Beijing, 13 April 2003

We finally went for that bike ride across Beijing. It was brilliant! The weather was fab, we got to see loads of stuff, including Jingshan and we even ended up shopping a bit more! :o)

We drove to Qianmen first and saw this crowd of ppl. They were there coz of a marathon as it turned out later.

We drove further and on the way to some lake, we drove by these ppl, who were sitting outside reading. One or two ppl is normal to c, but this group consisted of @ least 30 ppl! It was amazing...

After a wrong turn, we had finally found the lake. Here you can c ppl in paddle-boats again. They're really popular here!

Yes, it's me doing actual physical activity! I know some of u will b amazed...

At the end of the lake, or actually kind of in the middle, there was this bridge. It just looked really nice and it is hard to believe that the main street is only a 5-min-walk away!

I was aiming for the group of laowais, when this guy just cycled into my picture. Grmph... But this is rural Beijing. Well, kind of anyway.

This was the other part of the lake. I thought it was Beihai @ first, but we were not close enough for that. I just can't remember the name anymore...

And Vincent too of course... Though am sure that none of u r amazed by that. Hahaha

As we cycled on, I saw this other bridge. It is linked to the lake as well, as this was the other side of it.

We climbed JingShan and had the most amazing view of Gugong, the Forbidden City.

This was the riverbank. The statue is some sort of reptile trying to drink from the river.

We had lunch, then cycled to JingShan. After a while I had finally found the right (front!) entrance.

Close up of one of the corners of Gugong. The plc is really humungous!

Once again the view, w more trees this time. If u look closely, u can c the entrance sign in Chinese.

One of the watch towers of Gugong.

Beijing skyline w one of the main streets.

I was obviously v happy 2 b in my favo park! :o)

In the background u can c the normal Beijing life, in comparison to the old Forbidden City in the foreground.

Gugong w the Beijing skyline.

Vincent enjoying the view of Gugong.

The tower in JingShan we were in, was surrounded by a typical Chinese bridge. As the bridge contained mainly yellow (which is the color of the emperor) it looked really great w Gugong in the background. V imperial...

The view from another side of JingShan.

And again w more trees.

It looks a bit like The 2 Towers this way... Hahaha

From JingShan we had a perfect view of Beihai and the White Pagoda Temple.

The Beijing Skyline.

Once again this one but w more trees.

See the slumbs in front, then Beihai, and the richer area in the back.

On the way down back to the park, we passed loads of little houses.

The woman on the left is knitting something, on the right there are TWO ppl sleeping!

The Two Towers taken from a bit lower.

JingShan tower where we just came from.

U can find these everywhere, so also in JingShan.

A back gate into the park. U could only use this if you already had your ticket. There actually was a guard on the other side.

JingShan tower, taken from the park. Pretty high, huh?

This is the male as it is holding a ball.

Characters above the back gate, saying something about Beijing City. (don't know what the last 3 mean together).

Lion in front of the back gate w children playing on them. This is the female lion as it is holding a baby lion.

Another Sunday crowd gathering in the park.

As it was Sunday, loads of ppl were spending their day in the park singing again.

This group was singing something that sounded like a Chinese folk song.

Opera in Chinese again as well.

These ppl were playing w that soccer-training fluffy thing. The old guy was really good @ it!

Another back gate. I don't actually know what was behind this, as u would have to pay to find that out , we didn't have time for that anymore.

Later, Vincent joined them. If you look closely, u can c how he just kicked the fluffy thing and sent it flying. I had another pic, but a tres annoying guy walked right into it. Grmph...

More decorations...

This is the tree where the emperor hanged himself.

We cycled along Gugong to TianAnMen.

As we cycled further away from JingShan, we came across this river. I think it is the moat that surrounds Gugong.

The watch tower on the other corner of Gugong.

The Mausoleum again. I took this when Vincent was buying kites.

Me cycling through Beijing. Well, we were almost @ da hostel @ this stage...

As we were still on the wrong side of the street, I had the perfect chance to take this pic of the Forbidden City's entrance.

After the bike ride we went shopping @ Qianmen and we passed the lions again. I thought this time I'd take a pic...

We finished where we had started... @ the kao yangrou chuanr stand @ Qianmen, even w the same girl as @ da first day! She still remembered us... ;o)

The statue @ TianAnMen @ twilight, while loads of ppl were flying kites.

Gugong entrance by night, this way u can even see the letters that r now covered during the day due to renovation.

Including the Mausoleum.

Some buidings r covered in lights...

And Qianmen. We passed this on our way back to the hostel. The v last time we'd be walking here this year... *sniff*

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