China 2016 (Beijing, Steppes)

Since I go to Beijing somewhat regularly, I’ve been to the Forbidden City more times than I care for, but I’ve got to include the obligatory picture. We also went to a few more classic Beijing attractions, like the Bird’s Nest stadium and Yuanmingyuan1 (the old summer palace) with my grandma. A slightly more unorthodox place to visit is the 798 art district, which has a “trendy” sort of vibe to it. We also visited a science museum, which had a couple of really cool exhibits. My favorite was a dimly-lit room where the floor was placed on a slight angle but the walls were vertical. Your brain perceives the room as normal, but gravity has an apparent sideways slant.

Circular Chinese temple Panorama over city
The Tian Tan (Temple of Heaven) in the Forbidden City. I don’t remember where the panorama was taken, but I suspect it was from Xiangshan (the Fragrant Hills) near Beijing. (Click on any image to view at full resolution.)

One really cool thing: we got to visit the steppes! I think in Chinese these are called the cao yuan. There were some Mongolian-themed attractions and some pretty wildflowers.

Field of wildflowers Silhouette of couple at sunset in front of lake Grasslands Panorama of grasslands
Pictures taken on the steppes. (Click on any image to view at full resolution.)

  1. Actually, my Beijing visits kind of blend together in my mind. I don’t remember if that was this trip or a previous trip.↩︎