Bird's Nest, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, SSTPC

Right after graduation I left for another trip to China. Here are some sightseeing photos and a few pictures of the SABIC-Sinopec Joint Venture in Dagang.

This is the Bird's Nest stadium at night. Our hotel was nearby and we walked along this area on the way from the subway to the hotel.

After the picture above ended up in the SABIC Branding Guidelines prepared by Lippincott in London, I questioned how that could be since I didn't license it to them. At the end of the day, they agreed to license the picture although they didn't really admit that it was this one. The clincher was the ripples in the water and the hot pixels in the sky in the version above. I cleaned it up for them in the version on the left.

This is the moat around the Forbidden City. This the northeast corner. The weather was pretty nice. Definitely hot but the blue skies are not to be wasted in Beijing.

This is inside the living area of the Forbidden City. I think the building with the dragons on top is an opera stage.

I thought this seal on a wall was interesting. Notice that the dragon has 5 toes. This means that it is an imperial dragon.

The architecture is very interesting, I think.

This is a sedan chair. Took about 8 people to carry it.

An inlaid box in the Forbidden City.

This view (and the next few) are in the ceremonial section of the palace. The building on the horizon just right of center is built on a hill that contains all the dirt from the moat.

One of the main halls that was used for official functions.

Another view. Officials would often fill the plaza for official proclamations from the emperor. Can you imagine the square filled, the emperor appearing and the entire assembly kowtowing?

Notice the figurines on the eaves. The more figurines the more important the building.

A view of the throne inside one of the halls.

Another throne in a different building.

The Chinese have comrade Obama figured out. I hope our country catches on soon.

Later in the afternoon we went to a tea tasting near one of the hutongs. Interesting, about 8 different types of tea were offered for tasting and for sale. Sort of a running joke but in addition to their health benefits, I think about half of them make a man 'strong' - if you know what I mean. The first timers were shocked, SHOCKED, to learn that the tea cups they bought here for 130 RMB could be had for 20 RMB at the Silk Market. The show was worth something, I guess.

Later in the afternoon we went to the Temple of Heaven.

It is a real popular spot for people to gather and indulge in their hobbies.

After the Temple of Heaven we had dinner at a restaurant serving Imperial cuisine.

These are actually some sort of bean curd pastry if I remember correctly.

Fish balls and the fish it came from.

Here they actually prepare the Peking Duck for you. The duck, sauce and vegetables are rolled into a pancake.

This is the administration building at the Sinopec-SABIC Joint Venture company. We will be building a polycarbonate plant here, also.

This is about a 1/3 of the main control room.

One of the units.

Here they are reclaiming land from the sea for another industrial park.

An old ship in the harbor.

Graduation

Time to catch up on a couple of postings. Back in May we celebrated Mike's graduation from WVU.

B.A. in Geography

A department ceremony.

It was a beautiful day in Morgantown.

Here are a couple of the iconic buildings on campus.

Thought I better include this one after I twisted Mike's arm to pose with the Mountain Man.

William Jefferson Clinton was the guest speaker. A reasonable speech and as far as I could see no untoward behavior with any co-eds.

After the ceremony.

Proud parents.

Proud grandparents.

More proud grandparents.

Margot and I stopped by Clendenin, WV to see what was there.

A relative of Margot's.

The answer to what's there is not much. About 3 blocks wide between the river and the mountain. Maybe a half mile long.

Interesting tidbit.

Summer Palace, Tanggu, Dagu Chemicals, Temple of Heaven, Kao Rou Ji

Spent another couple of weeks in China. Here are a couple of pictures of the plant as construction progresses.

The white building on the left is part of the plant. The large tanks to the left are in another part of the plant. Pretty hazy most of the time.

Here is a picture inside of one of the buildings. The vessel with the coil on the outside is a reactor. Pump to the right and heat exchangers to the left.

Here are a few pictures of the area between the plant and the hotel. Always something cooking for dinner.

A bicycle tire shop on every corner - it seems like.

Vegetables if you are cooking at home.

They are building an identical bridge right next to this one. The pace of infrastructure investment in China is amazing.

These women are cleaning the expressway. Notice all the trees in the background. China is planting trees along the expressways and the local streets at a furious pace. It will look like Singapore in 20 years.

Over the weekend, we took a day trip to Beijing for sightseeing. Here are Lewis, Mike, Vern Dean and Jeff at the Temple of Heaven.

The inside of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.

Not so many people at the park singing and so on. I think we were there a little too early in the day.

The Bird's Nest stadium is open for tours. Not really a tour. For $6 you can go in, walkaround and sit down. My opinion - skip it.

The locals are fascinated with Lewis. Several times people came up to get their picture taken with him. He thinks it is the goatee. He is fairly tall, also. I know I'm a guy but he doesn't strike me as unusually handsome.

I think it was the next weekend when we toured the Summer Palace. Pretty nice day. A HUGE crowd of people when we were there. Seemed like half of Beijing was there.

This is the infamous Marble Boat.

Later in the day we took the hutong tour near Houhai. Interesting place - this is inside a si he yuan home. This is an antique bed.

Here are a bunch of the pedicabs you can hire for a tours of the hutongs.

One of our drivers.

Here is shot of Houhai at night.

We ate dinner at the restaurant on the left. Kao Rou Ji if I remember correctly.

The place is fairly new. It is called The Place in English. It is an outdoor shopping mall with this HUGE LED display overhead. The scenes change from time to time. We ate dinner there our last night in Beijing.

Here are Vern, David and Jeff.

Another view. It is really impressive.

One of the days I took another trip to PanJiaYuanShiChang. Found several slide rules.