Drum and Bell Towers

A couple of weeks ago Margot and I went out for a walk - mostly just for exercise but also to visit the Drum and Bell Towers.

This is the Drum Tower. It was built here in 1420 although there was an earlier version about 100 years earlier.



This is the Bell Tower. The two towers are separated by a small courtyard or square. The two towers were used to announce the time in Beijing until 1924 when this function was abandoned.

Here some men are playing Xiangqi or Chinese chess in the courtyard between the towers. It is definitely a spectator sport. You never see 2 people playing alone. They always attract onlookers.

Xiangqi on Wikipedia

We took the subway to Yonghegong station (Lama Temple) and then walked past the temple and over to the towers.

We passed by the north end of Nanluoguxiang. It was quite busy this day, also. I posted some pictures from Nanluoguxiang a few weeks ago. You can find them here if you missed them earlier. Nanluoguxiang

Here is a link to the Lama Temple if you missed it last fall. Yonghegong

Apparently this vampire/zombie mania has hit Beijing, also.

I'm so proud of our western cultural exports.

I didn't have a place for these Chinese New Year or Spring Festival decoration pictures so I will stick them here. This is at Oriental Plaza outside the Hyatt Hotel.

This is a closeup of the center decoration. A very popular spot to take pictures.

This is inside the Oriental Plaza shopping mall below our apartment. The little girl seems to be having fun posing for her parents.