Mother's day

Hi all

Wishing all Mothers out there.."Happy Mothers' Day".

Mothers are to be appreciated everyday, not only on Mothers' Day only.
Express your appreciation not only in kind but also in thought, words and deeds. Have a nice day.

Beijing in the springtime

Hi,

I'm back. The weather in Beijing was cool...comfortable 16 celsius. Everywhere one is greeted by a certian type of plant with hardly any leaves but the pink blooms seem to sprout out of the branches. The flowers are so attractive that they seem artificial!!

For this trip, there was no sight seeing of the usual tourist spots of Beijing city. Instaed went out of the city.

First, a day trip to the Beijing Botanical Gardens gave me the opportunity to fearst my eyes on the lovely flowers. The most amazing was the tulip garden..There were tulips of different varieties , colours, sizes and shapes. I think the spring flower show in Amsterdam is a distant second!! Also one can visit the Wofo Temple here.

Another day was a visit to Factory 798 in the Dashanzi Art district located at the jiuxianqiao exit from the airport expressway. There are many galleries for those interetsed in contemporary arts. Not to be missed will be th UCCA (Ullens Centre for contemporary Arts) and many others.

To gauge my fitness level a day spent in Siangshan Si and Biyuian Si (Fragrant temple and azure cloud temple) will took me back in history as well as back to nature.

The last day trip was to the Pagoda forest in the hills (I've forgotten the name) where the remaining five pagodas contain the remains of the revered monks who lived and practised there in ancient times. Good place for family picnics.

All in all enjoyed myself.