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A typical feature of Chinese Spring Festival celebrations are the temple fairs. At this one, in Chaoyang park I won this big stuffed Doraemon for Carina by throwing some softballs into a peach basket. Viewed: 360 times.
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This Spring Festival fair on a historic street in the south of Beijing had a different feeling from others. Instead of rides and games, this one was all about the vendors selling traditional old Beijing food and crafts. Viewed: 311 times.
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For our own Spring Festival dinner, me and Carina made our own dumplings (jiaozi) from scratch. She made the pretty half-moon pillows on the left. I made the angry ridged dinosaurs on the right. Viewed: 320 times.
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During spring festival many locals visit the Lama Temple to pray for luck in the coming year. I hadn't been there for a few years, and it was great to see the place alive and bustling with worshipers, instead of tourists. Viewed: 322 times.
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Some amazing statues inside the Lama Temple. Viewed: 317 times.
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I'm standing in a courtyard of the Lama Temple. Viewed: 320 times.
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Here's Carina putting incense into one of the temple's burners. Viewed: 335 times.
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Here's Carina ringing the good for good luck. Viewed: 321 times.
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After our visit to the Lama temple we decided to explore the historic area around the temple. Here there are old streets, a Confucius temple, and the original university which prepared students for the ancient imperial exam. Viewed: 312 times.
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Confucius stands watch over the courtyard of his temple. The Confucius temple has a much different feel from the Lama Temple, which is a Buddhist temple. Its much more open and austere. No buildings filled with statues, or crowds of worshipers burning incense. Viewed: 366 times.
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At another temple fair, this time in the Temple of Earth (Ditan) Park we saw Chairman Mao. I'm guessing he might not be the real thing. Viewed: 329 times.
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I'm not exactly sure how pleasant it is to roll around in a giant inflated ball over a pool of half frozen ice and water. But anyway, these kids seem to be having fun. Viewed: 333 times.
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After the weather had warmed up a bit, me and Carina took a day trip out the eastern outskirts of Beijing to visit the Fahai Temple. This is a pretty low key place, and it was nice to get outside the city, see the local suburbs, and enjoy a bit more of a natural environment than we get in downtown Beijing. Viewed: 357 times.
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We're climbing our way up the hill through the courtyards of the temple. Viewed: 364 times.
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This temple was constructed in 1443 and boasts some amazing and apparently famous, murals depicting Buddhist beliefs. Sadly, the original murals are closed to the public. But we learned all about them, and saw the exact reproductions that have been created for tourists to view. Viewed: 352 times.
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One of the temple's residents was this really dirty old cat. It looked like it had a hard life and was not really friendly to visitors. Viewed: 358 times.
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Just a short walk from the Fahai Temple is the Tomb of Eunuch Tian Yi, which has some great stone statues in the courtyard. Viewed: 343 times.
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Me and Carina go down to explore the depths of the tomb. Viewed: 313 times.
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The Eunuch Tian Yi must have been rather short and thin. His tomb doesn't have much room to stretch out and get comfortable. Viewed: 322 times.
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This was not an easy picture to take. I had to press the camera button and then jump up on that horse before the 10 second timer ran out. It took a few attempts before I made it just in time. Viewed: 340 times.
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Carina relaxes on a statue. Viewed: 322 times.
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Who can resist the temptation of putting their own head on top of a famous statue? Viewed: 318 times.
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In summer time me and Carina decided to visit Houhai for a day of bike riding and boating around the lake. Viewed: 353 times.
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After we rode around for an hour or so we took a rest on a bench by the lake. Then we both got up the energy for another trip around the lake on the hot sunny day. Viewed: 319 times.
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After a whole afternoon of bike riding we rented a paddle boat and drifted lazily around the lake watching people and dogs enjoy the water. Viewed: 328 times.
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These dogs had an amazing amount of energy, swimming out to fetch balls, following their owners on pretty long swims, and then bounding out of the water to play on shore. It was a non-stop show. Viewed: 363 times.
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