Shui masters believed would drive evil spirits away. Also, some of them had iron tongues that stuck out and were attached to wire.  This was an early version of a lightening rod. Our guide said the mystical animals also communicated information about the building and could be read like a language. The Forbidden City was constructed according to geomancy (Feng Shui), and the buildings are red and yellow or gold, which are believed to be auspicious colors.  The layout emphasizes the importance of the Emperor, who was believed to be divine. The Chinese thought of ...

 Yesterday, we awakened at 4:30 to meet for our trip to Beijing at 5:30.  Beijing is about 2 1/2 hours inland from the Tianjin port.  Our first stop was Tiananmen Square, where so much related to Chinese history and government has happened.   I don’t have a picture of the exact building, but one of the modern buildings around the square is Mao’s Mausoleum. Though Chairman Mao wanted to be cremated, his body was embalmed and is kept in a specially cooled room.  Our tour didn’t include a visit, for which I am thankful. All around the Square is modern China.  When we passed through the Tiananmen Gate (The Gate of Heaven Sent Peace), we passed into China of the 1400’s.  Since the Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976 destroyed a lot of China’s traditional beauty, this massive complex of buildings from the Middle Ages is a treasure. I didn’t know before going was that The Forbidden City was just part of the old Imperial City, which must have been huge for tha...

 We pulled into Tianjing this morning. Yesterday, we were in Dalian.  Today, I will be catching up on the blog with tidbits from Suzhou, Dalian, and  Tianjin Of course, this is the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese zodiac.  All the cities in China we have seen feature dragons and the color red in decorations this year, and Dalian was no exception.  Our guide in Suzhou the other day explained that it is considered very fortunate to be born in the Dragon year, so many Chinese families time their pregnancies to coincide with this time. I read later that this has sometimes strained the limits of maternity care in certain years. All of the red and gold is very cheerful on these chilly, in between winter and spring days. The current city of Dalian was founded by Russians in the nineteenth century, so the old heart of the city has a Russian influence. We visited a city park that was laid out during the Russian time.  There has also been a huge Japanese i...

Move over Buck ee’s.  You have nothing on the quick stop we went to in our way to the city of Suzhou.  Ceilings painted with blue sky and white clouds. An artificial stream running down the center.  Places that sell things like duck on a stick.  Fresh fruit and veggies on display.  The Chinese traveler’s convenience store is something to see.  This was just a pit stop on our tour group’s nearly 2 hour trip from Shanghai to Suzhou. Known as the Venice of China, Suzhou has a population of 10 million. (Shanghai is 26 million.). At the heart of the city is an ancient canal system.  The main one is part of a canal that linked the city with Beijing and was built beginning in  500-600 AD.We loaded into boats to tour the area.  Following that, we had a lovely lunch in a local hotel and then headed to the Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute.  We met women who create the most intricate, exquisite embroidery with silk thread.   The detailing ...