Beijing Spring

Spring has finally arrived and thanks to a one-day rain, the forsythia, jasmine, and green shrubs are in bloom. Because the air quality was good (mind you, at 75 it would still be of concern to you weaklings in the U.S., Australia, Saudi Arabia and other outposts of the Beijing expat diaspora), I decided to take a run along the canal.

As usual, I got smiles and greetings and the occasional surprised look. What’s funny about this is that I was running past sights that would garner a huge reaction in the U.S.: a man taking his caged birds out for a little sun along the canal, an older gentleman pounding himself on the shoulders (to help with circulation, of course), and several people singing at the top of their lungs. Babies toddling along the sidewalk, children kicking soccer balls in the amphitheater, and old ladies sitting in their wheelchairs in the sun – this is Beijing spring.

Here are a few shots I took around the neighborhood today.

The jasmine is still a little ragged, but coming along.

The blooming trees by our gate.

The local gardeners are putting in new shrubs.

This guy saw me taking pictures and asked me to take his. I told him he was handsome: haokan.