Hooray for blue skies

Sorry for the lapse since the last post. Truth is, I haven't been on a computer since the last post. This is my last day in Beijing and China, as I fly out EARLY tomorrow morning.

Since Suzhou, we've been to Nanjing, Xi'an, and finally here in Beijing. In Nanjing, I walked the night markets, toured the Sun Yat Sen Memorial where there was a long promenade consisting of over 300 steps to reach his mausoleum. Sun Yat Sen is revered here as the father of the Republic, kind of like the George Washington of China. His memorial is on a huge scale, with the aforementioned steps as a message to people to perservere and not give up, and let me tell you it took a bit of perseverence just to see his tomb.

Next was Xi'an, which is one of the oldest capital cities in imperial China. We visited the Terra Cotta warriors just outside the city limits, and biked along the old city walls. It was interesting to see the contrast in the older developments inside the walls, and the new mid- and high-rises outside the walls.

There is too much to say about Beijing. I've visited all the usual places -- Great Wall, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Beihai Imperial Park, Summer Palace, and Tian'anmen Square. I finally saw blue sky these today and yesterday, after weeks of living under a grey cloud of particulate matter. I am thankful for blue skies.

Last minute checking on my flight, and then it is off to Taipei tomorrow.