Beijing and its surroundings
On Tian Men there were usually at lot of people hanging around, doing apparently nothing, Chinese tourists. Some had bought kites, with which they ran about trying to get them up onto the air, or where they just trying to avoid the kite sellers?
Many electrical installations looked a bit haphazard. At a quick glance one might confuse them with a birdŐs nests.
On the south side of the Forbidden City a giant portrait of the Great Helmsman, i.e. Chairman Mae Zedong was displayed. A must for the visiting chinese and foreign tourists.
Instead of going to the touristy Badaling we went to Simatai. By far fewer tourist, but we couldnŐt avoid all the vendors. It seemed as if there was one vendor for each tourist. Anyways, this part of the Great Wall have not been restored as the part at Badaling. We marched, or rather climbed, about 10 km that day. Here Claes is confronting one of the more steep passages.
Simply by making a proper choice of perspective one can make the Forbidden City look deserted. Although, by turning 180 degrees all the thousands of chinese tourist become apparent. They seem to prefer large groups and donŐt usually wander off. That makes it fairly easy to find tranquil spots away from the more popular places.
