Beijing, Forbidden City & Summer Palace

Last week I embarked on a seven day whirlwind tour of China. First stop on my tour was Beijing.

The moat outside of the Forbidden City:

The Forbidden City, inside the Meridian Gate:

A corridor inside the Forbidden City: >

A dragon in front of the Summer Palace:The main courtyard of the Summer Palace:

Empress Dowager’s Famous Marble Boat:

Shanghai, Day 5

Today was Yuan Gardens and Xintandi. Tomorrow morning we head to Beijing and we'll spend the next week traveling through Lanzhou, Xian and Xihe.

Yuan Gardens:

Fuxing Park:

Shanghai, Day 4

Monday, Mom and I headed down to the Xiangyang Market to shop for some knock-off goods. I picked up some very nice shirts for cheap. This full contact shopping, similar to Canal Street in NYC, but turned up to 11. Much cooler and much better merchandise.

After the knock-off market, we went to the Shanghai Museum. This was an excellent way to spend an afternoon. They had very interesting exhibits on Bronze Age Chinese artifacts, a Jade gallery and a gallery of art from Chinese Minority Nationalities. It is very impressive to soak in a bit of history from a culture so old and rich.

Shanghai, Day 3

On Sunday morning we got up very early and took a drive about 45 minutes west of the city to play some golf. An amazing thing about this area is that there is very little transition between the city and the rural areas. There are no suburbs to speak of. One minute you are very much in urban Shanghai and the next you see rice fields. It’s very strange for someone used to the 25-50 mile suburb/strip mall belt that surrounds ever American city.

Sunrise over Shanghai:The view from a window in my parents apartment at night:

Shanghai, Day 2

Day three in Shanghai found us taking a long, leisurely stroll around the city. We started at my parent’s apartment, stopped for breakfast and continued down West Beijing Road until we reached the Bund (the riverfront area). From there we took the sightseeing tunnel under the river to Pudong (the new half of the city). I should note that the sightseeing tunnel is a waste of time and 40rmb (about $5). Anyway, it was nice to see the other side of the river. After that, was took the tunnel back over to the old city and they caught the subway back to my parents apartment. Shanghai has a very nice subway.

For dinner we went to the restaurant on the 56th floor of the Grand Hyatt. The food was very good and view would make it worthwhile even if the food wasn't.

Some old buildings on West Beijing Road:

Mom and Dad on West Beijing Road:

Pudong, as seen from The Bund:

The Peace Hotel:

JV and I on the Bund. The building just above JV's left shoulder is the Grand Hyatt:

Shanghai, Day 1

I arrived in Shanghai late last evening after about 20 hours of travel from Seattle. The trip was relatively painless, but there is just nothing civilized about spending all day on an airplane and in airports.

I got up early this morning and walked the city. I'm very impressed with Shanghai. It is a vibrant, clean and safe city. I should note that it's safe as long as you can avoid getting hit by a car. I used to think that Manhattan cabbies were nuts, but this is a whole new level. The city is also very cosmopolitan, but if you get off a few blocks off the major roads, you very quickly move away from anything that you would expect to see in an American city.

I had an interesting time trying to order lunch. I went into a small (about 10-15 seats) restaurant I found down a small side street. Needless to say, I was the only westerner in the place and the staff did not speak English. After some pointing, smiling and nodding, I apparently ordered something that involved chicken, stir fried vegetables, and steamed rice. It was very good and only cost me the equivalent of $2.

Jing'anPark:

The cheesy camera phone self portrait. You can see the Jing'an Temple over my left shoulder.

Mt Rainier

The first stop on my post graduation, pre real job world tour is a few days in Seattle with Dave and Susan. I got in Friday night and Saturday morning found me up at 6:30am heading south towards Mt Rainier for some backcountry skiing with Susan, Michelle and Dave.

We hiked up the south side of the mountain toward Muir Camp. By 4:00pm, we had hiked up 3,000+ vertical feet and enjoyed a mellow ski down the Muir Snowfield under perfect bluebird skies.

Our objective:Our Crew:

Dave, working his way up:

In the distance, Mt St Helens:

Dave and Susan:

Dave, the technician:

Dave and I:

Michelle:

Dave, enjoying a post hike beer:

Post skiing, we stoped for a look at Narada Falls:

This is a peak across the valley from Narada Falls. Dave is planning to hit the center couloirs next season:

Ten Days in Washington & British Columbia

On March 11th, 2006 our crew of five (Cousin Nick, Nick, Rob, Dave & myself) packed up our rented minivan and headed up to Mt Baker Washington. We arrived in the parking lot to find a perfect bluebird day and a good bit of a 3 day old powder.

Dave and I on the lift:

A far better view from the lift:

A serious line for Dave under Chair 1 at Baker:
Rob blowing through a tree at Mt Baker:

Dave, bringing the funk in the Baker parking lot:

After a killer day at Mt Baker, we got in the mini van for the 5 hour trip up to Whistler. Thanks to the Nick's shady criminal past and lack of proper ID, we nearly got up sent to a Canadian prison camp for life. Lucky for us, Rob was able to sweet talk the immigration agent about the travesty of the Colorado Avalanche ever winning the Stanley cup and we were admitted to Canada.

We woke up on Sunday March 12th to another beautiful bluebird day at Whistler.

The crew hiking up the Sun Bowl:

Dave "The Technician" Gorton, showing perfect tele form in the Sun Bowl:

Rob, going big and crashing hard in the Sun Bowl:

The Flute Bowl. It's about a 30 minute hike out and we came down the middle, from the summit shown in this photo:

Dave, going steep in the Whistler Bowl:

Rob, also in the Whistler Bowl:

Non-Cousin Nick, dropping into the Whistler Bowl:

Dave, in the park at Blackcomb:

After a day each in Whistler & Blackomb, we headed south back to Seattle.

The sunset from Highway 99, south of Whistler.

On March 14th, we left Dave to work, grabbed Jeff & Susan and pointed the mini van toward the fresh snow at Crystal.

Rob dropping a huge old-school method air in the Snorting Elk Bowl:

Non-Cousin Nick going big:

Me atop Grumbstake Point above Crystal:
Cousin Nick charging through some trees:

Me coming down a chute in the Snorting Elk Bowl:

Cousin Nick making a high-speed turn in the deepest 3 inches of powder any of us had ever seen:

Jeff dropping it big:

After two days at Crystal and another at Baker (using Seattle as a home base), we pointed it east on I-90 towards Alpental for a day in the back country. We were greated with sunny skies in the parking lot, that turned into dense clouds and snow on our skin up. Despited the low visibality and vertigo inducing flat light, we got some great turns in on Saturday.

Dave skinning up the Pineapple Bowl in the Alpental Backcountry:

For our final day, we started with some great powder turns in-bounds at Aplental. We then headed across the highway to spend the afternoon skiing with Dave and Susan's Niece and Nephew at the Summit at Snoqualmie. Jack and Maggie (8 and 10 respectively) tore up the bunny slope and even took some air in the terrain park.

After ten days of killer skiing, great times with family and good friends and a red eye flight home, I’m very tired but satisfied with the extraordinary quality of my visit. Thanks to Dave and Susan for hosting us and thanks to Dave, Susan, Nick, Non-Cousin Nick, Rob, Jeff, PJ, Michelle, Aunt Pat and Uncle Tom for good times!