Samba on the Simatai

A recent weekend featured the visit of a good old friend from D.C. To celebrate, we packed up our things and for one night stayed at our favorite place under the sun (and on the Wall): the Dongpo Restaurant (also called Simatai Guesthouse).

There's not a big story to tell really; just some fun pictures to share...  We love this hike because you can be all by yourself on the Wall for a couple of hours. Really peaceful, beautiful, and fun!


 
Friday night with great food at the Dongpo restaurant. Mr. Liu is really a good cook.

  
The restaurant and inn is a little courtyard hotel. Behind the red lanterns are the restaurant and about 7 or 8 small rooms all around the courtyard.

  
The boys approved of the sleeping quarters. (The electric blanket helped...) It's getting Spring in Beijing but it's still pretty chilly.


A great view just before sunrise.

 
Around 6 am (!) we set out on our hike across the Simatai Great Wall. The bridge in the beginning is quite an adventure!

 
About half an hour later it is time for "Samba on the Wall." My dance partner is Cassio, a dance instructor from Brazil :-)

 
We spot a monk (and his little brother) meditating on the wall. :-)

 
Room with a view.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 
Someone has to take my picture! :-)

 
We did not bring open fire...


After a couple hours we arrive at Jinshanling Great Wall, the end of another great trip.

  
In the evening we treat ourselves to some spicy fish. Yum!

In het Nederlands: Vandaag maar weer eens wat foto's van een lange wandeling op de Muur. We slapen in een heel eenvoudig hotelletje en gaan dan de volgende ochtend voor zonsopgang de Muur op. De Chinese Muur is op veel plekken een drukke toeristische attractie, dus het is heerlijk er een paar uur in alle stilte overheen te struinen.

A Modern Egg: the Chinese National Center for the Performing Arts

Earlier this week I was out on an excursion with Mingbai and China Inside to learn about and admire the National Center for Performing Arts building.

The Center, sometimes called the "Egg" or the "Birds Egg" is a brand new opera house just next to Tiananmen Square. Designed by the Frenchman Paul Andreu, the Center opened in 2007 after a bit of a rocky construction period of six years. (It wasn't helpful, for example, when in 2004 at another one of Andreu's constructions, Terminal 2E at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, part of the ceiling collapsed and four people got killed.)

China, however, decided to press on with the construction, and eventually an inaugural concert was held in December 2007.

The "Birds Egg" is made of lots of titanium and glass and is situated in the middle of an artificial lake.

Inside the Olive Hall.  I loved the many natural textures and colors that were used throughout the Center. It felt very modern, but not cold.

"Sun Li as Marcello." In a Chinese Opera House you have a lot of Chinese opera stars playing Italian roles!

An underwater walkway. You are walking underneath the artificial lake.

Marble from just about every province in China has been used for the floors.

Part of the "olives" in the Olive Hall (on the right), and part of the exterior titanium-glass construction on the left.

Just up from the Olive Hall. On the left you see two of the three large theaters that are inside.

More marble floors and wooden panels.

We were not the only visitors...

The music hall.

Brazilian wood on the ceilings in awesome bold patterns.

It would not be complete without pictures of famous people on the wall.

One of the bar areas (or at least, that is what I think it is).

Lights are off, the show is on! (We'll, sort of)

In het nederlands: Vandaag wat foto's van een bezoekje aan het "concertgebouw" van Beijing. Een mooi gebouw vond ik, maar kijk zelf maar wat je er van vindt!