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

[BigMike]

Our next tourist trap destination was the Summer Palace. It is set off to the north-west of the city. Emperors would escape to this palace during the hot summer months (China is in the northern hemisphere so they have the same summer months as the US. Moreover, Beijing is at about the same latitude as Sacramento).

I suppose now is an opportunity to jump off topic and discuss the weather we experienced. We happened to visit Beijing during a small heat wave. The mornings warmed up quickly with afternoon highs in the mid to high 80s, peaking around 2pm. The heat seemed to linger into the evenings, but it was probably the humidity that I am not accustomed to, being around 70 percent most of the day. It didn't really "feel" cool until at least 11pm.

Enough about the weather, we needed to find a Taxi!

Here is our first Chinese taxi ride!


We saw a massive Firefighter headquarters


Sky scrappers literally & seriously everywhere


You're typical Beijing freeway view


Just like in Japan, they have digital real-time traffic congestion signs. Very nice


Sweet an Evo!


Some strange 3-lane road that reduced to just 1-left-turn-lane, so it was a complete mess here. Took like 5 mins just to get to the intersection.


If you haven't noticed by now, they drive on the left side of the road just like in America. Interesting...

[BigMike [OP]]

Here is another example of the awesome automated & digital traffic road signs. The brown region of the exit sign reads "Summer Palance" beneath the large Chinese characters.



Feel free to skip this ensuring rant regarding the use of English signage abroad:



Actually, I was really shocked at how much English is present in the city. For sure there is more English signage in Beijing than in Tokyo, Japan. Yes, I realize it is a World-known tourist city / capital of China, but I always find is very annoying, including my travels in Japan. Sure it's obviously of great aid to me since I cannot read Chinese. This feeling I have originally stems from living in California where our border control is lacking & I have to "press 1 for English" which is upsetting to me. In fact just this year we now have billboard signs that are written in both English and Spanish. I just feel that if I am in a foreign country than it should be expected(!) that I also be able to comprehend the foreign language. If not then I should be able to afford some sort of interpreter (human or machine) because "I" have made a conscience decision "myself" to enter into a foreign land. You can decide for yourself, and I am using bold print because this statement sums up my feeling: If "I" am willing to step foot into a foreign land on my own accord, I don't think being "required" to comprehend the foreign language is "unreasonable". Again, I openly admit that the English signs were helpful, but dangit I'd honestly rather be forced to learn basic Chinese characters. Otherwise what incentive would I have to learn the native language -- and this is why there are so many people in my home city of Fresno who will never learn how to speak English, and why would they when they can just "o preimo número dos para Español" and take their drivers license test in Spanish.

I am not only picking on Spanish speaking non-natives: My Japanese wife and all of her Japanese friends all got their California drivers license by passing a California driving license test completely written in Japanese. Please understand I am not trying to be offensive. Look at it from the flip-side: If you want to live in Japan (which I eventually will someday), do you think they will let you take a drivers license test in English? Do you think Japan is an offensive country for not offering an English driving exam? How about in Egypt? Korea? China? Thailand? Russia? India? Sri Lanka? Are these also offensive countries for the same reason? What if I only spoke Swahili, shouldn't I "expect" to learn how to speak Russian if I want to live in Russia? In my opinion, learning the native language is not an unreasonable request for a government to make -- regardless of the language/country.



Sorry for the rant and I trust this has not offended you by any means. This is how I've molded my own feelings through my own experiences of being a foreigner in multiple foreign countries, and I have taken time to write this carefully because these are the very feelings I felt while I was experiencing things in China during this trip. I want to write an accurate trip report and I chose to include & share my personal feelings on this subject with you guys. Please remember these feelings are from the usage of English, my own native language. I also feel this same way when I see English signs in Japan.

Here is Misato getting out of the Taxi. The majority of the taxis are Hyundai's, followed by Alfa Romeo's


And here is the entrance to the Summer Palace

[BigMike [OP]]

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

I can't imagine it getting any better than this! Chinese antiquity is very beautiful!

[CrawlerChick]

  Ditto!! When I lived in Thailand there were a lot of signs in English. Grant it they were mostly wrong in what they were trying to convey but English none the less. I was pretty psyched because I spent a lot of time learning Thai but found out once there that I could have made my way around the main areas without knowledge of the language. However, I did live on the non-forong (no foreigners) side of Bangkok so it was a plus to know the language. And I scored at the markets since no one could take advantage of the language barrier. I always chuckled when I would start out making a deal in English and then switch over to Thai. lol

I did have friends who knew absolutely no Thai and survived. They could get to the mall and the local McDonalds to point at things on the menu they wanted.   But, honestly why would you not want to take the time to learn their language. A few basic words can get you a long way. Makes me sad that we, yes we Americans think that our language should be universal!

Before I offend anyone more than I have...

Every country SHOULD have a universal language and it is your responsibility to learn the language of wherever you are planning to travel. Besides, that is part of the adventure!  

 


Sawadika

[fordh8r]

I agree with both of you! It is comforting in the short term (I.E.- vacationing) that signage in popular travel destinations is in English. But If I planned on partaking in the Non-Touristy parts of the country or having an extended stay then I would take it upon myself to learn basic parts of the language to make the visit yet more enjoyable and comfortable as well. Now, that being said, If I had any intention on moving/living there longterm I would make damn sure that I learn the language with all my ability for the sake of doing business and socializing and not to be left out of the mainstream of living there. Just my 

Carry on! 

[BigMike [OP]]

Thanks for the replies on the subject guys. I understand that many countries speak English, so it could be viewed in some ways as being universal and therefore helpful for the majority of travelers -- as is the case I experienced traveling in Japan, China, and CrawlerChick experienced in Thailand. So if you agree that English is a universal language, then wouldn't we assume foreigners in the state of California would be required to comprehend English since it is being used on this universal level in countries around the world?

I hope you see my point. Therefore it would be hypocritical of me to enjoy signage abroad written in my own native language. This is why I don't like seeing it.

----------------

ok, regarding this thread, today is our last full day here in Kumamoto with our family so I doubt I'll get any time to post to this thread until after the Round Up when I get back home!

So until then, have a great week and see you guys at the Round Up!!!

Cya
BigMike

[BigMike [OP]]

WHEW Just got to our hotel in Osaka, Japan. Their Internet speed is great at 17 Mbps down! It is almost 8:30pm Wed here. Tomorrow we leave Kansai Intl airport at 9:30am for a 3 hr flight back to Beijing. Then, after a 3 hr layover, it'll be an eleven hr flight back to the city of Angeles. Soon thereafter we'll be back in Man Jose around 5pm on the same day tomorrow which is awesome! I'll get about 12 hrs to sleep and kick out the 15 hr jet lag and then I'll be at the springs campground for the Round-Up!! :-D

I'm on my iPhone so I can't share any pics. I'll be sure to check back in before leaving Japan!

Cya
BigMike

[*FFC*]

This may have been asked and answered already so I missed it: Is Misato coming to the roundup? 

[CrawlerChick]

Ah man. I was hoping Misato left you in Japan.  

Yep, Misato will be at the round-up. 

I must admit that I am missing my bro. I have no one to pick on. 

[*FFC*]

Thanks! And for Misato coming!

Travel safely!

[BigMike [OP]]

Okay! It's just past 6:30am and we are headed to Kansai Airport. Only 3 flights left and we'll be back in the bay area!

[Wermz84]

Fly Safe buddy. 


thanks for the pics btw.

[BigMike [OP]]

We are safely back in the U S of A!! Leaving tomorrow morning for the Round Up!!

[BigMike [OP]]

Continuing... After lunch we took a taxi ride to the Summer Palace

The Summer Palace is a palace where emperors would escape the heat of the city to relax. It has been described as...

"...a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value."

Once we bought our tickets and passed through the entrance pictured above, we saw a beautiful lake...


...and saw the Hall of Dispelling Clouds, where we wanted to go.


So we decided why not rent a boat to get over there to save time!


This boat was powered by One BigMike, so you know, it was about 10 time faster than any other. It was pretty cool, due to how much Mtn Biking I do, I WAS TEARING IT UP!! hahaha Other people were starring at us (probably because I was the whitest person they had ever seen) and I could pedal so fast that water was splashing on Misato! hahaha it was fun. The only problem was that the distance between the seat & pedals was designed for someone about 5 feet tall.


Here is looking south to our left. Yes, the air quality really is this bad!

The "Seventeen-Arch Bridge"

[CrazyYota]

Other people were starring at us (probably because I was the whitest person they had ever seen)

 

[BigMike [OP]]

The lake is pretty dang big, and it took a while to get over there as you can imagine.

Finally made it!


ONLY TO FIND OUT THE RENTAL BOAT CAN ONLY BE RETURNED WHERE I RENTED IT FROM!!! WHAT!??!

So we turned around and headed back. Fortunatly the wind picked up a bit and helped us (me) get back.



Once we got back to where we started, I took a pic of the Rental Rules, wherein rule number 6 states "Boats should be returned to the original dock of hire." in plain English. It only cost us 40 yaun, or about $6 US which was worth it just for the fun experience.



Here is a map of the Summer Palace. The Hall of Dispelling Clouds is located on Longevity Hill.

[BigMike [OP]]

So off we went to walk all the way around to where we had just boated.

There were plenty of beautiful gazebos along the way



The wide open space made for great pictures

[BigMike [OP]]

Following the road...



Which got windy and narrow at times...



We eventually made it to some buildings. More tour guides abound



Here is what these same buildings / area looked like from when we were out in the boat:



We continued walking around, found some REALLY cool places!



VERY beautiful here!!



Cute little passageways...





...not intended for giants

[BigMike [OP]]

We found this enormous rock. It's placard read:

Blue Iris Stone (Qingzhi Xiu)

This stone was popularly know as the "Stone of the Wastrel." According to historical records, an official of the Ming Dynasty by the name of Mi Wanzhong found this large, dark and sleek stone, shaped like a fungus at Fangshan in the southwest of Beijing. While having the stone moved to his home at Shaoyuan, he fell into financial difficulties and had to abandon it. Years later, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty had it moved to this place at much expense and named it "Blue Iris Stone." This is the largest stone decoration in any Chinese garden.

Pretty cool!!!



It was also cool how the trees were planted. Not sure how far back this dates though. Perhaps it was a modern addition to cut down on weeds?

[BigMike [OP]]

We then made it to the Long Corridor, which is one of the longest covered corridors in the world at 720 meters (nearly half a mile) and contains more then 14,000 paintings!!! Seriously!! Give that Wikipedia link a read, the history contained in this corridor is really something!



Paintings above our heads and on each crossbeam... literally one after another after another after another.





There were also four octagonal pavilions that represent the four seasons. Here is a shot of the ceiling artwork of a one. CRAZY!!!



And finally we made it to the Gate of Dispelling Clouds!

[Shamb]

The ceiling art work made me dizzy just looking at it.

GREAT pictures Mike   

[STUBBYTOY]

Mike,

Thanks for the great trip report, and the great pictures. What an incredible place.

[79coyotefrg]

Our next tourist trap destination was the Summer Palace. It is set off to the north-west of the city. Emperors would escape to this palace during the hot summer months (China is in the northern hemisphere so they have the same summer months as the US. Moreover, Beijing is at about the same latitude as Sacramento).

I suppose now is an opportunity to jump off topic and discuss the weather we experienced. We happened to visit Beijing during a small heat wave. The mornings warmed up quickly with afternoon highs in the mid to high 80s, peaking around 2pm. The heat seemed to linger into the evenings, but it was probably the humidity that I am not accustomed to, being around 70 percent most of the day. It didn't really "feel" cool until at least 11pm.

so it was like Arkansas weather

[BigMike [OP]]

Continuing...

I forgot to include these three pics to show just how crowded the long corridor was!

[BigMike [OP]]

Onwards we go to the Gate of Dispelling Clouds!

BEAUTIFUL marble features abound!


Saw crazy huge doors like these


Beautiful artwork everywhere!!


The really love corridors!!

[BigMike [OP]]

One beautiful building after the next, this was really amazing to behold!


Found some more awesome gilded statues:




Interesting cage work that has been added... I guess too many tourists were hurting themselves or something?



We got to take a look inside this building...



...to see this! A swan god?

[BigMike [OP]]

This place was riddled with donated artwork from those who had visited.

These are from the Hall of Finest Jade. The sign reads,

"Built in the 1886, the hall was a lounge for dukes, princes and cabinet ministers when in the Summer Palace to celebrate Empress Dowager Cixi's birthdays. The cultural relics on display here are birthday presents from the dukes, princes and cabinet ministers to Cixi."

[fordh8r]

  Keep 'em coming! Very nice!  8)

[BigMike [OP]]

Then as we pushed forward the space around us quickly decreased and we found there were two paths leading up, and up, and up! We took the east passage shown below, and then started walking up a ton of stairs!



BEAUTIFUL artwork overhead nearly everywhere!



The stairway somehow managed to fit simultaneously between three buildings!



Artwork where ever possible


More cage work. Maybe this keeps birds away?


Up, up, and away!

[abnormaltoy]

Beautiful pictures.










Edited.