Longqing Gorge Ice Festival

At the end of the Spring Festival Week (Chinese New Year) our branch at church organized a trip to Longqing Gorge for the ice festival. There is a much bigger festival father north but this was more local. On the bus ride to the gorge we passed the Great Wall. This was my first sight of the wall. We plan to attend it later so there will be more pictures to follow.

Upon on entering we stopped to study the map so we knew what was ahead.

After entering past a park like area there was a stage set up with traditional performers.

Below the dam a building temporary was set up to house the sculptures and protect them from the weather.
Since it is the year of the Dragon, many of the sculptures featured dragons

Here are Mike and I each next to different dragons.

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Inside this dragon was the longest escalator. It takes you to the top of the dam.

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Here I am at the top of the dam after riding the long escalator.

As night approached the hills around were lit up to look like the great wall.

Even though the bus took a wrong turn on the way home it was a great day.

Chinese New Year

A couple of days after we arrived in Beijing was the Chinese New Year celebration. This lasts an entire week long and practically the whole town closes down. This is a major celebration for the Chinese people. It is a time to visit with family much like we do for Christmas but for an entire week. Every night they set of fireworks. Some are just regular firecrackers and other are the actual fire works. It sounded like a war zone some times with so many firecrackers going off every night.

Monday, January 23 was the actual New Years Day. Mike and I decided to visit a local festival that one of the waiters suggested to us. We went to Ditan Park, which is where the Temple of the Earth is located. This must be a really beautiful place in the spring and summer, because it was very nice in winter.

We decided to try the subway system to get to the park. Since we do not intend to get a car we wanted to try available options for public transpotation. The subway is really cheap. Only about 30 cents for a one way trip anywhere. We have been told that it gets very crowded during rush hour on regular work days. But this day wasn't too bad. This is Mike waiting for the train to come.After we reached our stop we got tickets and entered the grounds. This is a picture of the entrance to the park. This was out first time to really encounter crowd.
The entire place was decorated for the holiday. This is a picture of the sidewalk after we entered. Because it was so crowded you went with the flow of the people. There really was not much choice on where to go at first. You simply went where everyone else went.
We finally got out of the main crowd and entered the actual temple area. The Temple of Earth was constructed in 1530 during the Ming Dynasty. "Emperors of the Ming, and then later the Qing dynasties used the Temple for sacrifices which were used to appease the gods, who in turn would help the nation. These sacrifices took place at the Temple of Earth during the summer solstice. Some of the things that sacrifices were done for include good harvest, a strong stqable nation, and good weather. This is the central altar today. During the festival people enter to burn incense and offer prayers.
As we continued through the park you can see how beautifully it was decorated everywhere. This is the approach to the booths selling souvenirs and also to get to the street food areas.
I stopped here to get this picture of the row of street food. I have not idea what I was seeing, but I knew there were some very unusual food there.
We ended up stopping at this booth. Mike had to try this squid on a stick.
He really enjoyed it while it was hot. As it was a very cold day it cooled down fairly quickly.
After a fun day and we took the subway back to the hotel. It was a couple blocks walk from the subway stop to the hotel. So we stopped at FatBurger for dinner. Since I didn't eat at the festival, I was quite hungry. The food was great and it was a great ending to a very fun day.

Defining A Classy Hotel

After having stayed in many different types of hotels. I have decided that this hotel in China has got to be the classiest yet. Now what is the definition of a classy hotel. Well I have decided that the bathroom is the deciding factor.

The bathroom in this hotel is amazing. There is a TV imbedded in the mirror. You can watch TV while shaving, brushing your teeth, combing your hair, or anything you want.

As nice as the mirror is the crowing jewel in this bathroom is the toilet.

Now you ask what can make a toilet fancy. Well I will tell you. It is completely electronic. When you aproach it the lid automatically raises up.

But things didn't stop there.

This toilet has a built in cleansing system. This can be adjusted on how and where it washes. Thn when l clean, there is an air dryer. When you are one and walk away it flushes automatically and closes the lid.

Of course I must not forget one of the best parts. It has a heated seat.

This has to be a classy hotel to have such a modern bathroom. I must look into getting one of these when I retire.

Probably the funniest part was the first time I learned that the toilet if totally automated. We had just arrived and it was dinner time. After traveling for so long I decided to change clothes before going to dinner. Just when I pulled my shirt off, the toilet seat raised. I jumped and Mike laughed. It really was quite an introduction to this luxury.

STARTING A NEW ADVENTURE

Mid January, we began the process of packing our things. We were moving to Beijing China. We had 4 different catagories to separate our things into. 1 - what was going in our suitcases with us to China; 2 - what was going in the air shipment to China; 3 - what was going to China in a surface shipment; and 4 - what was being left for storage in Saudi Arabia.

We only had a couple of days together to agree on the division of our stuff. Mike had to leave for a business trip to China and would only be back a couple of days before the actual move.

Here the guys are packing the truck.
Here the truck is loaded and ready to leave with our storage crates.
On January 18th we left Saudi Arabia for China. Due to time zones we arrived the afternoon of the 19th in Beijing China. This is the site from our hotel room. I had heard that Beijing was known for its smog. I got a big introduction to just how bad that smog was.
Never to fear though, because the sun does shine in China. The next day was a beautiful day and has continued to be sunny since.
We are settled in the hotel, looking for an apartment and ready to begin our new adventure.