and flat

diegos flatmates: Lucia, Eugenia and Diana

...which ended with a super spicy dinner at the casino with Marcia and Diego

our last day at beijing...

step... next morning repair the flat tire...

step 6, back at diegos... with Eugenia and Diana

step 5, look at the sky and realize the air you have been breathing... uuuh

step 4, ...ni hao to Mao

step 3, stroll around Forbidden City, Tianamen Square and Opera House

step 2, back strait and strait into the hutong

Beijing bycicle day trip,

step 1, pose before getting started

ducks almost roasted...

day trip to The Great Wall at Simatai

Olympic Stadium, H&deM

weeks before the olympics...

forbidden angles at Forbidden City

mustage at beijing underground

we found this nice building just around the corner of diegos flat

under surveillance

our first beijing roasted duck...

Office for Metropolitan Architecture - OMA

New Headquarters

Central Chinese Television

CCTV

Beijing, China

CCTV's new 550,000 square meter headquarters, will be among the first of 300 towers to be constructed in Beijing's new Central Business District.

either very small fishes or almost equally small dogs are their usual pets...

Hutong life bursts old chinese wonderring around in their pijamas, strolling with their grandson. It is a communal outdoor space for gathering, talking, cooking, eating, as well as to make use the public toilet or take a nap under the hidden beijing sun.

the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is an amazing structure, 38m high and 30m diameter... the wooden pillars support the ceiling without nails or cement...

the Temple of Heaven -of Ming design, set in a walled 267 hectare park, served as a vast stage for solemn rites performed by the Son of Heaven, who prayed here. The round white marble altar was constructed in 1530.

...in Temple of Heaven Park, dragon mouth and me

...the policy -china today... 'destroy to re-build!'

and, Lydia this picture is for you... the quite fermented, we where still able to take the picture... very strong STINKY tofu... hope you could smell it as well

for next time... maybe

delicious dumplings... filled with??? its better not to know

chinese eat everything... we did taste some nice lotus root and white snake but couldnt with theese white pintxos... DOG!!!

today families really enjoy the place on a nice weekend...

At the Summer Palace, one of the most amazing highlights in Beijing, dating back to when the emperors strolled aound the lake for a relaxing break.

Km. 11944 to CHINA

In Beijing, thanks to Diegos' incredible hospitality. From the deserted Mongolia we arrived at crowded Beijing, China. Complete opposites! Even more with the Olympics fever... With more than 1.2 billion people, is the most populous country in the world. The overall population density of the country is over 110 people per square kilometer. With a history of 6,000 years, a wide territory and variety of people -then, food and culture- diversity would best descibe China. Population density plus the aim to become the worls largest power makes the country today in extreme environmental and cultural lose. They are deffinatelly escalating to be on top of the world, but the problems that this has created are even bigger. People now own cars, land and travell... they are the best tourists -fans- of their country. The Han people form the large majority, with about 94% of the population. While former Chinese governments traditionally acknowledged the Han, Manchu, Mongol, Turkish, and Tibetan ethnic groups, the current Chinese government officially recognizes 56 ethnic groups, including the Han. The Han majority speak Chinese, but most of the minorities speak other languages, falling into 15 main language families... is multi-ethnic.