Beijing

While Angela was in town we all had the opportunity to go see some of the sights in Beijing.


Wes and Angela check out "night food" street. They passed on the fried scorpions and snakes and settled for some pan-fried dumplings.



The next morning on the Mutianyu Great Wall, the gang encountered a martial arts group. Wes challenged a group of seven year old purple belts and was belted purple.



Wes and Annette on the way up the wall.



Guarding the rampart.



"Oh no! I dropped my keys!"



Angela makes the final push up a VERY steep ascent.



View from the top.



Whew! Angela is smiling more now that she is on the way down.



At the Temple of Heaven Park



Annette and Angela flashing peace on the place where emperors used to worship the heavens



After the Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven, the girls were ready to do some shopping at the Pearl Market. Here they are bargaining over a nice silver and jade necklace.





On day two we headed for the Forbidden City. Much of it is under scaffolding; preparations for the 2008 Olympics are in full force.


Wes and Annette at the FC.


We had planned to etch our names into the walls at the Forbidden City, but then we saw this sign - dang!


Wes in a big pot that used to hold water to extinguish fires.


Angela and Annette relax in a quiet area of the Forbidden City.


Wes and Annette at the lover's tree. Awww...

Shortly after we left the Forbidden City, we were stopped to do an interview for BBC news! Angela was the big star, Annette looked stylish on the side, and Wes got cut out of the frame (eh, who needs fame?). You can see the report HERE.


Next we hiked up to enjoy the view from the White Dagoba. Not to be confused with the White Pagoda (or the similarly named planet in Star Wars).


After hours of wandering around the city and hiking up the steps to the Dagoba, our feet were tired! We decided to get off them for a while and cruise around in an electric boat. We were evidently quite the attraction, since the locals in passing boats couldn't resist taking our picture.


On our final day, we decided to check out Lamma temple.



They own the Guinness world record for the biggest Buddha statue carved out of a single tree.


Here are the knees of the Buddha. It was pretty impressive.



Not much headroom in there for the deity.


Wes spins a prayer wheel. Always remember to turn counterclockwise!


A&A pose with a lioness statue.


At the Beijing airport, Angela was nearly arrested after she decided to dump out this huge pot of flowers!


Ah! Home sweet (temporary) home back in HK. This new countdown clock has been installed in the terminal. Hong Kong is apparently hosting some of the equestrian events.