On this cold Saturday afternoon I decided to go for a walk in the historical Gulou (Drum Tower) and Houhai (Rear sea/lake) area of Beijing and take some pictures of daily life.
In the hutongs, the small alleyways in historical Beijing, it very common for tourists to go on rickshaw rides and get to know this neighborhood. Today was a slow day, so this guy was taking a nap. Careful when setting a price, they do try to overcharge foreigners and sometimes try to charge a different amount from what was settled in the beginning.
Further down the hutong I ran into these guys taking a nap. At least they were in the sun.
Before going to the frozen Houhai lake, I decided to make a stop at the Drum and Bell towers, used to keep the official time of the empire from 1272 all the way to 1924. I had been there several times before, but I just don't get tired of this site. In the future I will dedicate a post just to these two great sites.
The Bell Tower which was built in 1272 during the reign of Kublai Khan, the first Yuan emperor, was used for time keeping purposes.
View of the Drum Tower from the top of the Bell Tower. In the back, to the right, you can see part of the frozen Houhai lake.
Guard keeps a close eye on us. In the back, the Drum Tower, in the foreground, the bell itself.
This is what the hutongs look from above. You can see a lot of modern influence. On the bottom left you can see a flock of pigeons on top of a pigeon cage. It's not uncommon for older residents of the hutongs to raise pigeons.
The inside of the Drum Tower. From time to time a group of performers come and show their drumming skills.
View of Beijing to the south, from the top of the Drum Tower. In the center, far away, is Jinshan park, which stands exactly in front of the Forbidden City (technically oHbehind, but not from this point of view).
Houhai lake from the top of the Drum Tower. If you look closely you can see the people skating.
Tons of people would "line up" (I use quotes because standing in line is not something people actually do here in China. It was more like piling up in front of the ticket window) to skate and play in the ice.
This guy speeds past with this bicecle (get it? b-ICE-cle... ok, maybe not that funny) talking on the phone.
This kid was having so much fun trying to push his chair-skate, but actually the dad in the back was doing all the work.
The sun sets at Houhai lake. It got too cold and I came back home.