Tuesday, November 19, 2024

2024 Road Scholar I: The Best of the Mountain Kingdoms Beginning (10/4-6/2024)

Friday, October 4, 2024
This evening we began a 33-hour journey to reach Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China. 

Saturday, October 5, 2024
Left Los Angeles, heading west to cross the International Date Line, adding a day.

Sunday, October 6, 2024
In Beijing we met our Road Scholar Group Leader, 'Jerry,' who would cheerfully guide us through the China portion of our trip: The Best of the Mountain Kingdoms: Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan.
One of our mandates was to never talk about politics, thus there was no discussion about Tibet's right to be independent. Named the Xizang Autonomous Region, Tibet is decidedly a province-level division of China. There are five autonomous regions based on ethnicity; Tibetans are one of 55 minority ethnic groups in China. (Not all ethnic groups have a region, just smaller administrative divisions, giving them some measure of self-rule.)
Cathay Pacific [Airlines] took us from Los Angeles
to Hong Kong (pictured here), then to Beijing
Students must have filled the back half of the plane
The infamous Beijing smog
Zhengyangmen/Gate of the Zenith Sun (1419,
reconstructed 1914) once led to the Imperial City
and was for the exclusive of the emperor
A member of the People's Armed Police Force,
an adjunct to the People's Liberation Army/PLA
Police presence at the Mausoleum (1976-1977)
of Mao Zedong in the center of Tiananmen Square
Qianmen Jianguo Hotel (1956, updated)
Qianmen Jiangu Hotel lobby atrium with
a mural of Peking Opera characters
Doors to the Liyuan Theatre in the hotel,
known as the home of Peking Opera
A display on Peking Opera with photos of
attendees, including Stephen Hawking
Peking Opera costumes
Another mural: Peking Opera is a colorful
mixture of acrobatics, dance, pantomime, singing
and dialog as well as background music
Qianmen Jianguo Hotel carpeting
Hotel room
Hotel bathroom
At dinner in the hotel, we received a brief orientation and were given our Quietvox audio devices. It was too late to have introductions of the 24 participants, but we quickly came to know each other throughout the trip.
Next: The Best of the Mountain Kingdoms II.