The roof of my academics' residence in Beijing was my favourite spot to snap a few pictures of the city skyline. In the very far distance, you can see the Fragrant Hills in the sunset, but closer in you can see my very favourite Beijing Happy Soviet Buildings. In the 2003-2004 academic year, when I taught in Beijing, there were still many, many of these 1960s and 1970s buildings around the place. I used to be able to date them by decade, but I'm out of practice now.
The two on the left, with their funny unusual island hats on, were incredibly useful landmarks when I got lost in the streets around the university. Beijing may be a grid system, but when the smog and the sandstorms roll in, there's no direct sunlight to figure out which way is north.
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