Anthony Clark

The planets had aligned on the earlier part of our trip – with a White Christmas in Europe, and then being spoilt with the Northern Lights.

So our brief stopover in Beijing on the way home was always a bit of an afterthought.

But again, the planets aligned.

Snow in the centre of Beijing is pretty rare, happening only a handful of times over the last few years.

Then having fine weather so we could see a crisp blue sky, not the brown haze that Beijing is so famous for.

And then squeezing in our trip just before the coronoavirus outbreak swept across China. It made for some interesting looks when we got back home with the sniffles though.

Beijing’s a clean and modern city, with a lot of history, stretching back thousands of years. And so much of it is preserved.

The most striking thing though is the security. Every pole has a camera on it and you know you’re being watched (either on screen or in person) in some of the main tourist locations.

Here are some of the highlights of our short visit to the city.