Forbidden City - Imperial Gardens

Some pics of the Imperial gardens which are located at the North end of the Forbidden City.

29 - 7 - 6

The Great Wall at Mutianyu

Just returned from a great trip to Mutianyu, 70km from Beijing City, where we visited a section of the Great Wall of China.

We signed up for a tour, which turned out to be just me and Em being driven out in a car with guy who spoke no English. Suited us fine. The drive was under two hours. On arrival, the entrance area was lined with stalls selling various expected memorabillia and crafts.

A gondola-type cable car took us on a very steep journey up the hill, and as we ascended we started to catch glimpses of the wall. It was a very misty day - and visibility was maybe about 100m at this stage. It made for some quite dramatic scenes - mist curling over the green hills and around the ancient wall. At the top, a few steps took us up and onto the wall itself.

This section of the wall is very well preserved, and runs for about 2km. Some sections are very steep. The smooth path of cobblestones changes from flat to stepped where necessary which is helpful. Those ancient dudes were really thinking ahead for us tourists. The great wall is so well known that I'm not sure it needs too much more describing from us. The mist cleared not long after we got onto the wall - convenient, and the journey back to the bottom was memorable. Em went down by cablecar - the ski-lift type where your legs dangle down, and I went down by Luge. Like the Luge in Rotorua. Pretty unexpected addition to a visit to the Great Wall, but I couldnt resist

The Forbidden City

Tiananmen Square

Shanghai - More

Miscellanous Pics from Shanghai......

Shanghai - Old Town

Shanghai Punx

After a bit of research on the net, and bit of a journey on the metro (approx 1hr), we found ourselves in a shady alley in some suburb of Shanghai. It was a pretty small venue called YuYinTang Warehouse and it was an evening of Chinese punk. We managed to catch the last two bands. The headliners were "Scream for life", who apparently were China's first punk band. Style of punk fairly old school to my ears, but with a guy on flute and tin whistle giving it a decidedly Celtic feel - bizarre. Good beer swigging shanties.

The band prior (name unknown), were newer in style - more melodic I guess. Both bands were very polished/professional in the punk sense (i.e. tight without being accurate.

Was almost as fun however to watch the crowd. Was a good portion of people who were obviously regular gig goers and were letting loose at the front. A much larger portion were standing back watching the band and the more enthusiastic audience members with a kind of bemusement. Everynow and then one of these bystanders would be converted, and would launch into 'the pit' with fists pumping the air.....very fun to watch.

Shanghai, Sights

Words to come...