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.)
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| Cathay Pacific [Airlines] took us from Los Angeles to Hong Kong (pictured here), then to Beijing |
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| Students must have filled the back half of the plane |
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| The infamous Beijing smog |
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| Zhengyangmen/Gate of the Zenith Sun (1419, reconstructed 1914) once led to the Imperial City and was for the exclusive of the emperor |
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| A member of the People's Armed Police Force, an adjunct to the People's Liberation Army/PLA |
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| Police presence at the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall/ Mausoleum (1976-1977) in the center of Tiananmen Square |
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| Qianmen Jianguo Hotel (1956, updated) |
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| Qianmen Jiangu Hotel lobby atrium with a mural of Peking Opera characters |
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| Doors to the Liyuan Theatre in the hotel, known as the home of Peking Opera |
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| A display on Peking Opera with photos of attendees, including Stephen Hawking |
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| Peking Opera costumes |
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| Another mural: Peking Opera is a colorful mixture of acrobatics, dance, pantomime, singing and dialog as well as background music |
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| Qianmen Jianguo Hotel carpeting |
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| Hotel room |
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| Hotel bathroom |
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