China

Throwback Thursday

Beijing, Spring 2026

Nanjing and Yangzhou, Spring 2026

Photos from China

house plants

the world outside

reading - this is the first time we've found Oscar engrossed in Chinese books, I'm mighty impressed

still waters

brothers - the boys feel at home in China

in character

walk in the park

birthday ice-cream

in conversation

hoping for a catch

Family Day

crossroads

Spring blossom

middle school

residential compound

coffee shop

Breakfast Spot - we were the first ones in but it was packed by the time we left. As far as I could tell, one chef served everyone.

3 April 2026

place of worship

temple by night

lanterns at night

Yanzhou by boat

in costume

Residential Yangzhou

family restaurant

2 April 2026

Garden in Yangzhou

Xuanwumen Gate by night

Spring Break - in the first trial of a Spring Break for children, the festive atmosphere at the Xuanwu Lake was the perfect place to spend time with the family.

Xuanwumen Gate

overcast

rest

bamboo forrest

feet up

fresh dumplings

Where to?

night out

night market

lantern festival

family feast

at the pass

Xuanwumen Gate

residential Nanjing

for the joy of playing

imperfection - I accidentally jogged the ISO dial forcing the camera to compensate by slowing down the exposure. Imperfection at its best.

Nanjing station

arrived in Beijing

Looking out over the bay at 洋口 (yáng kǒu)

On the road

Turning 43

Great Wall of China

Catch

in thought

Sounds of China

One of the first words my son learned in Chinese was 蒲公英, the word for dandelion.

A giant pair of Youku branded shoes.

Make your new years wishes courtesy of Douyin.

A view across the frozen lake in Shougang. In the background you can see the iconic Big Air venue from the winter Olympics.

Large pipes run between many of the buildings in Shougang. These have been turned into a walkway from which you can view the park.

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 look at some of the buildings in Shougang Park (首钢园)

Chopsticks essentials include transfering dumplings from one plate to another.

You are on the right track when they hold their shape before cooking.

Try making hundreds of pieces of dough all the same size.

对不起，我的看起来像阿尔及利亚。 I'm sorry mine looks like Algeria.

A view of the slopes at Thaiwoo.

Our eldest preparing to ski down from the hotel on our first day.

The year of the Rabbit is almost over.

Noodles for lunch.

We found a place to practise piano.

Really nice to see this river flowing again. It's dry in summer and frozen in winter.

FunJoy store that is no long fun or joyful.

A girl poses for a photo in front of a christmas tree surrounded by presents.

We have a request for a LEGO grafiti wall at home so that Oscar can practise 'writing' Chinese characters.

My son left his name in Lego on the play table.

Buying enough snacks to last us through five days in even colder conditions.

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.

Beijing is gloriously sunny these days.

A new building has sprung up on land once owned by the local utility company.

Bikes parked outside the exit of a subway station.

Another supermarket offering child sized trolleys.

One very happy young boy.

枣馒头 - steamed date buns

Wonton in beef broth for breakfast.

My son pushing a child sized supermarket trolley around the fresh food section of the local supermarket.

Half moon today. Half new or half old?

The last light of the day.

A China centric world map.

Looking out from the kitchen window.

The view from the noorthwest corner.

A view from the bus as we headed west.

Sheets of snow being removed on the back of a tricycle.

The view from the noorthwest corner.

冰糖葫芦 for sale.

Looking up at Jingshan Park from the north gate of the Forbidden City.

One of the buildings in the Impreial Garden.

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.

No two roofs are the same. Each corner must tell its own story.

Even whilst queuing to enter The Forbidden CIty, you start to get a sense of how big it is.

As we got closer to the gates of the Forbidden City, we saw more people in costume.

Christmas at Livat, Beijing

Bikes and scooters parked outside the mall are still covered in snow.

A look back along the platform. Early on a weekday afternoon it isn't busy.

A journey on the Beijing Metro.

It always amazes me how many cars are here. You'd never know there was a vast underground carpark that was also full.

Heading out into the compound, still covered in snow.

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.

Looking towards the Circular Mound with the sun low in the sky.

Looking away from the Circular Mound it felt like you had the place to yourself.

A view inside the echo wall

A view down a main walkway inside the west gate of the Temple of Heaven.

We loved the 炙子烤羊肉. Roast lamb with lots of cumin, red onion and corriander.

Beijing, Winter '23

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.

The remains of an outdoor swimming pool, unused since the opening of a new sports facility, bring back memories of summers in Beijing.

Giant rotating scrubbing brushes pushed back and forth along the pavements help keep them free of snow and ice.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The success of Apple Pay in China

first meal in China - Hou Hai Lake 后海, Beijing