Summer Palace & Bei Hai Park

The Summer Palace (Yihe Yuan) "served the Qing dynasty as an imperial retreat from the stifling summer confines of the Forbidden City." A ways northwest of the Forbidden City.

View from up on Longevity Hill

Catching a welcome breeze from Kunming Lake

The Long Corridor

Another view of Longevity Hill

Newlyweds

On Seventeen-arch Bridge

Bei Hai Park, on Bei Hai Lake, "an imperial garden for more than 1,000 years, was opened to the public in 1925...associated with Kublai Khan, who redesigned it during the Mongol Yuan dynasty." Directly northwest of the Forbidden City.

Prayers

Up the stairs towards the White Dagoba, a "Tibetan-style stupa built to honor the visit of the fifth Dalai Lama in 1651."

Nine Dragon Screen, an 89-ft long spirit wall depicting nine intertwining dragons, designed to obstruct evil spirits.

The White Dagoba in the background

Olympic Sports Center, Drum & Bell Towers, Qianhai Dong Yan Market, Latin Bar, & Wangfujing Dajie (Night Food Market)

On the subway

Bird's Nest (National Olympic Stadium) with rare blue sky

Resting between walking and photo requests

In the hutong on the way to the Drum & Bell towers

Bell Tower (Zhong Lou)

 

Drum Tower (Gu Lou)

 

Shopping

With Mr. Rickshaw Man

You photo us, we photo you

Rickshaws

Awaiting mojitos at the Latin Bar on Houhai Nan Yan in Yangfang hutong

 

With Mr. Bike Man

Belly shot (a Beijing bikini)

Qian Hai

Bottled water break

Wangfujing Street

Night Food Market

Octopi, squid, whoknowswhatelse...

Spiders, silkworms, scorpions -- on a stick