Sights In and Near Beijing

This year I had some fun climbing(ah - actually took the ski lift up the mountain) the Great Wall at Mutianyu, shopping in the Silk Market, and spending time in the antiques shops on Liulichang street in the last few days before leaving Beijing.

Funny story. Jeff Meltzer(Universal Hardwood) and I went to an opera in the old Zheng-Yi Temple Theatre. Before the show, we stopped at a small restaurant down a narrow street (hutong). Decided to order beer, so Jeff used his electronic translator to show the waitress what we wanted. But we got some very weird looks, like they could not believe what we wanted. Then we saw Jeff had typed in "bear"(like the animal) instead of "beer"(like the drink). I think the people in the restaurant thought the crazy Americans wanted bear(the animal) to eat! -Dave

West view from the Beijing Radisson SAS Hotel.	Looking east, the China International Exbibition Center is on the left.	Taxi shot - glass buildings.	Taxi shot - wide highway.
Taxi shot - typical small building material retailers.	Future Olympics 2008 sports complex on mid-right.	Older commercial section on outskirts of Beijing.	Entrance to Liulichang street in Xuanwumen.
Road narrows and shops get more intriguing.	This rare coin shop displayed many interesting artifacts.	Dave barters for curio with Ms. Li of Four Treasures.	Typical old Beijing hutong.
Bargains on designer labels galore in the Silk Market.	Some of these hand-knotted pure silk carpets have 600 knots per inch.	Zheng-Yi Temple Theatre.	Beautiful long flowing scarf dance during production.
Ornate costumes displayed during fight scene of opera.	Easy way up to the Great Wall at Mutianyu, 90 km NE of Beijing.	Drifting fog added to the mystical feeling of the place.	A tour group examines old cannon.
Evidence of construction over various periods of time.	Tourists are no longer allowed on top of defensive outposts.	Is this a cool shot or what?	Dave pauses with Rhyc Sandberg of NetTest.
There are 2 easy ways down. The other is a toboggan style sled on a metal semicircular trough that winds down the mountain. The run is just visible in lower left of ski lift picture above.			The party is over folks! Had a stopover at the Narita International Airport near Tokyo on the flight home. Left is a shot from the airplane over Japan about 10 miles east of Narita.