Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73007
One forgotten pic from the Tombs bit, these sweeeeeeeet stools & tables for peeps to rest their weary bones at. Would just love them for the back garden home but not sure I’d get them in hand luggage.
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18th Oct 2019 9:49 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73007
Bit of a slog of a day on foot, feet knackered after 11.5km hiking down the posh Shopping street to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Bit picture heavy but it was a fascinating, and tiring, day.
Ladies doing tai chi (sp?) in front of a church. Nice and peaceful, they were prob just getting in the right frame of minds for the crowds ahead.
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And we popped into a shop that was selling lots and lots and lots of sweets. Resisted the temptation but it all looked very tasty.
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Very smart marketing or Google Translate (which works here fine) malfunction on the windows of one of the few Adidas shops.
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Then off to TSq. It was getting very crowded, big lines for security screening and hooching inside the Square.
These pics show part of the lines for Chairman Mao’s memorial hall, prob a 5th of the queue in total. Additionally they had big areas ready for when it got really busy, like w/ends or last weeks Golden Week.
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Heroic revolutionaries.
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And the view across the road to the gate tower of the Forbidden City, next stop.
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18th Oct 2019 10:35 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73007
Text to follow. After scoff & vino.
PS Scoff scoffed & vino vino’ed, and vino’ing so the following might make sense.
Chairman Mao looking like Maj Winchester from M.A.S.H. Note peeps in tracksuits, their cover blown by the chap just out of screen carrying a megaphone with PAP on it, PAP = PLA. Busted.
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Crowds looking pretty light. Believe me, they were hiding ready to get into the frame later. TBH, getting in was really straightforward. We had tickets booked via the hotel, found the shortest queue and presented our passports and we were through. More bag screening, wand searches and into history. Mind you I miss the wand search at our “ local” metro station where the lady gives me a nice pat on the rump. Puts a smile on my face.
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Note I haven’t lost the clown cap from Hakodate, last trip. I intend to keep this one. Plus for the first time this trip the factor 50 come out.
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Corner gate house with lovely ornate roof.
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SWMBO’s Chinese cousins have serious competition for scaryness.
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Lots and lots of peeps.
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These bad boys were MOST welcome. 2 each.
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More ridgeline ornamentation. We started to feel sorry for buildings that didn’t merit this level.
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More scary beasties.
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Chasing the crowds.
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But all sorted by the scariest, SCC.
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Last edited by DSL on 18th Oct 2019 11:58 am. Edited 3 times in total
18th Oct 2019 10:50 am
DG Site Moderator
Member Since: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff
Posts: 50977
Great to see you enjoying the fruits of Communism there Del 21 year LR veteran > D2 GS 2003 > D3 S 2006 > D3 HSE 2009 > D4 HSE 2013 > D4 HSE 2015 > D5 HSE 2018 > DS HSE R-Dynamic P300e 2021
18th Oct 2019 10:53 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73007
Me and what seems like the population of a medium sized mega city.
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Looking forward to the wide open spaces and lack of crowds in Vietnam.
PS A travelling day tomorrow, heading to Xi’an and the home of the Terracotta Warriors. High speed train for 4 1/2 hours will be interesting, especially navigating BeijingXi station.
18th Oct 2019 11:16 am
ianm27
Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154
Great pics Del - glad Tiananmen Square wasn't toooo busy - jeez, would hate to be there when it was really busy.
Trust you were suitably behaved in front of undercover PLA security
BeijingXi station could be fun Uncle Ray's spare wheel protector
Limo Tint
Blackvue front & rear dashcam
Cruise control switch pack
Bodsy's remote for FBH
18th Oct 2019 1:27 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73007
PLA/PAP dude on the megaphone was shouting. No idea if at me taking pcs or the rest of the crowd but as my Mandarin is a tad rusty no idea what he was saying. And the Chinese peeps just totally ignored him. Best way.
18th Oct 2019 1:45 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73007
OK folks, same routine. GFWoC is fighting back so will post pics and add text when I can.
We wondered when it rained a few times when we got to street level from the Metro, didn’t realise that they’d been hosed down Beijing style.
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And how some of those 9,000,000 bicycles get around the city. Certainly well packed.
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And the waiting room at Beijing W station. Well one of many waiting rooms. And this was when it was quiet. When busy it was truely packed but everyone seemed to get through.
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It was a relief to see this sign.
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Lovely sleek looking China Railways high speed train, a universe apart from our last experiences on CR.
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And plenty of leg room. These 2 by 2 seats have the same turning system as the Japanese Shinkansen. Gratuitous boot pic.
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Pretty fast, 191mph (auto correct wants to do 191mpg but sadly not). It was really comfy & smooth and the scenery just slid past. One thing I didn’t get pics of was the drying of corn/maize. Half built roads were the area of choice, failing that pavements. Dual carriageway ways were 2 lanes for cars, 2 inside lanes for crops. Only when they had none of the above did they use the farm yards.
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Lunch on the train included in the ticket. Not a lot but kept hunger at bay.
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One of the mega cities we passed through, luckily the only stop which cut this ride (4hrs 20) by 2 hours.
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Becoming more mega!! Massive amount of building going on in the cities, but a lot of what look like completed blocks/developments totally unoccupied.
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And to the Crowne Plaza Club lounge for scoff & vino. Really handy as it closes at 8:30, not the usual 7:30. Happy days. And in this lounge one of the staff either recognised our type, was feeling sorry for us or was harassed. She left us a bottle!!
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And they do MOST excellent Portuguese egg/custard tarts, that’s one in SWMBO’s hand rapidly disappearing in the above pic.
PS Going to the Han Yang Ling-Yangling Mausoleum of Han Dynasty tomorrow, try typing that after the best part of a bottle of vino!! Heading to the Panacotta Terracotta Warriors on Monday.
19th Oct 2019 1:03 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73007
Morning folks. Pic of shrimp wonton for breakie. Note the black dots, esp two black dots. Those are tiny little shrimps staring back at me.
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20th Oct 2019 1:25 am
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26761
I thought you’d be at least using chop sticks !
20th Oct 2019 7:07 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73007
Strangely we haven’t used chopsticks at all in China. We’re quite happy using eating irons, and have noticed lots of “local” peeps are using forks & spoons. Vietnam will prob be back to chopsticks, our hotels aren’t quite at this level.
When at breakie there was a marathon on TV where they were running in heavy rain. We, well I, thought it was the Military Games which are on at Wuhan. Needless to say it was the Xi’an Marathon and we twigged when we saw a competitor on the metro. And yes, it was piddling down.
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Luckily our hotel lends out brollies.
And yes, we both have our running shoes with us. Luckily we were too late to enter as it had finished.
Not a lot of pics today, it was a day tromping around an archaeological site to the N of the city, emperor & empress’s tomb complex & mausoleum. Good day, heavy on feet and only pic there was the Empress’s pyramid.
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Cute stealth pandas on a roundabout on the bus ride back into town.
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And lastly some more of those 9,000,000 bicycles in Beijing, except they are on hollibobs in Xi’an.
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20th Oct 2019 9:15 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73007
Morning all and greetings from lovely, if bit murky, Xi’an.
SWMBO made the executive decision this morning that even though we’d missed the Xi’an Marathon yesterday we’d go out for a mini marathon of our own. When I say mini, very mini but was really something running around the outside of the local sports stadium with peeps Doing Tai Chi and others playing no net badminton. It lifted my spirits, though SWMBO felt we were doing the wrong sport. Waving flags around had far more appeal.
Modern art or new type of gabian wall made of gas cans? Rubbish pic as didn’t want to stop and SWMBO go storming past!
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Also a bit of a grim pic but tai chi in action. The classes with flags were gone on 2nd circuit of stadium, as was the one where much slapping of butts was going on!
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And refuelling time at breakie, pork, veg & noodles in hot & sour soup, deeeeeeeeelish. And health as a healthy thing, I’ve put on a couple of lbs since starting so time to focus a bit more on not piling on the weight.
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Off shortly to go and find the Panacotta Terracotta Warriors by public bus. None of that tour group malarkie unless absolutely necessary.
21st Oct 2019 2:00 am
stew 46
Member Since: 01 Dec 2011
Location: cornwall
Posts: 10146
Great pics as usual -------------------------------------------------
if you cant hold on dont let go , it ill come in handy for something even if you never use it.
D3 SE 05,
110 s wagon 300 tdi SOLD
h top transit
crew cab transit
transit connect
ausa dumper, muck truck .
peljob 2.5 digger
06 L 200 crew cab
21st Oct 2019 6:48 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73007
Hopefully some great pics of Terracotta Warriors. Taster but will post rest tonight, firewall willing.
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Now on bus back, looking forward to putting feet up.
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21st Oct 2019 7:38 am
stew 46
Member Since: 01 Dec 2011
Location: cornwall
Posts: 10146
Impressive sight -------------------------------------------------
if you cant hold on dont let go , it ill come in handy for something even if you never use it.
D3 SE 05,
110 s wagon 300 tdi SOLD
h top transit
crew cab transit
transit connect
ausa dumper, muck truck .
peljob 2.5 digger
06 L 200 crew cab
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