While my Dad was in Beijing with me we went to check out a new site in town. 
An old section of wall remained in the city and from the road you could see old astronomical devices displayed on top.
An old section of wall remained in the city and from the road you could see old astronomical devices displayed on top.
We went up for a closer look.
There were lots of cool devices that were used to measure the sky.
It was interesting seeing all the old mathematical tools.
There were also some cool dragon statues.
Below the wall was a garden with sundials and other objects.
This thing tells you what day of the year it is based on where the sun causes the rod's shadow to fall on the base.
This guy is an ancient Chinese astronomer. Behind him you can see the stuff on the wall.
This rock has carved on it the pattern of the sun and earths relationship and is used to calculate seasons and weather. 
It was cool because I could actually read what some of the Chinese characters said.
The Chinese are famous for their sundials.
I am not sure what this thing did but the dragons sculpted around it were awesome.
Now this is a claw!
The dragons were very detailed.
Hey look- I'm atlas but I am holding up the stars instead!
Even Dad held hands with the dragons.
It was a pretty big sculpture.
There was a small museum area that had some explanations and history for the devices. This sign explains the four animal signs that the Chinese use to represent the four directions.
Later we went to the Forbidden City. 
It is massive and the pollution was pretty bad but we still had a good time seeing where the emperors used to live. 
Because of the Olympics lots of buildings had their paint touched up and looked great with all the red and gold detailing. 
The architecture was amazing. 
Here is Dad in front of one of the huge red doors. 
I love all the doors.
There are even bridges inside the palace and rivers and moats that run through it. 
Don't let the photos fool you- we weren't the only people there that day. 
Outside on the street we saw this sign and still have no idea what it is suppose to be saying.
We also visited the Summer Palace while we were in Beijing. This is looking up the hill towards a Buddhist temple in the palace grounds.
This is looking down the long corridor that stretches around one side of the lake.
Above is the Marble Boat- it was a promenade one of the Emperor Dowagers built to have parties on.
The bottom part is made from stone but the top two levels are wood painted to look like marble.
More of the Long Corridor. 
The Corridor is a nice place to sit and relax for a while. 
We took this dragon boat across the lake. 
View from the boat.
Oh yeah- I could be a mean dragon!
Every where you turn there are different painted gate ways.
The whole place is intricately painted. Similar to the Forbidden City.
The place would not be complete with out a little bamboo!
Of course I took Dad down to the Olympic square to see the infamous bird's nest and water cube.
We couldn't get very close because security was still tight even after the games.
Here is Dad in front of what is known around town as the dragon building.
We were able to get a little closer to the Water Cube than to the Bird's Nest.
Us and the Chinese were out getting our picture taken.
The pollution was pretty bad, but this shows the whole length of the dragon building. 
The dragon had huge screens on it that showed the olympics.
We were there just long enough to see them turn on the lights to the Bird's Nest.
I like it when it glows red at night.
Here you can see both the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest behind Dad. 
We had a really great time in Beijing.
