In fact, Irene had already told him these things before coming to Washington, and he had read through the travel brochure himself, but he still came, which meant that there was something else here that could attract him, and that place was the White House.
As a person who has been to the United States and is married to an American wife, Hong Tao is always asked at every dinner in China: Have you been to the White House? Have you been to the Capitol? Have you been to the Pentagon? The Statue of Liberty.
Have you been there? It turned out that Hong Tao had never been to anyone, so he could only shake his head at others guiltily, as if he was there
It's like lying. Even so, Hong Tao can see the confusion and disdain in other people's eyes. It is estimated that half of those people think that Hong Tao is bragging, and the other half must think that Hong Tao must be marrying a firewood from a remote rural area in the United States.
Girl, why don’t you take your foreign husband to see Tiananmen and stroll around Wangfujing!
In order to clear Irene's identity as a fire girl, and to make himself more confident when bragging in the future, Hong Tao planned to take this opportunity to make up for all the classes he missed. The girl who had to study despite the power outage was already watching from a distance
We passed and took a group photo together. Although we didn't have close contact, Hong Tao felt that it was enough to prove that he had been there. She loves to study so much, so he shouldn't disturb her. As for the remaining three places, they happened to be in Washington.
We got together and just watched it together.
But there is a problem here. The White House, the Capitol and the Pentagon are not places you can enter if you want. Especially for foreign tourists, reservations need to be made in advance. Some require half a year in advance, and some require 9 days in advance.
.And the White House does not accept individual visitors. It must be a group of more than 10 people and obtain a recommendation letter from a member of Congress. Only a regular American tour guide can enter.
Hong Tao definitely doesn't have any high-end friends like the US Congressmen. He can't get a letter of recommendation, and even if he gets it, he doesn't have the time to apply 6 months in advance. Since they won't let us in, let's go with that person
Girls who study even if there is a power outage should be treated the same way, just watch from a distance! Fortunately, the area around the White House and the Capitol is open to photography.
The Pentagon is relatively polite to tourists. You only need to apply on the official website 9 days in advance. Hong Tao continued his good luck. His and Eileen's applications were approved. The visit time was set at 13:30 in the afternoon. No waiting will be done if it is late.
Hong Tao and Eileen arrived in Washington, D.C., at 11 a.m. and drove straight into the center of the city along Route 50. After arriving at Mount Vernon Plaza, less than a kilometer directly ahead was the large dome of the White House, and almost the same distance to the left
, there is the same big dome, that is the Capitol Building.
The two parked their car in a paid parking lot on 8th Street, and then jogged all the way to 15th Street, east of the White House, and took a few photos with the White House as the background. Then they turned around and headed east to Pennsylvania Avenue and 3rd Street.
At the intersection, I clicked a few more photos with the Capitol Building as the background, and then hurried back to the parking lot and drove my car. The parking fee here was too expensive, 45 US dollars an hour, so I couldn’t afford the delay.
It only took Hong Tao less than 40 minutes to resolve the White House and the Capitol. The next target was the Pentagon. As the military command and management agency of the United States, the name of the Pentagon has spread all over the world. In movies and television
Whenever humanity is threatened, a table of Americans, whether wearing military uniforms or not, will always sit in a war room in the Pentagon, and their words will represent the people of the world.
This mysterious building is just southwest of Washington, D.C., on the right side of the Potomac River. There is also an attraction next to it called Arlington Cemetery. This cemetery is the largest and most famous of more than 100 cemeteries in the United States.
It is a bit like the Babaoshan Martyrs Cemetery in our country. Most of the people buried here are soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the American people. In addition, there are also other public officials or people who have contributed to the country. Anyway, ordinary people are buried here.
Not here.
Hong Tao had no intention of entering the public auction to pay his respects. These are American family affairs. As an outsider, don't go in and cause trouble. He drove the car off the overpass. Hong Tao parked the car on the west side of the Pentagon as requested in the appointment reply.
In the parking lot, put your camera, mobile phone and other things in the car, and wait in the parking lot for the tour guide to pick you up.
The Pentagon does not look as solemn and majestic as shown in TV movies. From this position of Hongtao Station, you can only see one side and two corners. Just now you can see two sides and three corners from the highway. If you want to observe the whole picture,
You have to take a helicopter to the sky to see that the building is really in the shape of five corners. But ordinary people don't even think about this kind of treatment, and even those in the second shift don't need to think about it.
As long as you enter a distance of 500 meters around the Pentagon, there are warning signs everywhere reminding you not to take pictures, let alone do any tricks that may easily arouse people's suspicion. Whether it is a highway, a parking lot or an intersection, there are clouds hanging on the telephone poles.
There are cameras on the station, and your every move is probably being monitored.
Hong Tao is the kind of person who is not very courageous, but still likes cheap tricks. After he received the news that the Pentagon appointment was successful, he thought about it for a long time, and then ran to New York's Chinatown to wander around and bought one for himself.
Special outfit for visiting the Pentagon.
This outfit is a green military cap with a red five-pointed star hanging on it. This thing was popular in Beijing when Hong Tao was a child. Green military uniform, blue police trousers, white-soled elasticated shoes, this is
At that time, it was the standard clothing for bad boys in Beijing schools. If you add a green military hat, it means that you are more arrogant and deserve a beating. You are the kind of thing that will cause a fight if anyone looks at it wherever you go. Of course you can beat it.
If you can't beat him, let's put it another way, what you need is the strength of this two hundred and fifty.
Hong Tao originally wanted to buy a former Soviet military cap, but he couldn't find it after searching in several places. He just wanted to see how he would be treated if he wore this thing and entered the highest command structure of the US military. If he could secretly take a photo
, then the NB he can boast about after returning to China will be huge!
Unfortunately, the plan to take photos was difficult to implement safely, because the tour guide who came to pick him up was not a tour guide in the ordinary sense, but an American active duty soldier. After he saw the hat on Hong Tao's head, he met Hong Tao again.
Erin and the two reiterated the precautions and disciplines for visiting, and then led the two of them through the first security check by the guards and walked into a house in front of the building.
In the house, Hong Tao and Irene had to fill out a form, check their IDs again, and then go through a security check similar to the airport security check. After confirming that they did not bring any prohibited items, they were allowed, and each was issued a yellow and blue
Alternate signs were hung on their chests. There were nine people in Hong Tao's group, led by the soldier, like new recruits who had just joined the army. They lined up in a sparse group and officially entered the Pentagon.
The gate for visitors to enter is not exclusive. Many staff in the building also use this gate. From time to time, people in military uniforms pass by Hong Tao and others. Some people even greet the visitors. They have not entered the military at all.
The feeling of heavy ground.
After entering the gate, there is a lobby. Opposite are four escalators that go up and down the stairs. There is a big sign in the middle of the escalator with a line of large characters written on it: U.S. Department of Defense! There are also 4 small signs below, each in smaller fonts: United States
The Army Department, the U.S. Navy Department, the U.S. Air Force Department, and the U.S. Marine Corps. Then there were a lot of flags placed next to them. The military tour guide told everyone one by one which service branch that flag represented.
There is a device like a subway ticket gate in front of the escalators here. Of course, this device is not used to check tickets, but to identify the user. The military tour guide did not take Hong Tao and other visitors to the elevator, but
After introducing the flags, he took everyone to a large conference room on the left and asked everyone to wait here. He didn't say what exactly they were waiting for.
After about 10 minutes, the door inside the conference room opened, and then with the sound of neat footsteps, a group of soldiers wearing different military uniforms walked in. They were all young men, just like the American soldiers seen in the movie. Passing by
After the soldier tour guide explained, Hong Tao finally understood that it turned out that he was not the real tour guide in the Pentagon. He was only responsible for bringing tourists here, and all the rest was done by these soldiers.
There were a total of 6 soldiers who came in. They were all wearing the same military uniforms. Hong Tao didn't recognize any of them. These military uniforms seemed to be military uniforms. The main colors were blue and black. Some were white trousers and some were black trousers. Specifically, there were
It's not clear what the emphasis is.
These six soldiers spoke with great confidence and posture. They all had military postures with their feet spread apart and their hands behind their backs. The first thing they talked about was the problem of cameras and mobile phones. Mobile phones must be turned off and cameras cannot be used.
But they won't let you hand over your mobile phone and camera. Hong Tao is a little confused about this. Isn't this tempting others to make a mistake?
After talking nonsense for the last time, these soldiers made a move that made the visitors very strange. They divided into two waves, one wave with 2 people in the front, and one wave with 4 people in the back, and guarded all the visitors from front to back.
This was nothing, but the two soldiers in front actually started to walk backwards, and they walked quite fast. Whether they were getting into the elevator or at the corner of the corridor, they always walked backwards, always keeping their eyes on the group of visitors behind them.
middle.
One word can best describe the visit, and that is just a quick tour. There is basically nothing to see. Most of them are just hanging a window display in the corridor to make some pictures. Then the soldiers who guide you start talking in the vernacular. Anyway, what they say comes from their mouths.
What came out was history. Hong Tao didn't even want to hear it. He couldn't move alone here. The two soldiers in front and the four soldiers in the back were all staring at him without blinking.
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