Dear Jan,
Please forgive my failure to write lately. We have had a wonderful holiday, but house guests (as wonderful as they were) for 11 days straight do end up curtailing some of one’s normal activities. I’ll get a couple of holiday photos up soon but my closure fixation insists that I quickly tie up loose travel ends. Given that it is stale news, I’m limiting myself to just a few photos that captured iconic highlights of the trip.
We visited the Summer Palace in Beijing just as the sun was setting. It was so cold - the lake was turning to ice as were our ears. But the low light of the setting sun glowed warm through the Seventeen Arch bridge, the longest in any of the Beijing Imperial gardens.
What do pandas do when it is cold out? They stay inside and sleep. So many sleeping pandas - but this one was by far the most relaxed that I spotted at the Beijing zoo.
And one of my last views of China may be the most iconic of all - the Great Wall, seen just north of Beijing from the airplane window.
I hope I’ll be back to see it again, but I’m happy to be home and finally completely over the jet lag.
Happy New Year to you and to all of our readers!
Ellen
Jan and Ellen are identical twins who have always had an innate fashion sense. Crafting is an integral part of their lives and they stay stitched together sharing their love of knitting, family and community.
January 4th, 2012 at 12:59 pm
I’ve never seen a view of the wall quite like that. Cool.
January 4th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
I would love to see the Great Wall someday. Of course, Dale is building one in one of our fields, but it doesn’t photograph quite as well.
And I feel like that panda right about now!
January 4th, 2012 at 10:27 pm
Beautiful photos! Glad you enjoyed your houseguests. =)
January 5th, 2012 at 9:51 am
I lived in Mongolia for a year, so my views are from the other side!
January 5th, 2012 at 6:03 pm
Those are wonderful photos! You are reminding me why China has long been on my to-travel-to list. Happy new year to you, too!