Our stay in Beijing was full of incredible sight seeing. I spent most of my time there taking pictures in utter amazement by the history and beauty that surrounded me.

Over the next week or so, I hope to put up selected pictures from the places we visited. The first one in line is the Temple of Heaven.

According to the descriptions provided, the temple, which was built in 1420, was a place where the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasty worshiped heaven and prayed for good harvest. It consisted of several buildings and structures and was set on large grounds.

I also found out that before worshiping began, it was custom to burn a cleanly shaved calf, presumably alive, with pine twigs and reeds to welcome the heaven that is god.

My thoughts?

Oh, at least it wasn't live little virgins girls as the Mayans and the Greeks preferred.

Yup, the good old days indeed!

In addition to the fact that the temple itself was architecturally spectacular, it was also set in a beautiful park. So, not only did we enjoy visiting the historical structures, but we were also able to rest our tired selves afterwards and collect our thoughts about what we had just seen.

For More Photos, Click on the Continue Reading link at the bottom.

Continue Reading "At The Temple of Heaven"

We had a fantastic Saturday at the BingYu Goh Valley state park. My husband and I, with Buchela and my parents took off at6:30 in the morning and arrived at the park around 8:30.

So, we had an early start.

But we are in China. And in China, solitude is a rarity. State parks are no different. Even early in the morning, there were already hordes of people that came by the bus loads prepared to assault the place.

To make things worse, there were shops all over the place. Game operators played different and loud music in competition with each other. And you know those golf cart looking cars inside airports? There were there ferrying the old and the lazy back and forth on the main trail. We had to be careful not be run over.

That said, we still had a great time.

Buchela's father was creative at finding ways to get away from the crowd. We even got lost --- very lost --- by choosing the less traveled trails. Try to imagine what it would be like to explain that you are lost and to ask for directions when you don't speak the same language as the people with whom you are trying to communicate!

Buchela enjoyed the day as much as anyone. He even walked part of the way! My parents did well but my mother was pretty putout by the seven hour hike after 2/3rds of the way. Of course we took plenty of breaks. But still, she kept on asking when we will finish and if we knew where we were going....

We assured her we did and when it became evident that we didn't (when we got lost), she panicked thinking that there might be another six hours to go.

My parents will definitely have a few new stories to tell after this trip!

For More Photos, Click on the Continue Reading link at the bottom.

Continue Reading "Weekend Hike"

I have always wanted to give my parents a nice vacation as a present. I didn't want it to be the kind where they come to my house and sit around. I envisioned it to be full of activities and discovery. I wanted them to completely disconnect from their daily life back in Ethiopia and experience something new.

This past weekend, we went to Dandong for an over night trip. We left early Saturday morning and returned late Sunday evening. The eastern most starting point of the Great Wall is located outside of Dandong.

As I climbed the Great Wall with my parents, I realized my wish of giving them a vacation to some exotic place has come true in a way I never thought it would.

After all, here we were, in China, on the Great Wall --- over a thousand five hundred years back in history.

Only my father made it to the end of the climb. My mother returned after a bit. I don't blame her. It was a hard hike.

At the end, we walked around the wall, with a great view of North Korea. It was fascinating to look into that hermit country. My dad took a picture standing on one side of the border fence and then the other very quickly. The side he is supposed to be at, of course, is on the side where Buchela and his father stand! (see pictures below).

The Buchela did very well on his father's back.

We finished up the day with a perfect meal at a ramshackle rural restaurant. We ate huge eggs whose bird source we still don't know. The egg shells were faint grey with a very light hint of blue. In addition, we had a delicious fish dish and some other stuff (donno what it was). We basically ordered what another table was having by pointing at their food.

We were lucky they had good taste!

(To see all the pictures, click on More)

Continue Reading "A Day at the Wall"

During our brief Yalu River cruise in Dandong I was able to take some pictures of North Koreans. There were so many times I wanted to yell, to wave, to try to communicate but I knew that was not a good idea. Equipped with binoculars and a camera, I tried to see if there was anything I could learn from their faces.

These people see the glitz and the wealth across the river, a short distance away, on a daily basis but have to stay put on their side because if they try to swim across, they will be shot on the spot.

They are simply not allowed to leave their country.

Can you imagine?

Continue Reading "Spot a North Korean"

The amazing thing about being in Dandong, looking across into North Korea is the difference between the two river banks.

The Dandong side is bustling with energy and life. There are lots of restaurants, vendors, shops, cruise boats, and all sorts of businesses on the China side.

You look across the river however, there is no development. In this case, the grass is literally greener on the other side.

Just to provide you a reference point, the first two pictures are of Dandong.

The rest are pictures of North Korea I took as we cruised down the Yalu river.


Dandong in the day time.


Dandong at sunset.

Pictures Below: North Korea.

Continue Reading "North Korea, Scenes from the Otherside"

I have always been fascinated by North Korea. So, taking a boat cruise close (very close) to the border of a country that is being led by a totally insane man was extremely exciting for me.

I took pictures although our guidebooks advised travelers to tuck their cameras away. It was much easier to take pictures of the scenery and civilians. I was pretty intimidated by the machine gun slinging soldiers.

North Korean people can not leave their country unless they are high ranking officials that can prove their loyalty to the government. Anyone that leaves risks his/her life but more importantly, the lives of all family members.

In the next few postings, I will be putting up North Korean pictures, giving explanations whenever I can.

Me: Hey, stop the car! That is the biggest one I have so far seen in this area.

Paul: I wonder what kind it is!

We get out of the car to inspect the tree. We admire it as we get closer. Then, Paul touches it and makes a startling discovery.

The tree is not real. It is made out of cement and plastic.

There it was, on the sidewalk of the street. Big, beautiful, proud... and fake.

Out and about today, we went to the park behind our apartment and visited the little zoo there.

It was our lucky day. One of the male peacocks was trying to impress a female into giving it up.

Unfortunately for him, she didn't seem interested. She kept on going around him and pecking on the ground while he worked himself up into frenzy shaking his feathers, dancing, and showing off his beautiful feathers.

He was still going at it when we left. If he doesn't stop soon, I could just hear her in peacock-ise "dude, what part of no do you not understand!"

Thank you Jackie!

I now want to pass it on to the following bloggers:

1. Just Thinking

2. The Mongrel

3. Meskel Square

4. Filweha Pundit

5. The Concoction

Here are the Instructions:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of this award.

3. Optional: Proudly display the "Thinking Blogger Award"

Thanks again Jackie!

After walking around in Liugong Village under the hot sun all morning, we were all hungry and tired. So, we decided to eat our lunch there.

We didn't know what to expect. We didn't think it would be good. And we knew it will be different.

What ended up on our table was some pork and potatoes (hummm finger licking good), plain noodles, sautéed bamboo shoots with some sort of meat, and a bowl of leafy greens covered with fuzz.

Oh yes. It was good.

And I can now say I have eaten bamboo!

We spent half a day in a small village by Li River. It gave us peek into Chinese village life in that area.





Click on more (on the right bottom of this entry) for additional pics!

Continue Reading "Liugong Village"

I took a picture of this beauty at a restaurant bathroom a while back.

What it doesn't capture is the light that shone up her from the pit hole.

The government points out that we would have had over four hundred million more Chinese had the policy not been implemented.

Good and well.

But here is the thing; it is never easy to implement a policy covering something like this without unexpected issues cropping up.

The Chinese government has tried to address the nuances of applying the one child policy.

For example, I just found out, if you have a child that is "handicapped" you can have another one. You are exempted.

What is your first reaction when you hear this?

See both links.

1. Google is brilliantly funny.

2 Google is brilliantly funny.