Deana's Visit

While Deana was here we went to the Beijing Planning Exhibition Center which was phenomenal. They had among many other things a model of all of Beijing. It was great.




Here we are as a happy family at a friend's apartment celebrating Mike's birthday.



here we are in front of a picture of a beautiful landscape.




Another picture of part of the model of Beijing. This picture includes part of the man made lake at Olympic park. Deana had her pictures downloaded on our computer so I am borrowing them. We are very involved with our classes right now and test prep so who knows when we look at our own pictures which are either still on the camera or on another computer.

The Forbidden City

We finally made it to the Forbidden City. It is an amazing place where we could literally spend days. Here are few of the pictures we took. The City is surrounded by a 50 meter moat and a 10 meter high wall. There are so many interesting things to see there and it goes on and on! There was way more city than we had energy, but at least this gives a glimpse of it!

The Great Wall at Mutianyu

We seperated at the wall. Kathy Moyer and Maradel went on a easier walk (climb) while Mike, Kelly, and our driver Zhon went on the steeper higher clilmb. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Notice the beautiful blue sky.

Before the lecture

This is the place where we had our lecture. Please notice the deligent students studying before it started. They have an amazing amount of self discipline!

Maradel's early b-day celebration

Our friends had a b-day dinner for Maradel complete with a crown!

There is much more space outside than inside their apartment. They have a lovely view though!

Just think, when Diana cleans her bedroom she cleans her kitchen. She is marvelous!!! Paul and Diana Rasmussen and the back of Jack Moyer

Here is Maradel riding home from the dinner.
Friends are wonderful. There were six of us there. We had wonderful food and even a cake with chocolate frosting! Who would have thought we would be in China in 2008!

Olympic park

Here we are in front of the Bird Nest

Mike took this beautiful picture at Olympic park.

The Bird Nest all lit up.

Inside the cube during the sound and light show.

Sights from Olympic park

Yes! It is the Bird Nest. We haven't been in yet, but at least we were near it. We attended a water and light concert, complete with orchestra in the Cube.
We tasted the cusine at TGIFridays so we could compare it with Moscow. The prices are a little lower here, but Mike thinks it is too expensive.

Olympic Park

Here we are with the two couples who are our closest neighbors, the Rassmussen's and Moyers. We are so fortunate to have them live close by although they teach at a different university.
We are in front of the lake at Olympic Park. It is a beautiful place and is truly impressive. There are 3 subway stops on the line going along the park which means it is huge. The day was perfect. We expected it to be colder, but it was wonderful. Notice the blue blue sky!

Tsinghua Campus

We took a tour of Tsinghua with a couple from another university and one of their students to act as interpreter. Yes, that is us on our bicycles. We had heard that Tsinghua used to be a garden and we finally visited Nearly Spring Garden. It is beautiful and as you can see the leaves are beginning to change. The lake is so peaceful. We had a great time on a wonderful Friday.

More Summer Palace

We probably took a hundred pictures. It is so beautiful there and the day was lovely.

Summer Palace

We finally made it to the Summer Palace a couple of weeks ago. It is beautiful. It is so very large we will have to make many more trips, and it is in our section of Beijing so hopefully we will go back.

More pictures from the trip

Magoa Grotto Caves and camel ride to Sound Sand Mountain and Crecent Moon Lake in the desert. We couldn't take pictures inside the caves, but I did take one at the museum the next day that gave the effect. The budda's were huge

The city wall in Xi'an. The kites were fascinating. We wished we had grandkids around to help us fly some, but since that was not to be we just watched.