Last year I did a 365 project where I took one photo every day with the focus on bokeh. It turned out to be a real difficult project, as time was limited on most days and sometimes I had no more than 5 minutes to come up with a shot. However, I managed to get all 365 photos. Although it’s difficult to choose some favorites, here are a few of my highlights:

Invasion

Lemon-coconut cupcake

Trafalgar Square, London

Summer Palace, Beijing

Castlefest

Rolls Royce

Enjoying the autumn sun

Autumn

You can check out the entire set here.

Other fashion show photo’s

If you want to use one of my pictures, please contact me by email or comment on this post.

More splash images:

Here is an impression of this beautiful place.

The first full day in Chengdu started with the main attraction of this relaxed city: the Chengdu Panda Base.

The Panda center is a green and spacious environment with lots of Panda to see and photograph. This was one of the highlights of our trip.

In the afternoon we went to the small town of Luodai, which is not that well known but has some nice examples of ancient Chinese architecture. Nowadays though it feels more like a big country fair. Lots of people and lots of things to buy which you don’t need.

Of course the spicy Sichuan kitchen is always visible, where else can you buy chili peppers in this quantity.

In the evening we went to see the traditional Sichuan Opera, which is a combination of music, theatre, puppets and dance.

And afterwards we also visited the shopping center of Chengdu. An urban jungle of neon and video.

The next day we left Chengdu and drove to Leshan to visit the temples and the Grand Buddha. First we had to take a boat.

Visit to one of the buddhist temples, with burning candles everywhere.

And finally a view of the Grand Buddha of Leshan. Look at all the people on the stairs to appreciate the size of this giant statue.

On our last day in Chengdu we visited the Sanxingdui Ruins, outside the city. We had a nice drive through the ricefields to get there. This museum is really interesting if you’re interested in archeology.

And of course our last afternoon in China had to be spent on last-minute shopping

The first day was spend by relaxing and doing as little as possible, to get used to the altitude of 3600 meters. We went to the Jokhang Temple which was close to our hotel.

The second day we went back to the temple together with our guide who took us inside and explained all the different Buddhas.
Then it was time for lunch and we asked our guide to take us to a real authentic Tibetan restaurant. He took us to a place which apparently didn’t attract a lot of tourists, judging by all the suprised looks

The afternoon was reserved for a visit to the Potala Palace, the former Dalai Lama residence. According to our guide there are 990 different rooms. We didn’t count them though. This place is as amazing in reality as it is famous. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside, but the outside gave us enough photo opportunities. Truly one of the most impressive buildings we have visited, and maybe the second most beautiful building we ever saw (the Taj Mahal is number one of course).

Our third day in Lhasa started as the second day ended: with a headache and a terrible nauseous feeling. Yep we too got the altitude sickness
Still we went to the Drepung monastery in Lhasa, located upon on mountain with a spectacular view.

After this monastery we went to the Sera monastery and watched the young monks getting teached about Buddhism. We already started to feel better. This was also the last place in Lhasa we visited.

The next day we started early for a long drive to the small town of Gyantse. On our way there the weather started changing and snow began to fall. But snow or sun, the Himalaya scenery is always spectacular.

The next day we went from Gyantse to the town of Shigatse. The roads were already filled with more traffic, although not the kind you see in the Netherlands.

In Shigatse we saw another monastery which was again interesting. The town however was a complete mess as the authorities decided to open up every single road at the same time. This turned Shigatse in one big dust storm.
The next day we traveled back to Lhasa. The same scenery as before, but this time with a blue sky and a nice temperature which made all the difference.

This concluded our 6 day’s stay in Tibet. The next morning we took a flight to Chengdu. More to come…

Nicest thing about the wall is that you can explore the wall by bike. As we were here very early it was still quiet. Definitely one of the most fun parts of our vacation.

In the afternoon we went to the Terracotta Army museum. This is really an impressive site to explore. Unbelievable how every terracotta soldier has a unique face.

The second day in Xi’an we had to get up very early as we wanted to see the morning excercises in the parks. We arrived at the park surrounding the Small Pagoda of the Wild Goose and watched several groups performing Tai Chi and other excersises.

This place must be one of the most inspirational places to perform Tai Chi

In the afternoon we visited the Shaanxi museum in Xi’an and the local mosque with an architecture that combines moslim and Chinese influences. We ended our visit to Xi’an with the Tang Dynasty Show.

The next day we got up early again, to catch the first flight to Lhasa, Tibet. More to come…

As could be expected, our trip started in Beijing, a city with a population of 19 million. Upon arrival Sunday early in the morning we were picked up at the airport by our guide and driver. Because the room wasn’t available yet (it was 8 in the morning) they took us to the Summer Palace instead.

As part of the Summer Palace we also climbed the Longevity Hill, which meant climbing a lot of stairs. A good way to forget the jetlag.

After the Summer Palace we went to our hotel, Courtyard 7, in the middle of the traditional Hutong area. This was a great place to stroll around in the evening and get a few nightphoto’s.

The next day we visited the absolute highlights of Beijing: Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City.

We had lunch with a local family who taught us how to make dumplings, and a Hutong tour by riskja. They dropped us of at the Drum Tower to watch a spectacular drum show.

On Tuesday we went to one part (Mutianyu) of the Chinese Great Wall. Fortunately we had a cable car to get us on the way upon the mountain. The Great Wall is indeed impressive, going on as far as you can see. We tried to see as much as possible but in the end it were too many steps

This day maybe should have ended with the excellent Peking Duck diner at the famous Dadong restaurant. But we decided to go for a walk after dinner on the Beijing evening market. Quite a different menu compared to the Peking Duck

This concluded our stay in Beijing. The next morning we had a flight to the city of Xi’an. But that will be a different post

After a long winter (at least it felt as such) spring has definitely arrived in the Netherlands. Daffodils are all around, the sky is blue again and there are bright colors all around. Somehow all photos look more inviting, more pleasant. This photo was taken at Landgoed Sandwijck in De Bilt, near Utrecht.