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Thursday, April 19, 2012

A Last Look at Beijing, China

Beijing, Lama Temple Photo by myself at the Lama Temple, in Beijing.

Worshippers young and old gather daily to pray and burn incense at the Lama Temple, in Beijing.

My father and I visited the Lama Temple in Beijing, on Tuesday. The Temple is composed of many courtyards and large, ornate wood pavilions dedicated to the many Buddhist gods. The temple was constructed in the 1700's and somehow escaped destruction, despite Beijing's turbulent political history.

We are set to leave Beijing today (Thursday). Our time here was divided between visiting my brother's family and touring about. Most of our time was spent in Guo Mao, a very ritzy but small area filled with high rise apartments, hotels and construction sites.

We took several car trips through Beijing to various locations, and I could not fathom how immense this city is. It's like contemplating infinity. Our drivers were local people who grew up in the city. They knew the streets very well and said that Beijing has completely changed in the last 20 years.
 Beijing, Lama Temple A likeness of Buddha was carved out of a single sandalwood tree. The statue stands 26m (66 ft) high.

Beijing, Lama Temple One of the many colorful pavilions on the temple grounds. It is difficult to believe that these structures are made of wood.

CCTV, Beijing The widely photographed CCTV building in Beijing is called 'the pair of trousers' building by locals.

CCTV, Beijing
A closer look at the CCTV building, which seems to defy gravity.

Beijing, China Huge swaths of Beijing are under development right now.

My fiance Mark is helping me post photos while I'm in China. Blogger is banned, and I regret that I cannot respond to your comments or visit any blogger-hosted blogs, while I'm here.

Posts will continue here while I'm on vacation. Some pre-scheduled posts will occur with photos of New York City.

5 comments:

Olivier said...

tres beau melange entre modernisme et tradition.

biebkriebels said...

Beautiful photos, sad you have already to leave.

Cesc Sales said...

City of contrasts. Amén.

s.c said...

Great shots Kitty.

Cheap flights to Beijing said...

The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands. The blood flows with the fast circulation of childhood.