Today, I was able to experience the congestion of Beijing. Since today was a holiday, everyone was out and about, meaning all the main streets and parks were clogged with tourists and locals.
Our first activity of the day was a visit to the Fu Huang Water Pearl Store. They walked us through the process of how pearls are cultivated and then harvested, and then tried to persuade everyone in our tour group to purchase something in the store. Lucky for me, I managed to get a few freebies for sticking around. Yay!
By bus, we traveled to the Temple of Heaven next. Amazingly, it was constructed perfectly inline with Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. This was the place where the emperor came to speak with the Gods. In particular, he kneeled on one particular stone on a circular platform (because the Chinese believed the sky to be circular since the earth was believed to be square).
Here, I witnessed the mannerisms of today's Chinese people - their total disregard for others! A few tourists, including myself, were in a queue to have our turn at kneeling on the stone. All of a sudden, a group of locals just barged through and shoved all of us out of the way - so rude! Anyway, I did manage to get a picture in the end.
Our next stop was the home of Ji Yun (or Ji Xiaolan), the Qing Dynasty scholar who put together the largest encyclopedia in China. He spent 25 years compiling the documents of the Qing Dynasty in volumes to preserve the history. Now, his former residence is a memorial for him.
After the morning activities, a feast was well-deserved. We headed to the world-famous peking duck restaurant, Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, which has 41 separate dining halls! Apparently, the first Quanjude restaurant opened in 1864 during the Qing Dynasty. Although an entire meal of duck was a bit too much for my taste buds, the food definitely met my expectations.
Following the delicacy of roast duck, our eyes feasted on the delicacy of models constructed for the preparation of the 2008 Olympics. We visited the Exhibition of Preparatory Work for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, and its 4 floors were filled with intricate models of the city's current and future states. One of the models of the city spanned the majority of the 3rd floor!
Not too far away from the Exhibition was Tiananmen Square. We revisited the south gates and actually climbed into the southern most gate, to find an interesting display of feng shui. Or rather, pictures of buildings showing evidence of feng shui influence, including the entire city of Beijing. Above the displays, the feng shui master personally spoke to each of us about what he saw in us and recommended practices for us to follow. It was all pretty cool, and I ended up getting a jade charm for increasing health and wealth!
Walking around a bit more, we explored the markets of Beijing - although, not the bargain-breaking ones. The best deals I saw were food-related. Too bad dinner was next on our agenda, otherwise I would have bought more goodies!
Dinner was eaten at the Wa Ha Ha restaurant (yes, hilarious). Nothing too terribly spectacular, but the food was filling enough that we were able to comfortably enjoy the last activity of the day: the Beijing Night Show. This time, the show was more about the costumes and choreographed dances, weaving a story about how Beijing first experienced human culture to today's version of the colorful city.
Tomorrow is our last day in Beijing!
Our first activity of the day was a visit to the Fu Huang Water Pearl Store. They walked us through the process of how pearls are cultivated and then harvested, and then tried to persuade everyone in our tour group to purchase something in the store. Lucky for me, I managed to get a few freebies for sticking around. Yay!
By bus, we traveled to the Temple of Heaven next. Amazingly, it was constructed perfectly inline with Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. This was the place where the emperor came to speak with the Gods. In particular, he kneeled on one particular stone on a circular platform (because the Chinese believed the sky to be circular since the earth was believed to be square).
Here, I witnessed the mannerisms of today's Chinese people - their total disregard for others! A few tourists, including myself, were in a queue to have our turn at kneeling on the stone. All of a sudden, a group of locals just barged through and shoved all of us out of the way - so rude! Anyway, I did manage to get a picture in the end.
Our next stop was the home of Ji Yun (or Ji Xiaolan), the Qing Dynasty scholar who put together the largest encyclopedia in China. He spent 25 years compiling the documents of the Qing Dynasty in volumes to preserve the history. Now, his former residence is a memorial for him.
After the morning activities, a feast was well-deserved. We headed to the world-famous peking duck restaurant, Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, which has 41 separate dining halls! Apparently, the first Quanjude restaurant opened in 1864 during the Qing Dynasty. Although an entire meal of duck was a bit too much for my taste buds, the food definitely met my expectations.
Following the delicacy of roast duck, our eyes feasted on the delicacy of models constructed for the preparation of the 2008 Olympics. We visited the Exhibition of Preparatory Work for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, and its 4 floors were filled with intricate models of the city's current and future states. One of the models of the city spanned the majority of the 3rd floor!
Not too far away from the Exhibition was Tiananmen Square. We revisited the south gates and actually climbed into the southern most gate, to find an interesting display of feng shui. Or rather, pictures of buildings showing evidence of feng shui influence, including the entire city of Beijing. Above the displays, the feng shui master personally spoke to each of us about what he saw in us and recommended practices for us to follow. It was all pretty cool, and I ended up getting a jade charm for increasing health and wealth!
Walking around a bit more, we explored the markets of Beijing - although, not the bargain-breaking ones. The best deals I saw were food-related. Too bad dinner was next on our agenda, otherwise I would have bought more goodies!
Dinner was eaten at the Wa Ha Ha restaurant (yes, hilarious). Nothing too terribly spectacular, but the food was filling enough that we were able to comfortably enjoy the last activity of the day: the Beijing Night Show. This time, the show was more about the costumes and choreographed dances, weaving a story about how Beijing first experienced human culture to today's version of the colorful city.
Tomorrow is our last day in Beijing!
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I'm currently in Hong Kong, taking a few more pictures at the Disneyland store. ;)