China Image Gallery

Pictures from China taken on a Samsung NV8 compact camera.

No photoshop effects have been added to these pictures. These pictures are under copyright, if you wish to use a picture please make contact with me via the contact form.

Nanjing Road, Shanghai

Finance District, Shanghai

Across the Bund, Shanghai

Jade Budda Temple, Shanghai

Jade Budda Temple, Shanghai

Rain on the Temple Roof, Shanghai

Yu Garden, Shanghai Old Town

Shanghai Old Town

Yu Garden, Shanghai Old Town

Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou

Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou

Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou

Lingering Garden, Suzhou

Lingering Garden, Suzhou

Terracotta Warriors, Xian

City Walls, Xian

City Walls, Xian

Sanxingdui Museum

Wuhou Shrine, Chengdu

Wuhou Shrine Bamboo, Chengdu

Wuhou Shrine, Chengdu

Wuhou Shrine, Chengdu

Street Seller, Jinli Street, Chengdu

Bridge Building, Yangtse River

Gorge, Yangtse River

Market, Chongqing

Market, Chongqing

Street Seller, Chongqing

Green Water, Eling Park, Chongqing

Eling Park, Chongqing

Coloured Waters and Flowers, Eling Park, Chongqing

Neon, Chongqing

Ghosts of Neon, Chongqing

Watching the Lights Go Out, Chongqing

Tai-Chi in People's Square, Chongqing

Blurs of Dancers, Chongqing

Fishermen, Shennong Stream

Shennong Stream

Symmetry, Summer Palace

Forbidden City, Beijing

Avenue of Statues

Avenue of Statues

The Great Wall

The Great Wall

Golden Dragon, The Great Wall

Happy Pandas, Beijing

Pandas, Beijing

Playful Panda, Ya'an

Freezing in Magnificent Beijing: Part 1

 Most of the time  in China the weather had been warm and humid. In Beijing it was bright, sunny and absolutely freezing. The drop in temperature was a real shock to system. Suddenly I was glad that I remembered to bring gloves.

The day started with a short visit Beijing Zoo to see the pandas. We ran to the enclosures as quickly as we could. Pandas are morning creatures so most of them were out and a large group of youngsters were busy playing.

While the majority of our group stayed looking at the youngsters I walked around to see if any of the other pandas were outside. In a nearby enclosure an enormous male panda, who we named Dave, was busy wandering around, finding food and generally being lazy. Dave the panda was certainly the cleanest bear I had seen so far. He seemed to be too mature to roll around in the mud.

We left Dave to his wandering and headed for the Forbidden City. The city is an amazing piece of work. It contains just under a thousand rooms and some of the most incredible architecture I had seen in China. Even though it was winter the gardens were still wonderful with a mixture of impressive pagodas, rocks and winter vegetation. Certain rooftops even had fine symbolic figures carved into them.

We moved through to the living quarters where the last young emperor would have played (Watch the film ‘The Last Emperor’), and out into one of the many enormous courtyards. The weather continued to get colder. Our journey through the city reached the great gate and we passed through and out, under a portrait of Chairman Mao, into Tian-An-Men Square. The place was heaving with visiting Chinese tourists taking pictures.

The main square is separated from the Forbidden City by a very busy road. The only way to reach it safely was from a nearby underpass. We excitedly rushed along to get to the other aside.

To be continued...