China 655 In and around Beijing

I have wanted to go up the CCTV tower ever
since I moved to Beijing nearly two years ago.
While it is only three subway stops away from
home, the timing has never quite worked out.
For starters, it needs to be a beautiful clean air day!

As always, the trouble is the getting from here to
there! After an hour's walk around the block trying
to get to the entrance gate, these fine gentlemen
pointed us in the right direction.  They were working
on the sidewalks and such around the canal.

They had a beautiful view from where they worked :)

The feral dogs were keeping watch over their sand pile
and bricks- just trying to stay cool.  It is HOT in the 'jing already!

Getting closer; and it looks to be a perfect day.

Now THAT is a welcome entrance-
true to China form :)

The Central Radio and TV Tower is the 9th
tallest tower in the world; built in 1992.

It stands 1329 feet tall (405 meters) but the elevator
 to the observation deck only takes you up 238.4 meters.

Beijing is looking good :)

Off in the distance you can see the high rise towers
 to Olympic Park, home to the Beijing Olympics 2008.

At the center of the photo is another temple
I have yet to discover- put that on the list for
next school year. The prayer tower looks
like a giant morel mushroom from up here!

There were brass plates embedded into the floor all over the observation
deck.  This one reads, "The Coke Peasant Household Tunnel Warfare
Loses a Toe."  I have no earthly idea what that even means, lol.

Len is posing by a giant horn, with a plaque that read,
"Shouting would make you happily!"  Oh, the Chinglish :)

This is an unobstructed view of the Westeries mountains
which I can partially see from my bedroom windows.  So pretty.
Much like Los Angeles, Beijing sits in a giant bowl-
this complicates the pollution problem until the wind blows.

Selfie time; he barely tolerates me and selfies ;-)

Trying to find my apartment building!

Ring side seat for watching the setting sun.

This was the sign at my seat- what it means exactly is up for grabs!

Looking down over Yuyuantan Park which is adjacent to the tower.

It was extremely windy up to in the open air observation deck.  The wire
'fencing' surrounding the deck had glass plates scattered here and there,
pointing to every direction on the compass.

The plates gave the names of points of interest from all over the world!
I had to snap pics of some of the ones from the USA :'-)

Something as simple as seeing the name plates for the White House and
the Statue of Liberty gave me happy tears. There's no place like 'home'.

The last of the setting sun...

Just to keep it "China normal," as we left the tower
and walked through the parking lot, we came upon
this group of folks getting ready to go to dinner in
the rotating restaurant up above.  The Chinese love
to pose for pictures.  It took a good five minutes
for them to organize themselves into the shape of a
heart- to which they all are making the heart symbol
with their fingers. Ladies idea; the men obliged, lol.

The setting sun made for pretty pink clouds.

It was the perfect day for a trip up the tower.

We came back to our favorite BBQ joint on
LuGu Lu, for some roof top dining.

As always, we had more food than we knew
what to do with.  We love skewered BBQ-
so much so, we bought our own charcoal
grill this week.  I plan to smuggle it home
in my suitcase next month so we can make
BBQ skewers at home in Florida. As Len's
time in the 'jing is quickly winding down
this time around, it was the perfect date night <3

The following morning, we set off for the
Panjiayuan Antiques and Flea Market. It is
Beijing's largest market of arts, crafts,
and 'antiques'- be careful of copy cat stuff!

This fella was sleepy from the HEAT.  Oh. so. hot.

Definitely the place to shop for Chinese pottery.

Len was getting a lesson in how to shop for
antique 'silver' coins.  I'm not sure they were
antiques or even made of real silver, but I
found one with a sailboat on it so I bought it :)

 

Interesting memorabilia.

Anybody interested in a brass Mao? Buddha? Dragon? Bell?

We did find an interesting stall that sold
traditional Chinese string instruments.

Now, that's a SWORD!

The entire back lot was filled with yard ornaments.

Some statues were over 15' tall!

Bartering for more coins.  No deal.

No better way to finish out the day than with friends,
a few cold drinks, and some music in the courtyard.

Soon, they had a gathering for a 'concert'. :)))

The perfect ending to another picture perfect day :)

G'nite, y'all!

China 653 Going local exploring a hutong

One of the things Len and I really enjoy doing
is riding the subway to discover a hutong area.
Hutongs (traditional residential neighborhoods) are
quickly disappearing in Beijing and throughout China,
to make way for high rises and a growing population.

There is a preservation society working to maintain the history
 and and culture of Beijing through these hutongs.  To me, it is so
 interesting  to see how the locals work, do business, and live-
as they have for centuries. Many of the homes have limited
electricity and plumbing, and most still use the public toilets
and washroom down the street. Others have been lovingly restored
 and modernized, like my friend Jeannette's home, who chose to use
 her housing stipend to live fully immersed in the culture and
language of China. Like her little patio garden, every square inch
 of space is utilized, like these grape vines growing across the alleyway.

In the hutongs, I find it so interesting that a
man can make a living selling leeks...

...or tomatoes from the back of a van...

...or cabbages from a pedal cart for 15 cents each.
I never cease to wonder how it all works???

This man was selling six foot braids of beautiful
garlic- but I would never use that much garlic in a year!
Notice the man next to him has a handful of squash,
cucumbers, chinese cabbages and beans for sale.

Back home in Indiana, we would have called this "Indian
corn" which we would hang dried ears of it on our front
door in the fall as a decoration. They were selling it to eat.
I wonder if it tastes like field corn, like all the other corn I
have tried in China?  I sure miss Indiana sweet corn!

The 'scarier' purchases to make off the street
are the various meats...

...like duck necks or duck heads...

...or sesame chicken feet...

...or spicy snails...

...or live crawfish trying to make a great escape
from a styrofoam box which held no ice.  Smh.

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The hutongs have very narrow alleys so the traffic is all
foot traffic, pedal carts, tuk-tuks, scooters and bicycles.

And sometimes you happen upon a cart full of cute
little Chinese babies, some still in their school uniforms :-)

"Yo quiero Taco Bell."  Me, too, little buddy, me, too.
I did hear recently that Taco Bell is coming to Beijing- hooray!

.

I love the tile roofs, with the figurines along the roof's edge.
Sometimes they are dragons, buddhas, monkeys, dogs or
other mythical looking creatures- so interesting.

When you explore the vast alleyways of the hutongs,
and you're willing to find yourself a little lost, you
never know what you might discover around the next corner-
like Zhengjue Temple from the Ming Dynasty dating 1467.

The temple was mostly in ruins, and no longer in use,
except for this feral momma kitty and her babies who
had taken up residence in what remained.

So long as you keep your eyes and ears open,
there truly is something new to discover in this land
far from home.  Anybody know what the name of this bug
 might be?  It's a hopper, and it scared the bejesus outta me!
It's all part of the adventure in getting up close and personal, lol.


G'nite, y'all!