part 6...a forbidden china...

Onward to the Forbidden City...or simply The Palace...Elegant and awe inspiring. 

 An incredible amount of tourists pass through the walls of The Forbidden City everyday.

However it is so massive...you can actually find corners and vistas with no one in sight...if you are patient enough...

You cannot help but get swept away into it's stoic presence.

  carvings adorn the rooftops...

color designs wash the walls 

                                       
concubines quarters keep their secrets...

 Click here for some interesting facts about the history of The Forbidden City if you desire to read more.

Also on our visit to China we saw Tiananmen Square where it was FREEZING...and Panda hats and Mao watches were the hot selling items on the square...

(son) Jesse, (daughter) Becca, (friends) Jack and Curt

We ate Peking Duck Dinner.at a restaurant where this sea lion was swimming around...strange... The duck was pretty good...but one of the courses tasted like dirty socks...

We saw the Birds Nest and the Aquatics Center at the Olympic Green...
  beautiful pieces of architecture.

Besides the Forbidden City my favorite was the Temple of Heaven. Just southeast of Beijing, it's where royalty prayed for a good harvest. In Ming Dynasty AD1420, the emperor Zhuli built this temple which covers an area of 2.72 million square meters. 
In the courtyard leading to the temple there was all sorts of music and dancing and people playing cards and games and they were celebrating and having a good time. And that was a good and unusual thing to see...here in Beijing. 
Want to read more about the Temple of Heaven? click here

I interrupt this asian travelogue...

...to let you know about a FREE Pasticcio Quartz 9 Give-away!

All you have to do is read Sarah's fab interview and leave a comment to enter...

Good Luck...!
Gauche Alchemy

part 5...lock your love on the great wall

First stop once we docked in Xingang...the Great Wall of China.

  jesse. jack. becca on the great wall

My favorite part of the Great Wall was the thousands of locks running up the side of the wall on a chain. Apparently you take a lock to the great wall and 'lock your love forever'.

"Locks of love are the padlocks fixed by loving couples, on to a fence or a pole or metallic chain/string alongside some wall etc at a public place, to symbolize their eternal love. A couple would hang a padlock after inscribing their name or initials on it and throw the key away so that their love is locked forever. Some couple use two inter-twined locks, each lock bearing their name/initials. Besides lovers, often family members and close friends also put such locks at these places, to lock their relationship forever." click here for more about locks of love

part 4...you say busan...i say pusan

Both pronunciations are apparently correct...

 Let's head into Pusan, South Korea

Here's a snapshot of our day walking around.

 lights...color...action...

Jesse and I look at eyeglasses...

 I bargain and buy two hats...

shoes anyone?     artificial flowers?

How about some dried meat skins to chew on...hmmmm

 

This was amusing....do ya think they are tourists?

I should talk with my two cameras hanging around my neck...

 We had some coffee at a Coffee Bean...and they had liquid sugar...

Becca did find the cutest skirt in the marketplace...

our ship awaits...movin' on...

part 3...japan a land of color

 hello from Nagasaki.Japan

. peace .

peace park...

. eat .

sushi. saki. beer.
fabulous...

. garden .

. water .

. street fashion .

 . art .

. zen and pristine .