My China

A and I were happy tourists when we joined a Reliance package tour to China in 2007. (B was in the USA, M in Iran and so could not join us). Being in a tour group took the hassle out of the language problem for us. It was our very  first time travelling with 15 'complete strangers', but by the end of  the tour we had all become friends.

When we reached Beijing Capital International Airport, we were greeted with a huge thunderstorm. So we waited out till it abated before boarding our bus to the Sailama Restaurant (I forget whereabouts) for an early dinner at 5.30 pm. From there we went on to our accomodations at the Jin Qiao Apartment Hotel - quite a good place to stay; the room was spacious and things were new, including a baby blue bathroom, a kitchen area (not that we were cooking at all, we're on a holiday!) and washing machine (we don't even do any laundry, where's the time or inclination for this? We are on a holiday!)

As usual, for a first time visitor to Beijing, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (FC or rather Palace Museum now) would be the very first sight to see. But on disembarking from our tour bus, we spotted a beautiful western style building that was the old railway station converted to Internet cafe, before reaching the Square. Tiananmen means 'gate of heavenly peace', and is the main entrance to the FC. The FC, imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, has seen 600 years of history, and 24 emperors ruled from here for 500 years. It has 8,706 rooms where an estimated 10,000 people (including 3,000 eunuchs) lived in its 170 acres.

A in front of the old railway station/new Internet cafe (CNB 2007)

Our first glimpse of Tiananmen Square (CNB 2007)

Mao and me, and ten thousand other tourists! at Tiananmen Square.
On Oct 1 1949 Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic
of China from the balcony of this Tiananmen Gate (AB 2007)

At the door, Meridian Gate, into the Forbidden City (AB 2007)

Dragon & phoenix on the palace rooftops protect against
lightning & fire (CNB 2007)

Are you seeing red? A against the red walls at the
Forbidden City (CNB 2007)

After the tour of the Forbidden City, we needed a rest. Well, what do you know, the tour included a visit to the Beijing Tong Ren Tsang Traditional Chinese Medical  Health Preservation Research Centre. How very convenient! There was free foot massage, and then... the hard sell began. Needless to say, we came away buying some health products that would burn holes in any credit card.

Later we had a prayer stop at the Nan Dou Ya Mosque, after which we checked out the people's supermarket no. 08 - Merry Mart. The place was packed to the brim with goods. We had to go (you know where), and so used the ones in the supermarket. Someone warned us to bring umbrellas into Chinese toilets because they said most had no doors. But with the Olympics happening the next year, most do have doors. Only old habits die hard, and some of the locals never close the doors so you do get culture shock of the worst kind, sometimes.

Smiling lady caretaker at the Nan Do Ya Mosque,
ladies section (CNB 2007)

Fruit & nut confectionary sold in front of the Nan Do Ya Mosque (CNB 2007)

A & me in front of the People's Supermarket no. 8 .
Note the bikes - Beijing folks in all shapes& sizes cycle in the city
(2007)

When in China/Beijing, watching a spectacular Chinese acrobatic show is a must. They simply are the best acrobats in the world (?) and one cannot help but gasp a lot when watching a show. So many near impossible feats get done, and done well.

Our tickets to the Beijing Acrobat Show (CNB 2007)

Chinese products flood the world markets, some good, some not so good. But their silks and crystals (read jade) are well-known. I do enjoy markets, but factory outlets, not so. Anyway we were taken to the silk (Dizhen), jade (Shuijing) and pearl (Freesky) companies/factories, where the array of products were plentiful. Don't forget to come to Beijing with plenty of money (or that wonderful piece of plastic) because you might just be tempted to buy back the beautiful piece of jade carving or that soft, soft silk.

Crystal balls, even goddess Kuan Yin, for sale (CNB 2007)

Ahh...food! The Muslim restaurants we were taken to served very good food, and with good company, we enjoyed all our meals (contrary to some I know who said they did not like the food when they last toured  Beijing/China.) This particular meal below was lunch we had at the Golden Palace Restaurant. Other meals we had at the Sailama, Zhungaer, and Xin Jiang restaurants were all thoroughly enjoyable too. For our last meal in Beijing, we had Peking duck, the very much talked about dish. But it was ok, nothing to shout about.

Lunch at the Golden Palace Restaurant (CNB 2007)

At the Jindian Cloissone factory, great skill was observed of the craftworkers there. Every piece was painstakingly made, and the end result was enamelware of a high quality. But too expensive for me, anyway.

Skilfully painting a piece of enamel ware (CNB 2007)

The foremost reason we went to China was to visit that wonder of the world there - the Great Wall. This we did one morning, choosing the less touristy part of the Great Wall at Juyong Pass. The newly restored parts of the wall do not really exude the 'ancientness' of it. Still, I have a 'Hero card' to prove that I climbed the Great Wall up to the Juyong Pass.

Waving from atop the Juyong Pass of  the Great Wall (2007)

A waving (?) from lower down the Great Wall.
The Juyong Pass is at the top of the photo (CNB 2007)

After the Great Wall, we were subjected to more hard sell at a pharmaceutical company where 'burning cream' seemed to be the product of choice. It was touted complete with a demo of a real burning of the skin and then the miracle cream is slathered over and voila!, in almost an instant the skin is as good as new. Then it was on to a Dr Tea teahouse, where a tea making demo persuaded one to buy all kinds of Chinese tea. I bought some to take home as gifts.  Later that night, dinner was with entertainment of Xin Jiang song and dance performance.

Seeing red again at Dr. Tea (2007)

Our last day in China started with a visit to the Summer Palace, or rather the Kunming Lake and its 17 arches bridge. We took a boat ride on the lake which was very pleasant indeed. Later, lunch was at the Olympic Village Restaurant after which at a jewelry outlet in the complex there, we were almost all smooth talked (by its Malaysian owner) into buying jade jewelry, yours truly included.

At Kunming Lake (2007)

Another mosque we visited for our zuhur/asar was the Ma Dian Mosque. Then on to another highlight of Beijing, the 'Hutong trishaw ride'. It was raining then, but that did not dampen our spirits, nor of our trishawman. The hutongs, peculiar to Beijing, fascinated me. These very old homes along very narrow lanes have a unique character about them. (At the airport going home, I bought a book The Hutongs of Beijing; photography as my memento of this disappearing bit of old Beijing.)

A, me & our trishawman 'singing in the rain' in the hutong (2007)

Last but certainly not least, we went to some markets. I like markets because they reflect the culture of the people and their country. We visited the Chao Wai Men (or Russian) wholesale Market, the Chao Wai Yueshow fashion market, and the Sunny Gold Street market. Believe me, there was really an abundance of everything there, no wonder they are flooding other markets too.

On the way to the airport we caught a glimpse of the new 'bird's nest' Olympic Stadium being readied for the Summer Olympics of next year 2008. Unfortunately we will not be back in 2008, but who knows, maybe another time, another place in vast China.

The new bird's nest Olympic Stadium (CNB 2007)

2007