Beijing, China

11 Sept

We took flight by China Southern Airlines from Guangzhou to Beijing. Surprisingly, the flight that we booked is connecting flight from Amsterdam, hence the plane is big, the service is good and it was on time. We reached Beijing at 2 pm. But then, to our disappointment, one of our luggage was accidentally left in Guangzhou and they put it in the next flight which reached Beijing at 4.30 pm. So 2 hours was wasted waiting for the luggage.

We reached our hostel at almost 6 pm already, in Beijing we stayed in Viviane Hostel (维维安娜青年公寓), a studio apartment in Chongwenmen (崇文门）, just behind New World Mall. The location is superb, the price is RMB210/night for 3 people, however, the apartment is a bit under-maintained, some of the equipments inside are dirty. Beside the building, there is 24-hour-convenient store. Security is good and there are some eating places around.

There is nothing much we could do apart from going for dinner, we went for Beijing Roasted Duck in Bian Yi Fang (便宜坊） restaurant in New World Mall. After dinner, we decided to go to Tiananmen Square (天安门广场）to catch a night view there.

Beijing Roast Duck (北京烤鸭）

Tiananmen Square (天安门广场）

12 Sept

We set off very early to catch the flag raising ceremony in Tiananmen Square (天安门广场）. The flag raising ceremony was at 5.50 am in the morning. At the beginning, we planned to continue with Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (毛主席纪念堂）. But since I didn't wear shoes, I couldn't go in. The queue is very long as well.

Monument to the People Heroes (人民英雄纪念碑）

The next stop for the day was Summer Palace (颐和园）. It could be reached by Subway Line 4 (地铁四号线）, alight at Beigongmen Station (北宫门站） and walk to the north gate of the palace. It is an imperial palace built for the royal family to stay in summer. The palace is amazingly huge with Kunming Lake (昆明湖）in the central. We walked around for 4-5 hours inside and went out from the east gate. The nearest subway station from the east gate is Xi Yuan Station ( 西苑站), we didn't know that and took a cab back to Chongwenmen (崇文门） for RMB70 which is not faster than subway due to traffic jam.

Suzhou Street (苏州街）

Beside Suzhou Street

Pavilion over Kunming Lake

Summer Palace (颐和园）

佛香阁

We met my auntie in Chao Yang District (朝阳区） for dinner as this day is her birthday. We tried a very nice soup called Buddha Jumping the Wall (佛跳墙）and some Hunan Cuisine (湖南菜）.

13 Sept

The third day in Beijing, we rented a car from our hostel to go to the Great Wall (万里长城）and Ming's Tomb (明朝十三陵）. It cost RMB860 inclusive of petrol and toll fee. The driver is very friendly and we talked a lot during the trip. His name is Yang Dan (杨丹） and he is actually the owner of the studio apartment we stay.

It took 1.5 hours drive to reach Great Wall. We visited the Old Great Wall of Badaling (八达岭残长城）, it is not the famous Badaling Great Wall where all the tour groups go. There are very few tourists here, we only saw a group of hikers and few local people. There are no sellers or forced-tourguides around. The view is awesome, we enjoyed it very much. There is no public transport to this part of Great Wall, renting a car is the only option. Bringing some apples is good option since apples are filling and watery.

View from below

We Climbed this Far

The Greatness of History

Our lunch was in small restaurant (农家园） near Ming's Tomb. Our driver didn't bring us to the tourist-chopping restaurant. We spent RMB80 for 4 people.

The tomb we visited is Ding Ling (定陵）, the grave of Emperor Wan Li of Ming Dynasty. We went down few storeys to see the Underground Palace (地下宫殿). There is nothing much left in the palace, everything has been moved out to museum. One and half hour is enough for this place.

Golden Well (金井）

The last stop was Ming Sacred Way (神道）. There are lots of statues in the road leading to Chang Ling (长陵）.We passed by the Olympic Stadium (鸟巢） on the way back.

Sacred Way (神道）

14 Sept

Being exhausted from the previous day trip, we decided to do a lighter walk today. There are 3 destinations for the day, Temple of Heaven （天坛）, Yong He Lamasery (雍和宫), and Temple of Confucious (孔庙）. Again all could be reached by subway.

Temple of Heaven (天坛) could be reached by Subway Line 5, alight at Tiantan Dongmen Station (天坛东门站）. It is a complex of Taoist Temple built in 1406 - 1420 during the reign of Emperor Yong Le of Ming Dynasty. The complex is huge and the park is well - maintained. We could see lots of people doing activities like group dancing, playing cards, etc inside the park.

Temple of Heaven (天坛）

Another Building in Temple of Heaven

Yong He Lamasery (雍和宫） could be reached by Subway Line 2, alight at Yong He Gong Station (雍和宫站）。 It was previously the residence of Emperor Yongzheng of Qing Dynasty before he ascended to the throne. Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty used to stay here during his childhood as well. Later on, the mansion was converted into temple which unify the culture of Han, Man, Tibet and Mongolia (汉满藏蒙）. There is a very huge standing statue of Master Songkapha of Tibetan Buddhism inside.

Yong He Lamasery (雍和宫）

The Unique Roof

Temple of Confucius (北京孔庙） is located accross the road of Yong He Lamasery (雍和宫）. It was dedicated to the great philosopher of Ancient China, Confucius (孔子）. The size is smaller than the previous two temples and less tourists come to this temple.

Confucius (孔子）

15 Sept

We made our second try to visit Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall (毛主席纪念堂）.It is better to come after the hall is opened at 8am and the queue start moving. My parents gave up on the queue, so I went in alone after queueing for more than one hour. The security check is very strict, a proper clothes is a must and guests are to wear shoes to go in.

Finally, we made a visit to the landmark of Beijing, Forbidden City (紫禁城 / 故宫）. It was the biggest well-preserved palace complex in the world, built on the land of 720,000 square meter. 23 emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasty used to stay there until the last emperor of China, Emperor Pu Yi.

Forbidden City could be reached by Subway Line 1, alight at Tiananmen East Station (天安门东站） or Tiananmen West Station (天安门西站）, then walk in through Meridian Gate (午门）. There are too many tour groups in the Forbidden City, it looks more like a traditional market where people squeeze each other to see the Emperor's throne. It might be a good idea to limit the number of tour groups coming everyday. We walked around inside for around 6 hours, and we at most covered half of the palace. It is amazingly gigantic.

Little Stream in Forbidden City

House of the Emperors

The Emperor's Throne (皇帝宝座）

紫禁城的黄昏

We went out from Shen Wu Gate (神武门） on the north of the palace, crossed the road and go to Jing Shan Park (景山公园）. The entrance ticket is very cheap, RMB2. There is a spot that was believed as the place where Emperor Chongzhen, the last emperor of Ming Dynasty, hanged himself after he lost the throne. Make your effort to climb the artifical hill in Jing Shan Park (景山公园）, where you could see the whole Forbidden City

Emperor Chongzhen Died Here

Forbidden City from Jing Shan Park

16 Sept

The last day of travelling in Beijing. We only allocated two places for today since we had to meet my auntie for dinner. Beijing Zoo (北京动物园） and Old Summer Palace (圆明园）.

Beijing Zoo (北京动物园） could be reached by Subway Line 4, alight at Beijing Zoo Station (北京动物园站）. Our purpose to go zoo is only to see panda, so we bought only the entrance ticket and panda's ticket. There are a few pandas inside, it's a bit hard to get their photos since they keep moving.

CUTE!

Another CUTE pose

After seeing panda, we moved on to Old Summer Palace (圆明园） by Subway Line 4 Yuan Ming Yuan Station (圆明园站）. It used to be imperial garden and was burnt down by the British and French troops in 1860 during Second Opium War. What is left now is the ruins of the western style building including Xi Yang Lou (西洋楼） and the garden. The view there is amazing with all the yangliu tree (杨柳树）. The garden itself is so huge that we can't cover it all.

The Imperial Garden

The Broken Bridge (残桥）

Ruins of the Western Style Building

Xi Yang Lou (西洋楼）

Another ruins

17 Sept

There is nothing we could do in the morning except packing up and get ready to go airport to catch 2.15 pm flight back to Guangzhou.

Beijing Tollgate