Some Chinese Nature

 Petite wildflowers at the Great Wall, the Remnant Section of Badaling

 The most beautiful "stink bug" I've ever seen. The contrast between the bug and the leaves made me smile.

 Why is it that weeds can be so pretty!? These were also at the Great Wall.

 I've never encountered a two colored Praying Mantis before. There are several legends attached to this beautiful insect. One legend is that it is bad luck to kill one.

 These animal prints were in the cement on some of the bricks on the wall. Watchtowers on the wall would use smoke from fires burning to signal the next watchtower. The fires were said to be made of wolf dung.  I imagine that the wolf dung made really nice, thick, black smoke. Could it be that these are wolf tracks from ancient times?

 At the Ming Tombs I found a tree growing out of the side of a wall.

 Also at the Ming Tombs were beautiful Lotus flowers.

 I thought that this tree looked like it had camouflage bark. The tree was in a park we visited.

 This unusual tree was really two trees in one! I took a picture of the sign which explains what happened. The Bai Sheng Sang tree was in the Imperial College in Beijing.