Chengde -- Emperor's summer playground

Chengde is a small mountain city about 4 hours by train north of Beijing. Emperors of the Qing Dynasty would flee here to escape Beijing's sweltering summer heat.


The above photo and the 3 below were taken at Bishu Shanzhuang, which used to be the imperial summer resort. This is definitely Chengde's star tourist attraction.








The Imperial Summer Resort is a great place to visit, but no lack of restrictions.



Vegan delight -- it seems to be a common practice for Chengde restaurants to grow greens right inside the dining area. They're then cut to order.


Colorful temple-like view from my hotel room.


Spotted this room at the hotel. 消毒间 translates as "disinfectant room". Not sure what that's about, but my room was definitely very clean.


Grounds of the hotel very beautiful traditional Chinese architecture and landscaping.


Above photo and 4 below taken at Puning Temple, Chengde's only active temple. A huge place, with traditional Chinese-style buildings in front, and Tibetan-style behind.


Pretty easy to guess what that guy in the little booth is selling.


This I think is my best photo from Chengde.


Temple souvenir stands just before the exit gate.


This is ancient Chinese script, so I'm not able to translate it.


Friday afternoon train to Beijing fairly crowded. Soon after I took this photo many of these passengers had settled into their bunks for a long afternoon siesta.


Almost a full moon. Night shot of Qi Wang Lou, the hotel where I stayed.

Spring Pilgrimage, Great Wall

About once every season I take the train from Beijing to Badaling, then from there it's about a 30-minute walk to the Great Wall (and then you start climbing). The temp was about 70F, so it was a pleasant day for hiking on the wall.
Lots and lots of tour groups at Badaling. The person above (staring down the camera) is a tour-group leader.


Along with hiking on the wall, eating, drinking, buying souvenirs, riding a camel in the parking lot, you can also pay to have your photo taken in traditional Chinese clothes.







Some parts of the wall are extremely steep, and can be dangerous, especially in winter when it's icy.

Feels like spring in Beijing

First time posting from a phone,so please excuse if the blog quality is not so great.

A dog's year

Chinese New Year, by far China's largest celebration, is now coming to a close. This is the year of the dog, and those born in a "dog" year are said to be, first and foremost, loyal. "They will never abandon their friends, family or work.":
https://chinesenewyear2018.com/zodiac/dog/







Tanghulu, candied fruit, is a wintertime favorite in China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanghulu






Shot taken at the very tail end of Chinese New Year on Wangfujing, Beijing's famous pedestrian street.

Bangkok

The above photo and the 6 below taken at Wat Phra Kaew & Grand Palace, former residence of the Thai monarch. Bangkok's biggest tourist attraction. Very hot, strict dress code, packed with Chinese tourists, and quite a fantastical place.










As stated in the previous blog posting (Chiang Mai, northern Thailand), most Thai males serve as monks, at least for a short while, i.e., 3 or 4 months.




To get from place to place in Bangkok, I often rode in tuk tuks.


Another great way to get around in Bangkok is to ride the public boats on the city's river, Mae Nam Chao Phraya.


The resemblance is striking.






Night shot, Bangkok's famous and very busy Siam district.