Beijing, China and Other Random Shots

Hi all. I hope you are all doing well this fall-like day. It was in the high 40s here this morning. It felt great! A couple of you asked about China pictures, so I thought I would post some to prove I was there. I probably should post a couple of me working to prove I did that as well, but those are on my work computer, so you are just going to have to trust me that I really did work very hard while I was there. However, I was able to see a couple of the sites when I wasn't working. I had a few hours in the middle of the day on Thursday, which is when I saw The Great Wall and the Olympic Stadium.

This is the inside of the Bird's Nest, where the track and field, opening and closing ceremonies, and other activities were held for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It was quite an architectural feat, I must say. I really wanted to get on the track, but as you can see behind me, they were setting up for a rock concert.

I was able to make a quick trip to The Great Wall, thanks to Kevin's brother Mark, who found us a driver for the day. It was massive, absolutely amazing, and very, very crowded with Chinese tourists.

Mark and I at the wall.

The Great Wall - there were so many people there that it was actually kind of hard to walk it. But, even if no one would have been there, it would have been a workout. It was very steep.

This is a garden at Tieneman Square, and you can see The Forbidden City across the street in the background. This is actually at about 6 a.m. I was able to visit these places by running to them from my hotel in the early mornings before work. Turns out that is when ALOT of Chinese tourists visit as well because they do a flag raising ceremony at sunrise. It was pretty cool to see, but very crowded, as was everything in Beijing, a city of 22 million people.

 

I have a few more, but perhaps I can share them at Christmas or something.

I really hope everyone is doing well. I don't know about you, but I am ready for fall!