China-Beijing the Observatory

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So after a good nights sleep and a shower I get out around the city again. I spend alot of time at the observatory which as with many things in China has a troubled history that starts with discovery on a global scale and then descends into rape and pillage when the foreigners turn up. The observatory has been put back together after being ransacked by various superpowers and tells an interesting story of chinese sciences and the influence that european science took from the Chinese. It is another hot day and the desert areas to the north of Beijing provide a dusty atmosphere that brings a yellow tinge to the sky. After the observatory I get around a few of the thousands of malls that have invaded Beijing's modern grid pattern and get some more great food. Everything here is cheap and easy to find and provides a large contrast to Russia. Then I walk for hours around the Hutong's that are still common to the city. They are very special places and full of life and much more interesting than the sterile malls - but can be a little rough around the edges! Later I manage to absorb some more qinqdao and peking duck but as I have no mandarin apart from ni hao and shi-shen transactions can be difficult. All of the cabbies have been put on a forced english programme for the olympics but they seem to have invented there own language!

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Photos

Beijing Obervatory
Established at a similar time to greenwich!

Dragon
Close up- scary!

Observatory Dragon
Not sure how it relates to astronomy but beautifully made!

Observatory
Instrument for measuring star positions

Device for Measuring Shadow from sun
Used to predict the seasons

Rooftop Device
Plotting star positions on globe.

Rooftop Device
For measuring angles of star positions.

Rooftop device
Not sure of function but looks beautiful!

beijing street scene
hazy and mysterious!

Observatory Rooftop
Fascinating machine's!

Beijing Hutong
These places may look scrappy but they are magical!