Closing Out Beijing

Travis Sherwin/Orlando

This being my last post, I’m leaving you with what I’ll remember from the Beijing Olympics.

Of course, I’ll remember meeting America’s medal-winning athletes and their events, but I’ll also remember the incredible people, places and tastes of China.

Starting with what will forever be the image of the Beijing Games:

The Bird's Nest at night

The image I’ve always associated with China:

The Forbidden City

Then, there’s the wonderful Summer Palace. I never knew it existed, let alone that it is so beautiful.

Steps at the Summer Palace

I’ll never forget the food. Including the signature dish of Beijing:

Peking Duck

And, there’s also what I call the Chinese version of fondue:

Hot Pot

I’ll always be fascinated with the way they get around here.

A popular way to travel

Finally, there are the friendships. Like the new one I made with our translator, Mady.

Mady at the Summer Palace

And, the lifelong bonds I’ve made with our team.

The HATV Olympic Team

It’s time to pack and take a much-needed break. See you in Vancouver!

Xie Xie, Zai Jian,

-Travis

Things You Can’t Do in China

Travis Sherwin/Orlando

There are a lot of signs around Beijing telling you what you cannot do. It’s probably no more than in America, but it’s really spelled out here.

Here’s list of what you can’t do at the Summer Palace, a popular historical tourist attraction:

You Can't Do This

No motorcycle riding.

No picking flowers.

No sitting on the railings.

No taxis.

No littering.

No playing of music.

No rollerblading.

No ballplaying.

No guns.

No dogs.

No fireworks.

No open fires.

On my way out, I noticed this sign:

What Does This Mean?

Mady, my new friend and translator, said it means, “No open fires in cars.” Who knew that open fires in cars were so popular that you needed a sign to prevent them? (There’s a good chance this sign’s true meaning is lost in translation.)

The wait for a cab as we left the Summer Palace was impossibly long, so I chose to ride in this:

Traditional Rickshaw

It’s a common sight on the streets of Beijing – a traditional rickshaw. We hired the driver to take us to a restaurant for lunch. He told us the ride would be $20 yuan.

Price Haggling

After arriving at the restaurant, the driver told us, “Oh, no, it’s not $20 yuan, it’s $20 yuan per person.”

Mady wasn’t very pleased, but we agreed that the guy probably needed it given the condition of his rickshaw.

And $40 yuan is only $6.70 in U.S. dollars.

-Travis

Summer Palace

Travis Sherwin/Orlando

Yesterday I spent some time at a popular tourist spot within the city of Beijing, the Summer Palace. You’ve seen this place a lot if you’re watching the Olympic coverage. NBC frequently uses aerials of it as bump shots.

The Summer Palace is a very large park, with exquisite buildings, beautiful gardens and a grand lake.

Dominating the park is the Temple of Buddist Incense. It sits on a steep hill and is three stories tall.

Temple of Buddhist Incense

Inside is an elegant statue called Buddha with One Thousand Hands and Eyes. It is 16 feet tall and has 12 heads and 24 arms. Pictures of the statue are not allowed, but I did get a good shot of the incredible detail on the exterior of the temple.

Incredible Detail

The buildings are very similiar to those in the Forbidden City. Here’s an impressive lion statue guarding a temple. Notice the carved animals on the roof? The number of figures on the rooftop denote the importance of the building.

Lion Statue

This last picture is of the Marble Boat. It’s a two-story structure that’s actually made of wood, but was painted to imitate marble. Trust me, it looks like it – even up close.

Marble Boat

With little free time and so many places to explore, I’m glad I made it to the Summer Palace. It’s a must-see for everyone visiting Beijing.

-Travis

Awesome Sights

Travis Sherwin/Orlando

There are many interesting sights here in Beijing, the following will be hard for me to forget.

Scattered around the Olympic Green, home to the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube, are giant big screen TVs that are always on and aways showing Olympic images. Sometimes the screens show programs promoting the games, other times they show highlights.

These are the largest big screens I’ve ever seen. This picture is taken from two very long blocks away. The screens are four stories tall and mounted more than 20 stories from the ground!

Big Screens!

The next picture is the first Beijing gold medal I’ve seen in person. Ricky Berens swam the third leg of the men’s 4×200 relay. The team smoked the field and became the first ever to break the seven-minute mark in that event.

Ricky Berens

The last picture I have for you is another shot of the stunning Bird’s Nest. I took this last night.

Bird

Pictures, video and live shots do not do this venue justice. It is truly one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen.

-Travis

Interesting Transportation – Part 2

Travis Sherwin/Orlando

I continue to be amazed by the different types of transportation in Beijing.

This is a typical modern rickshaw. You see a lot of these on the streets.

Modern Rickshaw

If you want to get where you’re going sooner, pick the rickshaw below. It’s motorized!

Another Rickshaw

I found this truck in an Olympic area. I think it’s a sanitation truck. I doubt you’d see one of these driving through the Beijing ‘hood.’

Sanitiation Truck?

Then, there’s this guy. I don’t know what he’s hauling, but I’ll bet it’s everything he owns.

Very Overloaded!

And, if you really want to cruise around the capital of China in style, you’ll pick up one of these:

Ferrari Dealership

It could be yours for a few million yuan. I haven’t seen anything remotely this exotic driving around, but someone must own one. This dealership is right around the corner from my hotel.

-Travis

The Forbidden City

Travis Sherwin/Orlando

 

I’ve always loved visiting historic buildings and sites. As an ancient country, China is home to many.

This stop was at the top of my list when I knew I was headed to Beijing.

The Forbidden City was built in 1420 and was home to 24 emperors, 14 from the Ming Dynasty and ten from the Qing Dynasty. It was the political center of China until 1912.

Meridian Gate

This is the famous Meridian Gate with Mao Zedong’s picture hanging over the main entrance. For many people, it’s the most recognizable image of the Forbidden City. 

Tower on the North Wall

The city is surrounded by a very large moat. This a view from the north side. As a rule, the emperor was never allowed to travel beyond the walls of this extremely large (720,000 square meters) compound.

The Emperor's Seat

There are 980 buildings, with 8,707 rooms, in the Forbidden City. This is the inside of the Hall of Protective Harmony, which houses the emperor’s grand throne.

The Empress' Bed

 This is the inside of the Hall of Earthly Peace. It is home to the empress’ bed.

In 1933, the Japanese invaded China and stole many pricess artifacts and treasures from the Forbidden City. They even went so far as to scrape gold from the statues and cauldrons that surround the halls.

Evidence of the Japanese Invasion

The scrape marks still remain more than 70 years later. There are hundreds of these items in the city, and almost every one has these marks.

Carved Animals on Roof

This is a closeup of the corner of the roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The number of carved animals on the rooftop denotes the importance of the hall. In this picture there are 11, more than any other hall in the city.

This hall is the home of the golden throne. It’s where the prince would be crowned emperor. It’s also where birthday celebrations and military expeditions would be initiated.  

What an impressive place!

-Travis

How They Did It

Travis Sherwin/Orlando

I caught an interesting show on Chinese TV last night when I returned to my hotel room. Obviously, the whole show was in Chinese, but this is what I able to surmise from the program.

It was a studio show where audience members asked the organizers of the Opening Ceremony, “How did you do that?”

Chinese Television

This guy wanted to know how they moved those Chinese characters up and down in waves.

The boxes

The next thing you know, 10 to 12 of those boxes appeared on stage and performed. There were people inside them!

The light guys

Next, the “Green Man Group” showed how they pulled off their portion of the show.

An interesting thing about the CCTV, no commercials! I guess there’s no need to make money when you’re owned by the government.

Rain!

Smog/Fog Update: It’s raining! Maybe that will help clear the skies.

-Travis

Ailuropoda Melanoleuca – Giant Panda

Travis Sherwin/Orlando

Pandas are right up there with dragons as an emblem of China. It’s hard not to love them. They are very, very cute.

I had the chance to visit the pandas at the Beijing Zoo a couple days ago. Here are two of the eight pandas rescued from the Sichuan earthquake last May.

They love bamboo!

Their diet is 99% bamboo, and these two-year-olds love it!

Older panda

Here’s an older panda at the main exhibit. He’d rather sleep than eat. (At least when I was there.)

He's looking right at me!

This guy and I bonded. He spent a lot of time just staring at me, and I gazed back.

Pandas are about the size of an American black bear and weigh up to 250 pounds. They are an endangered species, and there are only about 1600 of them left in the wild.

You can count on me to support the panda cause, and you should, too.

-Travis