2009 09 14 – Day 80 – Shanhaiguan
Like Qianmen in Beijing,
Shanhaiguan is part of the '
new old' China.
The new arched entrance to the old tourist attraction The First Pass Under Heaven:
The building to the left with the circular windows is part of the hotel I stayed in, which was very convenient.
New flat surfaces and sharp edges abound in the old town. Perhaps everything's new?
Except this food stall. Delicious spicy eggy pancakes – a staple breakfast item for my time in Beijing, so I don't know why I didn't have a good picture of one earlier.
The sun came out, collaborating with the smog to make my photo of The First Pass Under Heaven look like it's from the 1970s or something:
Within the tourist zone around and beyond the gate are a variety of gentle entertainments:
archery with arrows of dubious quality – they each lacked at least one
fletching; drumming on massive drums of impressive sound and rebound; wide wall walking:
bashed biscuit buying
(and eating! Mostly almond and honey I think. Mmm!)
In fact there was plenty of opportunity to buy a variety of tourist tat, but I declined the enthusiastic stall holders' advances.
The rising ranks of tour groups were beginning to crowd my space. It was time to move on.
