Today, astrophysicists confirmed that hell has been located in the space-time continuum. It's at the juncture of a 6 hour layover at LAX and a 13 hour flight to Bejiing China. It's a bit like childbirth. Once in the continuum there are no do-overs. You keep pushing till it's over and pray it passes quickly. We arrived in Bejiing at 4 in the morning, but as sun rose we were treated to a rare sight in this bustling city. We actually had a vibrant blue sky and the air was free of smog. We had only one day here and it was spent visiting with a Chinese family in one of the old hutongs. A hutong is type of narrow street or alley formed by the outer walls of courtyard residences. The name comes from a Mongolian word that means water well. Today, neighborhoods built around these wells sit on valuable real estate and they are rapidly disappearing. All things pass, but it is hard to see these remnants of old China fall to the wrecking ball dozer. The waves of bicycles, so fondly remembered from our first visit here, have been replaced by a modern transit system that somehow manages to get the 23,000,000 inhabitants of this city from here to there. I must admit I miss the bicycles! I'll be a wreck when the hutongs go. The afternoon was spent at the Summer Palace and the contrast between the two areas was, obviously, mind-boggling. Bob and I have been to China before, and it is one of the few countries we could return to over and over again. Unfortunately, our time in mainland China was limited. We left for Tibet, at the crack of dawn the following morning to begin our Mountain Kingdom adventure. I'll keep you updated as best I can. Modern communication when dealing with remote locations can be difficult and some social network facilities have been blocked. Wish you were here....Mary
8 comments :
Glad to hear you arrived safely and were welcome by a rare blue sky!
Safe journey onward,
Merisi
I know you are treasuries every moment.
Mary, We've never been to China but much like the USA, progress is definitely destroying much of the country's history. We've become prosperous enough that much effort is being spent saving history but unfortunately, China is still 'developing'. Travel Safely! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Im happy to hear from you Mary :)
I send you hugs and blessings .
Travel safely :)
Wish I was there, too. So glad to hear from you. Enjoy!
It is always so interesting how a city changes as the day wears on. Peaceful and new in the early morning, spinning faster as the day goes on, becoming socialble in the early evening and then winding down again for the night.
Have a wonderful trip.
I look forward to your posts.....what a wonderful adventure! Safe travels. Trish
It must have been quite an experience to get past the Beijing of huge apartments and into an old quarter. We experienced blue sky during our 4 days in Beijing but the remainder of our time in Mainland China was spent in thick smog.
What an adventure you're on!
Post a Comment