Beijing ins a city of contrasts and contradictions. It is dominated by cars on one level and by gardens on another. The roads can be filled with e-scooters and pedestrians and at other times there is space. and time to cross the road without a care. Much maligned for its smog, there are days where blue skies are the norm.
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It is filled with malls and major shopping centres but the old wet markets are dotted around the c city where seafood and fruit and vegetables are a-plenty straight from the farm, field or sea.
I n Sanlitun, in Beijing, in China I didn't expect to see. the images below writ. large on large shop windows. As I wrote, it is a city of contradictions.
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Tell Him he's dreamin'...
Out near the 5tht ring road. past Sanlitun, there is this wonderful piece of construction. "
Hey Dad! There a bloke selling Corinthian columns... looks cheap. "How much does he want for 'em...? (The Castle)
Hey Dad! There a bloke selling Corinthian columns... looks cheap. "How much does he want for 'em...? (The Castle)
tea for two
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Tea is life. It's that simple in China.
Not very PC and runs contra to child protection principles but an interesting marketing by line.
Don't mention the war...
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The atrocities delivered un to the. Chinese by the Japanese are not forgotten nor forgiven. This huge painting (3 metres high at least) is prominently displayed in the Beijing Museum. Fine art and sculptures are easily found,
Snow time
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Yep, it gets cold in winter in Beijing. Temp bottoms out at around minus 16. But good pix can still be snapped.
LAma Temple
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The Lama Temple is one tube stop from Dongzhimen. (or East Gate) where we live. Whilst there are no llamas to be found there is one of the largest temple statues made from one piece of timber its to be found at the last pavilion. It's over 6m tall.
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Tiananmen Square & the forbidden city
What a gift to be able to ride early in the morning through Tiananmen Square and around the Forbidden City on our bicycles. People travel from all over the world to visit Mao's Mausoleum, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, and for many months it was simply our morning ride.
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the pants building
As a city, it has not been shy to generate interesting architecture. What is known colloquially as "The Pants Building" is no exception. It is a curious piece on engineering and architectural whimsy. But especially so as it has a symbiotic relationship with the hotel. The building is counter weighted by the hotel and this allows the Pants to stay up and not fall down around its metaphorical ankles. So when the hotel caught on fire one year... consternation abounded. Demotition of the fire ravaged hotel wasn't possible, so it had to be renovated floor by floor.
Longqing Gorge
The Longqing Xia (Quiet Dragon Gorge or maybe Golden Dragon Gorge) has the most cheesy yet kinda cool elevator to "the top" set up ever! 5 or 6 elevators take you to the top of the dam wall where boats and chairlifts (and bungee jumping) awaits you. The less adventurous but still up for thrill could also have a crack at the flying fox known as... the "swift falling" which for my money sounds more like the bungee jumping.
With blue skies above and a chill in the air, the boat ride through the gorge was spectacular and in typically Chinese fashion, it wasn't enough to have strung cables for the cable cars, the experience also included some acrobats riding a unicycle on thin wire.
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Yes, your guess is as good as mine regarding the counter-weight...
The Great Wall@Simatai...
TGW @ Simatai above Gubei Water Town.
Gubei Water Town, some 2 hours drive (traffic dependent... could be 4 hours...) from Beijing.
"Hey Mum, have you seen my inflatable monkey...?" "Well, where did you leave it last?"
SAn yuan li Market
Fruit... its so colourful and weird.
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The San Yuan Li Market is known as a "wet market" and not because of the seafood on offer. It carries fresh produce with a healthy mix of groceries, food stalls selling bao of various kinds and hardware items.
Blue sky abounds in BJ in the late July - early August period. The warm days are dry and the skies are clear. Have to embrace and enjoy such days whenever such occurs.
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Mutianyu
All Quiet on the Great Wall... at Mutianyu.
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Jingshan Park.. across the road from Beihai Park... loads of peonies, iris, and roof characters.
The great White Pagoda or Dagoba... not sure which.
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xishoujian...cesuo or... public toilets
Public toilets... amongst the Hutongs and 'burbs there is not the same need for privacy when dealing with No.2s... very clean but very open.
The summer palace
The Summer Palace is huge as befits an Emperor I guess. Comes complete with its own lake of course.
Lake at the Summer Palace
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Summer Palace Moon Door
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district 789
District 789 is an artist area that has a myriad of small art outlets. The enamel work is quite remarkable.
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Along the canal that was built. in the time of Genghis Khan is a set of sandstone. sculptures that are quite astonishing. The canal was dug by had and supplied water and transport into the city.
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Not far from our apartment is a restaurant that has these old patriotic posters pasted to the walls.
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Perhaps something was lost in translation. with this one below right...
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red door gallery
Now known as the Red Door Gallery, this is one of the old gates of Beijing. Inside are photos from yesteryear of Dongzhimen or the east gate, which is where we live.
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This photo from the Qing Dynasty shows public execution was the tenor of justice to keep the peace.
Beijing waterways
There are rivers and canals throughout the city. This river not far from our apartment feels over in winter and ice skaters enjoy the frozen water for as long as possible. Summer means fishing is the go.
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Hey Ma, we bought a tuk tuk...
lSo... we bought a tuk tuk of our own... with pig shooting' lights an' all (and a heater and mp3 player.). So when not on or e-scooters, we are part time taxi drivers. :-). Occasionally we would be waved down by folk wanting a ride,
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