Imperial Beijing

Posted on October 22, 2019 by David Cross

Today was an opportunity to do a little more historic exploring in the classic (and political) sites of Beijing.

Yep, we went to Tiananmen Square first, and there are MASSIVE crowds.  It is not small or a small number of visitors…it is 10s of thousands of people.

What are all the people lining up for?  They all want to see Mao’s tomb.  The lines are at least 2 hours long for a less than 5 minute visit to the historic mausoleum.

However, what is the #1 reason everyone visits the square and the center of Beijing?  To go visit and explore the Forbidden City!

Oh yes, the crowds (even in late October) are huge and the lines are long.  But they move fast and you can get into the palace and begin exploring quickly.

The challenge is: how much time do you spend?  The Imperial Palace is massive and it could take you a week to see it all!

However, there is a ton of history, stories and amazing architecture for its time inside.  It is worth a couple of hours to explore.

I only wish I had more space and better Internet connection to post more pics!

We actually ran into a couple of celebrities who were getting their pictures taken outside for a media promotion I think…

We also went to visit the Temple of Heaven and park.  It is a massive park and larger than Central Park in NYC I hear…but no lake or water.

It is very popular for both tourists and locals that want to just visit and play cards or checkers.

The temple is quite large and inspirational, but the museums and the limitations to see inside the temple were quite disappointing.

You have to fight for a spot for in one of the windows to actually sneak a peak and get an idea of what the famous woodwork and decor actually look like.  I guess this is the challenge when 10,000 a people a day may come and visit this site…

Well, it was a great day, and we popped down the street (1/2 kilometer) to go check out the “Pearl Market”.  What is the Pearl Market?  A great counterfeit mall with multiple levels!  You can get automatic watches for only $15!  Overall, they were not too aggressive and if you have the experience, it is a great place to get some great deals without too much pressure.  🙂

 

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Hutong District of Beijing

Posted on October 21, 2019 by David Cross

We had a chance to walk through the Hutong district of Beijing and check out the culture and way of life.

One of them is very close to Lake Beijing which is almost like a NYC Central Park Lake but with lots of boats paddling people around.

 

We had a chance to walk through some of the narrow alleys and learn how some long running family generations have lived in shared courtyards.

I don’t know if you have noticed yet… but there are cameras EVERYWHERE in China.  Every store, every street, every home.  You can be followed and tracked in minutes.

It was shocking to hear and see how some families have Internet and wireless, but at the same time, many families can share a common kitchen, common bathrooms and common showers!

Tonight, we decided to end the day by walking down to another mall and squeezing our way into the famous Da Dong restaurant to savor their famous Peking duck delicacy.

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Great Wall of China

Posted on October 21, 2019 by David Cross

This morning we headed north to the Badaling national park and great location to hike and visit the Great Wall of China.

It is about a 1.5 – 2.0 drive from central Beijing to get there, but definitely worth it.

You are supposed to have your passport, as they may check your ID, but it is random and not guaranteed.  They make you go through security gates and they act all serious indicate they are concerned about terrorists, etc., but..

You find that the police are napping once you actually get through the metal detectors.

I will say, you can hike some major distance up and down the wall.  It is VERY steep and based on the direction you choose, the crowds can get pretty large.

We chose to take the steeper route, which has far less people, but the slope can be as much as 60 degrees in some places.  Impossible to climb it is rainy.  Despite the warm sun, definitely bring a light jacket as the breeze and air is quite cool.

The views and scenery are breathtaking and it is hard not taking more pictures as the wall that covers thousands of miles is amazing to see and experience.

Afterwards, we took a nice lunch break at the Commune of the Great Wall.  It is a resort/hotel, but is a very peaceful and relaxing atmosphere to have a great lunch with local foods to recover from a strenuous hike.

The Commune is in a section of the Wall that is known as Watergate.  Watergate is unique in that it has the battlements on both sides which is very rare on the wall. It is also extremely steep.

 

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A Tourist in Beijing

Posted on October 20, 2019 by David Cross

Everyone knows me…what do you do when you wake up in the morning in a new international city?

Go running of course! I went for a run to Tiananmen Square.  By the way, running around the world is always fun.  Some of my other favorite spots:

OK – what did we see in the square early in the morning while running???

In the morning, at sunrise every morning, there is a big flag raising ceremony and the national anthem is played.

Very popular. Look how many locals show up every morning!

Many bring chairs or suitcases to stand on.

If you want to get close to the ceremony, you must go through security gates, metal detectors, etc. just like going through security in the airport. You must have an ID card or if a foreigner, you must bring your passport to get in.

Yes, the police are everywhere. But not intimidating to anyone.

The Waldorf is in a great location that is only 1 KM from the Forbidden City and it is a great walk along some of the best high end shops in the city.

It looks like there is only 4 or 5 rooms that have a terrace. We are so lucky and really enjoying our stay here in Beijing. Looking forward to have a high tea and/or glass of wine out on the terrace today!

It is also quite interesting to observe and look around the neighboring homes and apartments. I think we saw someone working on dancing the latest Fortnite moves this morning…but I am not 100% sure.

You have to love when hotels have a great car service available for guests. Anyone recognize the brand/model of this town car?

We also found there is a way to get in the grounds of the Forbidden City without an ID if you take a side entrance through all the tourist trap shops.

Locals will actually sell you fake IDs outside the entrance if you want to get in and forgot your ID/passport. Dicey, but definitely a side business on the streets here in Beijing.

I have to admit that when walking by some of the tourist shops that some of the English translation names a little hilarious sometimes…

Fantastic weather here in Beijing in mid October. Not too hot, not too cold. And even on a Saturday, it is not that crowded. Surprisingly, 99% of the tourists and groups are from around China and westerns are pretty rare. They do like to take pictures of westerns quite frequently so get ready for it!

Oh yes, there are some good photographers in Beijing when they see foreign celebrities arrive in the city!

Here are some following days’s postings as we continued to explore China:

 

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Arrived in Beijing

Posted on October 19, 2019 by David Cross

This is the beginning of my most recent visit to China, but if you would like to see a very interesting blog post and proceedings from a previous business trip and activities, check out this blog posting from 2 years ago.

Day 1 of our tour of China and we arrived in Beijing tonight.

We took the Delta flight from Seattle which was an older extended range 767.  The plane, seats and media center were a little old, but the service was excellent and the food tasty.  I think the media centers had to be rebooted three times before you could watch any movies…

It took only 5 minutes to get through immigration – no problems there!  But it took over an hour to get our bags from luggage retrieval. One of the awesome things was using Google Fi for my mobile wireless.  In less than 1 minute after landing, I had full voice, text and data access!

In the end, no worries, everything arrived.  We met our driver and headed to the hotel: Waldorf Astoria.  Even though it was 9:30 at night, there was a traffic jam.  Is that fog or pollution everywhere?  Fog he says…

Now, the Waldorf is an amazing hotel.  I thought Grand Hyatt was great in Beijing, but this is even better.  The rooms are huge!

Lillian said “this is the nicest hotel she has ever stayed in China”.  I am impressed so far.

I myself thought the complimentary fire escape hoods were pretty cool to have in the linen closet.  I wonder if I can take one for a souvenir?

Now, here is the best thing, the Waldorf is part of the Hilton brand and frequent guest program.  Even when you use points for the stay, you can get upgraded.  We got a free room upgrade to have one of the rare terrace suites 🙂

Great place to take a few pictures in the daytime!  I think this is a good sign for the start of this vacation adventure!  Stay tuned, more to come tomorrow!

Great weather here in Beijing for touring around.  Here are some following days’s postings as we continued to explore China:

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Speaking in Las Vegas

Posted on October 9, 2019 by David Cross

I know I have posted blog entries about hiking in Las Vegas or seeing shows in Las Vegas, but I have never posted anything about speaking in Las Vegas.

I stayed and had an opportunity to speak at the Aria Conference Center,  It is a fantastic high end casino, hotel and with fantastic restaurants like The Catch.

I have to admit it is exciting and fun to share a keynote conversation with Chris Young of McAfee in front a crowd of thousands.  We got some good coverage in this posting.

Now even more exciting is when you are available to watch and listen to even more famous speakers take the stage right after you like Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright.

What is the true highlight?  Getting to meet the other speakers and chatting in person. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

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Exploring Boston Area

Posted on September 29, 2019 by David Cross

Time for a retro posting since many people are examining the history of the nation recently…Exploring and touring around the Boston area for a long weekend is quite a delight.

There is so much (American) history in the city itself and the surrounding areas. This is the famous Bunker Hill Monument which is quite a climb up!

We had a lot of fun driving out to the gorgeous Concord and Lexington areas, and actually visiting some of the historic battlefield sites and participating in revolution exercises to be ready if a government overthrow is required again, but I digress…

Anyone the legend of Sleepy Hollow as a kid?  Was it true?  Who knows, but it was a fun place to visit and reminiscence of the Halloween stories from a long time ago…

This was a hard one to find and took some careful hiking to actually discover Walden Pond where Henry David Thoreau lived and wrote in a 10×10 hut that inspired many writers and literature for many years.  Worth visiting the park and finding the inspirational environment.

Another cool place for military and history plans to visit is Battleship Cove.  It is mind blowing to see how large the guns are on a WWII battleship.  Highly recommended place to visit.

Since we were in the area, we decided to explore and check out Marthas Vineyard area since so many famous people rave about it and talk about going there.  Overall, we were not that impressed and felt it was a bit overrated or over-hyped.

Since we are on the east coast and in the tourist area of Martha’s Vineyard, what did local dish did we need to try?  🙂

 

 

 

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Exploring Munich Germany

Posted on September 22, 2019 by David Cross

Since it is Oktoberfest time, I realized I did not have a blog posting about any of my visits to Munich, Germany.

Munich is a wonderful city to visit that has some amazing architecture like Marienplatz and the town hall center.

It is one of the friendliest cities in Europe that I have ever visited, and the Victuals Market area is one of the MUST VISIT during the day and at night in Munich.

The Theatine Church is quite a site that is quite popular that is easy to walk to and find with its bright yellow color.  Many people like to visit to just hear the massive organ.

You may not be able to see the snow in September/October at Oktoberfest, but if you get to visit Munich in the winter, it is so serene and calm place to visit and take walks in the soft snow.

Linderhof Palace is a great place to visit in the summer or winter even if it is snowing!  it gives you a taste of both Bavaria and the historical culture of the area.

and yes, the zoo in Munich is quite good and a great way to spend an afternoon if you have some free time.  The Hellabrunn Zoo is quite affordable and easy to get to on the train.  Bright pink flamingos in the winter is quite ironic isn’t it?

I also highly recommend visiting the Dacahu concentration camp memorial outside the city which I blogged about here.  It is highly educational and moving.

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Panama Canal

Posted on September 1, 2019 by David Cross

I have referenced it so many times, but I realized I have never posted about what it is like to transit or take a cruise ship through the Panama Canal.

Overall, Panama City is an impressive modern city. Unfortunately, on our day of transit, it was a little foggy and rainy and it was hard to take a good shot.

Now, the most interesting topic is how does a ship actually go through the Panama Canal.  Needless to say, the space is very very tight and you can almost touch the sides of the canal from the ship.

You can barely see it in the previous picture, but in this one, the dedicated units that attach themselves to the ship with long cables and they PULL the ship through each stage of the canal.

Depending on the direction you traversing, you (ship) is pulled through numerous lock stages where the water is pumped in and out (to raise and lower the water).  It is hard to believe but the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are at different levels on each side of Panama.

I don’t know if it is finished yet, but when our ship went through the canal, you could see where they were building an expanded/widened canal for large ships that cannot pass through the canal today.

It is a slow trip and it takes a full day, but you do get to come across a large number of sites and local creatures.  Yep – this crocodile was just hanging out near the canal and watching the giant ship go by…

Last, but not least, once we reached the Pacific Ocean, we got the opportunity to check out the local area around Panama City.  What did I do? I went running of course!  I was able to run across the bridge across the Isthmus of Panama.  That means I was able to run across two continents: South and North America.  This is a picture of the Bridge of the Americas.

If you have not figured this out yet, I run everywhere around the world.  This is some of my other favorite spots:

 

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A Quick Stop in Costa Rica

Posted on August 18, 2019 by David Cross

After going through the Panama Canal, (yes, I know I need to add a posting for their, so stay tuned…) our ship stopped at a popular port called Puntarenas or Puerto Caldera.

The big highlight was to take a river cruise.  It was a nice drive out into the countryside where you get a good feel for the local life combined with the rich retired and vacationers that live right next to each other.  It feels odd when you see one home with fancy yard work and 5-series BMW only 25 meters away from another home with no door or glass in the windows.  This is the popularity of Costa Rica, but I digress…

They do not sound fun and appear to be very touristy, but you really get to see very real and very local wildlife on the river cruise.

You have to love the famous Halloween Crabs that you can see along the river banks!

And the bird lovers will love the wild parrots that you get to meet and see in quite large numbers in the trees.  Recommendation: bring a zoom lens with a DSLR camera!

along the way, I learned about cashews.  it is kind of weird to see in real life as the “nut” or seed is outside the fruit and is distinctly separate.  They are native to this part of the world and is surprising to see one in its true fruit form.

The best part was the run along the beach.  It is was one heck of a workout, but a great way to end the day as the sun was going down.  It was a nice cool breeze and a great way to enjoy a beer on the beach with some locals before heading back to the ship.

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