flickr update. Commune by The Great Wall

Freedom! Not really, but that's at the Great Wall of China. It's a somewhat private area, since it's part of the Commune by The Great Wall complex which is about an hour or less away from Beijing, near the touristy Badaling area. Are you into the idea of architects from around Asia each designing a house that someone with a lot of money can rent? I'm sure it's packed for the Olympics. The Commune is a getaway, and it's highly developed and interesting. One thing odd is that although each of the house is meticulously made, while we toured some of the interiors, they were slightly a mess. Simple things like mopping wasn't done ahead of time making the places look like there was a break in. But this is first world living outside of Beijing. It's an amazing idea.

Here's a link to their site.
Take a look at my flickr set.

Meanwhile, here's a couple of other shots.


You can walk around sections that look like this. You can't help but hope you'll see something weird there, like old tools, but no, it's been picked through 1000 times.

New and old. I thought the juxtaposition was interesting. I'm not sure if they want you to shoot pics like this, but it tells the story. Otherwise, you might think you're in Europe or walking through a spread of Dwell magazine.