Topic: It's Another BigMike's Japanese Vacation! [many pics!]

[zembalayan]

Nice pics!  Looks like you got to see a lot cool stuff in Beijing.

[BigMike [OP]]

Nice pics!  Looks like you got to see a lot cool stuff in Beijing.

Hey Bill, I'm sure you're gonna recognize most of these places!

I forgot I had some pics from the wife's camera:

Here we are on the Rickshaw


At the flower gate


The very nice driver who worked so hard transporting us so far


and the Forbidden City, south entrance

[BigMike [OP]]

So unbeknownst to us, we had to start from the north side. So on a city bus we went!

Bus rides only cost $1 yuan, which is about 15-cents US! Imagine riding the bus around your home town for just a nickle & dime per trip.


I know this isn't such a good pic, but they were playing what I only know to call as Chinese Chess. Our guide books told us to be on the look out for this and we saw it probably 3 or 4 times during our stay.


More proof that the city is evolving, there were countless debris covered sidewalks as buildings and businesses were being... modernized?


Wow a Chevy!!

[BigMike [OP]]

And now I am going to briefly share with you guys just how OUT OF CONTROL THIS PLACE IS. All of this occurred on our bus ride around the Forbidden City

That white car (on the wrong side of the road) just passed someone and our bus had to swerve to the right to avoid him


J-Walkers paradise: Even with your child!


Look at the pedestrians crossing both the nearside & farside of the intersection. Now tell me, who has the right of way here?


WE have the green light and yet people DON'T CARE! It's an all-out free-for-all!


They could hardly wait for our bus to pass

[hansi530]

wheres all of the rad diesel toyotas

[BigMike [OP]]

Found another Jeep!


Here is your Chinese Highway, complete with a massive bicycle lane


More traditional affects


Finally off the bus, we had to walk a bit to get to the South gate entrance. It was very busy!


Looking over our left shoulders, there was a vast plaza with this enormous LCD? screen showing a bunch of videos and images of China


Even the Palace was under construction! (I'm sure just got new paint, but nevertheless)

[BigMike [OP]]

wheres all of the rad diesel toyotas

You know, I never saw even one Toyota truck in China. I did read that the car sales of Toyota of China are up nearly 15% compared to last year. We were both surprised to find so many 4-door cars including new Audis, BMWs, and Mercedes. Honestly I wasn't expecting this place to be so developed.

[BigMike [OP]]

Here we are entering through the south side. These walls are no joke!


One of many vendors


This bread was advertised as "Salty Bread" and yet it was just ordinary non-salty bread LOL


Looking north at the Inner Court (we started from the outer court, sorry I should have specified this when introducing the place on the previous page). Even the outer court was a good 1/4 long if not longer. I'm sure outer+inner combined, the total length is over 1 mile long.


I was greatly amused by the "Made In China" merchandise in China!


There were some army dudes-in-training in the outer court. Looks like they lived and trained here. Here they are playing some basketball and ping pong. A ton of people were taking pictures including me hahaha



This is looking back south at where we had come


Additional side entrances


What in the world is that


Finally! We made it to the inner court gate!!


This place is very imposing for sure. These pictures just don't do it enough justice

[zembalayan]

You know, I never saw even one Toyota truck in China. I did read that the car sales of Toyota of China are up nearly 15% compared to last year. We were both surprised to find so many 4-door cars including new Audis, BMWs, and Mercedes. Honestly I wasn't expecting this place to be so developed.

Mike,

You have to go to Tibet to see all of the good stuff where it's actually needed.  In 2001, a friend and I hired a local guide, a driver, and a BJ60 in Lhasa, and we traveled thru some seriously remote and elevated places.   You better believe there were no Beijing Jeeps up there--just 60s, 80s, and 100 series cruisers.

Good pics and descriptions of the chaotic driving!  The problem comes out of the very recent onset of private automobile ownership in China. Not even 15 years ago, the only drivers on the road were professionals, including truckers, bus drivers, cabbies, etc.  Then all of sudden you got a whole bunch of people with money who have not grown up driving a car, but who instead rode busses and bikes their whole lives, buying their first VW Santanas or Chinese made Buicks.

As bad as the driving may be here in the states, we start young and have a very mature driving culture.  

Now that you're in Japan, let's see some pics of the Toyotas, Mike! ;-)

[CrawlerChick]

Wow!! This is awesome Mike!  How have I missed this thread?!?!?! Guess I was actually working!!!!   lol. Glad you are all well.  Give Missy a hug from me. 

[BigMike [OP]]

Mike,

You have to go to Tibet to see all of the good stuff where it's actually needed.

I would LOVE to go to Tibet someday!!

You better believe there were no Beijing Jeeps up there--just 60s, 80s, and 100 series cruisers.

HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!

Good pics and descriptions of the chaotic driving!

Awesome, thanks for the explanations Bill! ohhh and I've got some more doozies to share as well Very interesting as to how things are evolving over there. Also, we saw a bunch of those Santanas!!

Now that you're in Japan, let's see some pics of the Toyotas, Mike! ;-)

Patience my son I'm trying to shake the habit of starting these Japanese vacation threads and then never completing them I have a bunch of pictures from China to post up first

Wow!! This is awesome Mike!  How have I missed this thread?!?!?!

Do I need to show you how to use an internet browser yet again?

[BigMike [OP]]

Passing into the inner court...


Looking back at the wall we passed through. Were they trying to build a plateau dam or something?


Massive buildings, massive open space everywhere, this place is really awesome!!




Beautiful intricacies abound!!

[BigMike [OP]]

The place had numerous gilded statues including a pair of these lions outside the palace museum


Here is the entryway to the palace museum


Amazing artwork everywhere! Each lil square had a drawing of a dragon


Looking back...


...and looking forward! Sheeesh!


In the thick of it

[BigMike [OP]]

Off the beaten path was, well... more of a beaten path. This is off to the side where as you can see hardly anyone was walking. I took the picture because I thought it was so cool to think, and this is just my hunch, that this is what the entire place used to be like, and how awesome it must have been to have survived the sands of time...... to think how many emperors walked here, visiting dignitaries, leaders from other nations, et cetera... on these very same bricks!!


Ahhhh we finally made it to the Hall of Supreme Harmony!


The main walkway was cut from what looked like marble and had very pretty drawings of dragons. They closed that off for preservation, leaving two smaller paths to cram everyone through


Originally built in 1420!


These were scattered around the building, used to store water in case of fire?


Finally made it!


Looking back at the Palace Museum, which is past the inner moat, which is past the north side inner court gate, which is past the vast outer courtyard, which is past the north outer courtyard gate, which is past the outer moat, which is beyond the huge plaza, which is-ok I'll stop

[BigMike [OP]]

A closer shot of the hall


They had some stuff outside each building such as this sundial...


And this bad-to-the-bone Marlin Crawler Turtle Statue!!

[BigMike [OP]]

So what is so supreme and harmonious here?


This!


Seems to be some sort of a kiln (look at the area beneath it) or at least a place to burn stuff.


Seriously guys, these buildings are very very beautiful



To the west of the hall are all these buildings that practically no one was checking out. The claim of "999 rooms" is no-joke! This is one seriously massive palace!

[BigMike [OP]]

Next up is the Hall of Central Harmony


Also dates back to 1420...


This is what we felt like most of the time in Beijing


Here is the best pic I could get of inside. Just think of some dude sitting in the throne having chicks in bikinis feeding him grapes from vines hung overhead


Allllllllll around the buildings were these awesome metal work


And to think they made these with CNC machines of the 1420s that weren't quite as advanced as today


A really cool stairway set leading down from the hall


You are not the only one; at no blame to the palace itself, we also felt the dizziness of redundancy. The place is 8 million square feet for crying out loud!

[BigMike [OP]]

From this point we could see other buildings that were awaiting us!


But unfortunately we could also see just how polluted the air in Beijing is! Yikes! (Can you find the sky scrappers?)


Here is another gateway, this one located between the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Union and Peace, which was our next destination


The gate was guarded by some more lions. I can't tell who is uglier?


Walking the crowded plank


We were all united in gazing upon the peaceful innards of the Hall of Union and Peace


Another awesome Marlin Crawler Turtle!


A tomb?

[BigMike [OP]]

Outside the hall was you guessed it another hall!


Guided tours were plentiful and in nearly every language imaginable!


So, the next hall is the Hall of Union and Peace!


Ummmmm wait, I thought we already saw this hall. Yup, while posting this reply I realized I got my halls confused, but I am going to leave my previous posts alone because we were awestruck and dazed anyway so this just adds to the authenticity of our trip! hahaha (nice coverup eh)

Here is the real Hall of Union and Peace. Please don't ask what the previous hall I posted was, I don't even know


After the Hall of Union and Peace we came to the Hall of Earthly Tranquility



And that was it for the halls!

[BigMike [OP]]

Next up is the Imperial Garden!

More amazing marble artwork work leading to the garden! Really incredible!



Tons of old sycamore trees!


Lots to look at including intricate stone artwork


Amazing rock structures that were carried to the palace from afar at great economical and human expense!


More amazing buildings inside the garden

[BigMike [OP]]

Featured a couple koi fish ponds


And at the near-end of the palace was this Hill of Accumulated Elegance


Not sure how long it will take for it to accumulate elegance


Of course to say there is nothing elegant about the appearance of the hill is to deny its very purpose. Even amongst perilous hills you can find your own elegance!


Here is Misato hiding behind her elegance


And finally.... one last pavilion before the exit!

[BigMike [OP]]

MASSIVE doors at the south gate


Even imperial guards can be camera shy!


ahhhhhhhhhhhhh back to where we originally arrived (incorrectly) at the south entrance to the palace.


We pretty much just walked in a straight line and it still took over 2 hours. We heard that if you were to examine all the museums, halls, it will take TWO days to accomplish. After walking through it all, yeah, I can definitely see this taking 2 days!


So... We had just barely got to Beijing, checked in at our hotel, rode a Rickshaw, walked through the largest palace on the earth.... Now where to go next!!!!!!

[zembalayan]

 Awesome pics, Mike!  It is really cool seeing photos from a trip that's still unfolding.  I'm sending the link to Tomo. . She will love seeing you and Misato having so much fun.

[IMMUDDY]

Those battle turtles are freakin sweet.

[fordh8r]

Loving the pictures, Mikey! 

I'm sooooooo jealous that it isn't me posting all those! 


OH, BTW.....new logo for MC?  Maybe in miniature it would make a great trophy topper for a MCR Competition. 

Marlin Crawler Turtle Statue!!

[CrawlerChick]

Do I need to show you how to use an internet browser yet again?
[/quote]

Hey, I can still beat you up. Watch it.   

[stupid fast]

wow mike this is pretty awsome, now i know where my ancestors came from.  that dog, lion thingy, thats suppose to be a Shih Tzu (foo dog).  have fun and cant wait to hear all the stories when you get back.

[BigMike [OP]]

After all that walking it was almost lunch time, so we just stopped in at some random restaurant (which we think happened to be quite upscale). Still it was very cheap

Here is Misato waiting for some NOM NOM NOM NOM


The place had a really nice interior. Here are some random pics. Misato could not read that Chinese writing




We got this vegetable dish wrapped with thin Chinese cabbage. It was VERY good


Then we got this really delicious chestnut chicken dish. These are real whole chestnuts, not the water chestnuts I've found at Chinese restaurants back home. It was good!


We also got some rice which was good also... and that was out first Chinese lunch!

[BigMike [OP]]

Next we needed to find a bank and get some yaun for our stay, so off we went (on foot of course - this isn't pointless suburbanized America!). It was very easy getting around and our map was spot on.

Along the way we stopped at our first Chinese convenience store. Check out the Chinese budweisers and even Chinese jack daniels!!


I hope you noticed the Sprite bottles next to the Coca-Cola because that is the number one best selling softdrink in China! Forget about Pepsi, they are nowhere to be found!

Take a guess: How much is 1 standard-size 20oz bottle of filtered water? $2 US? Not even close. $1 US? You've gotta be kidding me. $0.50 US? That is a rip off!! It only cost.... 1 YUAN!!! This is the USD equivalent of about 15-cents!!! NO JOKE! Fresh & tasty filtered water only costs $0.15 USD (which if you remember is also the same price for a bus ride around the city).

I don't know the details on the water, but it's apparently on par with rumors you've heard or experienced from Mexico: Misato's 2 Chinese co-workers claim that tap water is so bad even the locals do not drink it. EVERYONE purchases and uses filtered water.... or at least everywhere we went we experienced this. Even in restaurants, if you order "ice water" it will be served in a bottle. Fresh water here in America (and other well developed countries) truly is a luxury that we all take for granted every day (well at least I do!!) and this experience really opens your eyes in realizing just how well off we've got things in America.

The rest of the store was pretty much typical. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Felt just like I was in a Japanese convenient store.

Found some Chinese Ritz and Oreo cookies lol

[TacoRunner]

Wow! The architecture, design and attention to detail is amazing