This is the final installment of photos from the time I spent in Beijing during 2005.

For a while I've been playing around with B&W photos, just to see what subjects work out well and what ones don't with this style of photography. These three that I've selected are ones that I hope retain their character in B&W as well as they do in colour.

The pool halls in Beijing take a different shape to those we're used to seeing, especially out in the 'burbs. They're a lot more open with who they let in to play, and in bad weather they cover them up with black plastic.

A lot of computer trash from the USA gets sold and shipped to China by boat. There the Chinese take it to pieces and break it up into materials to sell. The source of this pile of white box computers? I cannot say for sure.

Made in China but where? In a factory sweatshop? When the days are fair, people doing repair work bring their machinery outside.

These two photos were taken in the gardens around the edge of the Forbidden Palace just to the north of the entrance opposite Tiananmen Square.

As sunset approaches a troop of guards marches out from the Forbidden Palace to secure the area outside the Palace opposite the flag pole at Tiananmen Square. Pedestrians are held back behind ropes while bikes and cars continue to cross. When the final posse of troops appears to cross the road and collect the flag, bikes and cars are also stopped. This photo is of the first set of troops coming out to marshall the pedestrians into order.

I don't want to overdo it with more photos of bikes and Beijing but there are a few scenes I came across that I think are worth mentioning.

I never imagined I'd see this - a man pulling a cart. This was snapped one morning on my way to work, along the road between the apartment block I live in and the train line opposite.

If you leave your bike locked to the bike rack for too long and it isn't attractive enough to steal, it would appear that it can end up being pushed around a little. Look closely at the front wheel in this picture...

Vehicles with three wheels are quite numerous here in Beijing. The blue trucks appear in numbers on the roads after the evening peek hour has subsided. You don't need to see them to know they're around, the distinctive "put put" from their engines alerts you to their presence from a distance. Along with the noise comes pollution. These trucks are extremely dirty but also quite versatile. The air conditioned version of the truck is achieved by removing the windscreen and the cabin roof.

If you can't get your bike to the shop then why not bring the shop to the bike? In this instance, someone's three wheeled bike has come to grief in the outskirts of Beijing with no repair shops close by. Rather than try to take the broken bike to a shop, someone brought a welding torch out to this intersection. Do you see anything missing from the person wielding the torch, like a mask ?

This railroad crossing is classic. The poles that come down to span the road from one side to the other look a lot like painted tree limbs and are supported by forks (when down) that look very primitive. In this intersection there are three railway staff standing. Why are they standing there? My guess is to prevent someone on their bike making a bad guess about how far away the train is and their ability to get to the other side safely. Yes, the bike traffic is that unruley.

With a change in the season brings a change in the crops available to be sold. Late in September, nuts are in season. Those with some to sell walk the streets with two baskets suspended from bamboo.