Beijing suburbs from the air ... in February, of course. The city has about 14 million people, including millions of migrant workers, many currently employed in construction for the upcoming Olympics.
Locals playing cards at the park near Temple of Heaven.
Communist guards are everywhere ... basically boys with red armbands, yawning between moments of looking imperial.
The Temple of Heaven - one of four temples anchoring the city.
Inside the temple. Kind of the Asian counterpart to Europe's cathedrals. Red is the color of happiness and fortune in China - you'll see a lot of it in these pictures.
Another building at the temple.
... and another.
Only shot I could catch of the Chinese acrobats ... after the show selling DVDs. But in a way that's what it's really all about. We saw the show, which I think is one of the prime culling ground of Cirque du Soleil. Not sure what this show looked like before the grand Cirque rolled onto the world stage, but it has a similar feel and is equally mindblowing as the choreographed circus shows. Also not sure what I think about the undoubtedly grueling - but possibly highly rewarding - lifestyles the tourist dollars promote for these teens ... need more information.
This was at one of several craftstops along the way ... the ying-yang tourist stops where you get a careful dose of culture and information in hopes you'll open your wallet. You've probably seen these jade carvings around, or their knockoffs, with several free-floating, nestled spheres carved out of a solid piece of rock. It must be an amazing feeling when those spheres crack free.
... and the shops and the tourists, the other part of the equation. The jade factory was interesting because it had two floors: the bottom one leaned toward the more ornamental pieces and was chockablock with Westerners, while the the upper floor touted more "beneficial to your health" items and was packed with Koreans and a few Japanese. The Chinese reputedly wear these bangles so the minerals of the jade absorb into their skin.
The obligatory shot of the Great Wall ... not so great in dry winter landscape, but still pretty amazing. This section was rebuilt just a few decades ago so is great for wowing over the architecture but loses most of its historical impressiveness. It's a popular stop for active tourists, however, with many people challenging themselves to climb hundreds of steep and uneven steps. Felt kind of like The Incline back in Colorado.
At the Summer Palace, a gazebo roof in the longest corridor in the world, as recorded by Guinness.
Just a cool Asian tree also at the Summer Palace ... sans its summer attire.
The mammoth lake at the Summer Palace was the coolest part of the place in February ... with scores of people - most Chinese - out playing on the ice.
Don't set your car on fire. (OK, not really ... it's something about not bringing explosives into the area, but that's what it looks like!)
Just a cool Buddha statue at a restaurant.
At a teahouse, another of the tourist stops.
Now isn't that a nice way of describing your local produce department?
Random shot into a Chinese restaurant kitchen. Not a good photo obviously, but I like the moment. Most of the food we ate was not all that different from U.S. take on Chinese. MOST of it.
These next couple of signs are the definition of audacity. This is at Silk Street Pearl Market, one of multiple bustling and huge indoor markets in the city that make most of their profits off knockoffs of major brands.
The red banner says "Promote the development of national brands and protect intellectual property rights." Also at a knockoff market. The Olympics campaign has its own set of cartoon figures - one for each ring - and there are products featuring them everywhere - maybe about 1/3 legit (and I'm estimating high because I'd imagine that's one brand that's enforced to some degree).
This was apparently part of a PR move at Silk Street Pearl Market ... known (as many are) for its ... umm, aggressive, salespeople. In China, as in many parts of the world, most of commerce works on a haggling system, and things can get pretty vicious. To the left of this sign is a posting of the month's top salespeople.
More warnings to the hapless tourist in one of the knockoff markets.
This guy - one star of a multipronged Mongolian floorshow - was quite possibly the worst dancer I've ever seen. Unfortunately I was too engrossed to really get a good shot of his antics.
... and this is the crowd reaction ...
... and more shock and awe at Mongolian dancer dude.
Yes, bugs. But since I've eaten (albeit smaller) ones like this in Korea, figured it was time to try ...
Scorpions on a stick! (Left the seahorses for another day.)
OK, so Raluca, our resident Romanian on the left here, was really the catalyst of the insect adventure. Poker-faced Monique at right also ended up trying them, too, despite the initial reaction.
Yup, there I go ...
Hmm. Not too bad, actually. Tastes like ... crunchy chicken. Crunchy chicken with scales.
Beijing, city of old bicycles, new development. That's one of the ritziest shopping districts in the background there.
And the following is a series of festival shots ... seemed to be one of the big places to be in Beijing for the new year, and we found it by accident on our free day wandering around the city, which is always cool.
THIS was the Beijing I'd been expecting. Crowded, colorful, not altogether clean. The rest of the time we were quite on the tourist track, so away from all that, but it was also obvious that the city has been quite spiffed up for the upcoming Games.
One cart sold live locusts ... not sure exactly what buyers did with them or whether it was a holiday thing or happens all the time. I seem to recall something about lucky locusts ... but who knows. If you do, feel free to leave a comment!
OK, so I'm a little shutter happy around cute kids. But obviously not enough to catch the one shot I really wanted - a baby butt. Many Chinese babies don't wear diapers; they just have a hole in their clothes around the necessary parts. Like a onesie without the flap. But as it was winter, most of them were swaddled up like this little one, and I managed to bungle my couple chances at actually catching the shot.
Red paper and cloth lanterns were everywhere for the New Year, and I don't mean just in Beijing. I also saw them lining streets and buildings in Japan and Korea. It was cool to see the continuity, and some of the differences, of the holiday throughout East Asia, and to be at the origin of it all for the actual festival.
Didn't get this shot really, but it was such a great scene that I had to put it up anyway ... two guards crashed out in a dirty-windowed emergency truck, hats lining the windshield. On a sidestreet of the festival area.
