My Photo Gallery: Eight Nights in Beijing......我留下许多脚印......

This is not the 1st time I visit Beijing. I went there before, around 3 years back so this round is a free and easy trip. (last time also F&E but take more on taxi). Taking their public transports, like train, MRT, buses, and taxi, but more on buses because is very cheap (just RMB2 for a trip no matter how long). So if you guys would like to go Beijing, it is very possible to make use of their public transport as it is easy accessible everywhere.

3 years back, the people there give me a very bad impression.
1) They are very rude:– when you ask for direction, they don’t tell you and just simply said: “I don’t know” and then walk away. When queue to buy things, they will just cut queue and push you around.
2) They are dishonest:– the seller will markup the price alot, alot, alot higher. You really need to bargain alot, alot, alot, alot from them. They will always tell you “I can’t reduce the price anymore, I am not earning.” But actually, they are earning alot, alot, alot, alot.
3) They are dirty:- they like to spits saliva on floor, buses, train or anywhere/everywhere.
4) They are very old fashion:– their clothes are very “Unlce” or “Aunty”

But after 3 years, I have different point of view. Maybe, I understand more of their culture and accept / adapt it and also they have improved alot. So the impression towards them have changed.
1) They are more friendly:– Is not that they are rude, is because Beijing is a big city so many people from other province go there to work. Therefore, they don’t know the place very well so you must ask those Grand Ah Ma / Ah Gong there. They know direction very well.
As about they like to cut queue and pushing around, I feel that it is their culture…… Singaporeans are too systematic, so we can’t stand their behaviour. But this time, I feel very fun to be squeezed yourself into the crowd and then shout out loud on what you want to buy and then squeezed out of the crowd again. While you are in the crowd, you must fight with those local uncle and aunty if not you will never have chance to buy your things. Me very Aunty hor……
2) They are not dishonest :- that is there business strategy. For Chinese, they will never tell buyer they are earning with profit. They will always said:” I am selling at a loss.” So no matter what they say, just don’t believe it. Use your buying sense to buy goods, if you feel that the items are too expensive, then you must “敢敢杀，不可以手软” , if not you will get killed by them.
3) They are dirty :- Due to 2008 Olympic is at Beijing, their government have campaign on not littering and spits saliva on the floor. If not they will get fine and it works. (But you know what??? It is effective in Beijing only……. When I am at Chengde, their saliva are all over the ground. And it is winter time, those saliva had turned into ice. If you accidentaly step on it, it can be very slippy.)
4) They are very fashionable now. This is the most surprise things in this trip. For ladies, they dress like those women in K Dhrama and perm their hairs. And for mens, they style their hairs and wear neatly. Oh my goodness, everyone is so pretty and handsome, espeically those youngster, they even wear branded goods. And you know what, I am wearing my very old winter clothing which I bought it about 5 years back. (Due to save cost mah.... so did not buy new one). While walking on the street, they are looking at me like alien…… haha….. last time laugh at them so old fashion but now, they laugh at me..... 报应......I am the “Aunty” liao…… :p..... haha.......

Can you imagine just within a short period of 3 years, I can feel this big city have changed alot. Aiyo eh, write so much......Ok lah........ you may see my trip photos now....... Enjoy it.

They are the Tibetian, selling the accessories like earings, necklaces and etc. They always bring their children along while doing business. I don't know they are really very poor or not, but what I heard from my friend is that most of them are under a secret society / beggar gang. They are instructed to bring along their children to beg for money / food or to do business. This is to 博取同情. At the end of the day who suffer??? The child. Poor things. Although I am poor at young times, but lucky my parent did not do that...... haha..... :p

One of the famous street in Beijing, 王府井大街. It is like singapore Orchard Road, the things there is expensive but this street have many resturants and food stall.....and it is very long, walk until very buay tahan.

I am at the top of 景山公园 and this view is facing the imperial palace-故宫, but it is under renovation now. And the air condition in Beijing is not good, so it seem like very cloudy......

Same place in 景山公园 but here is facing the 钟楼.

What happened to you, wanna to go "pooh, pooh" ar?

这里就是北海公园。为什么叫“北海”呢？因为当蒙古人进入北京市时，他们以为那湖水就是“海”，所以北京的湖都变成海了。真是“井底之蛙”hor。No, No…… 不可以这么说，因为蒙古时属于草原族。

Do you feel that the lion is looking at my sister? Like it is pampering my sister...... hehe.....

Do you preferred me or the tree behind? I would not blame you if you choose the tree..... as I myself also like it very much....... so what can I expect from you leh!

为什么冬天的树都看起来那么的沧桑？不过它们沧桑得很美，你不觉得吗？

Dried lotus in the lake and this lake is going to be frozen soon..... Hae, did you see a sweet wrapper in the lake??? How throw it???..... How do I know???? Very funny...

Can you tell what is it? Ans: a stem of a tree.
Look like army clothes right???

In every imperial building, there is this little animals stautes on the roof top. I know there is meaning for it..... but I did not check up. If you are interested to know, check it yourself..... hehe.

A frozen lake.

They are playing 扯玲。

Hey, what looking you huh?

How come the bridge so white???

The sunset at BeiHai Park - 北海公园。

What are you trying to capture??? The hole or the object on the otherside of the hole???

What? Playing hide and seek is it???

Hehe..... Now, I know where Garfield gone to? Beijing BeiHai park. I think after acting the movie Garfield 2, it take a break there. This naughty cat must have been traveling around. :p

Here is the 天安门. Inorder to walk across this road, you must walk from the underpass. It looks near, but when you walk over is damn far lor....... I always complain, 走到脚断.

There are many underpass around 天安门广场, so remember must walk to the correct exit or entrance. If not you will walk alot of "冤枉路"。

If you walk straight from this entrance, you will reach the 故宫 - The Imperial Palace. It is under renovation now. If you never been there, then just visit once will do lah. I feel that it is quite disapointing lor....... I rather go to Taipei, 故宫博物院, there are more things to see. Hae.....wait, the last time I visit there is about 3 years back. May be after renovation it will look different lor.......don't know. hopefully lor hor.

As if would like to compare the day and the night time of Tian An Men area, I would preferred to go at night. When the area is lighted up, is really very beautiful lor..... don't miss it.

Here is Tian An Men Guang Chang - 天安门广场. During the night, it is closed to public and there are many army station on the parade ground. If you would like to walk on the parade ground, you must go during the day time. And in every early morning, they have "marikita" . (Got it??? Haha)

Countdown clock for Beijing Olympic 2008.

雍和宫- A tibetian temple build by 乾隆皇帝。This temple has a very tall buddha statue, it is about 4 to 5 storey tall and it is craft from a kind of wood. This wood in mandrian is called 楠木。This wood will produce a kind of nice fragrance, and can chase away insects. Therefore, in the past, emperors like to use it to build palaces and other buildings.

The passage along the 雍和宫。

This trip did not take much photos on FOODS..... hehe.... because I keep eating and forget!!! :p
The BBQ crab.

Chinese eat whatever things. You see Scorpion also become their snacks as well.

I don't know that Star fish can be eaten as well! Beside it is sea urchin.

Guess what are those things beside the Star Fish??? Is snake which skin had already been peel off.

The traffic police.

It is Christmas Eve, so we purposely went to the church for countdown. As you can see everywhere is sooo crowded.

Inside the train. The chairs are very stiff, until you really buay tanhan. Next time must play smart..... check what kind of seats do they provide in the train. Haha....... Actually, there are 2 grade: the soft seats type (RMB62) and the hard seats type (RMB41). Initially, when we buy the tickets, we did not know that (forget it is a Railway Train and is not a MRT.... hehe). During the return trip, we managed to buy a soft seats type. But do you know what??? I don't think China know what are soft seats and what are hard seats. There is no much diff lor!!!

The scenery between Chengde and Beijing.

The railway journey from Beijing to Chengde.

承德-Chengde Railway Station. From Beijing, it takes 4hrs and 20mins to reach. Chengde, is once called 热河-Rehe. It is in the northeastern part of Hehei Province and 224km from Beijing.

The entrance of Chengde Mountain Resort - 避暑山庄.
Chengde(承德)is a town which is northerneast up from Beijing so the temperature is much more colder there. Therefore, in ancient time, the Qing Dynasty emperor purposely build a resort there for summer holiday. Once summer season came, they will travel to chengde to 避暑. Huh......避暑? Then why are we there in the winter season? The emperor go there to 避暑 and we go there to 受凉? Are we crazy? Yes, I think we are!!!

This is the place where the emperor have their morning assembly with the governors.

This is one of the Qing dynasty Emperor - 康熙皇帝.

He is the grandson of 康熙皇帝, his name is 乾隆皇帝. His horse look so handsome hor......

避暑山庄 is a mountain resort. In ancient time, the emperor came here for their summer holiday. And what they do in this resort??? Of course, came here for hunting. This resort is really very big, and there are many animals around like deer, goats and cow (but I only see deer around). They walk freely around the mountain resort and sometimes, the visitors will bring some fruits to feed them. They are cute lor……:)

Feel like touching it, but it has horned so me scare scare lah......

Do you still remember 《环珠格格》? This is the place where the princess stay in the show.

This is the tree which the princess climb up to catch the bird in the show.

This is the rock mountain, which the prince and princess play hide and seek in the show...... but in the real life, I guess adcient Emperor also do that here... hehe :P

Can you imagine I am walking on the lake??? Not that I know "轻功 - 水上漂". Is just that the lake had been frozen and become ice..... can you imagine how cold is it? While I am walking on the ice, my toes have no "feeling". I almost thought that my toes 断了.

Look!!! They are skating on the LAKE!

Since they are staking on the lake, I can't be a loser as well right! At least must try something also..... Yeah!!!

Me still not so bad, at least I did not fall. Of course lah.... I ski so slow, of course wouldn't fell lah!!! Do you know that they are speeding??? hehe.

避暑山庄- 德汇门. In adcient time, it was the door for Empress to enter only.

The sunset at 普宁寺.

The building in 普宁寺.

The pagoda in 普宁寺.

Do you know what, when we reach 小布达拉宫 at around 9am, the entrance door has not opened yet. It was not because we reach there too early. It was because the person in charge lost the door KEYS. Haha..... This thing also can happened one meh??? While we were waiting for the door to open, we tried to take some photos...... but was damned cold lor. Can you imagine waiting in the open space at about 0-2 degrees for about 20 mins??? woooooo.......

小布达拉宫- During Qing dynasty, the Emperor had build this Tibetian temple. It copy exactly the same as 布达拉宫 in Tibet, but just scale it down in size.

The entrance of the 小布达拉宫. Those people at the back were the staff and they are waiting for the entrance to be opened as well lor....... Do you know what??? Ended up, they use an axe to break off the chain, then we can get in. Haha..... That's China!!! Can you imagine, when it happen in Singapore???

Due to winter season, not much visitors visit Chengde. Therefore, most of the place of interest is not clowded with peopled. The staff in 小布达拉宫 playing "毽子".

我的命真“苦”啊！怎么来到承德还须要打扫？难道在新加坡作maid还不够，来到这里作丫环？

The wooden window in the 小布达拉宫. You see most of the wood have been cracked.

In 小布达拉宫.

Part of the building in 小布达拉宫.

A basin in the toilet of a chinese resturant.

We have our lunch in this shop...... they steam their buns along the roadside. And the place is dirty too, but the buns is really nice and is dirt cheap. We have 20 small buns, 1 bowl of porridge, 1 bowl of wanton, and 1 bowl of seaweed soup. It only cost less then RMB10 = S$2.

The are chosing the BBQ sweet potatoe......we eat it very often. We feel that the food sell on the roadside at chengde is not very fresh.... It is better in Beijing... even 冰糖葫芦 is fresher in Beijing. (opps forget to take photo of it)

A stall on the roadside selling 煎饼. Is quite dirty, therefore, we don't have the courage to taste it. Hehe.... Actually, is like our crispy pancake but wrap with egg. And the customer can bring their own egg and ask the seller to add it for them.

The return train from Chengde.
Initially, we would like to take coach back to Beijing. I would like to see different scenery when returning to Beijing. But the taxi driver told us that it might not be safe to take coach especially during winter time. The reasons are because of the weather (might snow) and road are slippery. The coach will travel through some of the mountain area which will be unsafe. It should be a very beautiful journey...... but too bad we did not try. Next time, if I go alone I don't mind trying...... hehe.... :p

One of the railway station in Beijing called 北京站. There are a few railway stations in Beijing which go different places of China. So please make sure you go to the correct station to buy and take your train.

The Trishaw display outside the resturant call 金鼎轩.

A friend's friend had invited us to her house and she is staying in the china traditional house "四合院". We are so lucky to visit a "四合院" as I heard their government are going to demolish it in the recent year. (Photo taken with 梦大姐, the owner.)

According to 梦大姐, in accient time, one "四合院" is a house of one family. But due to the communism, they divided one "四合院" into 20+ families or more (depend of how big is the "四合院"). And right now, one house is like a 2 rooms flat in Singapore or even smaller.

The "四合院" which 梦大姐 is staying now is a 王爷府 in accient time.

The passage way ceiling of a "四合院". On the ceiling, it is painted with pictures but too bad, the people do not know how to treasure it. Most of them are destroy by the people who stay there.

If the 王爷 still alive, he will sure feel heart pain. Can you imagine what a Grand "四合院" and now become so "log kor"........

This is the front door of the "四合院".

In 四合院, they use traditional warmer instead of electrical warmer.
They burn the coal in the stove as shown above and add some water in one of the pipe to produce hot gas/air. And the hot gas/air will be link to a gas pipe to individual room as shown below. And it take times to keep the whole room warm.
This is what we can't see in Singapore.

Wah.... what a Grant Shoes...... Are Beijing's people Grant in SIZE as well???

The Big Drum in the Drum Tower.

Standing at Bell Tower and taking the picture of Drum Tower....... Understooded??? :D

This is the Big Bell and has a weight of 63 Tons.
It has a beautiful story for it too. Read it yourself in the below photo.......If you don't know Chinese or don't know how to enlarge to photo then too bad lor....... Haha......

The steep staircase in the Bell Tower.

The Bell Tower. "钟楼"

Don't think that soldier is a display....... He is real and can walk around....... Is it a ghost??? errrr..........you watch too much scary movie liao.......just see below.