Beijing Trip Day 5 - Ancient Cultural Street and NanShi Food Market

 This is our last day in China and we spent it in Tianjin. The night was spent at the Zhengda Hotel and we all had to check out as early as 8:00 am. Why? Because there were two more places to visit before going to the airport.

My comment on the Zhengda Hotel? Clean, spacious, much, way much better than the HuiDu hotel back in Beijing, but the the toilet in our room had some problems flushing. LOL.

First stop of the day was the Ancient Cultural Street of Tianjin. There were a lot of colorful buildings there and sellers of all kinds of merchandise. I was almost tempted to buy the leather wallets there that costs about RMB 35. But didn't, sigh.

A group picture, from left - CEO, Fie, staff 1, staff 2, Ms Lili, staff 3,
ME holding on to Akmal, the CEO's son. (Pic by Fie)

I didn't get the names of the other people in our group as we were the odd couple out while the others were on a company trip. LOL. Sorryyyyyy! Since we had a very tight trip schedule, I did manage to have small talk with some of them.

Various pictures in the Ancient Cultural Street.

We didn't go in through the front gate so there's no picture of it. Hehe. But the first thing we saw when entering was people selling antic merchandise on the floor of the streets.

Among being sold were old coins, old postcards etc.

The CEO's wife had a thing with ancient looking flutes and tried giving out a tune but to no success. Hehe.

"Pruhhhhhh! Pruhhhhh!" 

Haha. The seller said you have to practice more because no sound was coming out except the huffing and puffing of your breath.

After the cultural street, we stopped by the NanShi food market. Since it was obviously non-Halal, we only stopped for a quick look only.

Also sold here were souvenirs in the form of key-chains and such. 

Oh... and remember my post on the "boyfriend"? Some asked for a clearer picture of him.. hahaha. So here it goes!

Fie, the "boyfriend" and me! (pic credit to Fie)

OK, please don't look at the picture too long. Might lose your eye sight. LOL. 

We had our lunch and prayed at the same place before heading to the airport. It was sad to leave China but overall I'm glad to have joined this Muslim tour. This is my first time in doing so and might do so again in the future to other destinations.

Just need to find myself a travel partner.

=)

I guess this is my last post on Beijing Trip. Phewww... finally!!!

Signing off, thank you for reading!

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Beijing Trip Day 4 - Shopping Spree at the Yashow Market, Sanlitun

After several excruciating hours at the "second" Jade factory that afternoon, we finally reached the shopping area at around 4 PM. Ms Lili gave us only 3 hours to shop for our things and by the expressions of some of the people in the group, I knew it wasn't enough. All I could think of was buying stuff asked by friends back in Malaysia and it was quite a longgggg list. Sigh.

Sanlitun Yashow Market was the shopping center recommended by Ms Lili and it stood five storeys tall. Each storey is dedicated to different sections such as one storey for clothing, another for bags and shoes, one storey for electronics and accessories, etc.

As soon as you enter the building, you'll be greeted with the view below.

An escalator to any floor you desire.

The public toilet is just on the second floor if I'm not mistaken.  My first stop was to find cheap winter coats. I was able to bargain a hooded D & G winter coat for about RMB 200. If I bought two the price could be lesser. =)

Resorted to buying coats near the escalator to save time.

Some of the sellers know some basic Malay such as "murah! murah!" which means CHEAP in English. Hahaha.

Next on my shopping list was finding cheap replica bags for a guy and girl respectively. I'm not into replicas as the quality was questionable but my friend's wish is my command.

I found lots of Prada and Balengcia replicas. All at RMB 100 if you bargain hard enough. LOL.

As another blogger smartly put it, all of these are USELESS but highly desirable junk!!! HAHAHA!

LVs and HERMES were also sold in abundance!

I bought a HERMES replica for RMB 100 and also a Coach Men's Slingback for the same price. Hehehe. So far nothing was for me.

Later, as the spree was coming to an end, (the time to gather at the required place was nearing...) i went to the fifth floor to find an 8 inch PC tablet cover for my dad. I've searched everywhere in Kuala Lumpur but none was found. Fortunately,  you could basically find everything under this one roof! 

Tip of the Day: Never buy fridge magnets at the places you visit as it costs about RMB 10 per piece. No bargaining there! Whereas at Yashow market (here), you can get it at RMB 3 per piece!!!

After buying everything on my shopping list, I headed down the escalator.

Fake shoes were also sold in abundance. Name the brand, it's ALL HERE!

Glancing a bit before exiting.

The other people in the group obviously had a great time shopping. Some even came put of the building with very big bags filled with bought items! 

And out the building we went and across the street to the waiting bus.

We were on the way to Tianjin for the night. It took about 2 hours and a half to get there from Beijing. As usual I was asleep along the way but managed to notice that the driver had difficulties locating our hotel there. He stopped the bus several times to ask for directions. =)

Next entry will be my last one on this Beijing trip. The last day was spent at Tianjin before we were sent to the airport.

Until then, thank you for reading!

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Beijing Trip Day 4 - JingShan Park

We headed to JingShan Park just before lunch. We were given less then an hour there to do some sightseeing. But nothing was worth seeing if you didn't climb the many steps up hill to the Wanchun Pavillion (All Time Spring Pavillion) and that's exactly what Fie and I did. Unfortunately, the other tourists in the group didn't pursue this. =)

"Climb Fie! Climb! You can do it!"

To me, the climb wasn't half as bad like Great Wall of China. Fie became my willing photography model as we rushed to get to the top and then climb down in less then an hour. Fuhhhhhhhhhhh!

Clockwise from upper left: Fie at the first pavillion we reached at, Fie in front of the second,
antique picture of important ppl in front of the same pavillion at the back,
golden buddha in the Wanchun Pavillion.

It's not about the buildings that we purposely climbed all the stairs to the top. JingShan Park is famous for being strategically located just above the Forbidden City as seen in the map below.

Jingshan Park is a park full of hills.

And once we finally reached the top, LO AND BEHOLD!!!

We could see the WHOLE Forbidden City from the top! OMG!!!

I know the picture doesn't show much because I don't have powerful camera lenses yet. But through the naked eye, the view was MARVELOUS!!! It kinda knocked the breath out of us.

The view of the lake at the east side.

Ohhhh.... we definitely became the envy of our group when we climbed down breathlessly. This place is a must-go when you come visit Beijing anytime soon. It marvels me that I've been inside the Forbidden City before I saw it in whole on top of a hill. =)

Next stop is foot massage, lunch, another Jade Factory and finally a three hour shopping spree at Beijing's open market!! All in the next entry! I am sorry for the delay of the entries as I was pretty much preoccupied these past few days.

Oh and did you know?

I won the Malaysia International Tourism Travel Blog Award!!!  Thanks to all who supported and voted for me! Love you muchhhhhhhhhh!!!

Muahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Until next time, thank you for reading!

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Beijing Trip day 4 - The Temple of Heaven

Moving to day four in Beijing. Second stop of the day after visiting the oldest mosque in Beijing was the Temple of Heaven. This temple was built in 1420 to be the place where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties worship Heaven and offer sacrifices. In return they want more harvests and favorable rain.

Most of the structures were constructed in the Qing Dynasty in compliance with the layout system set in Jiajing's reign of the Ming DYnasty. It is built so that the compound wall done in a semi-circle in the north and a square in the south. Surrounded by double annular walls, the temple is divided into an inner part and an outer part.

The whole area is 273 hectares.

Ancient architectural complexes stand in the inner part including the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, the Circular Mound Altar etc while the outer part lies Divine Music Office to rehearse ritual music for ceremonies. (source is from the information board found at the temple)

As usual, we had to wait for Ms Lili to get our tickets. No tourist place is free to enter without a ticket.

I wonder how foreigners gonna understand the writings above the counter?

It was just a brief walk down the aisle and upwards to the Temple of Heaven. Many people were present during that time. Some were there to hang-out with fellow friends and I noticed the majority of the local visitors were elderly people!

Clockwise from upper left: Temple from afar, Temple from the side, Fie on the stairs,
and Fie and I at the front of the temple.

This my friend, is the great Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. Built in 1420 and originally rectangular in shape was used to worship both Earth and Heaven. Rebuilt in 1545 into a round hall with a triple-eaved roof, each covered with blue, yello and green glazed tiles respectively, symbolizes Heaven., Earth and the mortal world. The hall is supported by immense pillar which symbolizes the four seasons, the 12 months of the year, the 12 time divisions of the day and night and all the constellations. It is the only existing example of the ancient architectural style of Mingdang. (info from the information boards at the building)

Jianxi, a popular game among the Beijing people at the park. See the "ball"?

On our way out, we walked through a wide pathway where it's crowded with people playing Jianzi. A traditional Asian game in which players aim to keep a heavily weighted shuttlecock in the air using their feet and other parts of the body except their hands. It was interesting to watch them play. Hehe.

Next stop is Jingshan Park! -- next entry.

Thank you for reading!

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MITBCA (Malaysia International Tourism Bloggers Conference & Awards)

Hi all,

I know it's a bit late in mentioning this since only four hours remains before the voting period finishes. I've been gathering votes via Facebook and twitter from the day my blog was nominated in the "Tourism Travel Blog" category and with help from unbeknownst friends, I managed to lead for awhile. Just wanna say THANKYOU so much for your votes and support! Whatever the outcome tonight, I'll forever be in your debt. 

But that's not what I want to blog about.

Malaysia International Tourism Bloggers Conference is going to happen on the 8th until 9th of May 2012. Organized by the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia, it is going to be held at the prestigious Seri Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, just a few meters of the PWTC station. Registration is free and you could pre-register here. To date, there are only 170 places left so REGISTER NOW to avoid disappointment. =)

I think tea break and lunch is served as well. So that's something. Hehe.

Topics being discussed during the conference are relevant to the social media world especially on tourism. Details found here. Avid travel bloggers are encouraged to join. So don't miss this chance, OK?

I'll be there so meet you guys there!

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