Beijing revisited

Alice and I with our much needed fans at the Ming Tombs.

I have been and gone and come back again! I had a fabulous week with my lovely daughter, Alice, even though the temperature was 36 degrees when I arrived, and did not get much cooler the whole time I was there, not even at night!

Flying to Beijing, the sunset from above the clouds, the light is on the wing of the plane. This lovely sight accompanied us for about 2 hours, this is the beauty of having a window seat when flying!

I have decided to go a general Beijing blog to start off with, sights of the city, what we look like, that sort or thing, starting with the flight out.

Hello China

Hello Beijing!

Just to complicate things my son had been unwell for a few days before I left, the day I flew out I had to ask my lovely friend Sheila to take me to Heathrow, as Joe was not well enough to be left, so my husband stayed at home with him. Sheila stepped up to the mark with flying colours, and got me safely to Heathrow in plenty of time. What a friend! I can’t thank her enough for her help, and she has a couple of presents waiting for her from China As it turned out my son was suffering from appendicitus, which we did not know when I left. He ended up in hospital the next day and had the offending appendix taken out! I was of course very worried but there was absolutely nothing I could do from 5000 miles away! I am pleased to say Joe is now on the mend, except he keeps reminding me that I left him while he was dying…..jokingly of course!

On to the photos

The first night in Beijing, taken about 10pm, the temperature is a very hot and humid 36.

The children were having a wonderful time cooling off in the fountain at the Sanlitun Village Shopping Centre, the fountains whoosh up to about 10 feet or so, its lovely to watch

A restaurant about 10 minutes walk away from Alice’s flat, lovely food and very comfortable

Alice at the restaurant in the above photo, that is coffee in the glasses, which we decided to treat as dessert. It was absolutely delicious, but this was quite late at night and we both had trouble sleeping that night, serves us right I suppose but it was worth it!!

Walking back to the flat, no idea what it says!!

Another street scene

I had to include a photo of the Foo Dogs didn’t I?

A Hutong just round the corner from Alice’s flat, again this is late evening, everyone sits out enjoying the evenings, even if they are not much cooler than the days.

A Majong board, outside a local shop, the players will come back when they are ready. This is the sort of sight we just don’t see in this country, which is a real shame I think.

I have some more street scene photos but will keep them for the last blog of my Chinese Adventures.

Next blog - The Ming Tombs