Photography by Mark Carnaby

The Great Wall of China, Mutianyu, Beijing ~ one of my favourite photos of the whole trip! [Buy print]
This glamorous chunk of rock is to mark the AAAA scenic spot award from 2002
I was lucky to get some nice weather the day I visited the wall, plus the Autumn colours made this a really special moment indeed
View from out of one of the wall's many towers
I climbed up to that first tower for some amazing views of the wall ~ you can see how steep it was coming down in the next video!
Mutianyu Great Wall - Beijing - China from Mark Carnaby on Vimeo.
Quite a climb along the wall and you need some good walking shoes!
The winding Great Wall of China, it quite literally goes on for miles as you can see in the background of this photo!
Wedding models happily strolling along the wall ~ like the red of her dress in this one!
I snapped this from out of the cable car coming down from the wall, look closely and you can see towers along the back mountain!
Giant Flower Pot in Tiananmen Square
Portrait of Mao Zedong at the Tiananmen gate, Chinese guard keeping a watchful eye
This face mask was something different!
The Hall of Supreme Harmony, Forbidden City
The throne in the Hall of Preserving Harmony, Forbidden City
Gilded lion ball detail
The northern ramp, behind the Hall of Preserving Harmony, this weighs some 200 tons and is the largest such carving in China!
A statue of a kneeling elephant in the Forbidden City. Although it is known that elephants don't kneel this way, it was used to symbolize the obedience of other countries.
As I was exiting the Palace I saw this Chinese tourist holding a giant doll, needless to say a photo opportunity was had
Making my way up the steep hill of Jingshan Park
The beautiful view of the Forbidden City from the top of the hill in Jingshan Park
The northwest corner tower of the Forbidden City
Guy selling sweets on sticks of the back of his bicycle, I'd love to see this happening around London!
The Beijing National Stadium, or 'Bird's Nest' as it's known
A futuristic giant robot spider at the Olympic Green, Beijing
The Ling Long Pagoda lit up at night in the Olympic Green, Beijing
Women sharing knitting practices in the Temple of Heaven Park
A light-hearted socialist revolutionary dance in the park
Temple of Heaven - Beijing - China from Mark Carnaby on Vimeo.
Elderly Chinese folk gather to sing some revolutionary songs
Wedding model girl posing for me ~ loving the peace signs haha
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, like the blue tones of this building
Wedding models getting ready for their next shoot
The Double Ring Longevity Pavilion in the Temple of Heaven Park
Sometimes your wandering around and you spot something going on out the corner of your eye ~ this was one of them moments
The CCTV headquarters building in Beijing, crazy structure and known as "big pants" locally!
Chinese calligraphy writing at Beihai Park
Bridge to the White Pagoda in Beihai Park
Stewardess selling popcorn on the bullet train out of Beijing

China 2014: Part Two of Eleven

The Chinese Adventure: Beijing – Part One

Liked the photos?

I catch a bullet train from Shanghai to Beijing and on my second day I take the advice of a Chinese passenger from the train who told me “Don’t waste the clear skies!” so I arrange a day trip with a taxi driver to The Great Wall of China, the Mutianyu section which I read is less busy than the popular Badaling part, and was rewarded with clear skies and virtually having the wall to myself! In the next few days I also visited The Forbidden City, Beijing Olympic Park, The Temple of Heaven, The CCTV headquarters building and Beihai Park.

More photos in my blog post I made whilst travelling in China