Beijing at Night: Astronaut Tweets Photo of Capital After Dark, From Space

The last few nights have been quite lovely in Beijing, with clearer air and late summer light. But even those views of late can't compare to the nighttime scenery of the city from space.

US astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted the photo above earlier this week, showing the ring roads and the Forbidden City (look closely).

Frankly, it's a nice pic, it'll make a nice desktop background, but this photo from 2010 is even better. Not only is Beijing visible in all its glory, but so is the satellite city of Langfang, and to the southeast, Tianjin. Bear in mind that there's already a government plan being considered to declare all of this and more of Hebei province into one giant urban area.

Not such a bad place to live after all.

Photos: NASA