Here are a few pics from my trip to China in June 2008. The two below were taken at the Beijing Ancient Observatory. On the left are two instruments atop the observatory. On the right is my attempt to add to the dragon theme of a Ming dynasty armillary.


I visited the Summer Palace of the Empress Dowager Cixi, which is an Imperial Garden in Beijing. Below are pics of the grounds, including one of me in front of Kunming Lake and one of me sitting at the top of the Tower of the Fragrance of Buddha.


Below are a few pictures from the center of the city of Beijing at Tiananmen Square. Here's me and Mao in front of the Tiananmen Gate into the Forbidden City and what it looks like inside.


I took a short day trip to Badaling, which is about 50 miles north of Beijing. Here are a couple of pics of the Badaling section of the Great Wall. Note the very large Olympic billboard in the first picture.


Last stop in China was Shanghai! It was incredibly humid and rained quite a bit. On the left is a pic of the Pudong district as seen from the Bund downtown. The next two are pictures I took walking around the streets. Look closely at the center pic and check out the hoppy green animals you can buy at the street market.


Shanghai has an awesome aquarium. Here are some pics of me dodging sharks and jellyfish in the world's longest underwater tunnel.


Can't get enough? Check out my China album on picasa:
China
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