Pictures from Tianjin, China, for the World University Bridge Cup.
Date(s): October 18-28, 2006. Album by Susan Korbel. 1 - 256 of 256 Total. 41216 Visits.
1 Team Canada with our Chinese volunteers, Johnson and Weiwei.
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3 Team Canada. From left to right, Susan Korbel, Charles Halasi, Dan Korbel, David Sabourin, Anton Blagov, Bryan Maksymetz, Brian Hardy.
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5 Where the opening ceremonies were held. This is the new campus of Tianjin Normal University.
6 There were many Chinese political officials at the ceremonies. This event was very important in China... banners were everywhere and the buses carrying the team members were given police escorts and traffic was actually blocked off for the buses to proceed nonstop.
7 Performers were awaiting the arrival of the buses, dragon dancers and drummers.
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17 There were beautiful flower stands outside the auditorium where the ceremonies were held.
18 Team Canada awaiting the start of the opening ceremonies.
19 The ceremonial raising of the Chinese flag.
20 One member from each country carried their flag on stage with a Chinese host carrying a sign.
21 Brian Hardy represented team Canada.
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24 All speeches were given in both English and Chinese so all could understand.
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26 The ceremonial flag raising for FISU and the Third World University Cup officially opened the event.
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29 Following the ceremony, the students of Tianjin Normal University entertained us with drumming, dancing, and acrobatics.
30 The drummers were amazing- all perfectly in sync.
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45 After the drummers, different groups of elaborately costumed dancers performed for us.
69 These dancers are representing the rural and ethnic minority areas of China.
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71 These performers were truly amazing. Johnson, the volunteer, told us that they had been practicing for years to learn these skills.
72 They could balance the balls on their feet, transfer them from foot to foot, and even bounce them high and catch them on their feet.
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74 This girl bounced balls all the way up this stand and got it in the basket!
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76 These three girls passed the balls back and forth to each other, catching them on their palms and feet.
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78 Following the dancers, a wonderful orchestra entertained us.
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81 These performers sang beautifully along with the music.
82 The next day, we took the train into Beijing. There didn't seem to be any other tourists on the train, but it was a quick way to get to the city.
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84 This billboard in Beijing showed beautiful landscapes. Perhaps it was to distract people from the square packed full of people!
85 We felt like cattle as soon as we got off the train and disappeared into the crowd. There are more people in Beijing then there are in half of Canada!
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90 Beijing's train station.
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92 We walked over to Tiananmen Square after taking the train. It was full of vendors selling silly souvenirs. Dan bought a Chairman Mao watch.
93 Kites were another popular item for sale.
94 The monument in Tianamen Square.
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100 Tiananmen Square map.
101 Beijing is hosting the 2008 Olympic games, and there were signs everywhere. This was the official countdown clock.
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107 Next we visited the Forbidden City.
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110 The buildings were beautiful.
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113 The dirty rowboat spoiled the ambiance somewhat.
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120 We weren't sure what the wires on the buildings were. We speculated that they lit up at night.
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124 The potato chips in China were very interesting! The bag Brian is holding is chicken flavoured chips. They also had tomato, cucumber, and other strange flavours of Lays.
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127 After our afternoon of sightseeing, we visited a duck restaurant for lunch.
128 Continuing our tradition of visiting a McDonalds in each country we visit, we went to a Chinese McDonalds for dinner. The food was very similar tasting to North American food, with only a few different items. Cucumber was a burger topping, the sauces were a little different, and there was a different burger featured for some countries- for example, a Brazil burger. We're not sure why.
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130 You can see the Korea burger featured.
They also offered family sized meals for $10, something not done here in North America.
131 McDonalds was cheaper in China than in Canada- both of us ate dinner for $5 Canadian.
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133 Chinese exotic snack foods extended to ice cream, where we saw corn flavour (shown here) and pea flavour. We couldn't quite bring ourselves to taste it. "They'd probably be good. I..." View Comments...
134 There are interesting flowers in China. These decorated the playing area.
135 Dan taking his seat for our match against China.
136 The next day we did some shopping in Tianjin.
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142 So many people ride bikes in China, both motorized and regular. There are bicycle lanes as wide as car lanes on most roads.
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144 We went to this yummy Chinese restaurant for lunch. It is famous for dumplings. "IT GOT A WEBSITE,U CAN FIN..." View Comments...
145 One of our volunteers, Johnson. He took great care of us while we were in China.
146 A team picture after lunch. Dan isn't there because he stayed at the hotel that day.
147 Charles sampled one of the native desserts- fruit on a skewer covered with sweet goo. Oddly, the first item on the skewer was a tomato!
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152 These shuttles cost about 15 cents Canadian and would take you all the way to the end of the shopping district.
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157 Vendors selling desserts. Chinese ice cream is delicious.
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160 Street vendors selling "silver" jewelry.
161 The next day was a planned excursion to the Great Wall, but it was cancelled for some reason. Instead, team Canada visited the Chinese cultural centre shopping district.
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164 For dinner, we visited a Korean barbecue restaurant where they gave you meats and sauces, and you cooked your own dinner over a propane grill at your table. It was an interesting experience and the food was excellent. For seven people, dinner cost $18 Canadian dollars and we were all stuffed. "One of my favourite meals...." View Comments...
165 Beer was even cheaper- a huge bottle for 40 cents Canadian.
166 We took a walk after dinner and stopped at a bakery. Their cakes were gorgeous!
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168 On the walk home, we also saw a Chinese pet store and decided to go in.
169 They had all sorts of animals- cats, dogs, and hamsters. All were friendly and looked well cared for. This cage had some adorable baby pigs!
170 The closing ceremonies. The format of this event was a little unusual in that there was no finals. The winner simply acquired the most victory points during the round robin. China A won, with the USA second, and Poland B third.
171 The team representatives went on stage again during the closing ceremonies.
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173 Bryan Maksymetz after the closing ceremonies. He borrowed our camera and took lots of pictures of people. "really good job for taking..." "oh sorry, I mean the missp..." View Comments...
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210 The floor of our dorm had a great little shop with just about everything we could need for very cheap prices.
211 Dan, Brian, and I couldn't enjoy the food served at the closing dinner, so we decided to go to an Italian restaurant instead.
212 Brian's pizza was a little unusual! Tomatoes, peas, and hard boiled egg were among the toppings.
213 Dan playing Game Boy in our room.
214 On our last day in Beijing, we visited the Great Wall of China. Since our excursion was cancelled, we planned one ourselves.
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218 Our first view of the Great Wall.
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226 Vendors were selling etchings of the Great Wall. It was amazing how beautiful the etchings were! They could make them right in front of you and add inscriptions if you chose.
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228 They even had camels in recesses on the wall, for camel rides if you wished.
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239 Although the climb was difficult, sometimes at a 45 degree angle or worse, the Wall was packed with tourists and natives.
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244 Dan and Johnson.
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256 The Great Wall is "the Niagara Falls of China", as Dan put it. There were tons of vendors selling goods at insanely marked up prices compared to the rest of China.
