China Post 1_Beijing 6

I was lucky enough to get a tour of the CCTV building, currently under construction.
I've also attached a rendering of the expected outcome. The project is pretty phenomenal, and I think they've already demonstrated just how amazing the curtain wall/structural concept is.

China Post 1_Beijing 5

Ok so that's the last of the old, in with the new I say!!!

China Post 1_Beijing_4

China Post 1_Beijing_3

After hiking, I did what one has to do in BJ: scurry around in the blistering heat of the Forbidden city and the most grossly overscaled square (Tiananmen) in the world.
Obligatory viewing in BJ, but all I felt was heat-stricken.

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China Post 1_Beijing_1

Here are some photos from my (1st ever) China trip!
I first flew to Beijing, where I did an arranged hike through some beautiful landscapes to the north of the city. We passed by the great wall and finished at a walled village.

Choi Hung/Kai Tak

Choi Hung MTR, otherwise known as the rainbow station, is where I disembarked.
I was met with some striking housing estates, which like most places in HK, deserve to feature in films.
Hong Kong used to have an old airport, and you used to have to descend in the aeroplane between highrise buildings just before landing, so I'm told. That must have been cool for those who enjoy flying, and cardiac-inducing for those who don't.
On this fine day I'd decided to check out the old airport site-apparently the airport had been a bowling alley, a disco and an office headquarters since it closed back in the 90's. But by the time I got there, nothing was left. "Old airport?" The Taxi Driver barked incredulously upon hearing my request. "There is...nothing!"
I insisted, and even though everything has been demolished to make way for a new ultra-dense residential/commercial development, the setting is stunning. One of the runways is still there as well. As I was leaving, heading back in the direction of some bulldozers lumbering in the distance, I spotted a man on the edge of the runway, packing away a little radio-controlled glider. That made me smile.

Kam Sheung Road

As I was walking around the Station area mentioned in the previous post, I came across a brush fire. A few villagers were a bit freaked, the rest went about their business as if it happened everyday. The dogs barked at the evacuation helicopter. Some kids rode their bikes around furiously. I watched the fire smolder for a while and went home. Apparently the fire made the TV news. Brush fires are common on hillsides in Hong Kong, because people burning offerings for ancestors buried in little hillside graves might lose control of their burning incense, or paper money ash might go flying everywhere.

Kam Tin Village

For Work, we were doing a feasibility study for a new railway station in the northwest New Territories. While taking a look around the place, I visited nearby Kam Tin Village, which has many very old buildings-probably among the oldest I've yet seen in Hong Kong. Some are in good shape, some are very dilapidated. But generally, they don't seem to have been adapted for reuse (except for the temple), and, since many of them are shut or sealed, they seem a little neglected. The village has a wonderful human scale, and there are lots of little footways and paths to wander along. I think I'll be back.