Dragon’s Breath—Drinks cooled with liquid nitrogen.
Picture 4
Dinner in Japantown
Sushi delights!
At the exploratorium, a San Francisco scene made out of toothpicks
Picture 8
On our way to Hong Kong
The Hotel Icon was very well appointed.
Ah! This is the life.
Colorful view.
The hotel has an amazing vertical garden. Barbara is in the corner.
Barbara is eating “street food” in the hotel.
Nick loves chocolate
Prom? Graduation? We don’t know, but they look lovely.
Star Ferry to the mainland.
Picture 18
Here's the view from Victoria Peak.
The specialty of the Peking Garden was Peking Duck. Yum!
Night lights
Street Food
Picture 23
Breakfast—an almond pastry
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
Lucy stomped on grapes to make wine. In Hong Kong they stomped on shrimp in a vat to make Shrimp Paste.
Picture 27
Nick’s lunch back at hotel. Soup, then filet and green beans over mashed white beans.
The outdoor pool on the 9th floor. Was great for a dip on a steamy day.
The light at night
We arrived at Beijing and were immediately taken out for lunch.
Picture 32
A cute family
Our guide, Anna, and our driver, Liang, pondering the lunch menu. The menu is a photo album.,
Just a small portion of what was ordered.
Picture 36
Deserts are rare. Anna is reaching for a sesame bun. The other desert is “pastel da nata” which we enjoyed in Portugal!
Summer Palace
Picture 39
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.
Part of colorful ceiling. The blue was quite striking.
Picture 42
This lion is the symbol of the Emperor. He as the world under his foot.
Representing the Empress. She has a baby under her foot.
Picture 45
A dragon boat.
Picture 47
The boat, used for state events was formally covered in marble.
Picture 49
Picture 50
Tiananmen Square
Barbara is with our guide, William.
Picture 53
A statue in front of our next lunch restaurant.
Liang pursues the lunch menu photo album.
Another festival of dishes.
Tufu made to look Mah-jongg tiles.
Picture 58
We visited this school in Gu’an a suburb of Beijing. The school is behind this gate.
Inside the gate.
Many of the children are wearing school uniforms.
The teachers who took us out for dinner are pursuing the photo album menu.
We staid in a town house on this street.
Gu’an is a rapidly grown city.
The mall consists mostly of restaurants. We ate here several times.
Barbecue restaurant.
We stopped for breakfast on our way to the Temple of Heaven. Endless treats.
Filled cookies
Another breakfast selection
Picture 70
The Temple of Heaven is a park and complex of religious buildings.
The park had wide open spaces, much like Central Park. Many people came here to exercise and relax.
Locals come out to do Tai chi.
Picture 74
Here's Julian one of the interns who stayed with us.
Picture 76
Picture 77
The creature guard the roof tops.
A granary
Famous visitors included Colin Powell.
There was a huge variety at the dumpling house. There were 12 on each plate.
We our on our way to the Great Wall, an hour and half trip from Beijing.
This reminded us of an aqueduct in France or Italy.
The Great Wall is atop the mountains, reached by a gondola.
The view from the Gondola.
Here’s Barbara with Lisa, William’s wife.
Picture 87
Picture 88
On the great wall. It runs for a thousand miles. This section has been carefully restored for tourists.
The view from one of the guard houses.
Picture 91
The wall goes up hills and down valleys and is never level.
Picture 93
Willam, Barbara, and Lisa
Picture 95
Picture 96
Picture 97
Nick, ready to shoot photos.
Autographs were welcomed in a guard house lined with paper.
Back down from the wall in a gondola.
Grandmas everywhere love fussing over their grandchildren.
Picture 102
After the Great Wall we want to a mall for dinner. Inside the mall were activities for kids.
Picture 104
We had dinner at a Hot Pot restaurant. They are very popular.
English classes our taught here.
Picture 107
On the way home we observed thousand of new trees planted everywhere.
Looks like a U.S. supermarket…
…except for the fish counter.
Chip Ahoy!
A park in Gu’an—in English and Mandarin.
The locals took advantage of the beautiful new playgrounds. All family members enjoyed them after dinner.
Part of the park looked like Monet’s Water Lillies.
Julian
Picture 116
Bicycles have been largely replace by battery powered scouter, that were everywhere.
In this restaurant, the waitress prepared our food on on grill on the table. We ate the interns, Eric and Julian.
Back in Gu’an, the English speaking teach pose for a photo with the head mistress and us.
Peking Duck in Gu’an is call roast duck. The chef is carving the duck.
The skin and breast meat were incredible.
They took away the carcass and deep fried it. It melted in our mouths. We were so stuffed.
The night night. We ate with interns practically every night.
In crush to visit the Forbidden City. The day was a major holiday.
Our guides for the day were Arla, a teacher at the school and her husband. Their son came along.
Picture 126
The lion representing the Emperor.
Ticket sales were limited to 80,000 for day.
The Emporer’s Palace.
The number of guards on the rooftop indicates the importance of the resident.
Picture 131
Picture 132
The gardens at the back of the palace.
Picture 134
We stopped at a noodle restaurant on the way home.