Chinese New Years in Beijing!- Part 1

I've finally accomplished a goal of mine to make it to China! Especially after entertaining living in the country, I was at least able to visit one city. It just so happened to work out that it was the beginning of the Chinese New Year!!!

Rebbecca, Amanda & Denny getting ready for take-off! Denis & I happened to know these two Yeosu (small Korean coastal town) hooligan girls. We were glad to see them at the airport & with this tour group.

TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

First Day! Shortly after arriving, we were standing at the entrance to the Temple of Heaven. For more information, please visit wikipedia.org.

This is the Echo Wall Pavilion located south of the Hall of Annual Prayer, which was being restored.

Many emperors have stood on the center of this outdoor altar. This alter has 9 sections that stem from the center. The number 9 was very sacred & is used frequently in the Temple of Heaven. Even the stairs to climb to the alter are in sets of nine.

Go Team!

Here is where we had dinner for the first night.

Acrobatic Show!

After dinner, we saw an incredible acrobatic show.

Playing some pool, before experiencing the non-stop fireworks show outside. Everyone stoppped playing pool & watched us as we walked through this basement pool hall. We got the feeling, not too many foreigners make it here. Course, it was a pretty dark alley way prior to getting there.

Before the night even started, Beijing was coming alive with fireworks! It was the first time since 1993 that they were able to have fireworks. Perfect timing! There were fireworks everywhere you looked. I hope to eventually load a large video to show some aspect of how crazy the streets were. As shown in this picture above, these aren't your normal fireworks. Some in our group bought these packs which shoot about 15 large firework displays. These were common on almost every street! In this photo, some of the locals were helping find the wick to let this box come alive.

You could buy these loud banging fireworks on rolls. This man opened up the roll & hung it over a stick to make his version of a sparker. If you're within 10 feet of these things you can feel the debris hitting you, so it's no guess that he's getting pelted.

GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!!

Detailed information of the wall.

The Great Wall is 3,948 miles (6,352 km) long! We hiked an extremely small portion of it called Badaling.

Beginning of the climb toward the top of this Badaling section.

This section has been reconstructed, but you can still see the wear over the years.

Rebecca takes a quick break for the camera.

Watchtower with a storage house and barracks in the background.

A group of us who made it to the top of the Great Wall!!!

Snow still on the ground in many parts.

We couldn't resist the chance to drink a beer on the wall. Now how often can you do that!

SUMMER PALACE

Detailed information on the Summer Palace.

After the Great Wall, we headed to the Summer Palace. It's the largest imperial garden in China & perhaps the world. Kunming Lake was pretty amazing in that the entire lake was frozen over. This man made lake was enlarged with the help of roughly 10,000 workers in the 1700's. The average depth is only about 1.5 meters & yet it covers 75% of the palace grounds. In this photo you can see all the people on the lake & that was only a small portion of all those on the ice. In the background, you can barely view the Tower of Buddhist Incense of Summer Palace (Foxiangge) . It appeared to be under reconstruction.

This structure, 17-Arch Bridge, connects the mainland to Nanhu Island.

Ancient style building on the eastern shore of the lake.

I was too far away to zoom in on the Jade Belt Bridge, so I used this photo from www.Beijingservice.com.

Kite Making

HanNaRae Culture Inc. invited us to learn how to make the shield-shaped Korean kites. After messing up a few times, my kite actually came together. It is said that if you fly your kite on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month of the year, it drives away that year's calamity & brings happiness. However, your name & date of birth must also be written on your kite. Well, mine didn't fly & I guess I didn't put my name on it either. Shoot, better luck next year right?

Here's some of the group assembling the kites.

Adrienne getting some assitance from Kyung-Won.

My kite, before I went crazy with the markers in an attempt to add more color.

Ye-Rim adding some finishing touches.

Please fly little kite... Please fly... Please...

I had to run with it, but a least it's a few feet from my hand now. This may have been the time I accidently hit the kite master, purple pants & black jacket, on the head with my kite.

Well, that didn't last long. It seemed to get wrapped over the line with the hanging lanterns, which you can see in the picture above.

I had to throw this picture in, because it came out so humorously bad. Sorry... This was taken at a Turkish restaurant, Kebapistan, after our kite making lesson.

Grant in Korea!

I finally had my first visitor here in Busan! While Grant's stay was short, it was still great to see a friend from home! We decided to catch up over some drinks on both nights.

The first night we went to a couple places just down the street. This picture is at Bar Code.

We also dropped in at WA Bar, which has more of a western feel to it. My compliments to Grant for shooting this photo while I stepped away from the table.

Grant lived in Korea some 10 years ago, so it's been a while since he's been to a night club. We decided to take care of that the next night & went with some friends. I guess we arrived before the real party started, because it was extremely dead. I've now learned that weekday nights aren't the best nights to attend these clubs.

We didn't stay long, but I did capture one of the shows on camera. In this photo, some of the performers spin plates.

It's difficult to see, but they're twirling these plastic pots with their feet.

Still using their feet, this performer is spinning a small table!

This picture really didn't turn out, but I think you can gather the acrobatic concept.

We finished up the second night at a traditional dong-dong ju or makkolli establishment. Dong-dong ju is a Korean rice wine. Notice the old wooden benches & paper covered lights.

Content or tired?

Christmas & New Years!

Christmas was relaxing and enjoyable. Drew & Andrea invited many of us foreigners for Christmas Eve. I eagerly accepted and headed down to their place on the 3rd floor when the night arrived. My pictures didn't really turn out, but I did manage to get one of their tree.

Good looking little Christmas tree!

New Years!!! Ending one interesting year & beginning another!

I happened to be sick for New Year's Eve, so the majority of my friends went out to play with out me. However, Jina was kind enough to take me to Nampo-dong to witness the ringing of New Years.

Tree lights of Nampo-dong.

Street band at one of the main intersections.

We both were able to write a New Year's wish on a piece of paper. It was then folded & tied to the rope for good luck. The wood carving is most typically formed in the shape of a duck that will sail away with our wishes.

A band at Mt. Yongdu Park.

 

Almost ready to start the countdown for the bell ringing of New Years!

Drumming & dancing right after the ringing of the bell. Personlly, this made it feel like New Years! Everyone was having a blast!

Making Kimchi!

This was the event I've been waiting for! Thank you HanNaRae Culture Inc. for teaching us the how to prepare the final steps in the lengthy kimchi making process. In case you're not familiar, kimchi is basically a salted, pickled vegetable dish. Traditionally, Koreans used to prepare it as a substitute for fresh vegetables during the winter months. The most popular sytle, whole cabbage kimchi (Tongbaechu Kimchi), is what we made at this event. This is the classic kimchi, which you'll find on every Korean dinner table. Basically, each cabbage is cut lengthwise into two sections and soaked in brine. It's then drained, seasoned between the leaves, and left to ferment. The saltiness differs by regional preference. I ended up making about 3 cabbage heads, but took home 5 of them! I'm set for the rest of my stay in Korea! Fortunatley, I love this Korean side dish!

Our instructor, who braved the cold weather with no gloves.

Ye Rim striking a blowfish concentration pose, while I joyfully pack the seasoning between the cabbage leaves. I have her to credit for my kimchi turning out excellent!

Denis & Adrienne take a quick kimchi making break for this photo.

They then fed us some sweet potatoes that were baked in the outdoor fire cooker. Denis opens for a bite.

It was pretty cold, but there always seems to be a beautiful blue sky in Busan.

The next 3 pictures are taken from inside the temple.