Beijing, here I come!!! Part 3

Finally last day of work! For the past few weekdays, was busy installing software, conducting training and also troubleshooting the problems that came up. The client was so kind as to invite us for dinner, with both the companies we were working with (2 different companies in the same group of companies). We went to a restaurant for steamboat (shiok man, in this kind of freezing weather). They are a very fun bunch of people. One interesting thing i notice is that they like to call their boss (zhong3) like if surname is Zhang1, then he'll be Zhang1 Zhong3.

So hungry!! how come the food is not here yet?



Finally it came and everyone dig hungrily into it. The chinese experience of steamboat is different in that they emphasis alot on the sauce that goes with the food.





Final group shot after all that beer and good food.



Last day in Beijing. Woke up early in the morning and then proceeded to the shopping for cheap and good stuff. My colleague's hubby brought us to THE place for cheap winter wear that I'm supposed to help my friends get. The place was huge!! There were so many shops and it stretched as far as the eye can see (I can't see far though with all the shops and people blocking my view.. haha). There were also accessories and food.. And u can get major discount. Imagine I got a trench coat for 250 yuan from a starting price of 900++ !!!

Proceeded on to look for Peking Duck to eat. Die die must find man, else can't tell people that I've been to Beijing!! haha

Took pictures along the way. This is near the Forbidden City (think its the red building in the background)



Found the shop we were looking for. The display basically trying to say this shop is very very very very oooooooooooooooooooooold.................



I see light!!



Looking like a MP wannabe



A view of the food process



Collected our luggage from the hotel and went to the airport. Beijing airport look not bad right?





Home sweet home!!

Beijing, here I come!!! Part 2

Woke up early today.. er.. at least early for a non-working day.. hehe
Had breakfast which was bought last night and then went to the hotel lobby. There's a counter there where we can book short tours, and we chose a tour package covering the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall.

The bus came around 10, and we boarded it. There were some other tourist also.. We even stopped at another hotel to pick up more tourists.

This is the tour guide trying to explain to us the history of the destinations..



First Stop. Jade Making...

I guess this kinda stops comes with all tour packages.. but found some interesting info.. hehe.. This is the process of Jade making, basically, they have to slowly shape the jade from a square block of jade. There's even a piece that is a ball within ball kind.. very interesting... can be up to 5 layers, i think.. Look at that huge carving of a chinese junk!! its longer than my height!!



The birth stones and what each means, if anyone wanna know



and also.... Me trying to act cute..



Ming Tombs, visiting the dead.. hmm...

Travelled a long road. Was told by the tour guide that in the past, nobody is allowed to settle in this area cos of the tombs. In the past, the government is bigger, now.. the people is bigger.. at least in this aspect.. hee

Long long road sia...



Look at the map.. there are altogether 13 Emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368A.D. - 1644A.D.) buried here.. Changling Mausoleum is the biggest, and the first of the tombs, containing Emperor Zhu Di and the Empress, and also the largest in scale.

Cannot see the tomb itself.. only the entrance or front part.. the tomb itself is not touched... as the tour guide says, the best way to preserve something is to not touch it at all.. This the greatest of the Ming Emperors.. the others who are not so significant are explored though.. life is cruel.. hee







Some items that were excavated from other tombs. I was fascinated by the gold ingots, as they dun look like what i see in chinese dramas. There's also gold utensils that a drunkard Emperor used..



Not forgetting the woman behind the "successful" man..



The man itself...



Can u imagine those pillars are whole trunks?? noticed the floor is elevated, and the pillars are protected.. they are serious abt preserving this place man..



I like this photo.. the scenery is very good.. :D



Other nice scenery





Lunch..

Time for lunch.. We arrived at some factory area, and entered some factory manufacturing vases. Its interesting in that it uses thin strips of copper and then paste small pieces one by one, the thin side, onto the vase. Then colour dye is added onto the vase and its placed in the kiln for firing.. After that, more dye is added and then placed in the kiln for firing again.. this process is repeated over and over again until the vase is smooth and the stips are flushed..

All that hard work!!




We had rice wine on the table.. It was a small bottle and our cups are so small.. I only took sips at a time, and can already feel the strong alcohol effect.. imagine drinking the whole cup at one time, think i'll faint!!


Great Wall of China (不到长城,不是好汉) (translated: those who have never been to Great Wall of China is not a man! hehe)

Starting point.. just looking at the length sweat liao..



Getting there!! *pant pant*



Finally at the top!! (at least the highest i'm going.. hehe) how come i see no dragon?? oh yah.. have to see from space.. haha



What goes up.....



Must come down!!



Final Stop of the day.. Tea Shop..

We had a final destination of a tea shop. Sat down and then watched tea ceremony and also walked around the shop.. After some looking around, I inquired abt some item i'm interested in buying. The shop assistant girls mistook me for the tour guide!! I figured it must be the winter coat I was wearing.. cos its my dad's one which he bought in China and looks like what the locals will wear.. haha.. They gave me discount though cos they say we're all Chinese.. I think it pays to be able to speak chinese also.. hehe

After the tea shop, we were brought back to the hotel and have our rest.

Beijing, here I come!!! Part 1

1st Day (9th Dec)
Finally its here, this day, I have to fly off to Beijing to work. Its been a long week as I prepare the materials for this trip. I had been apprehensive of the trip, as I'm supposed to be giving training on some software that I'm not even familiar with!! Dun know is it cos of overconfidence or blurness, I didn't object when my boss asked me to do it. Now, I'm here right now at Changi Airport, with all my "preparations" and boarding the plane. And so, off I go.....
(Side Note : All the while thinking what game is the CG playing right now, cos there's a boardgame night today... miss CG already..)

2nd Day (10th Dec)
Touched down at Beijing Airport at around 6. The minute I stepped out of the plane, I can feel the chill already.. Its like opening the non-freezer part of a fridge and going in it! I can also feel my nose starting to have "reactions" to the cold! Did all the arrival procedures and proceeded to collect our baggage. Had difficulty identifying which luggage is mine, cos they all look the same.. hmm.. I was thinking, next time must either mark the luggage bag or buy one that is not so common.

Stepped out of the airport, and wham!! The full force of the minus zero cold hit me.. My colleague and her hubby who was travelling with us walked further down to get a cab. There was a taxi stand there, with Chinese Army soldiers(i assume so, or is it just the uniform) guiding us to our taxi. I noticed they also issue some card to the taxi driver (I guess its some log sheet). Probably they are regulating the taxi drivers in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. Before I got into the taxi, a sudden gust of wind hit us.. wow!! that was sooooooo cold!! I could feel my ears freezing, like alot of needles poking my ears!! I quickly got into the taxi, and immediately felt appreciative of the heater in the car.

Arrived at the hotel (Holiday Inn Lido Beijing) and checked into our rooms.

Look at this hotel door, you know what country is it liao...

Not long after, we took the hotel's shuttle bus. This bus stops at various locations in the city. We stopped at the Oriental Plaza. Went in to take a look. It felt familiar, like a shopping centre in KL.. haha.. had our lunch there, and walked around a little.

shop shop.. but didn't buy anything other than lunch and bing tang hu lu (that lovely stick of red dessert)

Left the shopping centre, and took a long walk towards Tiananmen. Along the way, we took some pics and then took some more pics.. haha.. boliao (nothing to do) mah.. besides, the scenery is good..

cool right?

Finally we reach our target, the Forbidden City.



Tour Time!! Forbidden City

I'm sure most people will recognise this

As we walk through the giant doors, I marvel at the hugeness of it, the gates, the walls, the buildings.. the pillars are basically tree trunks, huge ones.. We had to pass through 2 huge gates like this before we reach the main entrance..

Cold sia...

er.. what can I say? The Entrance? hehe

Walked through the gates and wow!! What a huge place it is!! All the memories of dramas, movies, documentaries that I've watched over my past years came to my mind.. All these look so familiar..


There's this device that I rented that can explain to me the history of the place I'm standing at. It uses a sensor to detect which part of the palace I was in, and then play accordingly.



This place is huge man.. no wonder the emperor can live in here his whole life (by right.. by left they sneak out often, if chinese dramas are true.. hehe)




A show of how cold this place is.. the canal is frozen solid!!




Guess what is this? Its a vat to contain water.. can see this all around the palace.. for fire fighting purposes.. may be heated using charcoal in winter to prevent the water from being frozen solid..



The throne of the Emperor.. wonder how it feels like to sit there.. hmm.. hehe




Actually all the buildings look abt the same to me.. haha.. ok.. this one is the place where the queen sleeps..



Walked around the palace to the imperial gardens, the different buildings where the Emperor lives, hold court, empress's room.. and many other buildings for different purposes. Also went into a small shop for a while to stop for a hot cup of coffee cos it was soooo cold!! considered ordering a hot bowl of instant noodles also.. but decided against it cos its ex and we're going out already...

On the way out, we saw this... What a HUGE door lock!! hehe



Final shot before I left the palace



Went around to shop and just walk along the streets.. interesting things to see... and also got some back alleys selling stuff..




Stopped over at Macs for dinner.. nothing better to do, and so took a photo of myself while waiting for my friends to buy back the food..




Went into a back alley, cos attracted by this.. recognise what is this?




and other creatures that supposedly can eat also.. I didn't test though.. stuck with lamb meat.. hehe




This concludes my first day in Beijing..