Busan Beach Shots

I'm trying to catch up on some posts & thought I'd show some beach photos. All these pictures you see here are from the winter months. The summer months are much more crowded!!! Recently, the weather was beautiful & a beach visit was mandatory!

Denis & I had to break out our gifted frisbee this month at Songdo Beach. A frisbee is a rare sight here! Not only did we find a deserted beach, but a virtually windless day.

Gwangan Grand Bridge at dusk.

Gwangalli Beach after dusk. This photo is actually the still prior to filming the video. My intentions were to record the live action personal fireworks display. It didn't really work...

A view of Gwangan Grand Bridge from above.

Haeundae Beach peering west.

Eastside of Haeundae Beach.

This snapshot was taken in February.

Eastern boardwalk of Haeundae Beach.

Nampo-dong

Nampo-dong is an area 20 minutes away & has much to do. This area has pretty much anything you need, including deodorant! Yet, this necessity is still not the easiest to find. Next to Nampo-dong is Jagalchi, which is a large fish market I have yet to post photos from.

Heading up to Mt. Yongdu Park

Mt. Yongdu Park Tower provides a realistic view of the city's size.

Older men gather for competitive table games.

Large clock over a cabbage display.

The walkways get narrower, but it's difficult to take a decent picture. As you can see from this wider pathway, the light doesn't penetrate the stores & awnings easily.

There is plenty of English written in this area. I should mention, the motorcycle drivers on the sidewalk are pretty good about avoiding pedestrians.

A temple in Nampo-dong.

Many months ago we had a foreigner gathering, except Oh So-Young, at Outback Steakhouse. As people come & go out here, four of these people have already moved on.

Chinese New Years in Beijing!- Part 4

TIANANMEN SQUARE

All have seen, heard & read the stories.

Enough said...

We hit it on one of the busiest days of year! Our tour guide said that English speaking foreigners were less than a percent of the population in the whole square.

Military police protecting the flag.

Half our group took interest in this happy girl, who enjoyed the pictures & attention. Yes, it was cold there & she's got the outfit for it. Where are her hands?

It would be easy to think they were all lining up for a picture. Oddly enough, the photographer was snapping a picture for half our group, which consisted of about 30 people. Later, he became angry at some of those poaching upon us while discussing the memorabilia book & picture price.

Walking down the streets while making our way to a dinner.

Peking Duck (Beijing Duck) being sliced for us. This picture is compliments of Mike, who we met on the trip.

Kung Fu Show

This young martial arts apprentice was pretty focused. Yet, I did see his eyes stray when us westerners arrived.

To my surprise, the show wasn't only a "kung-fu" production.

I didn't expect for there to be a story, but it easily kept my attention throughout.

Our complete group amounted to just under 60 people. I would venture to say that about 99% of us were under the age of 35. It was an incredible trip!!! Here we are on the last night... Well, not all of us...

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Chinese New Years in Beijing!- Part 3

THE FORBIDDEN CITY

This place is enormous and covers about 7,750,015 square feet! It has 9,999.5 rooms, as to not compete with the previously thought 10,000 rooms of Heaven. The moat surrounding the Forbidden City is almost 20 feet deep with standing protective walls of 33 feet in height. All of this was built in only 14 years as well! The project began in 1406 & if you can grasp it's size, this is an incredible feat. It was primarily used during the mid-Ming & Qing Dynasties. Remarkably, it remained the main politcal center until 1912.

Pathways to many other rooms.

The rock formations were left in a portion of this city.

The Forbidden City was completed in 1420, so it's continually being repaired.

One of the many concubine rooms.

A small portion of the Emperor's room.

After the crossing, another large gate.

Walking in the courtyard of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony was originally around 4,000 feet long. This photo was borrowed from Allen Timothy Chang located on this site.

This is the center slab of rock from the Hall of Supreme Harmony. This is the longest carving of it's kind in the Forbidden City.

Some of the buildings lying west of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

These are the same building to the west, yet taken from the deck of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Hey there... Viewing north from the deck.

This is the Meridian Gate which is the largest gate of the Forbidden City.

Tiananmen Gate (wikipedia.org spelling) is the main entrance to the Forbidden City & also lies on the northern end of Tiananmen Square.

Chinese New Years in Beijing!- Part 2

MING TOMBS

Please visit here for more information on the Ming Tombs.

Zhu Di Emperor Yongle (1360- 1424 A.D.) ruled for 22 years & was the third emperor during the Ming Dynasty. This emperor was the first to choose this burial site & 13 emperors were buried in this area after his rule. He accomplished much for the country and was even in charge of building the imperial palace (Forbidden City).

Large wooden coffins were brought through this passageway shown in the foreground. While in the background, the Changling rises above. This is the burial mausoleum of Chengzu Zhu Li (same as above) & Empress Xushi.

We were told that the food, drinks & money were an offering to those who have descended from emperors long ago. Notice the police carefully watching, especially the bigger paper money that appears as leaves on the ground.

This is a sacred silk burner that was used after sacrificial rites. Other burners were used to burn food for their gods. With the nature of smoke rising to the sky, burning was a way to offer to the gods.

Before the mausoleum, stands this large wooden building made from cedar trees. The trees were shipped from eastern China during the Ming Dynasty. This process tooks months to transport & to this day, they no longer have any cedar trees for logging in the country.

This Soul Tower is a symbolic structure of the mausoleum. During the Ming Dynasty it was constructed of wood. At one time, a sacred steel was erected from the tower. Yet, in 1604 it was stuck & damaged by lightning. A year later it was rebuilt with the characters, "The Mausoleum of Emperor Chengzu," inscribed on the steel. When it was again reconstructed in the late 1700's the mausoleum was changed to stone.

Copper Vase Factory

We visited a copper vase factory which was very interesting. The factory guide showed us the lengthy process of how these beautiful vases are made.

Very lengthy handmade process to make something like this!

Pearl Shop

We also had the opportunity to learn about pearls from this demonstration.

Did you know it's common to have this many pearls in a shell? I certainly didn't. Nicole, thanks for letting me steal this picture from your website.

Typical Lunch & Dinner

Fish was served as one of the many sides for every lunch & dinner.

Houhai Lake Area

This Houhai area has many different restaurants & bars along the man-made lake.

Mike, myself, Amanda, Rebecca & Denis are all pretty excited to be in China!