My Journey to Beijing 2007 - 7/12/07

After procrastinating for so long, i decided to post some pictures up here, since i think my visitors rate are dropping as low as it can go. *ahem ahem* or maybe nobody visits it at all! T.T

i'll be erm, story-telling about my trip to Beijing. i'm not a good story teller and neither can i really remember all the things that the tour guide said. but we got a really really great tour guide. he was like a walking book of China history knowledge, he was so full of details, gwad, and i like the way he talks, the Beijing Mandarin slang, so cool. =P but as you all know, i have short term memory problem, so i can't really explain everything in detail unless it comes popping out in my mind like a light bulb.

First and foremost, the weather was damn freaking cold, it was like 5 degrees Celsius everyday, and sometimes it just goes lower than that and even below 0 degree Celcius. i totally can't stand the cold. -_-" don't laugh at me okay. haha.

we made our way (by bus, of course!) to

1. Tian An Men Square - 天安门广场

.photographed this while walking.
vehicles are not allowed to park their cars on the road beside Tian An Men Square, because this area is like the political district of Beijing. well, if you did that, be prepared to get surrounded by police.

.the entrance to the Forbidden Palace.

.the building with Mao Ze Dong's portrait.

.The Great Hall Of The People.

.we're standing on Tian An Men Square right now.

2. Forbidden Palace - 故宫

.took this while walking backwards. some kind of hallway.
my camera not shake resistant -lah. haha.

.see that big building. it's a gate actually. it's called Wu Men - 午门 (Meridian Gate).
it's the largest gate leading into the Forbidden Palace.

.huge, olden door.
legend said if you touch a row of that round, protuding golden thingy continuously, you'll be prosperous. lol.

.inside the Forbidden Palace.
before walking to that Hall (picture below) there were 5 bridges. the very middle was for the Emperor to cross. the 2 bridges beside the middle bridge were for the royal blood to cross, and the last 2 bridges were for the ministers.

.The Hall Of Supreme Harmony - 太和殿.
it was on renovation for the Beijing Olympic 2008. see all those staircases there that lead to the hall, there are these several big bowl-like thing at each level to light something, so that white smoke (which looks like fog) would surround the whole Hall to make it look heavenly, like the Halls in heaven. and it was built high up to indicate that the Emperor is high above everybody. that square is where all the ministers would stand. and from the Hall, the Emperor could actually view everybody.

.i can't remember what gate is this. -_-"

.the hallways of the many rooms in the palace.
there are 9999 1/2 rooms in the Forbidden Palace, so just imagine how huge and gargantuan the whole place is. the Emperor decided to built 9999 1/2 rooms because in Heaven, there are supposedly 10000 rooms. that 1/2 room is only a staircase or something lidat.

.the Emperor's throne.
there are actually 3 main Halls, the 1st one was The Hall Of Supreme Harmony, the 2nd one is The Hall Of Complete Harmony and the 3rd, The Hall Of Preserving Harmony.

3. Summer Palace - 颐和园

.this picture not taken by me. haha. obviously.
the Summer Palace is a place for the Emperor to avoid the summer heat. i just don't really understand why people from olden days love to waste money to build this kind of thing. imagine using how many people to build this palace, and there were no machines or whatsover to help them.

.the garden in the Summer Palace.
those are fake rocks, man-made.

.i can't remember what is this tree called. -_-"

but ain't it unique, look at the branches, all twisted and drooping.

.this is the pagoda where the Empress Dowager Ci Xi and the Emperor pray.

.this is a very very long hallway, with an abundance of paintings.

.outside the Forbidden Palace.
that mountain behind is actually a garden. and if you look at it from above the sky, it is actually shaped like a laughing Buddha.

.the entrance to the Summer Palace.

.this is a 300 year old Qi Lin.

.this is the Hall where the Emperor/Emperor Dowager Ci Xi's throne is located.

.the pagoda again.

.took this picture, despite it was quite foggy, but love it anyway.

4. Indoor ice carvings

.Sun Wu Kong. =P

.the Olympic Mascots, from left, Bei Bei (blue), Jing Jing (panda), Huan Huan (fire), Ying Ying, Ni Ni.

.Huan Huan and Ying Ying.

not me and my bro -ah -_-"

for dinner, we ate Peking duck. i still think that the Peking duck i ate in Malaysia is way nicer than the one i ate in Beijing. hahahaha. that was the 1st whole day of our trip. i loved the 1st 5-star hotel we stayed in. the room was really nice and good and all. haha. and guess what, i think i kinda sprained my leg in the hotel. oh well, this is not good for the next day trip. hahahaah. i'll blog about it real soon! =P