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Beijing |
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Oct 9-13, 2001
Toshi and me flew to HK before we joined my parents to Beijing. We were very lucky since during the 5 days of our stay the weather was extremely good with clear blue skies and warm sunny weather. Our tour guide was also very informative explaining the historical attractions. Overall, I graded this a 5-star tour.
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| Day 1 |
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We took the very first plane departing HK at 8am to Beijing. Upon arrival, we had ostrich lunch followed by the first attraction - The Forbidden City, or the Palace Museum. Then we did a little bit shopping and eating at Tung Hua Men Night Market and Wangfujing Street. |
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It was a tough tour - at home I never wake up earlier than 7am! Not only we had to wake up early, but also had to walk a lot. For example, on the second day, we firstly visited the newly built Police Museum, followed by Tian An Men Square, Mao Zedong Mausoleum, the Great Hall of the People. After the so-called National Banquet lunch, we visited the Yungha Palace which is the biggest Lama temple in Beijing. Then, we went to Sousui Street for bargain shopping. It is the area where imitation brands are sold. I wonder how this survive especially it is within the area of all embassys. Although it is a tourists attraction, I found other foreigners know the tricks as well - rule of thumb is not to buy if you cannot bargain up to 1/4 of the original price. After a one-hour very rush shopping (which was definitely not enough), we had bbq dinner before a Chinese circus performance. |
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Day 2 |
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First, we visited the Ming Tombs. Although altogether there are 13 tombs, we went to the most visited one which was the Dinlin, which included an underground palace - with the coffin of the Emperor and Queens. After lunch, we went to the Great Wall, Juyungguan section. Although we were given 1.5 hours to climb the Wall, most people of our group gave up after the first 10 minutes. Slopes were steep and steps were high - some with the height of my lower leg. While my parents and others waited inthe parking area, Toshi and I climbed up until the gate where we should return without being late.
After the Great Walls, we went to a medcine factory and was introduced a cream that can cure all kinds of skin and muscle problems. We used it that night trying to sooth our muscle ache after climbing Great Wall and surprisingly it worked like miracle!
Dinner was Roast Peking Duck at the famous restaurant Quanjude. |
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| Day 3 |
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In the morning we visited an aquarium followed by the traditional residential quarters, called Hutong. The houses were built 100-200 years ago but were mostly renovated with air-con and hot shower equipped. The only thing missing was the toilet, due to lack of pipe lines. As a result, the neighbourhood have to share public toilet, which is extremely smelly!!!!!
In the afternoon we briefly visted the Beijing University before moving on to the Summer Palace - one of the four famous garden in China. When we passed by a photo corner, my mum and other group members urged us to take a picture with the Emperor and Queen costume. I guess they had fun seeing Toshi on such traditional Chinese costume. |
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Day 4 |
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On the last day, we briefly visited the Desingmen followed by Tiantan, the Temple of Heaven. While the Forbidden City is 72 hectre in size, Tiantan is larger by more than 3 times! It means that we really walked a lot. Anyway, it was the last attraction and we did it! |
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| Day 5 |
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| For details of the major attractions in Beijing, please click here for English and here for Chinese. |
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Main |
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Karen in Japan |
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Gallery |
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Family and Friends Visits |
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Contact |
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Travel |
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