On Trailing Beijing #14: Olympic Park

Having had hosted one of the most grand Olympic and left impression of how great an opening ceremony can be, the Olympic Park in Beijing looked somewhat underutilized nowadays. I mean, it is understood that it's built for the world sports event, but well... Other than having an indoor waterpark that is closed now, and 3D museum underneath the Bird's Nest, the whole complex was basically left for leisure hangout for the locals.

Okay, well, there are some 2-wheel rides for those who are interested inside the bird's nest.

And perhaps there are some other sports meets here that is not known to us.

But I can see why it's said to have hosted the best Olympic opening ceremony in history.

It's just... majestic.

The water cube on the otherhand, has been turned into a public pool; with occasional swimming meets.

 

And that marked the end of my excursion to Beijing.

To revisit? Maybe after I've done the rest of the world. HAHA.

On the Pu'Er Plate

I knew it! We were taken to Dr. Tea, one of the leading Tea-houses in Beijing. I assume.

And I got robbed with this...

Which is why I seldom would like to join tours that involved visitation to shopping.

*broke*

On Trailing Beijing #13: Ming's Tomb

In Egypt, when a Pharoh's dead, all his wife and servent and concubines were burried together alive. In China, I suppose it's more humane... At least at the one I visited. The Emperor has 2 wives. But the one live were only burried when they died.

And that pile of rubbish there, was actually a pile of money! I wonder why there was no one who would steal the money there... It's not like the Emeperor would hunt you I suppose... LOL

On the Great Wall of China... Again

Not being satisfied with the first visit to one of the 7 wonders of the world, I paid another visit to the Great Wall of China for the second time... To a more developed stretch of course. Was clinging for life when I was hiking on the 7km stretch which wasn't restored. For a while I felt I was adventurous. The steep part was indeed steep; and I slipped 3 times

 We took the cable car of course. LOL

But I guess it's worth it.

It's one of the Wonders of the World for crying out loud.

On Beijing in Photos #19: Dawn

On the way to Great Wall of China...

On The Jade Ball

Well, one of the reason I wouldn't really like to follow tours was that they always take you to the tourist shops, souvenirs, pottery making, silk factory... But heck, we were on our way to the Great Wall *hint:Greatwall pictures flooding the blog soon*, we had a stopover at the largest jade store in the whole of Beijing. I wasn't against visiting such stores.

But I didn't quite like it either.

But looking at 'live performances' would probably be an eye opener. The only question I wondered was, if that water could actually cut through stone in a short perioud of time, does that mean Jade's pretty easily eroded? Hmmm... Or perhaps the water was mixed with some form of chemicals...

And so, I found myself carrying a stone ball with 2 more mini stone ball encapsuled inside. Interesting souvenir, representing family unity. I'd have get a bigger one but budget's a bit tight at that point in time, so it was a mini ball.

Funny how I had the fear that the tiny 'bridges' would break. But being jade, I was told they wouldn't unless one perpetually throw it to the floor. So yay! Still, I wrapped it in like, gazillion layers of tissue paper while on my way back. LOL.

If you were wondering, yes the first picture was this huge room divider made entirely out of Jade.

On Trailing Beijing #12: Ji Bai She

Look who we came across while we were busy getting lost in the Hutongs around Hou Hai 后海?

It's non other than one of the leading Chinese Painting aritst - 齐百石! (pronounced: Ji Bai She)

No, I don't really know how to appreciate paintings. I would probably say, "wow it looks real" at most. But according to my friend, this gentleman is one of the leading artiste in calligraphy painting in the whole of China. And his paintings could fetch up to hundreds of thousands!

But that's of course after he reunited with the Gods.

I found out that he actually drew 10 prawns to Chairman Mao before, spontaneously!

On Beijing in Photos #18: Beijing's Own Venice

Location: Hou Hai, Beijing.

On Beijing in Photos #17: Old Photos

On Trailing Beijing #11: Hutongs Going

Beijing is an amazing metropolis. Sad somewhat, in the sense that a lot of people cramped into a small tiny room considering property is skyrocketing here as well. But one gotta give credit that this area of "Hutong" (small alleyways) was converted into such beautiful commercial areas. Just like the squares of Brussels, only it's elongated here.

Yes of course, not all the houses were converted into comercial property. There are still some alleys where the houses were inaccessible to the public / tourist...

But walking down the lane on a free weekend afternoon could jolly well be what I would do. Oh wait, I already did, and spent quite some hours waiting for the rain to stop too, one day.. pondering on the joy of being happy...

The last I heard, it also serve the set for numerous movies...

On Trailing Beijing #10: Temple of Heaven and Earth

The few monumental buildings that one mustn't miss on his/her visit to Beijing would probably be the Great Wall, Tian'An Square, Forbidden City and of course the Temple of Heaven and Earth; where the Emperors made sacrifices and convey gratitudes or asked for rain. Somewhat. For crops-growing.

It's amazing that the Chinese preserve all these structures of course. But being one of the few buildings ever built in the ancient times, land was widely available. And hence, large compounds. So years after, the grounds surrounding the buildings were converted into parks. Like the one in this temple..

Where locals dance...

Promoting their calligraphy writing skills...

  

 Or chess...

And there was this interesting giant bell used to tell time in the past.
Hit it once and your wish come true.
Hit it 10 times and you'll be a God.

But of course, we only knew later that the "center of the universe" was the slab of marble in the middle of the raised platform surrounded by 9 pillars, and multiples of 9s, where, if you stood on it and start shouting, Gods would be able to hear.

I was pretty disappointed with what's contained inside the 3 storey pagoda though, having the impression there would be some lavish altar or what nots. But true enough, the carvings on the roof were just so delicate it anyone would "Wow" away...

Nice place to chill alright...



On the Must Eats of Beijing

1. Quan Ji De crispy skin duck. There are numerous Peking Duck all over Beijing. Heck it's like the origin of the dish anyways. But I was told that this is like, the grandfather of Peking Duck, where the Emperor actually tried. And the brand name actually survived over the rains and floods until now. Wasn't exactly cheap, which was why we had ours at the 'fast-food' side of the restaurant: -some flour-skin and the duck.  Good enough!

2. Du Yi Chu Dim Sum! If you know me, you know I'm biased. I'm from Kuching. Anyone who asked me what's nice from Kuching, and my answer would always be Siu-Mai, Laksa and Kolo Mee. So Siu Mai it was even all the way in Beijing. But this one that we went to, was also pretty much a brand name. The Dim Sum were special. We had a tray. Different flavour. Love the presentation. But the 'flowery' top wasn't as palatable compared to the chunck of meat. LOL

ps: The waiter was indeed wearing traditional samfu.


3. Dong Lai Soon sliced mutton. And it's served best during the winter! Steamboat style!

But of course there were so many other foods in Beijing. I suppose you can't get away with the fact that Chinese just practically eat.