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Beijing, Winter '23

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A row of identical yellow rental bikes are lined up on a snow covered street. In the background a series of high-rise residetntial buildings.
Beijing is cold. The current. This bike rack is usually a haphasard collection of diskaredbikes. Today they were arranged in a line, untouched. The cold weather has kept people indoors.
A young child stands with their back to the camera, looking at a row of arcade machines. The turquoise and pink lighing from the machines reflects in the pollished floor.
The shopping mall was empty. On a Saturday I’d expect crowds of people sheltering from the cold outside. But there was no one here. The neon lights in this empty arcade had my son dancing around the floor until he realised we were watching him.
A photo taken inside a shoe store. There are rows of shoes neatly arranged on shelves eaither side of an isle. Down the centre of the aisle is a row of cushioned benches.
We gave up trying to make sense of international shoe sizes and instead tried on shoes we found some that fit. My son ended up with a pair of HelloKitty boots.
A crowded area in a shopping mall in China. A row of tressle tables is covered with tools, electronics, cars and sugary drinks. At the tables, people sit repairing their cars. In the background a crowd stands up against a barrier in front of a Starbucks. They apear to be waiting to watch an event.
We stumbled across the local Kyosho Mini-Z Grand Prix. I was amazed at how popular this was. People were hard at work tuning or repairing cars. Others lined up to compete.
A photo of a road junction in China nearest to the camera is a right hand turn lane. Just the other side of the lane is a pile of snow as workmen take advantage of the red traffic lights to clean snow from the main carriageway.
The work to clear ice and snow from the roads is never ending. As cars wait at the red lights, workers rush out to try and clear more of the ice off the roads in front of them.
Looking down a snow covered footpath at the side of a road. In front, a hand-pushed snow plow churns snow and ice off the sidewalk.
Giant rotating scrubbing brushes pushed back and forth along the pavements help keep them free of snow and ice.
A photo looking over a disused swimming pool. Surrounding the pool are residential buildings the pool and surrounding walkways are covered in snow.
The remains of an outdoor swimming pool, unused since the opening of a new sports facility, bring back memories of summers in Beijing.
A photo of a red building brightly lit in the morning sunshine. The sign on the gate to the school indicates that this is DaXing Middle School in Beijing.
A new school has opened locally. Still under construction when were here during the summer, the sheer size of it is something I struggle to comprehend.
A close up photo of a pot containing sliced lamb, coriander and cumin.
We loved the 炙子烤羊肉. Roast lamb with lots of cumin, red onion and corriander.
A photo looking alng the snow covered walkway from the East Gate of the Temple of Heaven. Bare treas line the walkway having long since shed their leaves.
A view down a main walkway inside the west gate of the Temple of Heaven.
A photo of a circular shrine or temple inside the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.
A view inside the echo wall
A wide angle photo looking across flat, snow-covered ground. A red wall extends from the sides of the image to a vanishing point in the centre of the phtoo. Trees poke above the top of the wall, standing in contrast to the bright blue sky. The shadow of the the photographer is visible in the front of the image.
Looking away from the Circular Mound it felt like you had the place to yourself.
A photo of a wintery scene inside the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The sun is low in a cloudless sky. There stone gateways stand at the entrance to the circular mound, their long shadows extending all the way to the photographer.
Looking towards the Circular Mound with the sun low in the sky.
A photo looking up over a red wall in the Templ of Heaven, Beijing. Snow covers the top of the wall. Behind it, the circular roof-top of a temple. The sky is blue with no clouds.
Looking over the wall at the temple behind. This was a popular spot for costume photos, but look up above the mele below and you can find relative stillness.
A snow covered garden in a residential compound in Beijing.
Heading out into the compound, still covered in snow.
Three people walk along a snow covered road between parked cars. The person in front is pushing a buggy.
It always amazes me how many cars are here. You’d never know there was a vast underground carpark that was also full.
A photo inside a Beijing subway car. Most passengers are wearing face masks. A person stnds looking to the left of the image wearing sunglasses.
A journey on the Beijing Metro.
A photo looking along a covered subway platform in Beijing China. The bright sunlight from the opening at the far end of the platform silhouettes two passengers standing on the platform.
A look back along the platform. Early on a weekday afternoon it isn’t busy.
A photo taken inside an underpass in Beijing China. It is winter and there is snow on the ground beside the road.
Bikes and scooters parked outside the mall are still covered in snow.
A photo of a Christmas scene iside a shopping mall in Beijing, China.
Christmas at Livat, Beijing
A photo of people dressed up in traditional costume heading towards the Forbidden City in China.
As we got closer to the gates of the Forbidden City, we saw more people in costume.
A photo of crowds queueing to get in to the Forbidden City in the dead of winter.
Even whilst queuing to enter The Forbidden CIty, you start to get a sense of how big it is.
Looking over the roofs of the forbidden city. The image captures the turned up corner of the closes roof, small figures of animals visible on the resulting ridge.
No two roofs are the same. Each corner must tell its own story.
A snow covered courtyard in the Forbidden City, Beijing. Warmly dressed people are standing around on the snow.
I’m glad that work to clear the snow hasn’t completed. It was nice to see parts of the City still blanketed in white.
Snowy covered rocks obscure the base of a temple inside the Forbidden City in Beijing.
One of the buildings in the Impreial Garden.
A photo taken through the gates of the Forbidden City looking up at Jingshan Temple in the distance. The image is exposed in such a way that the walls of the gate provide a black frame to the main image of the temple.
Looking up at Jingshan Park from the north gate of the Forbidden City.
A street vendor selling candied fruit from a small cart in Beijing. The vendor is wrapped up warm, hands in pockets to protect them from the cold. The street behind them is empty of vehicles.
冰糖葫芦 for sale.
A photograph looking through trees onto the north-west corner of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The frozen moat is just visible before the city walls. The ground before the moat is completely covered in snow.
The view from the noorthwest corner.
A small motorised tricycle with an open bed removes sheets of snow and ice in Beijing. The driver is wrapped up warm in a blue overall. Their face isn't visible, wrapped up and protected from the cold.
Sheets of snow being removed on the back of a tricycle.
A view through the window of a moving bus looking onto a Beijing street. Buildings are grey, alongside them a row of mopeds and bicycles.
A view from the bus as we headed west.
A panorama looking through trees onto the north-west corner of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The frozen moat is just visible before the city walls. The ground before the moat is completely covered in snow.
The view from the noorthwest corner.
Looking out over a kitchen counter to a snow covered yard outside.
Looking out from the kitchen window.
A child completes a jigsaw puzzel of a map of hte world.
A China centric world map.
A photo of a high-rise apartment building in Beijing. The building is lit with the warm evening sun. On the road in front of the building, a covering of snow.
The last light of the day.
A child pushes a small supermarket trolley around the isles of a supermarket. To their left an array of root vegetables. In front of them, fresh green leaves.
My son pushing a child sized supermarket trolley around the fresh food section of the local supermarket.
A half moon in an otherwise blue sky. In the foreground, snow remains on the roof of a perspex shelter.
Half moon today. Half new or half old?
A bowl of wonton and broth alongside a boiled egg and a plate of fruit.
Wonton in beef broth for breakfast.
A basket full of freshly steamed date buns on a table.
枣馒头 - steamed date buns
A child holds a bowl up to their face, drinking every last drop of the contents. The child's face is not visible.
One very happy young boy.
A child pushes a small supermarket trolley.
Another supermarket offering child sized trolleys.
Bikes parked on the footpath outside a subway station. The ground is covered in snow.
Bikes parked outside the exit of a subway station.
A photo of a high-rise residential building against a blue sky.
A new building has sprung up on land once owned by the local utility company.
A family walk along the snow covered sidewalk along a Beijing street.
Beijing is gloriously sunny these days.
The scene outside a restaurant, a person and a child are handed a drink by one of the staff.
This restaurant does everything to make eating with children easier. If you have to wait, you get a drink and the children get a snack.
A person stands at the counter in a bakery in front of them an array of baked goods.
Buying enough snacks to last us through five days in even colder conditions.
A child uses LEGO bricks to make Chinese characters on a table.
My son left his name in Lego on the play table.
Two people place LEGO bricks on a wall of LEGO base plates. The wall is decorated with Chinese characters, a Christmas tree and small little creations out of colourful LEGO bricks.
We have a request for a LEGO grafiti wall at home so that Oscar can practise ‘writing’ Chinese characters.
A person dressed in a red Christmas outfit poses by a Christmas tree surrounded by gifts A photographer takes their picture.
A girl poses for a photo in front of a christmas tree surrounded by presents.
The black, empty shell of an old retail unit. The words 'fun joy' can be seen above the entrance.
FunJoy store that is no long fun or joyful.
A river flows past a shopping mall in Beijing, China. The banks of the river are covered in snow and ice.
Really nice to see this river flowing again. It’s dry in summer and frozen in winter.
A young child sits at a piano in a shopping mall.
We found a place to practise piano.
Two people sit at a restaurant table. In front of them two large bowls. They are looking away from the camera towards the restaurant counter.
Noodles for lunch.
A sculpture of rabbits sittting inside a crescent moon sits on the snow covered gound in a Beijing park.
The year of the Rabbit is almost over.
A young child pushes off on skiis. Behind them ski challets line the slopes. The child is wearing an orange jacket and yellow trousers.
Our eldest preparing to ski down from the hotel on our first day.
A photo of the ski slops at Thaiwoo in Beijing. The sun is bright in the sky, mountains in the distance. In the foreground a couple of tall trees line the edge of the ski slope.
A view of the slopes at Thaiwoo.
Young hands hold up a freshly rolled dumpling skin. The skin is not round but somewhat oval in shape.
对不起，我的看起来像阿尔及利亚。 I’m sorry mine looks like Algeria.
A photo of a hands using a plastic knife to cut pieces of fresh dough for Chinese dumplings.
Try making hundreds of pieces of dough all the same size.
A tray of freshly made Chinese dumplings. In front of the tray a person's hand can be seen pressing out a dumpling skin.
You are on the right track when they hold their shape before cooking.
A person (out of frame) uses chopsticks to pick up a dumpling from a plate of boiled dumplings in the middle of a table.
Chopsticks essentials include transfering dumplings from one plate to another.
An industrial-looking building stands against a grey sky. In front of the building, a person walks along the road. The building itself is rusty, with a yellow, freshly painted staircase down the outside. The trees are all bare, and it looks like winter.
A building in Shougang Park (首钢园).
on the side of an old rusty factory building a yellow staircase winds its way up to the top. On the road, a lone person walks past the building.
A look at some of the buildings in Shougang Park (首钢园)
A photo of a white driveless taxi parked up at the side of the road in Beijing.
A photo of our driverless taxi. Sensor arrays are getting smaller but it felt reassuing to see the presence of a roof mounted Lidar sensor.
A photo of large metal pipework carried by steel structures into the distance. A walkway hangs underneath the pipes.
Large pipes run between many of the buildings in Shougang. These have been turned into a walkway from which you can view the park.
Round circular buildings stand tall above Beijing streets. Their industrial look reminiscent of an old factory.
A view across the frozen lake in Shougang. In the background you can see the iconic Big Air venue from the winter Olympics.
People crowd around a table to write their new years wishes on pieces of paper.
Make your new years wishes courtesy of Douyin.
Two strips of canvas hang down the side of a building. One leg is painted on each in a cartoon style. The left leg is predominantly blue, the right leg predominantly red. At the base of each leg, two giant shoes in similar colours.
A giant pair of Youku branded shoes.
A metal sculpture shaped like a dandilion ready to shed its seeds stands next to a concrete building.
One of the first words my son learned in Chinese was 蒲公英, the word for dandelion.