Neih Hou, Beijing!

We left for Beijing two days after Christmas and took a flight through mainland to Dalian. Dalian is scary, the mean immigration guy and workers were not even concerned if we would get on our flight to Beijing! Nonetheless, we got back on the same plane to Beijing where after much searching we found our bags and met our tour guide, Mr Alan. Our crazy road rage driver (which we found to be the norm at each stop) took us to The Sunworld Hotel in downtown Beijing. It was a really awesome hotel with lots of space and nice amenities. I would recommend it to Westerners traveling to Beijing for sure. 

We rested up that night and hit the ground running the next day. 

The large billboards in red cycle through videos about the 55 ethnic minorities in China.

Tiananmen Square was our first stop. Many know it for the protest of 1989 where tanks rolled through and caused mass casualties. It is much larger than photos can capture and there are security checks at every entrance. 

In the square, behind us is the entrance to the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City entrance up close.

The Forbidden City was one of our favorite parts of China. It is a huge structure with many buildings that made up a completely self-sufficient city. The outer court was for business, while the inner court was for living. 

The bridge across the moat only lowered twice a day-- open and close of business.

The city had many unique factors. Each door has 81 brass knobs because 9 is the royal number. (9 x 9 = 81) 

There were giant pots of water to put out fires quickly, because the all wooden buildings are in close quarters. Phoenix and dragons were at every turn, representing the empress and emperor, respectively. The detail and artwork was awe-inspiring as well.

You can see the dragon and phoenix in this carving.

The story of the Dragon Lady , who was a concubine turned empress turned ruler for many years was entertaining. She hid behind a curtain, telling three young emperors in succession how to rule the country. The many individuals who tried to remove her from power were.... eliminated.  

A giant Jade Guardian Lion? The Dragon Lady got whatever she wanted.

In front of the inner court.

Gorgeous architecture in the city garden.

 Here is a fun fact for you:

Remember my old post about the Shi Shi dogs who guard our home in Okinawa? The one above looks sort of similar, but China has a few differences. Chinese Guardian Lions (often referred to as ShiShi, also) both have their mouths open in China while the female has hers closed in Japan. The female holds a baby lion under her paw while the male holds a ball representing heaven and Earth in China. They serve the same purpose, protecting those inside that particular building or area. 

This is just a small tidbit of one day in Beijing, we have much more to share! Tune in every Wednesday for the next couple weeks to hear about our entire adventure! :)

Troy's Iwo Jima Adventure

Troy had the opportunity to catch a day-trip flight to Iwo Jima last month. This is something that not many Marines get to experience and he was very excited to take the journey. 

You have probably heard of Iwo Jima because of this statue in Washington DC: 

Well, it is not just a statue, it is a representation of the Battle of Iwo Jima, a landmark in Marine Corps history. Troy took some great pics while he visited the island. He was so nice as to leave some captions on the photos below for our wonderful viewers. :)

Mt. Suribachi, where the flag was raised in the picture of the statue above. 

 A Large shell that was fired from a naval ship in WWII.

 Remnants of a Propeller.

 Underground cave system. The Japanese used a tunnel system under the entire island during the battle.

 Invasion beach where the famous landing occurred with Mt. Suribachi on the right.

 Invasion beach with Mt. Suribachi in the background. Large rock in the middle of the beach.

 Mt. Suribachi

 Stand at the top of Mt. Suribachi where everyone leaves something behind to remember the Marines lost in the war.

 Japanese memorial

 I left my silver bar behind.

My crew from 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines. It was raining pretty hard at this point..

Next up, China posts! :o)

Naval Underground and Shikinaen Garden

After all of our visitors, you might be thinking that we have run out of places to see and things to do in Okinawa. Well, you're mistaken! We visited two more fun sites a few weekends ago. 

Our first visit was to the Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters. Just as it sounds, it is literally where the Navy had their Headquarters... underneath the ground... in WWII.

There were paper cranes hanging here just like the ones I described in my post about Hiroshima.

Troy had to crouch the whole way through!

Many people are said to have committed suicide in the tunnels knowing that there was no escape and they were going to lose the war. There is literally shrapnel imbedded in the walls.

The epic view from atop the underground lookout.

After the Naval Underground, we went to the Shikinaen Garden. It is the garden belonging to Shuri Castle.

The grounds are gorgeous, with sprawling greenspace, ponds, bridges, and Okinawa-inspired buildings.

Inside the house where the Ryukan Kings lived.

A really cool tree in the middle of a pond.

The house from afar, really gorgeous!

Just a regular day out in Okinawa! Tune in soon, many blogs are lined up chronicling all of our exciting adventures!

Exciting Happenings!

We just got back from China and it was amazing! I will have plenty of posts to let you all in on our adventure, but first we have to catch up on a few posts. I am going to try and post a new blog every Wednesday for the next couple weeks, so tune in and check them out! :) 

Future Posts:

Naval Underground 1/10/12

Iwo Jima 1/13/12

China posts begin on 1/18/12