China Vacation

I was in China for the last 3 weeks on vacation. For those of you who called me and emailed me, I thank you. It was a very exciting experience for me and humbling at times. It's nothing like America, very different. There's so much of the world to see, places to go and people to meet. Hope everyone finds time in their life to travel and visit different parts of the world. For me, it changed my outlook on life and made me appreciate what I have and who I am here in America.  

Here's a picture of my 2 friends in China. I'd especially like to thank Zhenghua for showing me Beijing and being the best tour guide :)

_Vince

In the Air

It actually got down to -72 degrees at one point.

Landing at LAX

_Vince

Coming Home

I'm in Korea right now. As eveyone in L.A. is sleeping I'll be flying.
I have a lot to share and more photos to show so check back later.
Trying to figure out what type of gallery I should use.

Great Wall of China

I went to the Great Wall last Sunday. The wall is about 5,500 miles long. Longer than walking from Los Angeles to New York. The part I walked was steep. I must say it was very tiring walking up the steps. For those of you who think its not so hard, you have to try it for yourself. I climbed for about 15 minutes and I was already in pain! Today is Friday, 5 days later and my legs still hurt. Its amazing to think that the wall was built in the early 1300's and the workers were able to carry or move the rocks into position. Many slaves died during the construction.

Here's a picture at the start of the climb. I was told this sign says something about not being a "man" if you can't make it to the top. Call me what you want but I see no reason to put my body through that much pain. 30 minutes was enough.

_Vince

Beijing Zoo

Went to the Beijing Zoo. I haven't been to a zoo since I was a kid. It was fun seeing the wild animals up close. The vultures were pretty cool. Seeing the carcass on the ground was weird. The Pandas were great! Seemed like all they do is eat and lounge around. Wish I had more time to stare at them like the Chinese stare at me. Don't mind a few of the shots that have haze in them. That's from either shooting through a window or the fence.

While watching TV here in Beijing, I found another organization that I would like to support. Its a non-profit organization that works to stop illegal wildlife trading and killing of endangered animals. For those of you who are interested, you can find it here.

_Vince

Tiananmen Square

Remember this picture? You can read about it here. Tiananmen Square is across the street from the Forbidden City.

On the south side of the square is the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. He was the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from 1945 to his death in 1976. Facinating information about it here. 

Click here to see a picture of his body on display. 

_Vince

Forbidden City

This is where 24 of China's Emperors lived several hundred years ago. It was constructed in the early 1400's. This place is huge!! I walked through 3 main gates and still wasn't even close to the museum. It took 15 years and more than 1 million people to build it. It houses thousands of ancient artifacts, sculptures, paintings, gold, jewelry and more. It is named the Forbidden City because the common man back in the day could not get inside. Only the Emperors workers were allowed inside. Even as workers they were only allowed so far into the palace. Here's a picture of what it looks like from the North. Click here. (That is not my picture and yes that is pollution in the air). Just about every rooftop you can see in that picture was part of his palace. It is said to have more than 8,000 rooms. You can read more about the Forbidden City here.

_Vince

Village

Here are some photos of the village I stayed in the past 5 days. This is the swap meet we went to. People here really don't see many foreigners if at all. Everyone was staring at me. Felt weird and funny at the same time. I had a few people even ask to take a picture with me. Imagine that.

This guy was so excited to see me. Before he invited me into his store to sit down, I could see that he was video taping me on his cell phone. After he invited me in, he asked me if he could take a picture with me. I had no idea he was going to do what he did in this picture. I realized this was probably the first time he'd ever seen a foreigner. I bought a few bags of food that he had in his store and he offered me a free jar of spices. Then he gave me his email address so I can stay in touch with him. Not sure how that is going to work considering I don't speak or write in Chinese.

The same guy who raises the Tibetan Mastiffs gave us a ride to a local burial site. Here is what a burial site looks like in the village. The dead are buried north and south with a mound of dirt. The yellow ribbons are laid on top periodically out of respect and remembrance of the dead.

More pictures of the village I stayed in

Took a picture of the little red car driving through the intersection. The look on the guys face is what I get all the time.

Here's a guy lighting yellow paper on fire in the street to remember the dead.

_Vince

Tibetan Mastiff

I had a chance to visit someone who raises Tibetan Mastiffs here in China. These dogs are by far the largest I've ever seen. They can weigh as much as 200 lbs. As I walked through the kennel, all of the dogs were barking like crazy and wanted to get at me. Good thing they were chained up and their master was there because I would have absolutely no chance defending myself if they got loose. These dogs can sell for as much as $5000.

_Vince