This will just be a Beijing miscellaneous post. It’s a few things that I left off along the way that struck me as very interesting. Also, we saw lots of places and things in Beijing that were not major tourist attractions and had many enjoyable experiences.

This first photo was at the Forbidden City. This is a lousy photo due to the poor lighting but it is the throne of the “power behind the throne” saying. The mothers of very young emperors would be behind the curtain, behind the throne and give advice and directions to their sons, the emperors.

I really enjoyed seeing the Great Wall. Near the end of the wall, I saw this work crew. They were either repairing or improving this section of the wall. What struck me was that, all these years after the wall was built, this work crew does not seem to be working that differently from the original construction crews. It was impossible not to notice the lack of modern day construction equipment.

Wandering around Beijing, we found several markets to explore. It was a fascinating experience. At this market, we were crowded and could only move through the market very slowly, always waiting for the person in front of us to move. At one point, I got what felt like a forearm hitting me in the back. It happened a second time and I turned around to tell the jackass that I couldn’t move since it was so crowded. It turned out to be a frail looking and very elderly woman. I guess that’s just life in a crowded Beijing market.

We visited a “Cloisonné Ware” factory. We watched them making copper and enamel goods and the workers were very impressive as was their products. This is just a photo of a very large vase at the factory.

We visited a Hutong neighborhood with our guide. It was a long walk in an old residential neighborhood. The streets were narrow passageways, like alleys, that wound around and it was hard to know where we were. Our guides even had trouble finding their way. The streets have high walls on both sides. The doors to the houses are marked by various means. They each have two rocks that tell about the family standing, like a scholar or business man or government official. The houses and doors have other markings as well that tell other things about the family.