The heavens opened on a smog-choked Beijing yesterday, a grey start to National Day. But as the rain eased and the skies cleared, Tiananmen Square was filled with a brightness matched by the crowds of tourists.
Revellers lift the gloom, October 2
2 Oct 2013
The heavens opened on a smog-choked Beijing yesterday, a grey start to National Day. But as the rain eased and the skies cleared, Tiananmen Square was filled with a brightness matched by the crowds of tourists. The day began on a sombre note as President Xi Jinping and other state leaders sheltered under umbrellas in driving rain at a morning ceremony. Photo: AP
Photo Galleries
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![]( "The moon of the mid-autumn day in the sky over Changchun City, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province. Photo: Xinhua")
Photos18 Sep 2013 -
![]( "While it might not make the walls of any gallery, a beluga whale paints a picture with a special paintbrush at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, Tokyo. The aquarium will show the beluga’s new artistic attraction from the end of this month. Photo: AFP")
Photos18 Sep 2013 -
![]( "Race to the catch - Boats set out from Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, for the fishing grounds of the East China Sea as a seasonal fishing ban came to an end. Local media reported that some of the fishermen complained that illegal fishing took place during the ban, resulting in a surge in the crab population in coastal waters. Photo: Xinhua")
Photos17 Sep 2013 -
![]( "Head jarring - Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles picks up a first down while losing his helmet on a hit by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker DeMeco Ryans at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Chiefs won 26-16 as their coach, Andy Reid, enjoyed a triumphant return to his old home. Photo: MCT")
Photos16 Sep 2013 -
![]( "Feeling deflated - Adventurer Jonathan Trappe sets off from Caribou, Maine, in the US, in a daring bid to drift across the Atlantic in a cluster balloon. Trappe departed in bright dawn sunshine to the strains of The Star-Spangled Banner and cheers from his ground crew, who spent the night inflating his 370 balloons with helium. But he was forced to abandon his flight over Newfoundland in Canada after experiencing technical difficulties. Photo: AP")
Photos14 Sep 2013 -
![]( "Teachers protest - A Mexican riot policemen stamps on a teacher during a protest against education reforms proposed by President Enrique Pena Nieto. Some 12,000 teachers took part in Wednesday's demonstration in Mexico City, clashing with police who kept them away from the Los Pinos presidential residence. Striking teachers have camped out in the central Zocalo square for the past three weeks, but the teachers failed to stop Congress from passing Nieto's reform. Photo: AFP")
Photos13 Sep 2013 -
![]( "For love and money - More than 40 works on paper by pop artist Andy Warhol will be sold at an exhibition, \"From Warhol, With Love\", hosted by Sotheby's Hong Kong from today until September 24. Some works are expected to fetch up to US$1 million. Photo: K.Y. Cheng")
Photos12 Sep 2013 -
![]( "Great gator - For the third time in a week, a record for the heaviest male alligator caught in the US state of Mississippi was broken, the latest being this monster weighing in at 336kg. From left, Jimmy Greer, Dalco Turner, Jennifer and John Ratcliff pose with their beast, caught in a backwater area of the Mississippi River near Port Gibson in Claiborne county. The alligator was 4.14 metres long. Photo: AP")
Photos11 Sep 2013 -
![]( "In the light - Van Gogh Museum director Axel Ruger unveils a newly discovered landscape painting from the height of the Dutch master’s career yesterday. The French landscape painting was stored in an attic and kept from public view for a century because it was considered a fake. Sunset at Montmajour, which shows twisted holly oaks and a distant ruin bathed in the light of the setting sun, was painted in 1888 when Van Gogh was living in Arles, in the south of France. The work, owned by a private collector, will go on show at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam later this month for a year. Photo: AP")
Photos10 Sep 2013
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