Visit to China; San Francisco, Hong Kong & Beijing

May 27th – June 17th, 2018


We went to visit: Pleasant Schools.

Back to: The Pisarro Family Home Page.

  1. Hello San Francisco!
  2. Mother & son. Nicholas lives in San Francisco.
  3. Dragon’s Breath—Drinks cooled with liquid nitrogen.
  4. Picture 4
  5. Dinner in Japantown
  6. Sushi delights!
  7. At the Exploratorium, a San Francisco scene made out of toothpicks.
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  9. On our way to Hong Kong.
  10. The Hotel Icon was very well appointed.
  11. Ah! This is the life.
  12. Colorful view.
  13. The hotel has an amazing vertical garden. Barbara is in the corner.
  14. Barbara is eating “street food” in the hotel.
  15. Nick loves chocolate
  16. Prom? Graduation? We don’t know, but they look lovely.
  17. Star Ferry to the mainland.
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  19. Here's the view from Victoria Peak.
  20. The specialty of Peking Garden Restaurant was Peking Duck. Yum!
  21. Night lights
  22. Street Food
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  24. Breakfast—an almond pastry
  25. Here’s a class on a field trip at the Hong Kong Museum of History. It brought back memories of field trips when Barbara taught in NYC.
  26. Lucille Ball stomped on grapes to make wine. In Hong Kong they stomped on shrimp in a vat to make shrimp paste.
  27. Picture 27
  28. Nick’s lunch back at hotel. Soup, then filet and green beans over mashed white beans.
  29. The outdoor pool on the 9th floor was great for a dip on a steamy day.
  30. The lights at night.
  31. We arrived in Beijing and were immediately taken out for lunch.
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  33. A cute family.
  34. Our guide, Anna, and our driver, Liang, pondering the lunch menu. The menu is a photo album.
  35. Just a small portion of what was ordered.
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  37. Desserts are rare. Anna is reaching for a sesame bun. The other dessert is “pastel da nata” which we enjoyed in Portugal!
  38. The Summer Palace
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  40. The Long Corridor. It is the longest corridor in the world. It is covered by a roof that was intended to shield the emperor and his family while they enjoyed their surroundings.
  41. Part of the colorful ceiling. The blue was quite striking.
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  43. This lion is the symbol of the Emperor. He has the world under his foot.
  44. Representing the Empress; she has a baby under her foot.
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  46. A dragon boat.
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  48. This boat, used for state events, was formally covered in marble.
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  51. Tiananmen Square
  52. Barbara is with our guide, William.
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  54. A sculpture in front of our next lunch restaurant.
  55. Liang peruses the lunch menu photo album.
  56. Another festival of dishes.
  57. Tofu made to look like Mah-jongg tiles.
  58. Picture 58
  59. Behind this gate is the school we visited in Gu’an, a suburb of Beijing.
  60. Inside the gate.
  61. Many of the children are wearing school uniforms.
  62. The teachers who took us out for dinner are perusing the photo album menu.
  63. We stayed in a town house on this street.
  64. Gu’an is a rapidly growing city.
  65. The mall consists mostly of restaurants. We ate here several times.
  66. Barbecue restaurant.
  67. We stopped for breakfast on our way to the Temple of Heaven. Endless treats.
  68. Filled cookies
  69. Another breakfast selection.
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  71. The Temple of Heaven is a park and complex of religious buildings.
  72. The park had wide open spaces, much like Central Park. Many people came here to exercise and relax.
  73. Locals come out to do Tai chi.
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  75. Here's Julian, one of the interns who stayed with us.
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  78. These creatures guard the roof tops.
  79. A granary
  80. Famous visitors included Colin Powell.
  81. There was a huge variety at the dumpling house. There were 12 dumplings on each plate.
  82. We our on our way to the Great Wall, an hour and half trip from Beijing.
  83. This reminded us of an aqueduct in France or Italy.
  84. The Great Wall is atop the mountains, reached by a gondola.
  85. The view from the Gondola.
  86. Here’s Barbara with Lisa, William’s wife.
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  88. Picture 88
  89. On the great wall. It runs for a thousand miles. This section has been carefully restored for tourists.
  90. The view from one of the guard houses.
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  92. The wall goes up hills and down valleys and is never level.
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  94. Willam, Barbara, and Lisa
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  98. Nick, ready to shoot photos.
  99. Autographs were welcomed in a guard house lined with paper.
  100. Back down from the wall in a gondola.
  101. Grandmas everywhere love fussing over their grandchildren.
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  103. After the Great Wall we went to a mall for dinner. Inside the mall were activities for kids.
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  105. We had dinner at a Hot Pot restaurant. They are very popular.
  106. English classes are taught here.
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  108. On the way home we observed thousands of new trees planted everywhere.
  109. Looks like a U.S. supermarket…
  110. …except for the fish counter.
  111. Chips Ahoy!
  112. A park in Gu’an—in English and Mandarin.
  113. The locals took advantage of the beautiful new playgrounds. All family members enjoyed them after dinner.
  114. Part of the park looked like Monet’s Water Lillies.
  115. Julian
  116. Picture 116
  117. Bicycles have been largely replaced by battery powered scouters that were everywhere.
  118. In this restaurant, the waitress prepared our food on a grill on the table. We ate with the interns, Eric and Julian.
  119. Back in Gu’an, the English speaking teachers pose for a photo with the head mistress and us.
  120. Peking Duck in Gu’an is called roast duck. The chef is carving one.
  121. The skin and breast meat were incredible.
  122. They took away the carcass and deep fried it. It melted in our mouths. We were so stuffed.
  123. The next night. We ate with interns practically every night.
  124. In crush to visit the Forbidden City. The day was a major holiday.
  125. Our guides for the day were Arla, a teacher at the school and her husband. Their son came along.
  126. Picture 126
  127. The lion representing the Emperor.
  128. Ticket sales were limited to 80,000 per day.
  129. The Emperor's Palace.
  130. The number of guards on the rooftop indicates the importance of the resident.
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  133. The gardens at the back of the palace.
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  135. We stopped at a noodle restaurant on the way home.
  136. Donkey restaurant.
  137. A final visit to a children’s park in Gu’an.
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  143. We’re on our way to the airport.
  144. This is inside the airport terminal.
  145. It was quite a trip!