Beijing

Here are some pictures I took in Beijing during my recent 7-day Shanghai-Beijing trip.

There were taken during a very comfortable overnight train trip from Shanghai to Beijing:



First stop is Tiananmen Square:



Right across the square is Forbidden city, former home of imperial China's emperors. This one apparently has 800 buildings and more than 8700 rooms, which meant 2 hours of non-stop walking (and picture-taking of course).







Our second day started at Temple of Heaven, where emperors offered prayers and sacrifices for good harvest:






These were taken at Summer Palace:








Next day was devoted mainly to Great Wall of China. We chose the one is Simatai mainly because of the river view. The trip took 3 hours. And worse, it was very foggy. It also rained a bit. Not a good day for taking pics but I still managed to get some:












The trip, of course, was not complete without releasing some hard-earned funds. Here goes:

5890 Airfare
1620 Travel fee
750 Terminal fee
1400 Visa
90 Van to hotel (100 RMB total, 15 RMB/person)
1440 Shanghai hotel (120 RMB/night, 2 nights)
3060 Train to Beijing (510 RMB)
2400 Beijing tour* (2790 RMB total, 400 RMB/person)

*tour includes train to Shanghai

Winterland

For the first time in weeks, I just stayed in the apartment, mainly due to the snow storm that hit the city. I estimate that around 8 inch worth of snow came. The whole apartment complex was covered with snow. It was unbelievable. It looked real nice (I felt like I was in a movie set) but that's about it. It was too cold to handle that after a minute or two, you'd begin to hate it.

Here are some pictures I took:

Zion National Park

One thing I really like about Salt Lake is that some of the best national parks in the world are just a few hours drive away. Over the past few years, I have been to Arches (4 times), Bryce, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone (twice). A few weeks ago, I went to Zion which is famous for its red/cream canyons, towering cliffs, and rivers. It was a 5-hour drive and it was worth it. We did not see the park at its finest (that would be during fall season), we did not even see the famous "Narrows" due to the very cold river which we dared to cross but failed, but I can imagine how beautiful it could be during fall. I will definitely go back to this place.

Here are some pictures I took:

Las Vegas part 7

Since it was my 7th time in Las Vegas, I hoped that the trip would be a lucky one for me. Alas, for the 7th time, I did not win in the slot machine, not even a dollar. But just like in my other trips, Vegas again has something new to offer. Planet Hollywood recently opened this year. It was formerly Aladdin hotel. There is also a new hotel called Trump which is now offically the blandest hotel in the strip. And there's the new musical 'The Producers' and the magic show featuring Hans Klok and the great Pamela Anderson, both of which I watched and enjoyed.

This is Planet Hollywood.



These ones are from the Bellagio garden.





These were taken in Hoover Dam, one of the 7 wonders of the modern world!