My sister, Maya, came to visit with her youngest son, Reed. Reed had never traveled outside of the US, and for my sister it had been many years, maybe even decades. We were very much looking forward to their trip. We started out around Hangzhou. We visited He Fang Street. A local shopping street with lots of little tourist shops and restaurants. 
The street has been renovated to look like an older shopping street in Hangzhou. We got there by walking down the little market street right around the corner from our house, where Reed was fascinated by the various animals on sale for food--turtles, eels, fish, etc. We also saw the local fungus shop, fruit stands and the like. He has specifically asked to go to a market, so we did this and satisfied his curiosity.
He Fang street is a delightful place to wander and enjoy the sights. We enjoyed a visit to the Drum Tower, and the local Chinese Medicine shop.
The next day, I took Maya and Reed for a ride around the lake on bikes.
We enjoyed sitting by the lake. 
and taking photos of the scenery and all the other tourists. Even though Maya and Reed thought it was crowded, it wasn't too bad by Hangzhou standards. 
We went to the top of Lei Feng Pagoda, where Reed was asked to be in a picture with some Chinese tourists.
Maya and I visited the local art museum, which always has interesting exhibitions. This time there was an exhibition of Seals from various districts, which have been collected by Seal Societies. Here are a couple of examples: 
And there was some sort of fibre art exhibit, some if it was strange, other parts rather cool.
Maya, Reed, and Cindy had an opportunity to do some things during the first part of the work week while I was slaving away in the office. They went for a couple of boat rides-- one on the lake, where you drive yourself (or at least Reed did), and one on the water taxi on the grand canal. They also did some shopping etc.
For the 2nd half of the week, we all went to Beijing. There we saw the Forbidden Palace, and the Great Wall. This was my second visit to both, and I saw parts of the Forbidden Palace which I hadn't seen before. Particularly the concubine quarters, and the house where the only foreign visitor stayed-- the English teacher for the last emperor. Managing Reed in his wheel chair was a bit of work at times, but it made the whole day possible as he didn't get so tired from all the walking.
In the garden area behind the concubines houses:
Outside the palace, before we went in, we saw the guards practicing marching for their daily flag raising ritual.
The palace is a grand overwhelming place, constantly under maintenance and repair, with many colors, and shapes.
We had a guide for the day. She was very informative about the palace and surroundings. Here she is telling Maya and Reed about the bird statues which are also incense burners.
After we finished up at the Forbidden Palace, and had lunch. Reed was tired out, so Maya and I went to the Lama Temple. I didn't know in advance that it was built originally as quarters for part of the royal family, and later converted to a temple. It was therefore very reminiscent of the Forbidden Palace, but on a smaller scale. Still pretty big though.
It is still very much a working temple, and full of people worshiping. 
There must have been at least 25-30 shops outside between the subway and the entrance to the temple selling incense and other religious items.
Next, we went to a Confucian temple just down the road. It was much more quiet and formal seeming. It was a very interesting contrast to the Lama Temple, and I would recommend visiting both.
The next day we went to the Wall, and the Ming Tombs. Unfortunately we didn't bring the wheel chair with us so the tombs were a bit of a bust. But the wall was beautiful in the fall colors, and we had a blast.
It is amazing how steep parts of the wall are. 
Reed managed very well with his cane.
After coming back from the tombs, we let Reed rest a bit, and Maya, Cindy and I wandered the city a bit.
These guys were a bit stiff and formal, but kind enough to pose with Cindy and Maya.
Then we picked up Reed for the final ultimate Beijing experience, which Reed had been planning for weeks before the trip. The deep fried scorpions. Go Reed!
As always there are a few more photos on Flickr.
The street has been renovated to look like an older shopping street in Hangzhou. We got there by walking down the little market street right around the corner from our house, where Reed was fascinated by the various animals on sale for food--turtles, eels, fish, etc. We also saw the local fungus shop, fruit stands and the like. He has specifically asked to go to a market, so we did this and satisfied his curiosity.He Fang street is a delightful place to wander and enjoy the sights. We enjoyed a visit to the Drum Tower, and the local Chinese Medicine shop.
The next day, I took Maya and Reed for a ride around the lake on bikes.
We enjoyed sitting by the lake. and taking photos of the scenery and all the other tourists. Even though Maya and Reed thought it was crowded, it wasn't too bad by Hangzhou standards. We went to the top of Lei Feng Pagoda, where Reed was asked to be in a picture with some Chinese tourists. Maya and I visited the local art museum, which always has interesting exhibitions. This time there was an exhibition of Seals from various districts, which have been collected by Seal Societies. Here are a couple of examples: And there was some sort of fibre art exhibit, some if it was strange, other parts rather cool.Maya, Reed, and Cindy had an opportunity to do some things during the first part of the work week while I was slaving away in the office. They went for a couple of boat rides-- one on the lake, where you drive yourself (or at least Reed did), and one on the water taxi on the grand canal. They also did some shopping etc.
For the 2nd half of the week, we all went to Beijing. There we saw the Forbidden Palace, and the Great Wall. This was my second visit to both, and I saw parts of the Forbidden Palace which I hadn't seen before. Particularly the concubine quarters, and the house where the only foreign visitor stayed-- the English teacher for the last emperor. Managing Reed in his wheel chair was a bit of work at times, but it made the whole day possible as he didn't get so tired from all the walking.
In the garden area behind the concubines houses:
Outside the palace, before we went in, we saw the guards practicing marching for their daily flag raising ritual.
The palace is a grand overwhelming place, constantly under maintenance and repair, with many colors, and shapes.
We had a guide for the day. She was very informative about the palace and surroundings. Here she is telling Maya and Reed about the bird statues which are also incense burners.
After we finished up at the Forbidden Palace, and had lunch. Reed was tired out, so Maya and I went to the Lama Temple. I didn't know in advance that it was built originally as quarters for part of the royal family, and later converted to a temple. It was therefore very reminiscent of the Forbidden Palace, but on a smaller scale. Still pretty big though.
It is still very much a working temple, and full of people worshiping. There must have been at least 25-30 shops outside between the subway and the entrance to the temple selling incense and other religious items.Next, we went to a Confucian temple just down the road. It was much more quiet and formal seeming. It was a very interesting contrast to the Lama Temple, and I would recommend visiting both.
The next day we went to the Wall, and the Ming Tombs. Unfortunately we didn't bring the wheel chair with us so the tombs were a bit of a bust. But the wall was beautiful in the fall colors, and we had a blast.
It is amazing how steep parts of the wall are. Reed managed very well with his cane.After coming back from the tombs, we let Reed rest a bit, and Maya, Cindy and I wandered the city a bit.
These guys were a bit stiff and formal, but kind enough to pose with Cindy and Maya.
Then we picked up Reed for the final ultimate Beijing experience, which Reed had been planning for weeks before the trip. The deep fried scorpions. Go Reed!
As always there are a few more photos on Flickr.
