Seems a lack of interest so no more photos of China. Sorry
oh! Lack of interest from others doesn’t stop me from doing stuff. 
Nor me, RS, did you see any Sweatshops?
Ok i will carry on
next was a trip to the great Wall at Mutianyu. On the way we passed through villages like this
nothing special to look at , however they are so poor they actually go and break branches of the trees outside the town and lay them on the road to dry for heatinging the homes and cooking on. eventually got to where we go up in ski lifts to the great wall having to pass the preverbial tourist trap
to get to the lifts themselves
nearly there
The difference between our visit and other tourist groups is we went right up to the mountain ridge, others just stepped off a coach and no idea what the wall was actually like
Taken half way up in the lift looking down
On the wall
Had to stop several times because the air was so thin
notice in the last how they got onto the wall
. A barrier was to stop them falling on the way down
China on the left and mongolia on the right
wall under repair
on the way back to tghe hotel wse visitied the coissonait factory for a bite to eat.
next day AM free time then lunch and a visit to the Summer Palace far too many photos to post apart from the long hall
One interesting thing was this stone copy of a boat on the man made lake
This was used by the an emperors wicked governess of his children. Her name was CICI? she sat on a chair near the front with a huge mirror. Anyone standing infront of her were killed
next post flight to Xian
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What a country of extremes it seems to be.Your ordinary Chinese person must be very hardy.
Interesting country, realspeed.
I have been there on business but not to the extent that you have.
arrived in Xian after an hrs delay due to smog
in ancient times they had 2 towers ,a drum tower and a bell tower
the city was protected by a high wall
the terra Cota warriors a few of many pictures i took
yes they found horses as well.
some other places we visited next.
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Now for what i missed out. Oh we also went to the theatre to see a chinese play. Had to laugh, Sue didn’t have a good view from where she was sitting so sat on the main staircase ti the seating area. Everything was fine UNTIL .she had a tap on the sholder and turning around the enporer and his entourage was being held up by guess who? as they wanted to get onto the stage.
Making pots
silk factory. had a go at stretching it and really hard
Obviously loads more such as
oh that archway, only the emporer was allowed to pass through the middle arch and within those lines. Anyone else would be killed
So just a quick run through of our Trip to China, Hope you found it interesting
Have to say a big thanks to the two tour guides in Bieging and Xian and the car drivers, some of the most helpful friendly people of all our overseas holdays , they made it memorable
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I also did a tour of China - in November 2019 !! Nowhere near Wuhan as far as I know. We started in Shanghai and ended in Beijing.
Did you notice the directional mics on all the posts in Tiananmen Square? Our rep made a point of saying we shouldn’t talk to him at all during our visit there.
Interesting holiday but creepy - the people were like little automated, pre-programmed robots.
post with camera in first photo back in 2006 and just these guards. I asked by sign language if it was ok to take a photo in the last photo. He could not answer as such but smiled and a slight nod
in the forbidden city that small hill where the emporess was allowed to look outside the forbidden city
that stone slap in earler photo from temple of heaven
Huge crowd I pushed through for these shots as it was roped off
One of only two giant urns in the world
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I think we are privileged to enjoy your visit and your excellent photographs.
Very interesting and informative, China is certainly a unique country. The photos are wonderful. Thank you for sharing.
I will comment that China isn’t on my list of places to visit. Still, I enjoyed your thread.
Thank you for your nice reply. China, or the small part we saw is fascinating and they have kept their history. Like visiting any country ,and we have been to a good few, the knack is to ignore any politics and marvel at what the countrry has to offer. Another thing I have learnt is if you want to take a photo and in doubt ask first even by sign language, they appreciate you asking first. Some of the shots I would not have got otherwise here and elsewhere.
Such as these three actors on the wall in Xian . I point to the camera then to them as they came towards me with a thumbs up or down.
I noticed others tried to get photos without asking and they turned their backs
Thank you glad you liked my poor effort
One has to want to see a different culture first before visiting any country. China was on my bucket list
and would love to go back again to a different part. Also depends on what type of holiday one wants. I think if you get the travel itch it is hard to scratch away. Of course being able to afford as well is a big issue.
Sue and I hopefully are going back to Norway then on to the Fareo Islands and then to Iceland next year ,covid permitting. This will cost around £10,000 so definately not cheap if you look at the price, but not having a holiday since covid and accepting the travel company’s generous upgrade offer due to cancelling a previous booked holiday it works out ok price wise and should be a fantastic holiday.
So what is your ideal holiday then may I ask?
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Thanks for that Realspeed! Fascinating photos! I would love to visit China but it’s a bit late now. I did get to Hong Kong and I am always loving the cultural side of people. The differences between us is what fascinates me.
When I worked at the Museum in Waipawa, we got quite a few Chinese tourists and without an exception over the 10 years I was there, every one was so respectful and friendly even if they didn’t speak English.
Lovely photos…my son went to China and sent back photos of weird things. He went to rural China, and everyone wanted a photo of him or with him because he was a white guy…I assume they are rare around the countryside. 
Can I ask why nobody is allowed to speak?
Can you speak Chinese? same as they can’t speak English, but the tour guides speak good english
display cabinet with glass top inlaid with Jade. To this day they can’t do this and have no idea how they managed it and below chair and bed used by an emperor
The number of wooden studs above the entrance to a home denoted the status of the house owner
Here 4 studs of a high ranking person
bit of their handywork in stone
I can speak some Chinese, yes. I just thought there was a political reason for them not conversing, like the queens guards can’t have a conversation either. 
Great photos and excellent narrative realspeed, thanks for sharing your holiday with us.
I find the Chinese a fascinating people. I couldn’t help noticing that all the information boards and plaques were written in Chinese and English. That seemed very welcoming as an Englishman.
Yes we got on so well with the tour guides. Just one thing I forgot to mention, when having breakfast in the hotel going past the dining room several times was this guy. I got the feeling he was just checking up . May have been nothing but seemed suspicious, you never know who is watching you!
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