In this thread I will present my trip to the People's Republic of China and its 2 SARs (Special Administrative Regions) - Hong Kong & Macau. This will be almost like a journal, because I want to write down as many things as possible so that I won't forget anything important, as well as be able to tell the story of the trip to friends and colleagues in the following months and even years.

The trip was organized (or, rather, it was poorly organized) by a Romanian tour operator (which I will not name because it doesn't deserve publicity).

First, we took a flight from Timisoara to Bucharest Otopeni (1h10min) to meet with the rest of the group. Then, we departed for Istanbul (50min) via Turkish Airlines to connect with the transcontinental overnight flight to Beijing (10h flight). As opposed to TAROM, Turkish Airlines have top-notch service. And I felt a bit safer flying on Airbus A320s and A340s than on tiny planes with visible propellers (the ones between Timisoara and Otopeni).

Turkish Airlines have pretty strict "no electronic devices turned on" rule, so I didn't take any pictures during the flight :( , even though now I realize there couldn't have been any problems taking photos in the middle of the flight.

The plane took off from Istanbul Ataturk Airport at about 0:00 local time and landed at Beijing Capital City Airport at about 15:00 local time. Since we were flying in opposite direction to the Earth's rotation, the night was a very short one. I didn't sleep much in the uncomfortable economy class seat, so I watched the journey of the plane on the LCD display. The flight path was over northern Turkey, a bit above the Black Sea, Georgia (Sukhumi, Tbilisi), Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan (I think), Kazakhstan (Karaganda and north of Almaty) and finally China.

The sun rose when we were somewhere above the Aral Sea, I couldn't see it because of the clouds. As we progressed, however, the atmosphere got increasingly clearer while over the kazakh desert wasteland. I spotted several lakes in the desert:

http://a.imageshack.us/img243/627/kazakhlakes.jpg

The sky remained clear over Xinjiang Uyghur, and I could see some towering mountain range in the horizon. Then I thought it was the Kunlun range or even the Himalayas, but upon closer inspection in Google Earth I now think those mountains were just some 4000m ranges located inside Xinjiang. Impressive sight nevertheless.

China is referred to as Zhōngguó 中国 in Chinese.
Zhōng 中 = Middle
Guó 国 = Country, kingdom
So China is known as the Middle Kingdom. Why middle? Because, to the ancient Chinese, their own country was (of course) in the middle of the world. :)

Our first objective is, naturally, the Chinese capital - Běijīng.
Běi 北 = North, Northern
Jīng 京 = Capital

The Beijing Capital City Airport is a city in itself - we had to take a small metro train to get from the arrivals terminal to luggage retrieval.

There are many developments around the airport and the expressway connecting it with the inner city. After finishing uploading, I will show you pictures of the city, which houses a Romania-ful of people :lol: (22 million people).

New buildings & commieblocks
http://a.imageshack.us/img135/3502/p1020288g.jpg

Same place, and a road sign indicating we just passed the 3rd ring of Beijing
http://a.imageshack.us/img64/5246/p1020289h.jpg

To the left, an electronic sign indicating highway congestion. All green on Tuesday afternoon in direction away from the city center.
http://a.imageshack.us/img411/4871/p1020290s.jpg

Commieblock skyline
http://a.imageshack.us/img295/6393/p1020291.jpg

The haze you can barely see in the pic below is smog. Let me tell you, on this particular day you could almost look at the sun with the naked eye, without being blinded. To my knowledge, this is a common occurrence. Also, it was a warm day (temperature around 30-32C), but due to the fact that the sun's rays were blocked by smog it was quite pleasant.
http://a.imageshack.us/img828/7291/p1020292.jpg

More commieblocks; the highway is passing over an avenue (Chinese cities could be considered Oprescu's dreamland due to their elevated roads).
http://a.imageshack.us/img255/3392/p1020293y.jpg

http://a.imageshack.us/img831/8665/p1020294v.jpg

They have some sound barriers here; not a common sight in poorer Chinese metropolises.
http://a.imageshack.us/img830/566/p1020295.jpg

Ramps over a canal.
http://a.imageshack.us/img714/6471/p1020296t.jpg

Multi-level interchange, a common sight in China (as opposed to Europe)
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More to follow in the coming days/weeks/months.

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I think this is a hotel
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This is (if I remember correctly) the Ministry of Transports. Here is where it is decided where exactly to built those 10,000 kms of expressways in the coming year. :D
http://a.imageshack.us/img844/5125/p1020312m.jpg

http://a.imageshack.us/img413/8440/p1020313s.jpg

And finally, we're in the heart of the capital: Tien'anmen Square. Here is where I first familiarize myself with the Chinese way of running the country. It turns out the square is surrounded by multilane avenues and you can only enter it through an underground passage, where you have to pass through a security filter, almost like in an airport. Also, the local guide told us that the square is only open until 19:00 o'clock - we can guess as to why this is so by examining the recent history of the Square.

The monument/obelisk is the Heroes' Monument, and the building in the background is a mausoleum...
http://a.imageshack.us/img836/2353/p1020314w.jpg

... belonging to this guy: the Dear Leader...
http://a.imageshack.us/img832/3789/p1020315x.jpg

Close-up of the 2 landmarks located inside the square
http://a.imageshack.us/img255/5456/p1020316.jpg

Tien'anmen gate
http://a.imageshack.us/img255/6812/p1020317r.jpg

F A N T A S T I C :cheers: Always wanted to see a China travel log :) Thanks! :banana:

great collection of photos.....

what an amazing place.....

thanks for sharing......

foarte bine :)
asteptam update

Thank you so much! It's a great addition to Cosmin's thread about HK & Taipei. I just can't wait to see more!

Thanks guys and sorry for delays in uploading pictures if you are anxious to see more!

I guess you noticed my new avatar by now, I don't really support Tibetan independence. I will explain why I'm hurting the feelings of Chinese people on purpose in due time (yes, I'll be showing you some pictures of Lhasa and the Tibetan Plateau later on :) so stay tuned!).

Some more pics of Tienanmen (translated as Gate of Heavenly Peace)

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2342/p1020318r.jpg

http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/5338/p1020319j.jpg

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/2886/p1020320c.jpg

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8528/p1020322l.jpg

DAY 2

This day we visited the Great Wall, but didn't quite see it because of foggy/rainy weather :cry: . So I didn't take any pictures because of the rain. BTW, the summer rain in China feels really strange - it's raining, but you don't get that feeling of cold that we commonly associate with rain. There were still some 30C + . Even in Beijing, the climate is different from what we're used to.

Below are some more pictures from Beijing on the way to the Grea... er, first to the local pearl factory. You see, the local Chinese guides will sometimes only take to the main objectives if you also visit the shops/manufactures/factories they have agreements with. This wouldn't have been a problem had the travel agency written it down or otherwise warned us. But they didn't and as a result of time lost there and a Romanian guide not very concerned about visiting objectives, we didn't get to see the Ming Tombs and only managed to see the Temple of Heaven from the outside (since we arrived after it had closed).

The Temple of Heaven wasn't even in the Chinese company's program, so basically we were tricked by the Romanian tour operator, whose program clearly included those objectives. The Romanian guide knew from the beginning about these changes, and Michael (the Chinese guide) even offered to take us for an additional sum of money, but the Romanian guide refused (I got the feeling that she wanted to have as little trouble as possible and skip objectives).

I'm telling you this story because this is the first moment I found out about a crucial element of Chinese culture, and a feeling that we're not in Kansas (or Western countries) anymore.

You see, our angry group had the idea that the local company should give in and indulge us - after all, it wouldn't be a big deal to take us to at least the Temple of Heaven, since it was close to our hotel. The local guide - no and no, because the driver didn't want to work overtime.

In the end, some of us managed to take the lead from our clearly incompetent Romanian guide and offered to raise money to take us there. BINGO!

So here is the big deal: Communist China revolves around one major thing: money. The Chinese will do the least they can to satisfy customers, and if you want something extra, then you have to pay up extra. The Chinese are obsessed with money in a way we from 'decadent Western capitalist' societies probably will never be. Although someone from our group couldn't help notice the similarity with the Balkans, where we sometimes get to bribe other people :D . Still, we are definitely not as materialist as the Chinese (at least those from the Mainland).

One of the first things you'll be asked when you meet a Chinese person is "How much do you earn?", along with "What is your job?". So I guess this was a miniature clash between our 2 cultures: different expectations, different ways of looking at things.



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This is where we entered the Forbidden Palace:
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7233/p1020337e.jpg

And this is the view in the opposite direction:
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/9960/p1020338v.jpg

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/9787/p1020339m.jpg

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/5889/p1020341g.jpg

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/5093/p1020327.jpg

Sad urbanisation :ohno:
Thanks for pictures! :cheers: We want mooreeeee :)

Sad urbanisation :ohno:

Sadly, nearly all of Chinese large cities consist only of such monstrous commieblocks. There are nearly no "old towns" like in Europe, everything has been wiped clean and I read recently that the destruction is continuing in previously untouched cities like Kashgar. The Chinese apartment blocks are even uglier than the ones in Romania (except maybe those in central Shanghai), there is no concern for aesthetics whatsoever.

Some pictures from inside the Forbidden Palace:

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/8698/p1020343c.jpg

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/4919/p1020344d.jpg

Notice the big threshold of the doorway into the pavilion? Superstitious Chinese people believe that ghosts and spirits cannot cross thresholds, which is why they need them to protect themselves from evil spirits. The size of the threshold varies with the owner's social status; you really have to bend your knees to cross the thresholds located inside the Forbidden Palace.
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/1088/p1020345p.jpg

http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/6151/p1020346s.jpg

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http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/1650/p1020348rd.jpg

http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/8238/p1020349g.jpg

The emperor's bedroom. As you can see, the Forbidden Palace is waaay more austere than palaces/castles you might see in Europe - nearly all chambers are at ground floor:
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/9596/p1020350q.jpg

See the inscription over the doorway? It's bilingual - Chinese characters on the left, Manchurian letters on the right. Manchurian, which is an almost extinct language spoken in just one or two villages in Northeastern China (Heilongjiang province), was at first the official language of the Qing Dynasty (the final Chinese Dynasty). Gradually, the Manchurian Qing ruling class got assimilated into the richer Chinese culture, and they gradually lost their Manchurian heritage. Manchurian is a language related to others spoken in Siberia, it was written with a vertical alphabet borrowed from Mongolians (which in turn borrowed and adapted it from Arabs).
http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/6121/p1020352c.jpg

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And we're back at the Tienanmen Gate:
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/3903/p1020362e.jpg

A video of the courtyard seen in the pictures above:
JslOsKOJsyA

Due to unforeseen circumstances and resulting lack of time, I wasn't able to post any more pictures. Let's continue, hopefully now that things are a little bit back to normal I hope I'll be able to make more frequent updates.

For now, let's resume our journey through China's capital.

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DAY 3
Bleak cityscape. en route to the Summer Palace:

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The Chinese have a thing for Eiffel-Tower-like antennas on top of their commieblocks - I've seen them in Xi'an and Zhengzhou as well:

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/9945/p1020387j.jpg

You could almost say we're back in Romania when seeing the smaller commieblocks :D :

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/4151/p1020388a.jpg

And finally we are at the entrance to the Summer Palace... which isn't a real palace - it's a huge garden!

http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/133/p1020389a.jpg

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http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/8317/p1020392n.jpg

...

...

Thanks for the pics, wyqtor. Have you ever seen blue skies during your visit in China? :)

Yes, actually I have, though not as much, and not where, I would have liked it the most. It's actually very difficult to find a month or interval with good weather when visiting China - the month with the most sunshine is August, but even then you are risking either scorching, 40C+ humid tropical heat, or monsoon rain.

I guess we were fortunate for catching the latter rather than the former - at least that's what one of the local guides further on told us :).

Just to give you an idea how much of a problem is cloud cover: the city of Chengdu in the central, inland part receives less sunshine per year than London. And the pollution only makes things worse, though even if it didn't the climate still sucks big time in certain areas that are further away from the ocean.

Moving on to the next page --->

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/6299/p1020393j.jpg

We will soon visit the pagoda you can see on that hill in the distance. It offers a beautiful panorama and to me it is the best part of the Summer Palace (despite the guides insisting that there's nothing interesting up there).

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Lotus:

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Closer to the temple:

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Here are the imperial courtyards, with the emperor's and empress' quarters. Emperor Guangxu, who supported Western-style liberal democracy and reforms throughout China at the end of the 19th century, was imprisoned here by his own conservative aunt, empress Ci Xi, who opposed any reforms. AFAIK she was some sort of regent until Guangxu reached maturity, the de-facto ruler of China in that period, who managed to extend her rule and power by bribing generals and officials in order to maintain power. We will be seeing an impressive piece of her legacy of megalomania and authoritarianism further on in our tour of the Palace.

Some more accurate info here if you're interested: http://www.chinatoursaffordable.com/summer-palace/emperor-prison.html

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Is that smog, or is it cloudy/foggy?

Is that smog, or is it cloudy/foggy?

It's just cloudy and a bit rainy on this particular day.

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/4729/p1020413f.jpg

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The Chinese have a thing for Eiffel-Tower-like antennas on top of their commieblocks - I've seen them in Xi'an and Zhengzhou as well:

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/9945/p1020387j.jpgIs that thing with an antenna your definition of a commieblock?

I'm sure there are lots of commieblocks in that country but you have not posted any of them in this thread yet!

"commieblock" does not mean "any tall building that is not covered in glass" :lol:
.

I'm sure there are lots of commieblocks in that country but you have not posted any of them in this thread yet!

"commieblock" does not mean "any tall building that is not covered in glass" :lol:
.
Yes you're right, actually comm[unist] blocks make up about 100% of the country's blocks of flats, which makes sense when thinking to take a picture of any block in China, which will automatically be a...communist China's block :)

P.S. I am watching you wyqtor, and you should know that although there is little feedback, we are watching you. And I'd appreciate your efforts more if you'd write a couple of lines when introducing us new places, just for us to keep in mind and not simply watch them as marvelous paintings, which they are :)

Is that thing with an antenna your definition of a commieblock?

I'm sure there are lots of commieblocks in that country but you have not posted any of them in this thread yet!

"commieblock" does not mean "any tall building that is not covered in glass" :lol:
.

If the term "commieblock" bothers you, feel free to replace it with "communist-realist building". There is no denying that most communist countries have a distinct architectural style as a result of them being communist. Given the fact that I actually live in a former communist country, I can say that the architecture of China resembles that of Eastern Europe far closer than that of Western Europe.

P.S. I am watching you wyqtor, and you should know that although there is little feedback, we are watching you. And I'd appreciate your efforts more if you'd write a couple of lines when introducing us new places, just for us to keep in mind and not simply watch them as marvelous paintings, which they are

Thanks for the interest Cadîr , I would also appreciate it if I could write more about individual buildings, but unfortunately:
1) the trip was very exhausting, and I also don't remember many explanations given to us by the local guides
2) I made a lot of pictures, and I plan to post as many of them as possible over time; there are a lot of pictures from each place, but I will make sure to mention each time there are pictures from a different location.

The last pictures are all from the Summer Palace at the outskirts of Beijing.