ErikU
Pre-takeoff checklist
As you may know, I have been in Beijing for a while for the Olympics.
I visited the China National Aviation Museum today...
I had the hotel call the museum and write down the directions in chinese for may cab driver. No one has heard of this place before (and they couldn't understand why I would possibly want to go). I took a cab for a good 45 minutes out past the suburbs of Beijing. The driver had to stop to ask for directions a few times, but we eventually made it.
I was surprised when we arrived, it did not look like a museum. It looked more like a scrap yard, or perhaps an abandoned farm from the outside. Though my driver didn't speak a word of english, he insisted that he would wait for me outside to take me back when I was done, which was nice.
The guard had to round up someone to let me inside. It's a very large museum with multiple indoor and outdoor exhibit areas, but no patrons. There were perhaps two other people in the museum, and the couple employees I saw were sleeping on tables. By our standards, the whole place was a mess and falling apart. It reminded me of the lemay car museum before they started fixing it up. I assume it is run by the government and poorly funded. Quite a difference from the main tourist attractions around here!
The main hangar is in a massive tunnel dug out from the side of a mountain. It was a military installation until it was turned into a museum. The tunnel goes in one side of a mountain and out the other. Much of the lighting and exhibits were not working, so it was hard to take pictures. I wanted to take some pictures of the mess and decay, but I felt bad about it, so I didn't.
There was also an outdoor area for RC flying, but no one was there.
It was a great experience and a fun opportunity to see a place I would have never even thought about.
Pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/erik.utter/ChinaNationalAviationMuseum?authkey=rZpJUCgcFrE
Here are my other Beijing pics so far:
http://picasaweb.google.com/erik.utter/Beijing?authkey=PFJThZtbNQU
I visited the China National Aviation Museum today...
I had the hotel call the museum and write down the directions in chinese for may cab driver. No one has heard of this place before (and they couldn't understand why I would possibly want to go). I took a cab for a good 45 minutes out past the suburbs of Beijing. The driver had to stop to ask for directions a few times, but we eventually made it.
I was surprised when we arrived, it did not look like a museum. It looked more like a scrap yard, or perhaps an abandoned farm from the outside. Though my driver didn't speak a word of english, he insisted that he would wait for me outside to take me back when I was done, which was nice.
The guard had to round up someone to let me inside. It's a very large museum with multiple indoor and outdoor exhibit areas, but no patrons. There were perhaps two other people in the museum, and the couple employees I saw were sleeping on tables. By our standards, the whole place was a mess and falling apart. It reminded me of the lemay car museum before they started fixing it up. I assume it is run by the government and poorly funded. Quite a difference from the main tourist attractions around here!
The main hangar is in a massive tunnel dug out from the side of a mountain. It was a military installation until it was turned into a museum. The tunnel goes in one side of a mountain and out the other. Much of the lighting and exhibits were not working, so it was hard to take pictures. I wanted to take some pictures of the mess and decay, but I felt bad about it, so I didn't.
There was also an outdoor area for RC flying, but no one was there.
It was a great experience and a fun opportunity to see a place I would have never even thought about.
Pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/erik.utter/ChinaNationalAviationMuseum?authkey=rZpJUCgcFrE
Here are my other Beijing pics so far:
http://picasaweb.google.com/erik.utter/Beijing?authkey=PFJThZtbNQU
