Beijing
After seeing for the first time just part of this enormous city, I can only imagine what's like living here. Spending a few days in Beijing is definitely not enough to really appreciate the beauty and its amazing history, culture, architecture, and it's people. The magnificent sight of contrast between the traditional and the more advance influences are in constant battle everyday..JPG)
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Our trip started at Tiananmen Square with a Chinese woman named May, our own private guide. She's so sweet and have a good command of English. She told us her real Chinese name but was too hard to remember....JPG)
What's the party color again?.JPG)
A huge square blocks of concrete that at first you wouldn't think it's worth visiting. A desert concrete filled with history, perhaps the most remembered one being the violent clash between the student protesters and the military in 1989. Also the location of Mao's tomb and the tallest monument in China.Moved on inside the City that is Forbidden no more...they let me in! The Forbidden City. hehehe....Location of the mother of all ancient buildings in China. Home to the emperors of the Ming & Qing dynasties.
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We hit the wall, the Great Wall that is, on our next stop. We went to the nearest section called the Badaling section, about 50 or so miles north of Beijing City..JPG)
Now, this is the main reason for this China trip co'z according to Mao, if we fail to reach the Great Wall we are not men...or women..JPG)
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Daughter & I reached the highest point of this section and we've got a certificate to prove it, while wife is happy enough to stay behind at the half-way point. It's not an easy task to climb up the wall. If not for my daughter's encouragement and persistence, I would have quit early on.
Not in our itinerary was to watch the acrobatic show at night after a long grueling day walking and hiking. May, our tour guide, happily arranged the tickets to the show and gave us instructions on how to go back to our hotel after. The show was awesome but the taxi ride back to the hotel was at best, interesting. Most of the taxi drivers don't speak English and as you may not be aware, I don't speak Chinese other than the usual "ni hao" (meaning hello) and the "xie xie", thank you.
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One morning I didn't arrange to have a guided tour. I became the tour guide for my wife & daughter...and that was a big mistake. hahahha....I planned to visit 3 main tourist sites on that day, not including side trips to places for shopping, and we end up seeing just one site, the Summer Palace and a half-hearted visit to a shopping district called Silk Street.
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I didn't expect the Summer Palace to be that big. I mean really big that it almost took us all day to go around it. It really is a large park with beautiful imperial palace architecture used as a summer residence by the imperial family. .JPG)
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tong-its anyone???.JPG)
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Don't ask me about this hanging butt...I saw plenty of those..it's kinda cute! It's a Chinese culture thing....JPG)
Going to the shopping district was an adventure my wife and daughter will never forget. I forced them to take the subway. It was during rush hour and so you can imagine what's it like battling for position in a train with gazillion Chinese people. Suffice it to say that wife was ecstatic to learn we will take the taxi ride back to the hotel, in itself, another adventure but less aggravating. hehehe....JPG)
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I was told that experiencing the raising of the flag with the Chinese people is something you shouldn't miss. I woke up one early morning, around 5AM and took the subway alone to the Tiananmen Square to witness it.Unfortunately, it was little too late for me as I was exiting from the subway, I noticed the crowd already started disassembling and only the guards were around to validate my fear. It was freezing outside but wouldn't mind it if I didn't miss the flag ceremony....but I missed it! grrrrrr.....
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Beijing is so big! But I was able to meet a couple of new friends...;-).JPG)
and a new girlfriend! hehehe.JPG)
BEIJING....JPG)
You can really see a lot in a day...BUT too little in a week...AND not enough in a lifetime.
posted by Batch '78 @ 05:02
15 Comments:
Awesome! The temples and the winter like weather remind me of my days in Japan. I will definitely put Beijing in my long list of places to visit.
Thanks for sharing these pictures.
i had so many pics of my 2 years in Japan...and 3 years in Saudi...but all lost somehow during one of the heavy floods in Pulilan...:-((
I love Beijing!
you're right, zen, it's awesome! my memories of beijing have come back because of those pics. but beijing has become a lot more beautiful now because of the coming olympics. they have lots of new bldgs, and new roads, even a new airport which were not yet there when we went there a few years ago. staying there for a few days is great but to live there? no way!
hello there batchmates! nakakainggit naman buti pa kyo nakarating dyan sana makapunta din me..miss you guys!
hello klameyts,
surely we all miss each other, like the webmaster missing her all the time , i mean us all . thete , pagnagconvene kami for no other reason all, sana dumating kyo , we will have nothing but fun & laughters. join ka pag nagvideo watching-cum bonding ha ! to all , a more cheerfull & fruitfull life , GODBLESS ALWAYS , same here , missed you all ...
Hello, klasmeyts, musta na kayong lahat? Bakit sa ken parang wala nakaka miss, waaaaaaaahhh! Pero di bale miss ko naman kayong lahat, heheheh.
Kakainggit naman si webmaster, pa trip trip na lang sa China, haaaaayyyyy, hanggang pangarap na lang yata ako na makarating sa Great Wall.
Di bale mapapanaginipan ko din yan, hahahha. At pag nangyari yun wag nyo kong gigisingin ha,kundi lagot kayo sa ken.
Have a good week everyone. Keep blogging, whereever you are and whatever you do just keep on your mind that we're here for you, hehehe.
Nasaan na kaya mga 'cuz ko (di po typing error yun, I don't mean 'crush', pero puede na din, heheheh)? Paramdam naman kayo dyan.
hoy, ogie, pa naonymoues effect ka pa, buking ka naman! he he!!!
di n'yo man lang binati ung bagong blogger natin, si theta. sayang nasa states na ang ating "romeo". but i'm sure, you've got a living romeo na di nagpakamatay (nagpakamatay nga ba si "romeo" sa novel ni shakespeare? enlight me guys). welcome to the house! i'll be back na sa ksa on the 12th. hay buhay, hirap ng mahirap. mami-miss ko tuloy unica iha ko, saka ung dinaanan n'ya...hahaha! sa mga nagpunta sa house ko last easter sunday. daghan salamat!
miss you folks!
HELLO MGA BATCHMATES! NGAYON AY SPECIAL DAY NG ISA NATING CLASSMATE WALANG IBA KUNDI ANG ATING PINAKAMAGANDANG SI LILIA SA MGA HINDI NAKAKAALAM. LIL HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!FROM PAPERBOX
hey , birthday ni lilia , ... happy birthday girl !muuuaaah !
Happy Birthday , Lil! Musta ka na? San ba gimmik natin heheheh.
Hope you have a very happy and blessed birhtday. You go girl, party hard, hahahah.
mabuti na lang at yung paperbox couple ay may listahan yata ng mga may birthday.
lil, HAPPY,HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.
salamat sa mga e-mail mo.
hello mga ka batchmates at dun sa bagong blogger na si theta.
Happy birthday Lil!!!!!!!!!
Haaauuuuum..., I mean Muuaaah!!!
Enjoy & may you have more birthdays to come.
Hey Egay, sarap nyo naman papasyal-pasyal na lang, sana ako rin.
Speaking of olympic, I was able to have a picture of me holding the olympic torch right after the torch relay near my house and that was way back Sydney 2000 Olympic.
It's nice to be (almost) part of it.
Lil blow out ka ha?
hello klasmeyts,thanks sa pag welcome nyo skin.Anyway h a p p y birthday lil may the Lord shower you with so much Blessings!!!
i'm so touched with your greetings. thanks so much!!! saan nyo gusto ang blow-out? sa beijing?
theta, welcome to our blog!
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