IMAGES OF BEIJING

One day in Beijing, we took a tour of the Hutong area, the old neighbourhoods where the people have lived for many, many years. The area was being replaced with new housing and new neighbourhoods before the government realized that they needed to repair and restore this part of their heritage. It is an ongoing process although the area is much smaller now than it used to be. Our tour started with this bicycle rickshaw. I felt sorry for a couple of the drivers who had some very large people to ferry around.

We were bike #30 and had to make sure to get the same driver to get back to our starting point.

We eventually ended up in a small courtyard which housed three families in accomodations which opened up into this courtyard. The lady in front is retired and she and her husband give presentations and tours to tourists. Their two sons also share this courtyard space although they all have their own private areas in which they live. She gave us a lot of information, translated by our guide, and answered many questions about her life here. Our guide also spent his university years living in the Hutong area. After her presentation, she allowed us to wander through her living quarters. Below are some pictures of the rooms.

Our group listening intently. Doesn't the Japanese girl in the black jacket with white stripes on the sleeves look like Erika? Emily celebrated her 24th birthday on the tour.

The Kitchen.

The living room and display cabinet.

The living room from another angle.

When walking back to our rickshaws, we went through an area that was rebuilt and had to stop and visit with a small dog.

You can see the renovations taking place here.

Very narrow alleyways.

Sometimes, they demolish the complete house and then start from scratch but reuse as much of the building material as possible.

We also visited a park in the morning. Here, we saw many people exercising, dancing, visiting and playing.

This long building(covered walkway) was filled with people playing cards, mahjong, knitting, painting or just talking. If Dean lived here, this is where he would be all the time.

There were a group of people playing instruments and someone was singing as well as dancing in front of these others. The man in front doesn't seem to pleased with me.

This group were exercising using flags as props. They had music playing and there were certain steps that they were following. It was very interesting to watch them. They always invited us to join and try what they were doing.

This lady was teaching a group of others how to do the ribbon exercises. She was very good.

These girls are doing a form of Tai Chi with a paddle and a birdie. A couple of times we saw guards stationed around parks that we visited. There were a lot of people at this park, some young but a lot of retired people. There were grandparents who were looking after their grandchildren, people who were exercising prior to going to work and a lot of retired people who wanted to get out into nature and visit with their friends. They were very friendly for the most part.

This became a running joke for our group. The young child is wearing split pants. He has no underwear. Our guide says they wear these during training. When they have to go to the toilet, they just squat and do their business wherever they are. A bit unsanitary sometimes. We saw this happen on sidewalks and steps of buildings. Should have bought a pair to bring back to someone who will be toilet training their child.

75% of the world's cranes are in use in China. Just a few of them in this picture.

Very unique architecture.

A downtown street and office buildings.

Still building.

Note the traffic and the large buildings in the distance. Also, note the smog. the Government legislates that 240+ days per year will be smog-free. We must have been there on the other days.

More traffic and stores. We could have shopped all the time.

These cars are under a freeway entrance. It is a car park but also holds some cars which have been in accidents and need some repair.

Next stop, the Terra Cotta warriors of X'ian.