Day off for Deb and museum and view from the top of Beijing for us.
I decided to give Deb a little break from the kids and everything, so I took the kids to the Military Museum and to the CCTV tower while she stayed home and relaxed. The museum and tower are both just off of subway line 1 on the west side of the city. When we arrived at the museum, I was expecting to pay for admission, but was surprised that all they asked for was our passports or ID's. I had my passport, but not the kids. While searching my wallet for mine, they went ahead and gave us the tickets. After going through security with bags being x-rayed and hand checked to make sure we didn't have any lighters and such, we finally were able to enter the museum grounds. It turns out that the actual museum was closed for some reason, but there was still plenty to see on the grounds.
DJ and Suzanne are playing news reporters.
Two bombs under the old bomber.
This is the remains of the U-2 that was shot down by the Chinese during the cold war.
The plaques explain how the U-2 was shot down by a radar guided missile like this one.
Sherman tank. Half of the tanks they have on display are old U.S.
I saw this in the back of the room behind the old bomber and zoomed in to see what it was. The plaque says it is a ship to ship missile.
Chinese Hummer.
Jet powered torpedo.
Anti-aircraft artillary.
Old cannons.
DJ liked the small tank.
There was also an art exhibit in a neighboring building on the same grounds as the Military Museum.
The Millennium Monument is right next to the Military Museum. We walked by it, but didn't go see it today.
What we went to go see after the museum was the CCTV tower. At 405 meters, it is the tallest structure in Beijing.
There is a revolving restaurant at 242 meters, an outside obsevation deck at 238 meters and a closed in observation area at 225 meters.
DJ didn't mind the large clown outside.
The tower also had tight security. You couldn't take backpacks into the tower and smaller bags had to be x-rayed. The cost for just the observation part of the tower was 70 Yuan each.
DJ wouldn't come within 10 meters of the clown on the inside.
There was several things for the kids to see and do on the inside.
We all enjoyed the view of the city.
Suzanne was leaning against the window looking down on the city when she started feeling a little vertigo.
This is the view to the southeast.
This is the view to the south.
This is the view to the southwest.
This is the view to the west.
This is the view to the northwest.
This is the view to the west northwest.
This is the view to the north.
This is the view to the northeast.
This is the view to the east. This view looks back in the direction of the city where we live. Despite a little haze, this was a clear day for Beijing. If you click on the picutre and look into the far distance, you can see Beijings tallest building, the Chinese World Trade Center building 3. You can also just make out what the locals call 'Big Shorts', the new CCTV building. I teach at a public school near the CCTV building. We live way on the other side of the city past those buildings. The view from the tower is special because it truly shows the size of the city.
The weather report according to DJ is clear and warm.
