It’s wonderful to have tuition-free week somewhere in between the semester. It is a much needed break to relax for a while before continuing to the last half of the semester. Too bad, it’s almost the end of Friday by now and my last tuition-free week of the semester is over. In this break, I get to chill, having a lot more rest, and do assignments slowly…I mean very slowly. After this, there is no such thing as ‘slowly’ anymore as more important deadlines are around the corner before the end of my first semester.
The coming Monday is ANZAC Day, and is a public holiday here in Australia. Yup, my holiday would be extended for an extra day. Searching up the web leads me to learn that ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations and the contribution and suffering of all those who have served. Oh, now I know. It’s a memorial day. We have no such holiday back in Malaysia. I only remember April 25 every year as my second sister’s birthday.
Recently, I had concluded watching a new TVB drama entitled ‘The Last Healer in Forbidden City’. It is a Hong Kong historical fiction period drama of 20 episodes which revolves on the account of a physician played by Roger Kwok, of the Guangxu Emperor mysterious death at the age of 37. The story tells mostly before the Emperor’s death and how the very talented physician make his way and contribution into the palace. The drama is actually partly based on true events (real history) and partly fictional for the drama purpose. I’m happy with this mixture as I’m quite interested in the history of the late Qing dynasty and I’m happy to see how it mixed with the fictional storyline to create this series.
It’s a short series and I quite enjoyed it overall. Roger Kwok is excellent as the main male lead while Tavia is also steady as the first female lead. The supporting cast consisting of Pierre Ngo, Jonathan Cheung and veteran actress, Helena Law as Empress Dowager Cixi were all fantastic in their respective roles. The story, despite not the best I have seen (I expected better) and also came with several plot-holes, is acceptable in current TVB’s standard. However, the very ending of this series left me frustrated. They just kept showing the two main leads suddenly staring at the sky for almost a minute long in the very end of the drama’s 20th (final) episode when Roger Kwok asked Tavia Yeung whether she managed to find her love. I knew the way the scene was done is to make it an open-ending but I absolutely didn’t find it right or necessary here. Keeping it closed and everything resolved would be be a better conclusion in my opinion. Anyway, I still enjoyed this drama but will be quickly forgotten by the year end before the awards season. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Healer in Forbidden City’ a total of 7.3.
(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)
i am back..from my long and exhausting but interesting and exciting trip at Beijing,Chengde and Tianjin, China last week…
first post after chinese new year, will be bringing you all to my experience in Beijing, Chengde and Tianjin for 8 days and 7 nights…
FIRST DAY —
25th January 2009 (Sunday) – on that night, it is hardly for me to sleep, because my wish for going to Beijing will be realized on the day itself. I have been waited for this for months..and now it comes!
packed up final stuff, closing the luggage, making up a ‘new’ me, and ready to go to Kuala Lumpur International Airport… my uncle fetched us to the airport in early morning even before the sun rises out..
have breakfast at McDonald in the airport..then go on train to the terminal..8.50am is the time of our flight to begin to the capital city of China…it is a clear sunny day in the middle-sized plane…
6 hours long in the plane..huh..kinda boring..but waiting to reach Beijing, gives me ‘energy’ not to sleep in the plane…
yes, finally, reached Beijing, at the Beijing Capital International Airport at Terminal 2..this terminal is the old building..wished to go to the new Terminal 3 which is just at opposite…anyway, the airport is still the world biggest airport (with three terminals)…
Out tour leader is called Jason and we met the tour guide from China.. called as Jerry (Xiao Lee)..when we are outdoor, wow…absolutely cold..freezing into the heart..quickly rushed into the bus with plate number 03015.
next, we proceed to watch Chinese acrobatic show..a one hour show that is enough to stunt everybody on their seats in a hall…i am sure that the performers have practised a lot of times for the daily shows…their stunts are incredible, awesome, amazing, wonderful and marvelous!
there are two videos recorded on the acrobatic shows showing some of the stunts performed that day…enjoy!
after the dinner, we proceed to a hotel, called as Quality Hotel..a typical four stars hotel in Beijing..the room is quite big, but because the condition there is too dry, we will always have electric shock towards any steel materials…
that night is really the greatest night, the last day before chinese new year..fireworks all around beijing are estimated to began from as early as 6.00pm to midnight 3.00am continuously…
from my room’s window, we can view the skyline of Beijing being enhanced by the fireworks…
i have recorded a ten minutes video of the fireworks too…enjoy!
SECOND DAY —-
26th January 2009 (Monday) – not much food to eat for breakfast, just swallow some to fill my stomach… then, go to Temple of Heaven..it is actually a very large area with a lot of ancient structures, as well as an Altar for the past emperors to pray…
this is the first time we are outdoor for such a long time, extremely cold here…
the main building, which is built without the use of single nail, is one of the ancient masterpiece of architecture…
next, we proceed to the city center, the heart of Beijing, the Tiananmen Square…with a giant public square in the middle (world largest urban square),
Tiananmen Gate and Forbidden City in the north,
Great Hall of People on the west,
Mao Ze Dong Memorial Hall on the south,
Museum of Chinese History and Revolution on the east,
and Monument of People’s Heroes in the middle of the square.
Have to go through tight security check before entering this square which is surounded by 8-lanes road…
next, we proceed to the Forbidden City, or known as Imperial Palace, or National Palace or even Palace Museum…but when we went into the palace, it does not seems to be ‘forbidden’ anymore..so many people rushing into the palace through main gate..it now looks like ‘open city’..
the palace is consists of 9999 and a half rooms (i don’t know how they count), but the area of the whole palace is really big, making it as the world biggest palace…
need to walk so long in the palace, but worthy, because it is really amazing to be in there, you are like back to ancient China when you are there…for those who love traditional Chinese architecture, this is the best place! From floor, ceiling, columns, beams, and to roof, the palace is an example of a great ancient architecture…
went to look at the interior courts of many halls in the palace, people can’t get in there, only can view it from outside, there are so many people gathered there just to look at the inner courts…
before leaving the forbidden city, just saw the tallest structure in the forbidden city, at the southern east of the palace, look at it, as well as the back of the image, where you can see the new China World Trade Center Tower 3…
actually on that day, saw the China World Trade Center Tower 3, CCTV Headquarters Tower, Bird Nest Stadium and Water Cube from far…then go to a shop called as Dr.Tea shop..here, they promote different kind of healthy teas for us to buy, and yet, we didn’t buy…
at night, go to nearby One World Department Store, just right beside my hotel to take a look, just bought instant noodles to keep us warm under the extreme cold weather…
THIRD DAY —
27th January 2009 (Tuesday) – today is a great day…going to the Great Wall of China through Badaling Expressway…it is one of the seven wonders of the world, as well as the world biggest construction project and world longest wall…
the scene around the great wall is great, with hills and forests surrounding it,it is believed that the first emperor of China, Qin Shih Huang Ti was the emperor who connected all the existing walls built before for protection and defence to create a ‘Great Wall’…
climbing on the great wall is an exhausting work to do, every steps is of different height and is not standardized, as it was built few thousand years ago…so the feeling is…’happy, exhausting, enjoyable, and tired’!
i have carved some of my detail there..haha..just to prove that I have really been there before…a lot of people carved on it before too..when we returned back after climbing to a certain height, we are so afraid by the height…really scary…
after lunch, we proceed to one of the Ming Tombs, the Tomb of the 13th Emperor, Ding Ling or commonly known as Wan Li..it is the only tomb out of the thirteen tombs in the region that is being excavated out for exhibition and tourism…the picture below is the whole Ding Ling tomb in model…
is it creepy in there…27 metres underground to reach the tomb…and i can tell you that it is no creepy at all..so many tourists in there…there are thrones, emperors and two empress’ seats, empty caskets in the underground, stone tablet,…
next, we went to Jade selling shop..didn’t buy anything from there too…we did go to Crystal selling shop too..the shop is known as Crystal Palace (this one is in eastern world)…
next, we moved to Bao Shu Tang medication shop…here, just bought little medication stuff…the most unbelievable thing is that when a worker present to us how their medication stuff works, he go purposedly injured himself on his hand on an extreme-burning steel, then he will apply their medication item on it, later it has been recovered a lot…crazy!
FOURTH DAY —
28th January 2009 (Wednesday) – today go to the Pearl selling shop..so many beautiful pearls here…didn’t buy any pearls here too…
next, we went to the Summer Palace (Yi He Yuan)..this place is big again…this area is mainly of the Kunming Lake and the Longevity Hill…both lake and hill is entirely man-made…it is actually a summer resort for the famous late Empress Dowager Cixi (Chi Hei Tai Hau)…
almost all of the lake is frozen….but the scene on the place is still beautiful…there are so many tourists in here too…
there is also a covered walkway which contains the world longest exhibition gallery (728 metres long).. the exhibition corridor consists of traditional paintings mainly of the Four Great Ancient Chinese Novels..including the Journey to the West..
Then, we moved on to the Trishaw ride along the old street of Beijing, the Hutong region…here, we can experience the traditional houses of Beijing and their lifestyles in these poor streets….there is a Drum Tower and Bell Tower nearby too….
then, we proceed to the Jing Shan Hill, an artificial hill right behind the Forbidden City to take a better look at the whole Forbidden City from the top of the hill as well as some parts of Beijing…below the hill, there is a tree which the last emperor of Ming dynasty, Chongzhen, hanged himself on there before…the scenery there is amazing, despite the winter dust in Beijing..
next, we proceed to the Silk Road and Pearl Market (a big mall where we can bargain for a very low prices for any items sold in there)..this place is mainly for tourists and is nearby of the Central Business District..
then, i saw the China World Trade Center Tower 3 (330 metres tall) which was newly built….
saw one of the main commercial streets in Beijing too..nearby the Central Business District…took a picture of it…
after dinner, we moved on to the next destination, Wangfujing Street…the whole street is totally created in modern style based on shopping-themed to attract tourists or even the locals…
there are so many people on the large street..the street is surrounded by two rows of few-stories shops which have their advertisement boards lighted up and decorated beautifully….the crowd there really gives a feeling of ‘wow’! Just walk along the street and took pictures..didn’t buy anything from there as all the shops there are of valuable brands…
later, we proceed to the nearby Donghuamen Night Market..this is a street also..but all the stalls on the street are selling food, drinks and snacks…there are unique food being sold here, such as fried starfish and fried scorpion…yyee…i do not dare to eat these…this street is full of people too…what i don’t like about this street is that the hawkers always shouting and asking us to buy their food and the street there is pretty ‘wet’ (dirty)…
Later, we get back on the bus and have a night tour at Changan Street in the bus…it is the main street in Beijing and it stretches over few kilometres long…every structures along the street are famous and unique, such as Tiananmen Gate (with Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square)
Beijing National Theater – commonly known as ‘Egg Shell’
and many others…just forgot the names…but the night scene there is really cool…then we moved on to the another street nearby called as Beijing Financial District..this is the place where most of the banks headquarters buildings are located…
FIFTH DAY —
29th January 2009 (Thursday) – Early morning, we went to ‘Miao Huei” (Temple Festival)..the temple festival is actually a street of stalls selling food and stuff (mainly souvenirs and gifts) ..all the stalls will be available only during the festival of Chinese New Year every year…a lot of people here too..all crowded…
after lunch, our bus passed through the street again, and when i looked at the street by that time, i was like ‘oh my god!’…the whole street is like packed with people with no any emptiness…people can’t even walk in the street…
Next, we went to the Zhengyangmen City Wall, a city wall south of Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City as well as Olympic Green on the far north..this city wall is to guard the structures on the north (mentioned above)….based on Feng Shui, this city wall represents dragon head, while Tiananmen Square is the dragon heart, Forbidden City as the dragon body and the Olympic Green as the dragon tail…
In the city wall, we are being met by a famous Chinese Feng Shui Master, called as Chen Li Yang..he gave us a long one hour plus talk about Feng Shui..the great thing about him is that he can identify our health condition just by looking at our faces which is very accurate…then, my family bought a ‘PiXiu’ (Pei Yau) from him to protect our family..
the master is the one who helped Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong (and Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay) on the Feng Shui of Genting Highlands, Vincent Tan on the Feng Shui of Berjaya Times Square and many more…it is too bad that photographing is prohibited in the city wall…
after that, we moved on to the nearby Dashilan Street, located south of the City Wall…it is one of the oldest commercial streets in Beijing and had been renovated to attract more tourists like us…so many people there too..just walk by the street and feel the crowd…
Next, after lunch, we proceed to Nanshan Ski Village..all the snowy ice there is man-made because by that time, no snow falls on Beijing…it is located quite far from Beijing and on hills, so it is pretty cold at there too…
just walk by and looked at people skiing and playing snow…i don’t know how to ski..and it is very expensive to ski there actually…
next, we proceed to Chengde by bus…four hours in the bus…just sleep in the bus…in the halfway, we went to a small charity shop and we bought some stuff sold there for charity donation…because Chengde region is really poor…
As we reached Chengde by night, it is very cold there, colder than Beijing..Beijing had an average temperature of -1 to zero degree celsius but in Chengde, at least -5 to -8 degree celsius..at night, the few buildings there is lighted up beautifully with neon lighting…including a bridge too…
After dinner, we proceed to Qianyang Hotel which I think do not deserved a four stars ranking…just a night in the hotel..nevermind..
SIXTH DAY —
30th January 2009 (Friday) – Awful breakfast this morning..nothing to eat…haiz…wow…when we looked at outside, the whole river is frozen into ice, some part is even covered by snow…
after breakfast, we proceed to The Mountain Resort (Bishu Sanzhuang)…it is the world largest imperial garden..it is a gigantic complex of palaces, administrative and ceremonial buildings…it served as the summer palace for the Qing Dynasty…
in the resort, we cannot take much photographs because it is prohibited in some areas…furthermore, it is too cold to take pictures there…and the battery of the camera will be quickly weaken under extreme cold weather…
because the whole resort is too large, we ride on a small kind of vehicle (i duno what it is called) to go along the resort…the scenery there is pretty cool and calm…we had a stop at
Mongolian yurt with a pagoda
Rehe River – world shortest river
and many more….
After that, we proceed to the Little Potala Palace or known as the Putuo Zongcheng Temple…it is a miniature temple made based on the original Potala Palace at Tibet..anyway, it is still big…
climbing through each steps to reach almost the top of the temple is kinda a hard task..but anyway, easier than climbing the Great Wall…this temple assembles Tibetan and Buddhist architecture…
after lunch at Chengde, we are back to Beijing..this time three hours in the bus…then, we proceed to Yashow Fashion Clothing Market..it does not only sells clothes, but also many other things in there..it is also a place to bargain for extremely low prices…
after that, we went to a new hotel to stay, called as Holiday Inn Express Beijing MinZuYuan, nearby the Olympic Green…this hotel is like three to four stars…better than Qianyang Hotel at Chengde but not as good as the Quality Hotel in Beijing…
we decided to go to Olympic Green first…me and my dad walked to the park where the Beijing National Stadium (Bird Nest) and Beijing National Aquatics Center (Water Cube) stand….
after dinner in a restaurant in a shopping mall, this time we really proceed to the Olympic Green with the tour group…we took a lot of great pictures there too..the night scene in the area is perfect…what amazed me is that there is a laser lighting show by buildings around Olympic Green in a time interval…
beautiful? wanna see the video of it..check this out….
the lighting is awesome, the design of stadiums is great, the whole park is picturesque…my wish of seeing this is being realized…hurray!
i am awed when i looked at the Beijing National Stadium (Bird Nest Stadium) through my own eyes..not through TV anymore…in a very clear distance…the design of this stadium is really unique, interesting and great!
next, right beside it, the Beijing National Aquatics Center (Water Cube) is another structure that I love…the lighting of this structure is cool…
the video below shows the changing colours of the Water Cube at night in a time interval…
both of the structures are actually designed based on Feng Shui too..as in Chinese beliefs, square (shape of the Water Cube) represents the Earth while the circle (shape of the Bird Nest Stadium) represents the sky.
there is another remarkable structure in the park, the LingLong Tower..the tower has a height of 128m and is used for television broadcasting. With 7 occupied floors, each an equilateral triangle, this tower is located on the north west side of the Bird Nest stadium. Unable to take the photo of the tower lighted up because by the time i reached there, the lights have been turned off…
later, we went back to the hotel through Beijing Subway, one of the world most advanced subway and is expanding to become the world longest subway.
SEVENTH DAY —
31st January 2009 (Saturday) – today, we went to the Silk Industry where we can see how silk is originated from…we didn’t buy any silk too because my dad have bought before from Shanghai..furthermore, silk is costly too…
then, we proceed to the Yashow Fashion Clothing Market again..we bargaining again for lower prices…we bargained at the same stall again selling phones and NDS…my cousin bought an NDS yesaterday while my sister bought a phone today…all at a very low prices..
in the bus, we passes by the newly built CCTV Headquarters Tower (234 metres tall) ..the design of this building really amazed me…
Then, we proceed to Tianjin after lunch…one hour in the bus..quite fast…at there, I saw a lot of buildings (mainly residential ones) under construction in Tianjin…
we moved to the Ancient Cultural Street …it is a traditional street with stalls selling food and souvenirs…there are some stalls offering games too…
then, we proceed to the nearby Nanshi Food Street…this is the place where many of the food and snacks are available…this street is covered and so it is indoor street…
after dinner, we went back to Beijing again…actually, nothing much special in Tianjin..just visit two streets and having a ‘too salty’ dinner…
EIGHTH DAY —
1st February 2009 (Sunday) – the first day of the month as well as the last day of the trip…sad…time passes so fast…
today we went to the Beijing Zoo where we will see the Giant Panda…this species of animal is facing extinction (serious extinction)..so, we have to see it before it really extincts…people said that a giant panda is more valuable than a human..
the pandas are so cute and big….they just eat bamboo, walk around, play around and sleep..this is their daily activities…but their bodies are little bit dirty because they can’t be taken to bath during winter because giant panda will caught cold easily and it is very hard to cure that for panda…
after that, we proceed to the Olympic Sports Center, just south of the Olympic Green…
here, we are invited to be given free foot massage..but they still promote things for us to buy..and our response is still the same…didn’t buy at all…anyway, i didn’t try the massage too..because i don’t like to be ‘touched’..haha…
Then, we have our final lunch in Beijing before we proceed to the Beijing Capital International Airport for the flight back home…
The airport is big, but Terminal One and Two are old..only Terminal 3 is more advanced and new…so bad, that our Malaysia Airlines plane is at Terminal Two…
anyway, i saw the Terminal Three also..from far…
the security check in the airport is too strict…lighter also cannot pass through…KLIA can, but this airport cannot…
we are in the middle-sized plane again..the same as the previous plane we are heading to Beijing…observing the sky…from bright to dark…
Back to Kuala Lumpur International Airport by midnight…the temperature here is totally different with Beijing..one cold, one hot…
My father’s younger brother fetched us back to our home…and this is the end of the trip…
wait…these are the things I bought from Beijing..have a look at them…
a) The Five Fuwas Key Chains Olympic Little Gift Box Suit
b) 3D Model of Beijing National Stadium (Bird Nest) – gold coloured.
c) 12 Little Key Chains of Great Wall of China.
d) 3D model of Beijing National Stadium (Bird Nest) -can be used to store stationeries..this one is presented by the tour guide, Jerry to me for free.
e) 3D model of the Great Wall of China. (colourful)
f) A glass with diagrams of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Main Venues (Beijing National Stadium and Beijing National Aquatics Center) – can be lighted up with different colours.
g) A little key chain of the five Fuwas.
h) A little key chain of the Beijing National Stadium. (silver in colour)
i) A little key chain of the Beijing National Aquatics Center. (gold in colour)
j) A traditional ancient Chinese cop..with ‘LTM’ (my initial) carved on it.
yesterday (2nd February 2009) — just rest to restore my energy…
today (3rd February 2009) wrote this absolutely long post…a very interesting one..hope u enjoy this!
All the pictures and videos available here are taken by me and is original…copyrights reserved…
As a conclusion, I think that there are good and bad in Beijing, China:
The good ones:
1) Nice city (Economic boom – effect of Beijing 2008 Olympic, city growing rapidly, cleaner city)
2) Amazing scenery (Forbidden City, Great Wall, Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, Olympic Green, etc)
3) Great architecture (Traditional architecture – Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, etc ; Modern architecture – CCTV Headquarters, Bird Nest Stadium, Water Cube, etc)
4) Efficient public transport – Beijing Subway, proper highways, no motorbikes.
5) A huge number of tourists’ destinations.
The bad ones:
1) Public toilets – many of them are absolutely dirty, foul smell, not being cleaned.
2) Food – too oily, some tasteless, and some too salty.
3) Citizens’ manners and behaviours – like to spit anywhere they like, no respect to others, do not flush toilet after use, etc.
the moments in Beijing, Chengde and Tianjin on this 8 days trip will never be forgotten…
i was quite shocked when i looked at the list through website…
out of the 7 wonders, only one is modern structure which is located at my country, try to guess..yes..it’s Petronas Twin Tower at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia..all the others are ancient structures…i added three more of my own at the end…feel free to comment
1. Great Wall of China – in Beijing, China…stretched approximately 6700km, the largest construction ever in the world, more detail in my previous post.
2. Forbidden City – in Beijing, China again – the largest imperial palace in the world, approximately 9999 rooms, currenty is the Palace Museum, more detail in my previous post.
3. Meenakshi Temple – Madurai, India – one of the most ancient complexes in India, known for skyscraping gopurams, hosts 33 million carvings, contains Hall of the Thousand Pillars.
4. Taj Mahal – Agra, India – crown palace of Mughal architecture, The Taj complex comprises five spectacular elements- the Rouza or the Taj Mausoleum, the Darwaza or Main Gateway, the Bageecha or Garden, the Masjid or Mosque, the Jawab or Rest House, and the Red Wall.
5. Angkor Wat – Cambodia, masterpiece of Khmer architecture, the largest temple in the world, picture of the temple in Cambodia flag, a major religious centre, biggest tourist attraction in Cambodia.
6. Borobudur – Central Java, Indonesia – largest non-monasthic Buddhist temple on earth, commonly known as the Mountain of Statues, combination of zigurat and stupas, Gupta architecture of Indian influence.
7. Petronas Twin Towers – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – tallest twin buildings in the world, 88 floors, 452m high, designed by architect Cesar Pelli, Islamic architecture based on transformation of geometric principles, has the world tallest skybridge.
actually, i wished to add three more in this list, to make it top ten…the other three i have to mention too, because their presence in this world is stunning.
i wish to add the Terracotta Warriors and Horses and the Tomb of the Qin Emperor, located at Xian, China – discovered in 1974, greatest discovery ever, the tomb entrance has not been found, mystery still lies beneath the tomb, The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians. not in top 7 wonders because it does not have a beautiful outlook but with a stunning discovery.
next i would add is the Beijing National Stadium, commonly known as Bird Nest Stadium, largest steel construction on earth, seats of 81 000 people, hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games, part of the Olympic Green in Beijing, China, modern structure with engineering breakthrough.
lastly i would like to include is Taipei 101 – located at Taipei , Taiwan, the current second world tallest building with a height of 509.2m, 101 floors, had withstand earthquake during its construction with no structural damage proving the testament to its strength, built on earthquake and typhoon area, engineering marvel.
huh..enough…these ten structures are among the most famous structures not only in Asia, but as well as in the whole world…appreciate these and admire!!!
Vincent Loy's Online Journal 