Beijing::::a city built to inspire?
Modern Beijing from the China Central Television (CCTV) tower.
I shot this in May of this year. This is essentially the belly of socialist architecture. The stadium Ryan posted below will be a much welcomed addition to a city constantly on the build. Beijing is a CRAZY CRAZY place. I highly recommend all Americans GO TO CHINA sometime in thier lives. You will never be the same afterwords. It is life changing. China is one of the most interesting countries in the world, as it develops we will see an amazing adaptation of Marxisim within a profit driven economy. They are currently one of the MOST polluted countries in the world and one of the primary contributors to green house gasses. China has much work to do.
Although Beijing is an ancient city and was often used as the capital by one warlord or another, its modern history as a capital begins in the Yuan dynasty ( 1271-1368 ) with Kublai Khan, grandson of Ghengis Khan. It is here that Marco Polo made his base as he visited and travelled with the Khan. He spent over 20 years as a guest of the Khan before returning to Europe with his vivid descriptions of the great civilization to the east. Most of what we see today in Beijing was built during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). It is a city built to inspire; to awe the populace with the power of the emperor. Built for the rites and ceremonies performed to maintain the Mandate of Heaven as well as for defense, it achieves grace through power and size rather than through ornament and variety. The Mings looked to the past for their design. Beijing, like most major cities in China was built with a series of concentric walls. The outermost wall surrounded what was the Chinese city. A major highway which provides access to the outskirts and links the city with the major arteries to the rest of the country sits on its bed. At various points along the highway you can see the guard towers which loomed above the old gates to the city and provided early warning of invasion. One might regret the loss of this ancient wall, but the alternative would have been to raze whole neighborhoods in one of the most densely packed cities in the world.