Thousands of brass locks latched onto each other at the Dongyue Temple on the top of Mount Tai. Devotees inscribe a new lock with prayers, names of loved ones and the date (visible clearly on some locks above) and latch it onto the censer at the temple. The belief is that this locks in the happiness of the couple or family.

A composition with roofs at the Temple of Confucius that reminded me of the angle in geometry.

Prayers written by devotees and tied to a post near the Temple of Confucius in Qufu.

I am not happy with the light here, there is too much of it and the reflections off the glossy surfaces are not pretty.

One of the many gnarled pine and cypress trees at the Temple of Confucius in Qufu. These old trees were supposedly planted during the time of Confucius and have survived the wrath of time and the Cultural Revolution.

The photo was underexposed to get the silhouette and was composed from the bottom of the tree to cut out the surrounding buildings which would appear in the background.

One of the gates of the Temple of Confucius at Qufu, framed under an arch. I think this B&W version looks better than the original color version.

A miniature gold statue of Gomateshwara at the feet of the original giant statue. The Gomateshwara statue stands inside a temple atop a hill in Shravanabelagola.

One of the many beautiful Shilabalika statues at the Chennakesava temple in Belur.

The statue was in the dark indoors, but was thankfully lit by a light from below by our guide. The photo turned out pretty good despite the high ISO 1600.

Another shot at the Computer Science campus of the Shandong University. Flags are notorious to capture, since they hang limp most of the time. I was lucky there was a breeze flowing in the right direction to get this.

Contrast adjustment and sharpening applied on the photo.

A shot taken at the Computer Science campus of the Shandong University. This campus is newer than their other campuses and is in the middle of a software park, which is very much like the software parks in Bengaluru.

The light was dull and the D40 seemed to have gone for a warmer temperature on this photo. Contrast adjustment and sharpening applied on the photo.

Loy Krathong is a Thai festival when beautiful lanterns are lit and floated on water. I attended the Loy Krathong celebrations held at the university. This is a shot of some of the unlit lanterns. Traditionally, the lanterns are made from plantain trunk, but the ones above are made from styrofoam and paper. In the middle of each floating lantern is a candle, a flag and flowers.

This was shot indoors and the Nikkor 50mm again turned night into day. I was very happy with the beautiful shots I got in night-time indoor lighting with this lens. Contrast adjustment and sharpening applied on the photo.