A brown donkey pulling a two-wheel carriage, seen in 2011 in the far east of Beijing. The carriage carries a load of bricks, a gentleman with a reins, and a little lady fast asleep.
Even today you can see horse-drawn carriages in the outskirts of Beijing, especially around sites that have been demolished to make room for big buildings. The companies that do the destruction take all of any worth, leaving old bricks and crap wood for independent operators like this couple.
I have seen them working on such sites lots of times. They are usually elderly couples, scavenging stones in the hot summer heat or cold winter wind. The stuff is carries to villages outside Beijing where it is used to build new dwellings for the populace.
This copper lion statue stood at the gate of a nearby factory. It has no relation to the carriage situation but I took the pic right after I shot the donkey so I’d thought it nice to add here.