Here's my posting of Beijing trip!!! After dragging for 1mth... Heehee..
Day 1
Date : 18 Feb 2007
Time arriving airport : 550am
Time of departure : 830am
Well... I'm really proud of our Changi Airport... Y'know on the day I leave Singapore & on board SQ flight, our terminal was so busy that planes QUEUE up to take off!!!
So yupx, there's 3 planes infront us before our taking-off, & 4 planes behind us!!! So coolz right... 830am is the busiest taking off timeslot... You can always go down to Changi Airport to view this awesome scene!!! Highly recommended...
Time of arrival : 400pm
Temprature : 12 C
Here we come, Beijing!!!
That night we had an early dinner... What Imperial Emperor dinner... Eh taste not very ok le... But their grape wine is nice!!!
It tasted really like ribena, no alcohol taste at all... Thus I drank half a glass until I start to feel giddy and picked up the bottle, its 17% alcohol content lo!!! Oh my...
After that went to watch famous Za Ji performance & returned back to hotel... Of cos, who will sleep @ 10pm right? So yupx, despite our hotel environment has nothing but roads & office buildings, we went for a walk...
Walking for about 20min STRAIGHT road, we came across the familiar 7-11!!! Bought 4 bags of stuff, including 5-6 cans of beer, 3 big bowl of instant noodles, 4-5 bottle of drinks, 3-5 magazines, a bento set, some tibits... Guess the price... S$20 ONLY!!! Wahahahaz!!! I think these cost you at least $80 in sg...
Bro, mum & me on the way back hotel
Bought some KFC back... The set meal's price is around the same, but the family set is cheaper... Only about S$12 while here its like $20+...
That ends our 1st day...
Day 2
Date : 19 Feb 2007
Wake up time : 600am
Temperature : 10 C
Must wake up earlier today!!! Cos, we're going Forbidden City!!! Zi Jin Cheng I'm coming!!! I love Jin Zhi Yu Nie (HongKong Drama)!!!
Special landmarks seen as our coach drove passed...
Infront of the famous Tian An Men
The guy covering in black is NOT terrorist!!! He's my bro!!!
Something to comment, Tian An Men is freaking BIG ok!!! We walked from the left to the right is about, walking 2 trips from Wheelock to Cineleisure... NOT kidding... That explains the sad history of the infamous 1989 Tian An Men Protest...
Me & Dad infront of Wu Men, main gate of Forbidden City
Because Tian An Men was just located in front of Zi Jin Cheng, it took us around 15min to walk from one place to another... In the freaking cold weather!!!
Inside Forbidden City!!!
The place is really awesome!!! But really pity that Hall of Supreme Harmony (Tai He Dian) is under construction... It's the main hall where Emperor hold his daily hearings...
Oh ya... The area of just ONE palace (Gong), is about the size of 1.5x Cck Sports Complex... I'M NOT EXAGGERATING!!! Just a little info, there's about 9,900 rooms in Forbidden City, consisting 17 palaces (Gong) & 5 halls (Dian)... It covers 720,000 square meters & is the world's largest palace complex...
I kept imagining I'm filming Jin Zhi Yu Nie or some palace shows, trying to escape from the ten meters high red walls... Or I'm a general guarding the gate (Cheng Men) & a palace maid came running very far to me reporting some emergencies (as filmed in Jin Zhi Yu Nie)... WO SHI KONG WU!!! Muahahahahaz!!!
This is just half the height of the gate
Yeah, gotta explain this pix of my bro... As read from an internet article, the gold 'wells' behind my bro is the Fire Extinguishers at that time... It's filled with water always, and are locatd around the Forbidden City... One fire extinguisher is more than enough to drown me this fat pig...
The tall long walls @ back gate
We walked from the front gate to the back, spending a total of 3hrs with only 2 stoppings of 3min each... Mind you, Forbidden City is built horizontally, NOT vertically... So I dont dare dream how long it will takes to walk from the utmost left to right...
I'm definately returning there again in my lifetime!!! Taking my own sweet time exploring the place, after Tai He Dian reopens...
Due to time constraint, we only managed to view the Imperial Garden (Just a few pathetic plants, the whole garden about the size of SIM) & some rooms used by Emperor & Empress... We didnt even managed to see the place used by the 3000 concubines!!! Dont even mention the rooms used by eunuchs & maids...
Awesome & impressive, it's all I could say for Forbidden City...
After which we toured around Jingshan Park, where the last emperor of Ming Dynasty, Emperor ChongZhen hanged himself... A 400yrs old tree...
Took some photos along a so-called river, when we would call it a lake or even sea here, given the size...
Took on a rickshaw ride provided to go around the place outside Forbidden City... Passing by houses Qing officials used to live...
Visited a Ice Craving Exhibition in the evening, with temperature of ZERO!!! Dinner followed by Shaolin Gongfu show with storyline, which we dont understand at all...
That ends our 2nd day!!!
Conclusion of the day by me & bro :
1) In Beijing outside Forbidden City, anyhow kick a stone & the stone might already be 200yrs old... Historical items are everywhere daily in their lifestyles...
2) Qing officials are pitiful... Imagine if the daily hearing hold @ 8am, though their homes are just outside the palace, they have to be out @ 3am in order to reach in time... There're no cabs during those days, only human-carried Jiao Zhi...
(To be continued...)
rhys 11:33 PM