On 30th June, I went to Beijing on the invitation of the president of China's sovereign investment fund.I left on 29th June but I spent the whole day travelling and arrived the following morning at around 8AM.On my way to Beijing I took these pics of the Mongolian steppe and the Gobi Desert
:
I stayed in the St Regis Hotel which is near many of the embassies in Beijing
Thus there were quite a few international restaurants to cater for diplomats such as this Turkish one
:
The following day I went to the film set of the Chinese remake of "What Women Want" starring Andy Lau and Gong Li (they're big celebrities in China).It had rained heavily but it was ok by the time we came back so I was dropped off near the Beijing Observatory which was the first sight I saw in the city:
I think it used to be part of the Beijing city wall (which is now mostly demolished)
some astronomical instruments:
stardial
a stone stela from as recent as a century ago:
Other carved blocks of granite:
Afterwards I then went up the observatory to the top and saw the urban sprawl that surrounds it today
Much of the old city was demolished for roads and paths such as these:
That evening however I walked to Tianamen Square from my hotel:
On the way there I took this photograph of the hotel which I think is where some of the journalists who reported on the Tianamen Square protests and the crackdown stayed.
After a long walk I reached the Gate of Heavenly Peace of the Forbidden City:
Today since 1949 politicians have stood here to watch military parades ever year on October 1st,since Mao proclaimed the People's Republic of China here.Looking across the road I could see Tianamen Square where the protests in June 1989 occured.
The following morning I returned to Tianamen Square and went inside the Forbidden City:
The long queue for Mao's mausoleum, considering how hot it was at the time I didn't bother with it
Tianamen Square:
The Monument to People's Heroes built to commemorate the revolutionary struggles during the 19th and 20th Century
They also had these TV screens for some reason
The Great Hall of the Peoples,the center of political governance in the People's Republic of China:
After this I went to the Gate of Heavenly Peace of the Forbidden City, there was security (perhaps to prevent a recurrence of the events of June 1989)
Then I went to the Forbidden City through the Gate of Heavenly Peace and there were a lot of people, I think from different parts of China
Mao's potrait:
The Meridian Gate to the Forbidden City which is the southern and the largest gate too.
After entering I then crossed the "Golden River" bridges across the serpentine waterway to reach the Gate of Supreme Harmony.
Inside the Gate of Supreme Harmony:
The view back towards the Meridian Gate
The view towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony where
Ming Dynasty and
Qing Dynasty Emperors hosted their enthronement and wedding ceremonies.
I then proceeded onto the Palace of Heavenly Purity,the Chinese seem to love these kind of turtles:
I also saw these beautiful decorations:
Beautiful inlaid work
some stairs down with Ming Architecture:
the phoenix, one of the symbols of the Chinese emperor
a long piece of carved granite with the dragon the other symbol of the Chinese emperor:
Manchurian text on the right:
the ceiling:
Then I went into a museum where they had numerous items including a palanquin
textiles
ru-yi for good luck
combs and a mirror I think for the Empress
Incense
porcelain
I don't know what this was for
The throne-room of the Emperor where people would kowtow and bring gifts
After this I then proceeded through a gate which had this fine metalwork
The gate took us to a small garden which had a statue of one of these mythological creatures made of metal
The Chinese love these pieces of rocks since they were common
After this I left through the Northern Gate and took this picture of the moat of the Forbidden City
After lunch, I went to the Temple of Heaven,the walk up to the Temple was nice:
The Temple of Heaven itself, which made an appearance in the First Chinese mission in C&C Generals
:
as seen in the Forbidden City a long piece of carved granite
I went up to get a closer look at the Temple
At least it did offer shade from the sun, I took this picture of the inside of the building where the Emperor would pray for good harvests
These pillars inside represented days,months,years etc
as shown by the different colours
After the Temple of Heaven, then I went to the Summer Palace which took a while to reach since it was on the other side of Beijing from where I was.When I did reach, it was quite late in the day.The Summer Palace is where the Emperor and Empress used to visit during the summer, sadly it was ransacked by Anglo-French forces in the 19th Century:
The 17 arch bridge
These boats take people across the lake
Jade Peak Pagoda in the distance
The Summer Palace which was among the sites which was renovated by the Dowager Empress Cixi
The Marble boat which was restored by the Dowager Empress Cixi
The Long Corridor which was built so that one could enjoy a walk in the Summer Palace while being protected from the elements
It has more than 14,000 paintings such as this one
view across the lake
I liked the design of this bridge:
a corridor with windows so that one could view the lake whilst walking under shade
Another piece of rock, which the Chinese love to put in their palaces
details on the rock
The following morning, I visited Beihai Park which is near the Forbidden City.Beihai Park was initially built in the 10th Century was used by later dynasties such as the Jin and Yuan dynasties.Since I had gone on a Saturday there were people who went there for recreation
The Jade Islet with its famous stupa
people sword dancing, I tried to keep my distance
a statue of a Chinese mythological animal
There has been a temple on this site since Yuan times,this temple however is Ming era originally although it was restored by the Qing Dynasty
This tree dates back to the time of the Jin Dynasty
The stupa
there were many water lillies
There were various levels on the Jade Islet,which is where people still pray as can be seen here:
Buddhist praying drum with sanskrit
the stupa
a lotus carved into the stairway
the stupa
Then I went down into some caves nearby which had been use since the Jin dynasty,it was a welcome respite from the crowds and heat outside
There were figurines such as this in the cave
the dragon, one of the symbols of the Chinese emperor, the lake can be seen in the background
a traditional Chinese play I think, the guy was acting as if he was drunk in his role
people doing tai-chi with someone being massaged in the background lol
a fortune teller
Walking in Beihai Park
traditional Chinese opera
The Jade Islet in the distance:
The following day I went to visit a section of the Great Wall of China, this section was one of the ones which wasn't restored and the steps had been eroded away thus it was too steep to stand on a gradient.The walk up to the Great Wall
The Great Wall Of China
restored sections of the Great Wall
The following day I went to see the Ming Tombs
entrance
There used to be a hall here I think
a brick tunnel
The Emperor's throne for the afterlife I think
the back of the throne with the dragon,one of the symbols of the Chinese emperor
Big carved jade doors
boxes which contained possessions for the afterlife
These big stone slabs held the doors and I think was meant to protect against robbers
inside the tomb
A huge stone stela
Then I proceeded to the museum which had items which were excavated from the tomb which includeed this silver ingot
gold ingots
This fabric had been kept in a wooden box
These small shoes are evidence of the practice of footbinding which had been common for centuries
a goldmesh hat
a hat which the Emperor would have worn I think
Ming-era war helmet
Confucian law code
Mao did visit this place but was apparently too superstitious to go down into the tombs
Then finally I visited the Sacred Way which is part of the Ming Tomb complex
The gate
A Chinese courtier
soldiers
Mao stood by this elephant when he visited decades ago
When Mao visited
animals, a Bactrian camel can be seen on the right
structure housing a stela which rested on a carved turtle
a huge stela
it was resting on the back of this turtle
And that was the end of the trip, the following day I left for London
I took this picture of the Gobi Desert on the way back
The end
My trip to Beijing (30th June-5th July 2010)
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Originally Posted by Sup With That?
myself and he goes..
, exactly the same places? lol well I was given a gift by president of China's sovereign investment fund 
, well when I was there it was really hot, it was about 42 degrees celsius on the last day of my trip.
I will also add some after my 2 months tour in Georgia. 
