The Rest of Day Two.

We did some interesting things after my “Great Wall” experience. First was to visit a cloisonné factory (and shop, of course). I was quite impressed with the way “real” cloisonné is made. From there we visited a jade production factory (and shop) before heading to the Ming Tombs.

The Ming Tombs represent the burial grounds of more than a dozen Ming dynasty emperors. The drive through the Ming Tombs was interesting as it was surrounded in every possible way by peach tree groves. Apparently, it is Chinese belief that peach trees ward off ghosts – so they plant peach tree groves around cemeteries. And a large swath of land commemorating dozens of deceased royalty definitely counts as a cemetery!


We visited the site of the third Ming emperor – the emperor who sanctioned the building of the Forbidden Palace and the Temple of the Heavens. Architectural choices and patterns are always interesting to me. Note the endcaps on the rafter beams... See the dragon? Those are used only for emperors - I saw a different design in the Hutong district, reserved only for "government officials"...

After our tomb-raiding adventure, we did drive-bys of two very distinct Olympic buildings. The main stadium has been dubbed “The Birds Nest” by locals (no surprise there) and cost Beijing $3.5B to build. The “bubbly” building is not where “Tonya Events” will be held (I know, cheesy) – but is the site of the aquatic center. Both of these buildings have received considerable press due to their “very creative” architecture. Interestingly, neither were designed by a Chinese architect... another step forward in China opening up to share with the rest of this planet.

After Olympic site sightseeing, we headed for an early but very special dinner. We were slotted to enjoy Roast Peking Duck for dinner. The meal was fantastic (too much food, of course). And I got a side benefit of seeing Minnie Mouse. Just kidding – the pix below is of our costumed server. She was quite good… But the headdress treatment – well, I just couldn’t help myself and had to nickname her.