Tiananmen Square

The enormous south gate of Tianamen Square and the Monument to the Heroes, which lies in the middle of this huge square.

Two more views inside the Forbidden City

Two more views inside the Forbidden City point to the detail of the decoration and the vastness of the place, as one walks from one large courtyard to the next.

Starbucks in the Forbidden City

You may have heard that the Starbucks in the Forbidden City was recently closed due to prolonged online protests. Well, here is a picture of Starbucks while it was still in operation. (I enjoyed some refreshing mango "tea" each time I was there - it was less a tea and more like a smoothie!). There is no sign - that was taken down in the last wave of protests, but Starbucks is located in the left corner of the building straight ahead of the ramp (the right side of the building is a souvenir store!). I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to patronize Starbucks inside of one of China's most important cultural sites! :)

The Forbidden City

These two pictures are of the Forbidden City..Chairman Mao's picture dominates the entrance, as if he is watching over everything and everyone! Inside the Forbidden City, most everything is huge - the space and the size of the buildings!

Amazing decorations

Everywhere we went in China (except for the west), there were intricate painted decorations - just below building roofs, or ceilings or arch-type structures (there was one even at the toll booth coming out of the airport). These are just a couple of the colorful decorative structures.

Old Summer Palace

This beautiful setting was on the way through the Old Summer Palace, just north of Peking University where we stayed. While most of the buildings were destroyed, the gardens were picturesque.

The pictures are coming!

Well I am back on a pretty normal sleep schedule and am starting to be a little more productive... I have begun to go through my 1000+ photos from the trip and will post some selected photos soon, so stay tuned.