Day 3
4:00 am
The telephone rang – morning call. It’s time to get up to see the flag raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square. Zzzz Zzzz, less than 4 hours sleep.
The telephone rang – morning call. It’s time to get up to see the flag raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square. Zzzz Zzzz, less than 4 hours sleep.
Outside it
was a little dark but fresh, much much better than the heat. It took us about 15 minutes to walk to Tiananmen Square. The walk was nice, seeing the changes of the sky from darkness into pre dawn glow. In a distance, we saw the flashing lights of a police car, it was a temporary check-point. As we arrived, a huge crowd had already gathered.. It was around 4.50am we saw the military honour guards, carrying the flag, marched through the gate of Tiananmen Tower (the Gate of Heavenly peace). I wasn’t expecting them to be accompanied by a band .The flag raised slowly at the exact moment of sunrise. The whole ceremony lasted exactly 127 seconds. What an impressive moment!
was a little dark but fresh, much much better than the heat. It took us about 15 minutes to walk to Tiananmen Square. The walk was nice, seeing the changes of the sky from darkness into pre dawn glow. In a distance, we saw the flashing lights of a police car, it was a temporary check-point. As we arrived, a huge crowd had already gathered.. It was around 4.50am we saw the military honour guards, carrying the flag, marched through the gate of Tiananmen Tower (the Gate of Heavenly peace). I wasn’t expecting them to be accompanied by a band .The flag raised slowly at the exact moment of sunrise. The whole ceremony lasted exactly 127 seconds. What an impressive moment!Andrew left to visit the great wall at 6.30 am. Jack and I did not want to be grilled under the sun. We took a little nap, had our breakfast in the hotel and decided to roam around at our own pace. In this soaring heat, we thought taking a taxi would be a good idea. After negotiating with a few taxi drivers, we finally got one who would take us around for half a day for ¥350.
Beijing is a city reshaped but the pollution is still thick.
Beijing is a city reshaped but the pollution is still thick.
Off to see the new landmarks, the Beijing Olympic Stadium, the Birds Nest. We had to go through a checkpoint to get to the Stadium, across the stadium is the National Aquatics Centre (the Water Cube). Wow! What a magnificent modern architectural element!
We then w
ent to the 798 Art Zone. It is converted from a factory plant. When approaching the Art Zone we saw a big red post written with "798", we knew we had reached our destination. Once you enter this area (taxi is not allowed to drive in), you can feel artistic flavor of the area. There are different kinds of galleries, art studios, cultural companies, fashion shops, book shops etc. I can spend a whole day in here. It is the separated world from outside. We had our late lunch at Vincent Cafe, a French restaurant, very yummy pancakes.
ent to the 798 Art Zone. It is converted from a factory plant. When approaching the Art Zone we saw a big red post written with "798", we knew we had reached our destination. Once you enter this area (taxi is not allowed to drive in), you can feel artistic flavor of the area. There are different kinds of galleries, art studios, cultural companies, fashion shops, book shops etc. I can spend a whole day in here. It is the separated world from outside. We had our late lunch at Vincent Cafe, a French restaurant, very yummy pancakes. Well, it’s time to head back to our hotel,we were to leave for Beijing west railway station to catch the 9:30pm train to Lhasa via Xian.
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