Tag Archives: Forbidden City

China, Picture Galleries, Snapshots from a Happy Life

Skylines

14 Comments

Once I started going through old photos for skylines I found I couldn’t stop. To keep the post a moderate length I put them into a slide show. These are all from China, but taken over several years and representing a variety of cities.

  • Waterfront in Qingdao.
    Waterfront in Qingdao.
  • Kites flying on the waterfront in Qingdao.
    Kites flying on the waterfront in Qingdao.
  • Another view of Qingdao, this time looking down.
    Another view of Qingdao, this time looking down.
  • Chongqing through the mist.
    Chongqing through the mist.
  • Boats and bridges as well as buildings define the skyline of Chongqing.
    Boats and bridges as well as buildings define the skyline of Chongqing.
  • The Bund in Shanghai, viewed from a boat on the Huangpu River.
    The Bund in Shanghai, viewed from a boat on the Huangpu River.
  • Looking the other way: a view of the ultra modern Pudong skyline in Shanghai from a boat on the Huangpu River.
    Looking the other way: a view of the ultra modern Pudong skyline in Shanghai from a boat on the Huangpu River.
  • The pagoda of White Emperor City on the Yangtze River with the Wu mountains of the Qu Gorge (western most of the Three Gorges) behind it.
    The pagoda of White Emperor City on the Yangtze River with the Wu mountains of the Qu Gorge (western most of the Three Gorges) behind it.
  • Old and new on a peaceful morning looking out at the new city of Fengdu (relocated because of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam) from the ancient Fengdu Ghost City temple complex.
    Old and new on a peaceful morning looking out at the new city of Fengdu (relocated because of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam) from the ancient Fengdu Ghost City temple complex.
  • A view of Xi'an from the top of the Great Goose Pavilion.
    A view of Xi’an from the top of the Great Goose Pavilion.
  • The Forbidden City in central Beijing, photo taken from the Jingshan (coal hill) park.
    The Forbidden City in central Beijing, photo taken from the Jingshan (coal hill) park.
  • The Great Wall of China snakes along the skyline for many miles, this view is of the Mutianyu section, north of Beijing.
    The Great Wall of China snakes along the skyline for many miles, this view is of the Mutianyu section, north of Beijing.
  • Construction cranes at the Beijing Capital Airport and the mountains beyond it at sunset.
    Construction cranes at the Beijing Capital Airport and the mountains beyond it at sunset.
  • A fairytale view on a smoggy morning in Weifang, Shandong Province, China.
    A fairytale view on a smoggy morning in Weifang, Shandong Province, China.
  • Sunrise in Penglai, Shandong Province.
    Sunrise in Penglai, Shandong Province.

For Travel with Intent’s One Word Sunday: skyline.

China

Forbidden City Roof lines

5 Comments
Looking over the Forbidden City from Jingshan Park.
Rooflines and their lines of guardians, and lines of decorative tiles.
Tile roofs and guardians
More lines on roofs, and a nice line of guardians.

I find traditional Chinese roofs fascinating. The Forbidden City is a great place for roof watchers. The picture below isn’t square, but it contains information about the guardians.

Descriptions of the roof guardians seen on Chinese traditional buildings.
The roof guardians on traditional Chinese buildings.

For Becky of Winchester’s Lines & Squares-day 29

China, Snapshots from a Happy Life

Forbidden Crowds

Leave a comment

Nancy Merril’s Picture a Week Theme is Crowds. I don’t like them so I don’t have lots of pictures of them: I get flustered and try to haul myself out never thinking to record the experience.

KSM-20140412-Forbidden_City_Crowds-02KSM-20140412-Forbidden_City_Crowds-03

I think the biggest crowd experience I may have ever had was on my first visit to the Forbidden City, it was also my first visit to China and I think it was a weekend or minor holiday (possibly Qing Ming), so there were a lot of Chinese people out to see the Forbidden City the same day that we were there. I think of these pictures as being representative of China, or at least Beijing.

China, Snapshots from a Happy Life

Forbidden City Finger Magnets

1 Comment

The dragons of this decoration seem to be finger magnets; they are well polished by the caresses of people passing through this not-on-the-attractions-list area. Other parts of the design don’t seem to have attracted the same attention.

Notice the shiny gold dragons?
Notice the shiny gold dragons?

People were lined up (more or less) to touch this lion head handle on one of the water vats.

hadn touching the Lion handle of a water vat in the Forbidden City.
Finger magnet.

This post was inspired by Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Sense of Touch. These are a few almost quirky pictures I took at the Forbidden City because I found it interesting that people were allowed to touch and there seemed to be a  few things they almost couldn’t resist touching.

Africa, China, Picture Galleries, Stories and Meditations

What is Serenity?

1 Comment

This was harder than I thought. I didn’t know what the word really meant and had to look it up. Going through my pictures I realized that I have some serene baggage.

Dawn looking out over Masai Mara, an infinity pool in the foreground reflects the clouds and a hot air balloon is flaring.

My five elements of serenity:

  •  It needs light, but also an edge of darkness.
  •  It needs to have sky in it, but not perfectly clear.
  •  It needs water in it, unruffled water.
  •  It needs to have land in it.
  •  It needs life in it.

 

A courtyard of the Forbidden City in China, It has stone paving, a basin holding water, a couple of trees and tile roofs.
Forbidden courtyard

I am not sure why I like my sky cloudy and my water smooth. But for every rule there is an exception:

Agapanthus Flowers with a backdrop of the harbor of Crescent City on the California coast.

 

Then of course there is his Serene Highness:

A profile of a lion in grassland facing the sun.
His Serene Highness.

Aren’t dictionaries great?

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Serenity.”