Sept 30 evening

Today we got 0330 am to catch the plane to Xi'an, since our rooms were  not ready  at 1000 when we arrived--we went seeing--why not, so we saw two more temples then off to the hotel to rest before supper and a special show.

To tired too type--talk more tomorrow

Sept 29----part #2

Had to do a few things and posted the first half so I would do something dumb and delete what I had wrote.
Today we went to the Temple of Heaven and the Lama Temple. The Lama Temple was an active temple with many people coming in the worship and pray. All of them  burning incense--so much that most of my pictures are smoky

found another bike picture 

Above in the front of this scooter.

Below is the back.

OK fine Petey

Middle of picture-white shirt

This is the Temple of Heaven

Beautiful---coloured blue the colour of the sky.

Another building on the same site---completely decorated all over.

Well guys got to go to bed. We have to get up at 3:30 am to catch the bus at 4 to catch the plane at 7am as we leave Beijing and head off to Xi'an which is inland and south of there we are now. So do not be looking for an early morning post.--- and a skimpy evening will probably follow---we'll see. Having a great time.

Sept. 29 Evening

Sorry I did not have time to send off a note this morning. They really want us to see as much as possible and China is a big country---I think they know we will never be back. So we are putting in 12 plus hour days and are sleeping very well. 

I thought I would show you a collection of little cars. There are a lot of bikes and these small cars plus scooters running up and down the bike lanes in both directions on both sides of the street---or sitting in the middle of these 8 lane highways waiting to turn. 

Rode in a rickshaw to day as we when thru the old part of town,, and had lunch at the home of one of the local people. She cooked for 20 people on one burner---really good food.

Lots of these delivery type scooters

This one is cute---a 2 seater---like our smart car cut in half. The passenger sits behind the driver.

More delivery flat beds

The sterling wheel is just like  bike handles---as if they cut the bike apart to make up this car.

I wanted to get a picture of the garbage bikes. Recycling must pay really well because they go around and clean up the streets, garbage bins ect and pile it in huge over size bags tie the bags down on top of the cardboard they have collected---will try to get a picture but they peddle really fast and it is usually late in the evening when you see them.

Sept 28 evening

Ok I am tired----so is Pete!
The Ming Tomb was just like the Forbidden City except much smaller----seems they liked their tombs to be just like their homes when they were alive.......so we took a few pictures but it was a lot like a repeat from yesterday.
Did go to a Jade store and an enamel on copper store---interesting --expensive.

We did stop at the 2008 Olympic Village and saw the Bird's Nest Stadium and the Bubble Aquatic Centre---that was neat.

The Great Wall of China was everything we thought it would be and more...more stairs than we have ever seen....and every stair a different height.  We climbed up to the 2nd tower rested and came back down------try using a 4 star bathroom after that!!!!!.
So shortly a nice shower and bed---sorry short blog tonight

Goodnight----in case you were wondering we are 12 hours ahead of you.

Sept 28- morning

This morning is a lesson in Chinese toilets.

Our hotel has a 5 star American toilet--just like at home====no really better! we can flush every-time :)

Below is a floor toilet - squat and go--better have your own paper

The sign above says 4 star toilet---squat and go

This sign same as above---squat and go.

So if you want a 5 star------go before you go :)

Off for breakfast when 5 star then the Great Wall 

Talk to you tonight.

Sept 27- end of the day
Well the itinerary changed...we will see everything but on different days :)  So Today we went to the Summer Palace on Kunming Lake

The lake is spring fed and is known for the fresh water pearls.

They are said to be the best in the world. The court yards were very beautiful. Unfortunately the lotus flowers were not in bloom, but the many plants surrounded the palace.

We did go to a Pearl Market and learned how to tell the difference  between fake and real pearls . I of course picked out a necklace that was $2000 US--- so we did not buy any pearls for me.

Beijing is a city of 35 million people , it is a very modern city and looked very much like any other city. The main roads were like major highways only 4 to 6 lanes on each side, with turning lanes , bus lanes and bike lanes.

Next we went on to Tienanmen Square. It is a huge open area with pictures of Chairman Mao and flowers all around. 

There were lots of Soldiers  marching and guarding the square

Some of the people wore face masks to help filter the air. Today was very windy so the smog levels were low and we had no problems. 

Across from the square is the Forbidden City which were the homes of 24 emperors. It has 9,999 rooms and took us close to 3 hours to walk through it and still we did not see everything.

Most of the large building had open verandas with grand staircases. 

Lots of bronze statues and some at one time were covered with gold.

Large open areas were between all the building

This statue had the body of a turtle and the head of a Dragon.

The imperial throne room.

The whole city was very clean. People with straw brooms cleaned all the walking areas inside the Forbidden City and outside in the main city. There were also small scooters that drove around cleaning and emptying the garbage pails. 

More courtyards and sleeping areas.

At the tip of every roof were little dog like figures --all hand carved

We finished off the day with Peking Roast Duck dinner and very gladly went back to the hotel.

To get showered and rested for tomorrow. 

The Great Wall of China.

Had a great day .

Sept 27
What a great night sleep....you have 6 choices of pillows from feather, foam, orthopedic, Buckwheat Chrysanthemum and Green tea and an executive housekeeper who will help you select your pillow :)

Breakfast was a buffet--regular North American and Chinese.  So I had greens in  a soup base, dumplings, and Chinese pancakes with fruit and tea. Petey had fruit dumplings toast and coffee.

So we are off to the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and having Peking Roasted Duck tonight.
So off we go and will be back tonight. The adventure begins :)

Sept 26------WE are in China!!

We boarded a bus in Peterborough and left town at 1230 and headed to Toronto Airport with no problems. We flew threw customs with no problem and boarded the plane on time and so started our 12 and 1/2 hour flight to Beijing China.
If you took a pen and drew a straight line from Toronto going north over the Hudson Bay and the high Arctic Islands over the Arctic Ocean and straight to Beijing that is the route we took.
So we did not see anything sitting in the isle seats but it was dark and even if we could of looked out the window we would not of seen much. But we can now say we flew over the Arctic Circle, the Arctic Ocean and a few of the islands in the high arctic. No were even close to the north pole so no sightings of Santa Claus.
It is over 6700 kl from Toronto to Beijing and on average we were flying about 500 kl per hour . The out side temp that high up in the sky was between minus 50 and minus 77 C.
The ride wasn't as bad as we had prepared us for and we couldn't believe how much food we were given on the plane.

Awake call is at 0630 tomorrow as we have a busy day ahead of us---will be doing a lot of walking so should be in better shape when we get home.
Our hotel room is lovely and the only pictures I have taken so far. I promise better pictures tomorrow.
So Pete is making sure we are up and running, a picture of the room and teh hand painted wallpaper. So I can up load--hopefully I will be able to send you something everyday.
Good night for now.

THURSDAY Sept. 22
3 more sleeps :):)

Well 4 batches of shortbread baked and put away. Christmas cake in the oven and if all goes well will be wrapped and put away to sit and age and become soooooooooooooo good.
Will do the final check and pack of the bags today.
Breakfast tomorrow morning with our dear friends Norma and Bob, then off to Bj's to see him and the grandkids and of course get some IT advice so we can send and receive emails while in China.

I put away my Kayak yesterday--was suppose to be raining today....beautiful day very little fall colours but for this time of year it is really nice.

So next post will be day 1 of our trip....see you then.

1 Week to go--repacked the suitcase---took out 2 short sleeve T shirts added 2 long sleeve shirts and a second pair of jeans---China is about the same temp. as we are sooooooooooooo need to pack a bit warmer.:) The climate in Cambodia and Thailand will be mid to high 20s. But we'll check the temps again next week and make some final decisions.
But good news my suitcase weights in at 33 pounds and we are allowed 45, so doing good for bring back goodies :)
Seeing BJ this week so hopefully he will have an idea how we can send and receive emails and blogs while in China.

Sept 5, 2016
Labour Day
The summer is winding down, the mesh screens are off the sunshades, the little lanterns are put away. The floating beach chairs are in the shed and the big boat gets pulled out tonight.
The Bunkie or as Camden likes to call it the Cubby is completely flipped over --the sheets and all the blankets have been washed and air dried and the beds are remade.
I removed the "dust ruffle" and will leave it off---if we ever raise the bed I might put it back on , but for now it is gone. I also made a unilateral decision and sprayed the door hinges with DW40--works like a charm. Figured the kids are getting old enough we really do not need the "door alarm" any more--so we'll see how it sounds come the  spring.
So 20 days to go.

Getting real now

                                                              So that's summer of 2016