The real Beijing happens aside of all the beautiful temples, gardens, western like shopping malls and roast ducks in touristy restaurants.

It happens in the small lanes and alleys behind the big roads. Where life slows down, people go about their business, streets smell of delicious spices and herbs…

What love about this image – probably my favourite of all I took last week here – it shows how those real people – the ones who keep the city alive – come back home after  their day in the big office buildings lurking behind them in the background through the smog in the The old man standing there, smoking a fag; he has seen it all oh so often before.