Looking at the map to see where I've been
Oct. 4th, 2007 09:43 pmI finally managed to locate the bit of the Old Summer Palace that I saw last summer in Beijing. The map below pretty much covers it. Now zoom out ... (you'll have to get rid of the sidebar and the legend by clicking the appropriate pixels to see much.)
As with pretty much everything I saw that week, we barely scratched the surface.
(( experimental Google maps embed under the cut )
As with pretty much everything I saw that week, we barely scratched the surface.
(( experimental Google maps embed under the cut )
(no subject)
Jul. 19th, 2007 07:44 pmA year ago today, I was in China. Exactly what I was doing is harder to pin down, lost to the complications of the dateline, but over the two middle days of the week I visited a Ming Emperor's tomb, struggled up part of the Great Wall, and wandered around the Summer Palaces, all in the sticky, smoggy heat of Beijing's summer.
Today was far less adventurous, but not unpleasant; I spent a quiet day at work trying to un-mangle conference-paper manuscripts. And in just over a week I'll be on my way home -- a trip so straightforward, compared to last summer's odysseys, that I am almost completely relaxed about it. No side-trips, no trying to pack for six weeks and two countries in one suitcase, no airport connections, just cab-van-plane-train-cab-train-cab-home, and the same in reverse a couple of weeks later, if all goes well.
Today was far less adventurous, but not unpleasant; I spent a quiet day at work trying to un-mangle conference-paper manuscripts. And in just over a week I'll be on my way home -- a trip so straightforward, compared to last summer's odysseys, that I am almost completely relaxed about it. No side-trips, no trying to pack for six weeks and two countries in one suitcase, no airport connections, just cab-van-plane-train-cab-train-cab-home, and the same in reverse a couple of weeks later, if all goes well.
643 words tonight
Feb. 9th, 2007 10:50 pmOne of the treasures of the Forbidden City in Beijing is the Nine Dragon Screen, a beautiful piece of tilework depicting nine exuberant dragons, black, yellow and white. Along the top of the wall, there are more dragons, tiny green ones, which I'm not sure I even noticed at the time, but I spotted them in one of my photos.
One of the scenes in Ambassador takes place in front of that screen. I've been thinking about those little dragons, and snooping aliens, and Hawaii's rat problem, the last couple of days. And out of that, I end up with a scene in which an angry and somewhat self-important minor character kills what he thinks is a rat in his bunk ...
I'm up to 18,925 words, still behind on my![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
thing_in_150 commitment for the week, but hoping to make some real progress over the weekend, if I can fit it in with all the housework and shopping that really ought to happen. (I need both dishwasher and laundry detergent as well as food, so I'll probably have to make two grocery runs.)
One of the scenes in Ambassador takes place in front of that screen. I've been thinking about those little dragons, and snooping aliens, and Hawaii's rat problem, the last couple of days. And out of that, I end up with a scene in which an angry and somewhat self-important minor character kills what he thinks is a rat in his bunk ...
I'm up to 18,925 words, still behind on my
thing_in_150 commitment for the week, but hoping to make some real progress over the weekend, if I can fit it in with all the housework and shopping that really ought to happen. (I need both dishwasher and laundry detergent as well as food, so I'll probably have to make two grocery runs.)Friday Flower Blogging
Dec. 29th, 2006 06:53 pmIt's not been a very photographic week, so here's another lotus from the summer.
 |
Lotus Beijing, China, July 2006 |
November-December Books
Dec. 27th, 2006 08:44 pmI've been shamefully remiss in book-blogging lately, and some of these are going to be fairly sketchy, I'm afraid. Spoilers behind cuts.
Charles C. Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus
( Read more... )
Carole Nelson Douglas, Femme Fatale
( Read more... )
Tim Powers, Three Days to Never
( Read more... )
C. J. Cherryh, Fortress of Ice
( Read more... )
Beagle, The Line Between
( Read more... )
P. C. Hodgell, To Ride A Rathorn
( Read more... )
Robin Hobb, Forest Mage
( Read more... )
Brust, Five Hundred Years After
( Read more... )
Ian Johnson, Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China
( Read more... )
Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, The Mislaid Magician
( Read more... )
J. D. Hetley, Dragon's Teeth
( Read more... )
Charles C. Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus
( Read more... )
Carole Nelson Douglas, Femme Fatale
( Read more... )
Tim Powers, Three Days to Never
( Read more... )
C. J. Cherryh, Fortress of Ice
( Read more... )
Beagle, The Line Between
( Read more... )
P. C. Hodgell, To Ride A Rathorn
( Read more... )
Robin Hobb, Forest Mage
( Read more... )
Brust, Five Hundred Years After
( Read more... )
Ian Johnson, Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China
( Read more... )
Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, The Mislaid Magician
( Read more... )
J. D. Hetley, Dragon's Teeth
( Read more... )
China, day 8: Temple of Heaven Park
Aug. 3rd, 2006 06:20 pmOn the Saturday afternoon, after our part of the conference was over, a colleague and I got a cab over to the Temple of Heaven park, yet another spacious complex full of much-reconstructed Ming-style architecture. This is where the Winter Solstice ceremony to pray for good harvests was carried out, with much imperial pomp and animal sacrifice.
( A walk in the park )
( A walk in the park )
China Day 6 (Thursday): Summer Palaces
Aug. 2nd, 2006 09:14 pmBy Tucson reckoning, it was still my birthday until three o'clock in Beijing's Thursday afternoon. Be that as it may, I went on another tour, this one a less heavily subscribed one to the Summer Palace and the ruins of the Old Summer Palace.
( The Summer Palace )
( Another Shopping Opportunity )
( Yuangmingyuan )
( The Summer Palace )
( Another Shopping Opportunity )
( Yuangmingyuan )
Someone else's Chinese Travelogues
Aug. 1st, 2006 10:29 pmThis site has some nice photos and fun commentary -- they were at the Summer Palace the day we arrived, and saw quite a bit more of it than we did, though not with much better atmospheric clarity.
China, Day 5, Part 1: Ming Tombs
Jul. 30th, 2006 07:27 pmOn Wednesday I woke up to the sound of a bird call I'd never heard before; a mellow, contralto phrase several times repeated, that it wasn't hard to hear as 'Happy Birthday'.
After breakfast I got on the bus (one of three; it was a popular option) for the tour to the Ming tombs and the Great Wall.
Our guide was very informative; here are some of the snippets of info that stuck in my memory from her spiel on the longish drive to the tombs north-west of the city.
( Random Factoids )
( The Tomb )
After breakfast I got on the bus (one of three; it was a popular option) for the tour to the Ming tombs and the Great Wall.
Our guide was very informative; here are some of the snippets of info that stuck in my memory from her spiel on the longish drive to the tombs north-west of the city.
( Random Factoids )
( The Tomb )
China, day 2: The Forbidden City
Jul. 27th, 2006 08:15 pmSunday
It's probably simplistic to say that today's lunch sums up modern China in a nutshell, but really, drinking a Starbucks' iced mocha in the middle of the Forbidden City does rather neatly bring together the changes that China has gone through in the last century.
( Breakfast )
( Forbidden City, with pictures )
It's probably simplistic to say that today's lunch sums up modern China in a nutshell, but really, drinking a Starbucks' iced mocha in the middle of the Forbidden City does rather neatly bring together the changes that China has gone through in the last century.
( Breakfast )
( Forbidden City, with pictures )
China, day 1: the details
Jul. 24th, 2006 09:35 pmThis is an expanded version of what I typed into my laptop when I arrived in the hotel in Beijing on the 15th.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Saturday (last day in Beijing)
Jul. 22nd, 2006 08:39 amI went into downtown Beijing last night with a couple of colleagues, and had dinner and a stroll by the lake -- very pleasant.
The meeting wrapped up, as far as I was concerned, at about noon, and I spent the afternoon wandering around the Temple of Heaven with a colleague. It's under heavy renovation, and the main tower is so freshly spiffed-up that it still smells of new paint, and looked absolutely gorgeous in the late-afternoon light.
Tomorrow I have a plane at noon, and should be home by teatime Tucson time. Whereupon I have enormous quantities of laundry to do, and about 600 photos to tag, but I suspect I'll go to bed and worry about that next weekend.
The meeting wrapped up, as far as I was concerned, at about noon, and I spent the afternoon wandering around the Temple of Heaven with a colleague. It's under heavy renovation, and the main tower is so freshly spiffed-up that it still smells of new paint, and looked absolutely gorgeous in the late-afternoon light.
Tomorrow I have a plane at noon, and should be home by teatime Tucson time. Whereupon I have enormous quantities of laundry to do, and about 600 photos to tag, but I suspect I'll go to bed and worry about that next weekend.
Friday Flower Blogging (a bit late)
Jul. 22nd, 2006 08:19 am |
Lotus Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China, July 2006 |
There was a big array of potted lotus plants outside the gate of the Institute, where the meeting was taking place.
It's actually quite late Saturday evening here, but only morning in Tucson. I'd have done it this morning, but I ran out of internet and battery before I got to it.
Yesterday, the Summer Palace (very misty) and the ruins of the Old Summer Palace. Today, bright sunshine and I'm back at the meeting, giving my talk this afternoon.
The beauty of being here for my birthday was that by counting it both here and in Tucson I got forty hours of birthday!
Have acquired pearls. Also a dragon about six inches long. Packing all the loot may be a problem.
The beauty of being here for my birthday was that by counting it both here and in Tucson I got forty hours of birthday!
Have acquired pearls. Also a dragon about six inches long. Packing all the loot may be a problem.
More fun in China
Jul. 19th, 2006 06:39 amToday I stood in the tomb of a Ming Emperor, climbed up a bit of the Great Wall, and did some souvenir shopping. (Details next week.)
Very tired now.
Very tired now.
