China sites and sights- Beijing

So much to see.

We were out of the hotel before 8am most days, and did not return until after dinner, well into the evening. Full days! And even so, that does not even scratch the surface of all to see in China. But here's a try...


The Temple of Heaven in Beijing- constructed in the 1400's, during the Ming dynasty, without nails! Beautiful in intricacy, detailed and ornate.








A drive-by of the "Bird's Nest" Olympic Stadium, still under construction, and next to it, the "Water Cube," the National Aquatics Stadium. Very cool modern architecture. It will be fun to see them on tv this summer!

The Great Wall! Whoa! Just a small section of the 6000 miles, but still- wow! J and Papa climbed up to that highest house you can see in the photo. Steep!
















The Forbidden City. HUGE! 9999 rooms. We saw about 1%.

Tian'anmen Square. It was crowded, even at dusk, because the Chinese Parliament (hmmm... Parliament? I'm not sure that's correct, but anyway, some sort of national government meeting...) was taking place that day. While we were standing there, the lights went on, all around.

(grrr... photos and text placement aren't exactly working the way I would like, but alas, time to move on to other things, like getting dressed, and school, and....)