When I visited Beijing in the couple years before the Olympics, I didn’t see any of the venues for the games. At that time I didn’t even know where in the city they were located. I stuck with the tourist destinations that included the Forbidden City.

Unfortunately, it was difficult to see the Forbidden City. You see, much of the emperor’s former residence was off limits to the public because of restoration work. From what I’ve read, the Olympics forced Beijing to restore many historical sites–I was just lucky enough to arrive when everything was being restored.
And in honor of the London Olympics, I’ve decided to post a second Friday photo of Beijing’s restoration project.