Lamasary

This Buddhist Tibetan temple in Beijing is the site where the Dalai Lama once met with the Chinese premiere. Many worshippers and tourists visit this temple throughout the year.

Even in the hot summer rain, worshippers light stalks of incense in preparation to enter the Grand Tibetan Buddhist Yonghe Lamasery where the Dalai Lama once met with the premiere of China.
	Praying at Fire in Beijing

Summer Palace

The Summer Palace, located in the outskirts of Beijing, was built as an Imperial park in 1600-1900s. After it burnt down in 1860, it was renovated in 1888 by Empress Dowager Cixi. It has become one of the symbols of civilization of mankind in the world. The Summer Palace is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

	Lion statuary, usually placed at an entrance, is the traditional symbol to ward off evil spirits. This one is at the Summer Palace.
Lion; Beijing

Lotus Blossoms, a staple in the Chinese diet, grow in abundance at the Summer Palace.	Island on Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace.

Visitor tour boats are quite popular with locals as well as tourists on the Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace.

	36 meter long Marble Boat at the Summer Palace, built at the behest of Empress Dowager Cixi around 1888. For obvious reasons, it has never sailed.

	Tour boat on Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace

Tour boats on Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace are always jam-packed with tourists as well as locals, especially on weekends, even in downpours.

Hutongs

For 600 hundred years, the hutongs, or close-knit neighborhoods, with their narrow, winding streets, have been home to four million people. Many different religious and social groups have lived here harmoniously without strife for hundreds of years. The hutongs include kindergartens and child care facilities, common sanitary and garbage facilities and a common caring concern for every neighbor, young and old.

Bicyclists in Beijing's hutongs zip through the narrow streets alongside the numerous pedicabs carrying tourists and residents alike	Pedicabs pick up tourists amid the crush of bicyclists outside the Hutong.

Children at a Hutong Kindergarten. Notice the ratio of boys to girls...9 to 1. This country-wide ratio promises to prove troublesome once young men begin looking for wives.	Children at a hutong Kindergarten.

Many Chinese keep birds as pets. It's a symbol of good luck

 

Temple of Heaven

Built in 1420, this was the place for emperors to offer sacrifices to heaven. It includes the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar. It's one of China's outstanding ancient architectural creations.

The Imperial Vault of Heaven at the Temple of Heaven, one of China's outstanding ancient architectural creations. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the Circular Mound Altar was the place for emperors to offer sacrifices to heaven.	Courtyard at the Temple of Heaven, teeming with visitors, both local and foreign.

Mother and son pause in their visit to the Temple of Heaven to beat the heat with an ice cream and a rest

Mother and son pause in their visit to the Temple of Heaven to beat the heat with an ice cream and a rest.	Young girl with festive headdress. These adornments are available at many tourist stores throughout the country.

Vault in the Temple of Heaven where the memorial tablets to heaven were placed.

Signage at the Echo Wall at the Imperial Vault's Celestial Warehouse at the Temple of Heaven	The Echo Wall at the Imperial Vault's Celestial Warehouse at the Temple of Heaven.

Visitors flock to the courtyard outside the Imperial Vault at the Temple of Heaven, even on weekdays.

Peking Opera

The traditional Peking Opera has many troupes which perform at venues all over the Chinese countryside. This venue, at what was once Prince Gong's private gardens, is now open for special events and performances. The Opera performers are expert in the following disciplines: fighting, singing, dancing, acrobatics, juggling, acting, pantomime and gesturing. In order to become a troupe member, an artist must have all these skills.

Many different troops of the Peking Opera perform at many venues throughout China. This performance was at Prince Gong's private garden theater in Beijing.	Traditionally, ornately costumed Peking Opera singers perform at Prince Gong's private garden theater in Beijing.

	Jugglers are an integral part of the traditional Peking Opera. These three performers juggle heavy porcelain vases.

The Great Wall

Originally built as a gigantic defensive devise in the 7th century BC against invasion by nomadic tribes in the north, the Great Wall runs from the Gansu Province in the west all the way to the sea in the east. Most of the Wall has been renovated and is known today as one of the world's wonders. The Great Wall is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It can clearly be seen from outer space.

The Great Wall seen at Badaling, just outside Beijing, stretches into infinity.	The Great Wall is a popular tourist attraction for both international tourists and those from inside China as well. On weekends, the wall is wall-to-wall

From one of the upper battle platforms on the Great Wall, the spread of the base infrastructure of shops, restaurants, and tourist parking lots is apparent on either side of the ancient structure.	More wall-to-wall visitors on The Great Wall of China at Badaling.

Forbidden City/Palace Museum

The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, was built in the 1400s. The largest and most complete group of palace buildings in China today, the complex, with its magnificent construction and collection of arts and antiquities, is now a museum of world importance for Chinese history, culture and art. It is on UNESCO's World Heritage List.

Two guards on a break play ping pong at the Forbidden City.

Beijing; Statuary at the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City in Beijing, Bronze Lion at an entrance. The Lion guards the entrance to a dwelling or temple, always in a pair, male and female. This, the male, has a ball under his paw, symbolizing strength and power. On the other side of the entrance, the female of the couple has her paw on her cub to symbolize the care for children. They both ward off evil spirits.

This bronze turtle in the courtyard of the Forbidden City is a symbol of longevity.	Bronze wine vats at the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City in Beijing. These bronze vats are decorated with hornless unicorns.

Exercise opportunities

In China you don't have to join a health club to get your daily exercise. There are public exercise opportunities everywhere in the city. It's a cultural mandate!

Couples jump on public walker exercise devices in public parks which are available everywhere throughout the city.	Mass public morning exercise