I finally made the effort to put up some photos of a trip to China with my family. I was expecting to see some really wonderful sites, but little did I know, the 100 dollar tour would turn into a shuttle service through the wonderful world of sponsored shopping. I was pretty disappointed to have my time wasted while nearly half way across the world, but this is what happens when you don’t want to research your destination, instead you let these companies decide what its worth seeing. I started off my trip, departing from LAX, while my parents were leaving from Atlanta. We were going to rendezvous in Seoul and meet up with my backpacking brother (who was backpacking through southeast Asia at the time) and uncle. It was like any typical flight to Asia, except when we were leaving from Korea to China. I really didn’t know (I know I can be ignorant sometimes) that the Chinese were rude enough to just push you aside or attempt to squeeze by. I was first introduced to this concept after we arrived in Beijing, when a group of travellers decided to attempt to push me aside to disembark the plane quicker. This would be a common theme on my trip through China, and boy did this irritate me. Well, enough with the gripes I had, off to the locations we visited. The first stop was suppose to be the Great Wall of China, but we ended up at a place called Juyongguan. It really wasn’t the original structure, instead it was a gateway into the Forbidden City- just one of many. The tour guide was introducing this place to be the real deal, but my dad soon realize (during our flight to Shanghai) that we had been hosed. But here are some photos anyways.

My parents before we split on different routes.

Marvin and I went up towards the taller section. I wanted to get a birds eye view of the place so we took this section.

Marvin

The view of the other side. The tour guide told us the other side would be more worth while, this may be due to the fact that their limited time wouldn’t let you see the end of the trail… peculiar.

Juyongguan

Pretty much the end on our side.

As time was running out, we had to meet back up with our group so down we went.

Later in the day we were taken to some shopping mall area to spend some of our cash. I didn’t or wasn’t looking for souvenirs, rather the sites of China, so this wasn’t as interesting. It was funny how we would be spending less time at the sites, and more time at the shops. Since this was the first, I had a little bit of patience to listen and play along. Here are some of the workers making ceramic pots.

The dyes used in these pots.

Next we were off to Tiananmen Square. There were a lot of guards, and I felt like I had to be on my best behavior. Most, if not all, of the sites were off limits and roped off. We couldn’t even get a good shot of the gate to the Forbidden City.

But I was able to get some pretty interesting shots from across the street.

My uncle, Dad, Mom, and Aunt.

Entrance to the Forbidden City.

I really wish there was some interesting weather when I was inside. This photo could do with some interesting skies. But I did learn that the smog and air quality was horrendous. Way worse than metro LA.

The rest are a few photos I shot inside of the Forbidden City. I really forgot all the details of this trip, it has been way too long.

I’ve always been fascinated with the architecture of ancient civilizations, there is always so much attention to detail. Here is an example of the ceilings of the buildings.

There were always swarms of people around, its really hard to get your own space in a city as congested as this.

Birds land on the roof of the buildings.

I decided to get some interior shots as well, but the lighting was really subpar. I managed to get some details out of each section.

One of my agendas during my time in China was to do some people watching, and street photography. Here is one example.

The details were also within the concrete between the steps. Pretty intricate.

And we soon headed out the back, so see some smaller structures that were equally as impressive.

Like this one, made through with some interesting rock.

Later that night, we were lead to an area to watch some mandatory show of Kung Fu Pandas. It was really, and interesting show.

After the show, off to Donghuamen Night Market.

Scorpions anyone?

They’re fried, so we gotta try them.

And some other views of the night market. Pretty similar to the ones in Taiwan, except some more exotic foods as well just for the shock factor.

Random souvenirs.

Skewers

Bao zi.

Peanut taffy.

Some more eats.

And another avenue with even more food.

At night, we left by saying good by to the Forbidden City, all tired from a long day. We would only have another day before heading off the Shanghai.

The next morning, I was feeling pretty good for not being jetlagged. We had to wrestle through a lot more people just for breakfast, which ended up being way more stressful for a morning activity. I just wanted to get out, and be like this lone bicycle.

Our next destination was the Temple of Heaven. We walked through the south gate to a fancy of people. They were all there for some relaxation time, what a great way to spy on the locals.

And we made it through to see the Temple of Heaven.

This temple was a very cool sight to see.

Especially due to the round roof to provide contrast to the usually triangular or angular roofs around Asia.

Mom and Dad.

Our next destination, the Summer Palace. This palace was located on the edge of Kunming Lake and provided a great scenic view.

We headed up to the top, to get a glimpse of the palace and passed by some beautiful places.

Such as this tunnel my mom was waiting in.

And we see Summer Palace up above. We attempted to climb up, but there wasn’t really any good instruction how to get there. My whole family ended up climbing up a very slick sandy face, and under some black fences just to get close. But time was running out and by the time we were almost there, we had to turn back.

But Marvin and I made it to the top to see if the view was worthwhile, and at the top were some more vendors.

And a beautiful Summer Palace.

On the way back to the bus, we found some pretty cool locals. Including this taxi

And a chestnut roasting bicyclist.

Last stop, the venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Here is a view of the Bird’s Nest.

The big souvenir in this location was these long kites. They would tease you by tying in multiple to get it as high as possible.

The Aquatics Center was also pretty cool to see as the sun was setting, great softer light for this time which was assisted by the smog that still clogs my lungs.

After our long day, we were taken to a foot message. I really do hate messages, they just make me feel squeamish.

The youngesters opted to get a view of “The Place Shopping Mall” as everyone was falling asleep and really tired. Well, until next time, I’ll see you in Shanghai!