Military Fanboys of the World, Unite!

I have found a gem that you have probably never heard of (though I have added a bit to the wikipedia page, if you care); the Chinese Military Museum. Prepare to envy!

Not much to say (besides AWESOME), but each picture will have some commentary. First: Tanks!
T-Series

Planes!
F-Series


Artillery!


Anti-Air!


Machine Guns!


APCs!


Rockets!



Missiles!
DongFeng-2, China's first ballistic nuclear missile.
Cruise Missile

Boats!


Spacecraft!


The Chinse managed to display a great deal of American equipment captured during the Chinese Civil War and the Korean War, probably with some mockery behind it:
American Tanks and SP Artillery from the Korean War
The Sherman
American Ship-Mounted Anti-Air
American Flamethrower from the Korean War

Some cool cutaway RPGs on display:


Some SMGs:



In addition to this osbcene and decadent display of weaponry, there were floors of "historical" exhibits about Chinese wars and other questionably-related stuff. The bias on the whole thing was so gross it was irritating to look at, at times--the Chinese government's official stance on most of this stuff is still rather bizarre. That said, the exhibit on the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is being remodeled (so we missed it), although the name is staying--maybe they're making it less insulting to Americans as they arrive for the Olympics?

The Hall of Ancient Wars included ludicrous numbers of peasant uprisings. There was a hall that talked about how great socialism was for China as soon as the People's Republic was established--with no sense of failure in the Great Leap Forward. The movie about Western occupation in the 1800's literally described the period as one of "suffering on a scale rarely seen in the history of the world." Seriously, guys? More on this on Foggofwar, I'll be making commentary about government viewpoints. But for you, more pictures: There were lots of impressive paintings about war, especially the Red Army:

Ancient Hand-to-Hand Combat
Marching North to Fight the Japanese
A Very Happy Linkup Between the Three Red Armies
Mao Organizes the Operation
Mao Commanding a Victorious Counter-Assault

And my favorite painting: This painting is Chairman Mao suggesting a change of strategy to full assault--when the Communists have half the numbers and weapons of the KMT. I just imagine Mao happily declaring "We have finally reached half their numbers. It's time to press the attack and wipe them out!" And his commanders laughing, unable to contain themselves, saying "You're a suicidal maniac!" But he did win.
"Hahahahaha... Okay, Okay, Really, What's Our Strategy?"

A few closing shots for you: Commie flags:


More Commie flags:


Almost Forgot: the obligatory "I was here" shot, in front of the entrance to the Civil War exhibit:


There was a lot of other stuff in the historical exhibits which I failed to photograph, or am saving for the Foggofwar propaganda post. I failed to get anything at the souvenir shop, either, mostly because it was all pretty lame. But I spent something like 5 hours here, at a clip the whole time. It was a lot of fun.

Day Seven-and-a-half: Observations

This one will be quick. Not too much happened yesterday, I decided to relax, read, etc. But you will find the following interesting, I'm sure.

1) Peking Duck is wonderful. Went out with the roommate and got some, and it's totally all it's cracked up to be. One problem, though--they cut it for you and give you the head, which was scary enough, except as I was chowing down, I did not realize the brain had escaped (they cut the head in half), and I stared it down for a while before munching on it. I'm sure the Chinese think it's good for some obscure bodily function, but it was pretty disgusting. Never again.

2) PLA really means People's Liberation Awesome. These guys have a tight precision and respectful manner that top armies could take a lesson from. I got to shadow a whole squad of Embassy Security that were marching out of the Moroccan Embassy to somewhere (they turned off). Their marching was slick, and at traffic lights, the rear two soldiers jumped to the front with red signs (that say "stop" in Chinese) and stood in front of cars trying to turn right (the PLA had the green light, of course, but as you've already read, crossing the street is a constant negotiation with cars and bikes). After their unit passed, the soldiers with the stop-signs saluted the cars, turned on their heels, and resumed marching at the back of the line. Killer: Wish I had had the nerve to pull out my camera, but I was trying to stay respectable.

3) Eating is about the food, not the manners. In the little places I go to, there are some manners for eating, but I've certainly seen even Chinese manners go out the window for the sake of the food (for example: one is not technically supposed to eat right out of a communal bowl, but people do it anyway, when tasting something). Elbows are on tables, noodles are slurped with gusto, lips and bowls connect, and fingers get very busy when necessary, burping is considered complimentary, and bones/organs/whatever the Chinese think tastes good are left in the food--food is often not packaged neatly or easily; sometimes it takes effort to eat. It takes some getting used to. Like with the duck head (that will continue to haunt me). But for the most part, my taste buds appreciate it.