1999-05-16: Peter's trip to Beijing
Dear relatives and friends,
I went to Beijing for the last week of April, my friends Lee Min (Beijing) and Chris Harrington (Canada) got married. Both are living in Nagoya, Japan.
We foreigners had the exceptional opportunity to stay in the palace where the last emperor grew up as a child, we lived for four days on the South Lake Island in the Summer Palace garden. It was possible because the grand daddy of our bride Lee Min is a retired general.
Also the wedding was very nice. It was in a very traditional style with a carriage for the bride and musicians. The traffic stopped to watch the procession (with many cars honking because of the traffic jam that was caused.)
Some photos follow. Enjoy.
Note: The photos are scanned as relatively small pictures. This is to preserve download time, but as a consequence the picture quality suffers a bit.
Summer Palace
Tip: Click on
to start the slideshow, then use right-arrow and left-arrow to move around.
The Summer Palace is a park around a lake in the North-West of Beijing. It was built in the Qing dynasty in the 18th by Emperor Qianlong.
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We could stay for four nights in the palace on the
South Lake Island across the 17 Arch Bridge.
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The main gate of the NanHuBingGuan
palace on the island.
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One of the entrance rooms.
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One bedroom.
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A living room.
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The same room from the other side. Door to the kitchen.
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One building of the palace.
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Breakfast is typical old style Chinese cuisine.
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Lee Min and Chris on the emperor's chairs, at dinner we
had in the garden on the last evening.
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View from the island.
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Every morning, very early, elderly people
dance to Waltz from a boom box in the park
of the Summer Palace. Western TaiChee style?
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Shelly, Paul, Akiko, and I on the top of the hill in
a temple overlooking the lake of the Summer Palace.
The island where we stay is in the background.
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One temple of the Summer Palace.
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Me in emperor's clothing.
Just for tourists...
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JingShan Park
JingShan Park is on the northern side of the Forbidden City.
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An elderly lady is writing Chinese characters
using a watery sponge. She is writing with
both hands, thus creating a mirror image.
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View from the JingShan park over the Forbidden City.
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Many small kids have a ventilated back.
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Forbidden City
The emperors of the last two dynasties, Ming and Qing stayed in the Forbidden City, the center of Beijing. It was off limits for normal citizens, that's how it got it's name. The city is large with over 800 palaces and temples.
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The North entrance of the Forbidden City.
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A long corridor. Did you see the movie
"The last emperor" ?
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A half dog / half lion creature in front of
a temple.
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The Supreme Harmony Gate.
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A throne of the emperor.
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A wooden pillar under renovation. A thick
mortar coating is preserving the wood for
hundreds of years.
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Some palaces. Red and yellow, the emperor's colors are
very dominant.
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Tiantan Park (Temple of Heaven)
Tiantan Park was established in the Ming dynasty, 1368 - 1644.
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The Hall of Prayer is the temple to pray for a good harvest.
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The Great Wall
The first wall was built in the Qin dynasty, around 200 BC. More and more walls have been established over the centuries to protect from invaders from the North.
We didn't want to visit the touristy Badaling Great Wall near Beijing where everybody goes. Instead we drove two hours north to the Hunaghua Great Wall. This wall is in the original state, shows it's age with some damage, has bushes on top. Lord Cai of the Ming dynasty was responsible for this section of the wall. He was a perfectionist and made his wall of very good quality. But he was decapitated because he used too much money and time.
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Chris and Lee before the hike on the wall.
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Shelley and Hama climbing up on
top of the steep wall.
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Action! (Further up I have seen other faces.)
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We are getting up there.
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Hama on a very steep section of the wall.
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Panoramic view from the top.
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After the hike we had an excellent lunch with a marinated
fish prepared on charcoal grill.
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Chinese Opera
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A Chinese Opera performance of the Liyuan Theatre in the
Beijing Qianmen Hotel.
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During the performance we had some refreshments and tasty tea
in our VIP seats.
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Wedding Procession
Nowadays most weddings in Beijing are in Western style. Lee Min and Chris Harrington chose a traditional style wedding with a procession. The wedding was in a new Telecom Hotel, in the West side of Beijing.
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Chris and Lee arrive in the lobby.
Lee has her face covered by a veil.
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Lee gets carried by 8 porters, Chris walks in big steps in
front of her.
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The procession has also gongs, small
trumpets and flutes.
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View of the whole procession.
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The procession arrives at the hotel. Lee steps out of
the carriage. Chris lifts her veil.
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It's photo time. Rose petals on the floor.
The retired general on the far right.
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Wedding Reception
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Everybody signs before entering the room.
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Chris and Lee with their parents.
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Chris and Lee pour Champagne over
stacked glasses. They will have a
happy life if no Champagne is spilled
over on the table cloth.
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Tasty Beijing food. Yummee!
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-- end of photo album - back to top --
