Summer in Winter – Beijing Travelogue (11/12/2006)

This was the day I visited the Summer Palace (颐和园) which is located northwest of Beijing. It was built by Emperor Qian Long (乾隆) in 1750 in conjunction with his mother’s birthday. I started off with the hill-hiking along the Wan Shou Shan (万寿山) and saw this painting-decorated ceiling of one of the buildings along the hill path.

At one of the summits sits the Lama temple where the Emperors prayed. The roofs of the temples are deliberately decorated with carvings of the mythological beings.

This temple is decorated with many statues of Buddha around the perimeter walls.

Coming down from the hill area and walking towards the lake area reveals some painted glass windows, offering spectacular views of a painting within a painting.

One needs to pass though a few of corridors like this to get to the scenic area of the lake.

The first glance at the lake offered this view of a pavilion and trees on an island.

Circling around the island revealed a different scene with the frozen lake.

And the 17-opening or 17-arch Bridge is already in sight.

Crossing the 17-opening Bridge brought me to the island with a man-made garden.

And I could see the Bridge from a different angle with the pavilion on the mainland.

The painted ceiling of the pavilion reminded me of patterns and symmetry.

The sun is getting lower by the minutes and I had to turn back to see some other things.

But before that, I would love to indulge myself in the silhouette of a tree,

and also the pavilion and some trees on the island.

On the other side of the lake lies the Long Gallery (长廊) made up by a series of corridors.

This is one typical ceiling of a pavilion along the Long Gallery with abundant paintings.

Walking passed the Long Gallery marked the end of my tour of this awesome park where the emperors and concubines played. On the way back to Beijing led me passing by the best university in China, the Peking University (北京大学), and this is the west gate of the University.

After a long day, I couldn’t leave without food! It’s time to have some summer feeling in my stomach at a Sichuan restaurant called Yu Xiang Ren Jia (渝乡人家). The first dish I was offered is this spicy chicken cubes with peanuts (宮保鶏丁).

Another dish to warm my stomach is this north Sichuan glass noodles (川北凉粉), which was cooked with chilies, Sichuan peppers and gingers.

And last but not least, the water-boiled fish fillets (水煮魚), which literally means half-water-half-oil-boiled fish fillets, in lots of dried chilies!

I hope you have enjoyed another day of my traveling experience.

Food, Modern Art and Old Hutong – Beijing Travelogue (10/12/2006)

Having been foot-massaged after the macho man quest to the Great Wall, I was completely refreshed for another eventful day. Before breakfast, we grabbed these pancakes as our snacks.

Eventually, we were having our 'proper' breakfast at another food outlet with deep-fried Chinese crullers,

and glutinous rice rolls to go with the soya bean milk.

After filling our stomachs with all these goodies, we went to a Sunday Service before heading to 798, yes, 798, that's right. Though it sounds like 'going to the pub' in Mandarin. There are many art galleries like this in this area which was once an industrial estate.

Inside one of the galleries housed the paintings of an artist which resemble the school of modern arts in China.

All these art pieces are displayed in cozy places like this.

And there are bookstores dedicated to published materials about arts here as well.

Even the washroom is elaborately decorated with street arts.

And there was a sculpture exhibition going on by an artist called Luo Xu.

After appreciating the proper arts, some lighter artifacts are for grab as souvenirs on a pedestrian overpass.

And there are even more 'arts' to be collected.

When the day was coming to an end, it's time to look for the prominent Li Qun Roast Duck Restaurant. It must be here somewhere in these old Hutong's.

Is it this one? No!

Yeah! Found it!

This is how they roast the ducks until they have the fragrance from the fire wood.

And the duck is finally served on the dining table. I'm tucking in!

Wait till I'm done with the duck. Ciao!

The Quest to be a Macho Man – Beijing Travelogue (9/12/2006)

As one of the Chinese old sayings says: "You are not a macho man unless you have been to the Great Wall," so I embarked on this quest when I had the chance in Beijing. The journey started off from my friend's apartment where we were chauffeured by a rented car to the region called Mutianyu (慕田峪), 79 km northeast of Beijing.

We arrived at Mutianyu after a one hour and 45 minutes ride. We quickly grabbed the entrance and cable car tickets so that we can be macho sooner. However, the market at the foot of the mountain ridges bearing the Great Wall is equally interesting, so we walked to the cable car station slowly passing by stalls selling all kinds of food stuff and souvenirs.

When we finally arrived at the cable car station, we were told that our tickets aren't for the cable cars, but for the cable way similar to the ski cable. My friend was so worried about riding on the open space cable way but I enjoyed the view with no barrier very much!

Arriving at the top cable way station offered the first view of a macho man. I wonder whether someone a thousand years ago had seen the same view.

And it is still a long way for the quest.

The macho man has almost reached one of the many forts on the Great Wall.

There are so many more steps to climb, even more so, on inclined steps!

And the quest is never ending. It ain't easy to be a macho man!

A diversion from the original quest...

Even a dog wanna be macho!

The macho man is yet to reach another fort.

And the macho man has to return to the starting point of the quest to get home...

And I waved goodbye to the trees and I'm going home...

Forbidden? Not so Forbidden! – Beijing Travelogue (8/12/2006)

Malaysia Airlines flight no. MH0378 departed the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Beijing early in the morning of 7/12/2006. I arrived Beijing at around 2:45 pm and waited for immigration clearance for an hour before I finally got hold of my check-in luggage. Luckily it was low season for sight-seeing travelers in winter. If not, I could have been stranded for even longer at the Beijing Capital International Airport.

Due to a long day of catching planes cum transiting, there was no time to see any interesting place, so I decided to start my sight-seeing activities the next day.

Early in the morning, I took the subway train from my friend's apartment to the Tiananmen Square (天安门广场). After I had alighted from the train, this subway attendant performed his duty of getting clearance for the train to leave the station. I even witnessed how these attendants pushed the passengers into the train car during peak hours!

After getting out of the subway station, I saw another major means of transport in Beijing.

Since Tiananmen (天安门) is on the other side of the street, I had to get across the 10-motorway lane Chang An Jie/Street (长安街), but using the underpass, of course! The guard at Tiananmen beared the same expression as Chairman Mao.

This side door of Tiananmen must have been passed through by numerous top decision makers shaping China today!

As I walked further north, the Forbidden City (Gu Gong) was in sight.

Many of the ministers and eunuchs must have passed through these arches in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Today, they remain as passageways to enter the exhibition chambers on the western perimeter.

For those who don't understand Mandarin, it can be misread as the description of the relic condition, haha!

And I wonder, what's inside?

Before I knew it, I was already at the most northern part of the Forbidden City, the Imperial Garden (Yi Hua Yuan), where the Emperors and concubines had played.

I had to turn south-bound to go out of the City and the sun was already low.

And the sun is setting.

When I reached the exit, it was already dark.

It's time for me to call the day off!