I took an exam-preparation course
in Beijing during the summer in 2001. It was quite stressful for me at
the beginning. In the 4-week course, I had 4 hours in the classroom every
morning and some 2-hour lectures and 20-minute tutorials in the afternoon.
However, my ultimate aim is to enjoy a holiday in Beijing and of course,
I did not miss a single chance to walk around Beijing City and some "nearby"
tourist attractions in Hebei Province and Inner Mongolia.
Departure
Beijing Language and Culture University
Beijing Language and Culture University is a specialised university for language learning. It provides degree courses in Chinese for foreigners, Putonghua teaching, short-term courses in Chinese for foreigners, citizens from HK and Macau and courses in English and other foreign languages for Chinese who are going to study abroad.
At the gate
Green areas and school buildings viewed from the
dorm
Canteens and restaurants in the campus
Zhenshi Yuan, the tea house in the campus
Attractions in Beijing City
Shirley, Myra, Suiyi, Juan, Edith and Fanny at Wangfujing, the central
business district of Beijing City
This was the first time I had reached the Great Wall. I went to 2 different sections: Simatai and Jinshanling during 2 weekends. They are about 200km east to the city centre and less visited than Badaling. The weather on the day I visited Simatai was terrible but it was terrific when I went to Jinshanling.
Fine weather on the Jinshanjing Section of the Great Wall
Friends on the Great Wall
Chengde, the Royal Summer Resort
It is 250km northeast to Beijing and is in the Hebei Province. It is a double size of Yihe Yuan in Beijing City. It was built as a summer resort and resting place for Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynastyheading to Mongolia for hunting and military training. It contains an office area, palace area, lake and garden areas, hilly woodland areas (for hunting) and grassland areas. It was originally named as Rehe (Hot River) as there is the shortest river which never freezes even in cold winter within the Summer Resort. There are a lot of gates leading to different district outside the Summer Resort.
Lake and garden area in the Summer Resort
Outside the Summer Resort, there are 8 large buddhist temples (Waiba Miao) which were built in Qing Dynasty. Buddhism was practised in Qing Dynasty as national religion and Buddhist monks were highly respected. The buddhist temples are in Mongolian, Tibetan, Manchurian styles. The most famous temple is the Little Potala Palace which is a miniature of the Potala Palace (a Tibetan Monastary) in Tibet.
Little Potala Palace, a miniature of the Potala Palace in Tibet.
Inner Mongolia
Before going to Inner Mongolia, it took us another 5 hours to Weichang County, Hebei Province. It has been a hunting and military training area for the Manchu royal family and the QIng army. Crossing the border, we reached Inner Mongolia where we saw horses, sheep, herdsmen, a vast area of grassland, wild flowers and blue sky above us.
The first time I was on a horse back
Friends on the grassland. At the back were tent-hotel in Mongolian
style
Baihuatan - Beach of Hundred-flower.
It was a shooting place of the drama series "Princess Huanzhu"
Longqing Gorge
It took us less than 2 hours to get to Longqing Gorge in Yanqing County in Northwest Beijing. It is named as "the Little Three Gorges" in Beijing. It has a deep valley and high mountains on the both sides. Outside the Gorge is a large piece flat land for farming. We had a boat trip, cable car trip and hiked up to the mountain top. The scenes are gorgeous everywhere.
The entrance of Longqing Gorge.
Under the yellow cover,
there is an escalator leading to the top of the dam where the boat
trip starts.
Green water and mountains around
Gathering
The lady in grey in the middle is Ms He who taught us phonetics
The old man in the middle is Mr Li Jiyu who taught us reading and oral
Putonghua.