Beijing Shots

The Dirt Market (Officially, Panjiayuan Market) is a huge outdoor market in Beijing. Lots of old looking stuff, some really old, some just dirtied so it looks old. Shadow puppets, jade, stone carvings, pearls, silver jewelry, Tibetian armor, rugs, paintings, photos, posters, furniture...

The Lake District
of Beijing is a series of lakes north of the Forbidden City. These photos are taken at Houhai Lake which seems to be the most recreational area - ice skating and skate-sledding in winter (I include a couple of winter shots in this series), swimming and boating in summer and drinking at the the likes of No-Name Bar in all seasons.

The bar aspect is one that has been a recent development. Just after a number of new bars opened in 2002, the SARS epidemic hit and business died. Just as quickly, and running parallel to countries rampant economic growth, the bars have come back to life.

Same place in the Winter - Ice sleddingBack to summer

Ubiquitous advertising. For what? I have no idea.

For 3 of the 5 evenings we were in Beijing, we got foot massages. They start by massaging your neck. We figured that was because we were on the other side of the globe & everything is upside down. After a good 15 minutes of neck, back, shoulders, arms, head massage they proceed to your feet, toes, calves and thighs. About 90 minutes of massage for about $20. Quite civilized.