Beijing - Part 3

The next day that we spent in Beijing was fun - we were able to spend time with our family - The Robisons - who happen to live in Beijing. They only moved there a few months ago, so we wanted to bring a little bit of the U.S. to them. The funniest request came from their oldest daughter. She begged us to bring her some gum. Apparently, the gum in China is horrible - and I tested it to prove the theory. It loses its flavor within 3.4 seconds of chewing.

Before joining up with them, my wife really wanted to see Tiananmen Square in the daylight. This is a massive, open public square - right across the street from the entrance to the Forbidden City.

We took the subway there, to see the square. It's really hard to visualize the events from 1989, when the pro-democracy movement and Chinese military battled each other in the streets.

The square was still decorated from "National Day", or the celebration of 60 years of communist rule in China. No expense was spared for the celebration. Here's a picture from The Boston Globe, to give you an idea of how big the celebration was (click to expand):

Yup, that's a LOT of people, all marching in perfect unison...

This meant that the decorations left there were amazing. There were huge, huge video screens showing very patriotic video clips - most were from the Beijing Olympics. They were milking that baby for all it's worth...even a year later:

Here's a little video clip to show how crowded Tiananmen was. Look for all the little flags - that is what the tour guides used to keep their people together:

Along the perimeter of Tiananment were giant "columns" - each displaying what I believe were different ethnic regions of China. They were awe-inspiring, and perhaps a little self-serving, at the same time (most diversity isn't really encouraged there):

Next, we wanted to meet up with our cousins at the Olympic Sports Complex in the heart of Beijing. This is where the 2008 Summer Olympics were held. For anyone that saw any part of those Olympics, you'll remember the amazing "Bird's Nest" Olympic Stadium:

Just to prove that she was there...

This is the closest I've ever been to the structure...

We went with our family to a nearby hotel - quite luxurious by Chinese standards - and had a delightful lunch. We took a snapshot to commemorate the occasion:

That's the Bird's Nest in the background

Back to the Olympic complex, we were able to walk right up to the "Water Cube", which is where all the swimming events were held. The outside walls are composed of a series of plastic "bubbles". Truly an amazing sight:

We then bought tickets to go inside the Olympic Stadium. As we walked closer to the structure, I just couldn't believe how amazing the architecture and construction was:

Once inside, I was surprised that it seemed "smaller" than it looked on TV. Now, don't get me wrong - it's huge. Just not as "huge" as I thought:

Here's a quick video clip of the inside of the Olympic Stadium:

The family, hanging out inside Olympic Stadium

Outside the stadium, as you would probably expect, were lots and lots of people. The only thing that I didn't expect, was the fascination with the younger kids in our family. Let me explain - the kids in my cousin's family are mostly blonde. The youngest kids are 3 and 5-years old. When we walked through crowds of people, literal crowds wanted to take their picture. I'm guessing that most of these people come from outside Beijing, where seeing a caucasian child is quite unfamiliar. Particularly little blonde kids. To prove what a crazy scene it became - about every 10 feet - we took pictures...of the people taking pictures...

That's the youngest child in the stroller - she now hates going near crowds

The ONLY picture from the trip, with the two of us together...sheesh...