Pictures Of Beijing Taken During Visit To China With Views From International Hotel, Beijing.

Did you have a good Christmas ? I hope so, and that the year ahead will bring you many happy days you can enjoy with your family and friends. It was very kind of you to remember me at Christmas time, and your Christmas Cards in particular were a sure sign that you had me in your thoughts once again, at a very special part of the year.

Need I say that I went to China last year, 2009 ? I was there for nearly 7 weeks, visiting some of the friends made over the past years. During this visit we travelled in China about 4,800 miles by train, very convenient, very comfortable, and very interesting! Much better than the up and down by plane, when time is not an item. The flight was from Manchester, where I was taken to, by neighbour Dave, then by Air France to Paris and on to Beijing, to be met by friends Kate and Chuck. Now Beijing is nothing like the Beijing we experienced in 1987. In those early years, the streets were full of bikes, now they are full of cars!

Chuck was 'my keeper' on this visit, and we stayed at the International Hotel again, which is close to Liu's office, and the hotel also has a revolving restaurant at the top floor, which always gives us good views of the city. On a clear day the views from the window reveal very little of the old city, except for the famous buildings such as the Forbidden City. What is still existing, is an area where a 'Hutong' appears to have been preserved as a reminder of the past. The Hutong is a group of homes that are usually occupied by extended families. It is a community in its own right, where everyone seems to have some family connection. It is a closely-knit community, caring and looking after its own members.

From the window of our hotel room, there are no signs of 'Hutongs' and very few reminders that you are in China. One exception is the roof of the block opposite the hotel that has the bird tail roof top, or upturned eaves. We were only in Beijing for two nights, before we took our first train to An Qing, where we were met by Xing Du and one of his students, named Guo. Xing Du drove us in his car to the Sikong Mountains, the location of the Buddhist Temple, to which he had moved from the Shaolin Temple. The road to his new temple took us through some wonderful scenery, up and down twisting roads, needing much care and attention, and much use of the car-horn!