Close Encounters in Beijing!

Do you need more proof that they exist?



Definitely!

I go past this structure nearly everyday on my way in to work and I finally had my camera ready on a fairly clear day so I could get this shot.








If you look close you can even see the mountains in the background. I think I'm facing north when I took this, but I have to confess that since I've been in Beijing my sense of direction is failing. I think it's because my internal compass might be running backwards over here! ;-)

Signs in Beijing

Just thought I'd post a couple of pics from right down the street. We don't know what the one says but the other is very obvious! We went in to see if they really were "probably" the best show club in town or not....NOT! We ordered two beers and
got popcorn instead! Too funny!

Fun in the Snow

A couple of days ago we got hit with a blast of cold air coming from Siberia, which mixed with the warm moist air that we were getting from the south creating a few days of snowy weather.
My regular driver had to go to company meetings today so I had to try to hail a random taxi off the street. During snowy weather the early bird gets the worm, and apparently I wasn't early enough, because I stood outside for 30 min with no empty taxis in sight. So it looks like I'll be working from home today!

A young artist took advantage of an abandoned vehicle to show off his/her talent
(STEB/Taco - I thought you guys would especially enjoy this one!)

Wintery Precipitation

No that's not the usual thick haze and particulates (oops I mean "clouds") that are normal here in Beijing, it's actually snowing!

Not much accumulation, but it was still sort of fun to see it snow here for the first time this winter!
A few flakes that landed on the railing of the balcony

Traffic, Sunset, and the Best Fish in Beijing!

Well with the end of the years biggest festival(s) traffic in the city is back to normal, OK normal for Beijing that is. Here's a couple of shots from the balcony of weekend traffic:



Yes of course I had to share another couple of shots of the sunset. the shots are not the best but they are significant because as you can see the sun is just now becoming visible from the balcony which is the mark of the returning of spring!


One of our friends has returned to Beijing from her home town and we had dinner with her last night at my favorite grilled fish restaurant. We had good food, good conversation and some fun comparing the size of my hands to hers!




The weather turned winter cold again yesterday, but I know that spring is just around the corner now. I just hope it warms up a bit more and I can get some good shots of pre-spring Beijing before I have to leave.


As of today it's 23days and a wake-up!

1001 Nights

While our visitors were here we had a few of our Beijing friends meet us for dinner at a place called 1001 Arabian Nights. Yes it's named after the famous book that contained stories such as Sinbad, Alibaba, etc. The original tale (and I hope I get this rightt)is of an Arabian Sheik who would request of his wife's that they entertain him, but once he became bored with their entertainment he would execute them. So this one wife had a brilliant idea that she would tell these fantastic tales which really had no ending and sort of intertwined with each other, and each night she would start again where she left off the previous night. She was able to continue the tales for a total of 1001 nights.

All I know is that the food and entertainment at the restaurant were excellent!

See for yourself:




Just another night in "The Jing"!

Sun Rising as the Moon Sets

I guess you know by now that I have been infatuated with the sunrises and sunsets since I came over here, but some of them are just so breathtaking that you have to stop what you're doing, take a look, and hopefully remember to grab the camera and take a photo.

The shot above was taken at about 6:30AM this morning as I stepped out onto the balcony to do a quick temperature check to determine the necessary outer wear for today. You can see the reflection of light from the rising sun against the new Westin hotel, in the distance, while the moon is still clearly visible.

This week we have warmed up into the 60's during the day and hopefully we're on our way to an early spring. It's at least encouraging to be able to see the sun both on the way to work and on the way home again! That is unless it's a "Cloudy" day! ;-)

One More Trip to The Wall

Just getting back into the routine and thought I'd post a few more pictures from the visit with our friends. While they were here we managed to get to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. This is my 4th trip to the wall, the other three were all at Simatai, but this was my first time to Mutianyu.



From there we headed to the Jade Market and then on to the Ming Tombs.

This was one of the main buildings on the grounds of the Ming Tombs. I tried to use our friends to show the scale of the enormous building. The columns and beams are made out of trees that were brought from the forests in Sichuan province which is a couple of hours plane ride from here. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to have moved them that far by floating them upstream to get them to this area!

I'm glad I was able to share the experience with good friends!


Two updates: 1) As of today I now have 29days and a wake-up before returning home and 2) I finally hit my weight loss goal and am now down to 85kg for a grand total loss of (drum roll please!) 20kg!