Thai-Style Dancers

The Ethnic Minorities Park in Beijing features native costumes, culture, and dances of the various non-Han groups that live within China. This group, the Dai, are from the southern region of China near the border with Thailand. The costumes and dancing style closely resemble that of their neighbor to the south.

Drum Tower

IMG_3207, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

One of the many minor historic buildings in Beijing is the Drum Tower. This temple like building north of the Forbidden City was used as the official time keeper for the city.

Large drums are kept at the top of the tower which is only accessible by a tall steep narrow set of stairs.

Within the room is a single original drum that is no longer usable. The other drums have all been restored. Every hour drummers in historic dress perform on the drums.The drums are about four feet in diameter and ten feet long. The drummers need to stand on a platform to reach the drumheads.

The tower also has on display historic time keeping pieces once owned by the royalty. Outside the drum room is a observation deck that goes around the entire tower.

The Drum Tower was the sight of an attack on two Americans and their tour guide during the Olympics. The assailant killed one American and then jumped to his death.

Linear Parks

IMG_3345, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

This linear park is sandwiched between a hutong neighborhood and Ring Road 1 on the north side of Beijing. While in it, you almost don't realize you are in very urban area. It is very popular with walkers and exercisers. Beijing has done a very good job of incorporating green spaces into very small urban areas.

Beijing Sidewalk

IMG_3789, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

As part of the general face lift for Beijing, the city is being rebuilt literally from the street up. One large project that was under way was reconstruction of sidewalks throughout the city. From door to curb the entire sidewalk was dug up and replaced with pavers. The new pavers have patterns that enhance navigation.

Down the center of the sidewalk, one row of pavers has raised ridges that would help with traction in rain and snow. At the curbs and corners, the handicap ramps have bumps as well.

This standardizes all the sidewalks throughout the city and provides a uniform appearance. Because of the heavy pedestrian traffic, the sidewalks tend to be very wide.

Sleeping In The Park

IMG_3807, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

Beijing is not without its housing problems. While not epidemic, the various public spaces are often used by homeless people as temporary beds. In this picture, this well-dressed and groomed man is asleep on a park bench with all his belongings underneath the bench.

Tear Down This Wall!

IMG_3237, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

Beijing is a city of many small enclaves. Each neighborhood area is bordered by walls between the sidewalk and the interior buildings. In portions of Beijing where the walls have become old and worn, they are literally being rebuilt in place. The new wall is in the same location, but gets repainted a fresh pink color. The new tile toppings are placed on the top and match the style used on the Forbidden City. On the other side of the walls, the homes and other buildings abut right up against the wall.

Sidewalk Superintendent

IMG_3913, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

Most of the sidewalk construction in Beijing is being done with very simple tools and methods. As the sidewalk area is dug up, a staging area is set-up in the adjacent hutong neighborhood. The fill and materials are brought out in wheelbarrows and a swarm of workers descend on the area.

Subway Sleepers

IMG_4349, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

Taking a cue from European cities, there are pedestrian underpasses at major roads to allow people to cross the street without interrupting traffic. This passage is near the very popular Beihai Park. As can be seen by the picture, small families as well as individuals have set up camps in these subways.

Park and Ride

IMG_3854, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

At Beijing subway stations there are special park and ride lots for bicycles. The racks have canopies that shield the bikes from the weather. The big blue sign gives the rates.

Subway Line Minders

IMG_3848, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

At the busier subway stations, there are uniformed men and women that enforce the lines for the inbound trains. The men have a para-police uniforms but the women are dressed more like school hall monitors. They make sure that passengers are allowed to leave the cars before anybody enters.

Morning Rush

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Commuters in Beijing have been taught to form lines for subway cars. Each line forms at the mark for the car door at the track platform which makes them more orderly than most American commuters.

Street Safe

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In the United States, you are unlikely to find soldiers drilling on the plaza of a major office building. These soldiers partially obscured by the poster promoting the Olympics. The building here is on Wanfujing Dajie, one of the big shopping and banking districts just a few blocks east of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.

Beijing Security

IMG_3840, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

Army and military police type units are much more common in China than in Western countries. They tend to patrol and drill in small groups. The troops seem to be very young. If you look closely (or click through to the larger image), you can see that several of the soldiers are wearing sneakers instead of black shoes. I'm sure these kids get extra demerits. See this post for another picture of soldiers drilling.

Forbidden City Aerial View

IMG_4003, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

This faded aerial photograph shoes the relationship and size of the Forbidden City and Jingshen Park. Jingshen Park is the green circle at the top of the photo and everything inside the blue moat is the Forbidden City.

Looking South

IMG_3939, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

This is the view of the Forbidden City from the hill in Jingshan Park. The green covered entrance gate is being restored. All the orange colored roofs are part of the Forbidden City.

As you can see, I was not kidding about the smog and haze limiting visibility.

Go North

IMG_3404, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

Most of the major tourist attractions in Beijing stretch along a north-south axis. South of the Forbidden City is Tienanmen Square and north of it is Jingshan Park. It has a pagoda at the top of it. The hill is very popular with exerciser as it has a lot of rugged steep steps and paths to the top. From the top the views of the Forbidden City would be excellent if it weren't for the ubiquitous smog.

Welcome

IMG_3405, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

I assume the words in Chinese mean something because they went to a lot of trouble to work the scaffolding around them. The North Gate to the Forbidden City has a full ticket booth and the temporary parking is easier for groups to load and unload.

North Gate

IMG_3403, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

The traditional method of touring the Forbidden City is to enter at the South Gate, but using the North Gate is much more practical if you intend to continue on to Tienanmen Square afterwards. Like several portions of the Forbidden City, the North Gate spent much of 2007 in scaffolding undergoing refurbishment for all the Olympic tourists.

Forbidden Moat

IMG_3915, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

The entire Forbidden City complex is surrounded by a wide moat with entrances at the north and south end. The south end faces Tienanmen Square is the more famous side. The north side tends to be quieter. This picture was taken on the northeast corner of the complex and looks on the emperor's private garden area.

Group Photo at Forbidden City

IMG_3500, originally uploaded by yellojkt.

This picture is of the group of American and Chinese students at the inner front gate to the Forbidden City.