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. Nicko 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
  8. Picture 8
  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.
  18. Picture 18
  19. Here's the view from Victoria Peak.
  20. The specialty of the Peking Garden was Peking Duck. Yum!
  21. Night lights
  22. Street Food
  23. Picture 23
  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. Lucy 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 light at night
  31. We arrived at Beijing and were immediately taken out for lunch.
  32. Picture 32
  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.
  36. Picture 36
  37. Deserts are rare. Anna is reaching for a sesame bun. The other desert is “pastel da nata” which we enjoyed in Portugal!
  38. Summer Palace
  39. Picture 39
  40. the Long Corridor. It is the longest corridors in the world. It is covered by a roof that was intended to shield the emperor and his family while enjoying their surroundings.
  41. Part of colorful ceiling. The blue was quite striking.
  42. Picture 42
  43. This lion is the symbol of the Emperor. He as the world under his foot.
  44. Representing the Empress. She has a baby under her foot.
  45. Picture 45
  46. A dragon boat.
  47. Picture 47
  48. The boat, used for state events was formally covered in marble.
  49. Picture 49
  50. Picture 50
  51. Tiananmen Square
  52. Barbara is with our guide, William.
  53. Picture 53
  54. A statue in front of our next lunch restaurant.
  55. Liang pursues the lunch menu photo album.
  56. Another festival of dishes.
  57. Tufu made to look Mah-jongg tiles.
  58. Picture 58
  59. We visited this school in Gu’an a suburb of Beijing. The school is behind this gate.
  60. Inside the gate.
  61. Many of the children are wearing school uniforms.
  62. The teachers who took us out for dinner are pursuing the photo album menu.
  63. We staid in a town house on this street.
  64. Gu’an is a rapidly grown 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
  70. Picture 70
  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.
  74. Picture 74
  75. Here's Julian one of the interns who stayed with us.
  76. Picture 76
  77. Picture 77
  78. The creature 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 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.
  87. Picture 87
  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.
  91. Picture 91
  92. The wall goes up hills and down valleys and is never level.
  93. Picture 93
  94. Willam, Barbara, and Lisa
  95. Picture 95
  96. Picture 96
  97. Picture 97
  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.
  102. Picture 102
  103. After the Great Wall we want to a mall for dinner. Inside the mall were activities for kids.
  104. Picture 104
  105. We had dinner at a Hot Pot restaurant. They are very popular.
  106. English classes our taught here.
  107. Picture 107
  108. On the way home we observed thousand of new trees planted everywhere.
  109. Looks like a U.S. supermarket…
  110. …except for the fish counter.
  111. Chip 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 replace by battery powered scouter, that were everywhere.
  118. In this restaurant, the waitress prepared our food on on grill on the table. We ate the interns, Eric and Julian.
  119. Back in Gu’an, the English speaking teach pose for a photo with the head mistress and us.
  120. Peking Duck in Gu’an is call roast duck. The chef is carving the duck.
  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 night 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 for day.
  129. The Emporer’s Palace.
  130. The number of guards on the rooftop indicates the importance of the resident.
  131. Picture 131
  132. Picture 132
  133. The gardens at the back of the palace.
  134. Picture 134
  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.
  138. Picture 138
  139. Picture 139
  140. Picture 140
  141. Picture 141
  142. Picture 142
  143. We’re on our way to the airport.
  144. This is inside the airport terminal.
  145. It was quite a trip!