Wow, the new designs for UK currency from the Royal Mint look great! I’m amazed that they have gone with something so bold and contemporary. It’s the first time they’ve been updated since 1968 and frankly puts the rest of Europe’s coinage to shame (although no doubt some will hate them). The queen still remains on the reverse side. [via] What do you think?
Having walked along the central axis of Beijing for nearly 7 hours I reached what must be one if the most relaxing and tranquil places in the city; the Confucian Temple, devoted to the memory of Confucius and philosophers of Confucianism (nearby the Lama Temple). Away from the hordes of mindless American tourists this is like stepping into another world. All that can be heard is the general murmur of distant chatter and magpies singing in the trees. On a warm spring afternoon I can think of no nicer place to rest ones legs and while away a few hours which is exactly what I’m doing while typing this on my iPhone. In an age when the world was still full of mystery (the…
On my first full day in Beijing I had planned to visit the embalmed Chairman Mao in his hideously ugly Mausoleum, which lies in the centre of Tiananmen Square, however that plan was thwarted by the National People’s Congress which was being held that week at the Great Hall of the People on the west side of the square. At other times of year you may see this notice: “Not always open when the corpse of the Great Helmsman requires attention.” …which I find rather hysterical for a dead guy more akin to hitler than God! The general public was definitely being kept at arms length from the communist big-wigs with identical looking PLA soldiers stationed along the length and breadth of the surrounding…