Blogs from Forbidden City, Beijing, China, Asia
Argentina a country of smiles and stones face....
Published: May 23rd 2012Asia » China » Beijing » Forbidden City
May 23rd 2012
I went to Heaven Temple and I witnessed a nice patriotic chorus old people singning in an ensemble. They were surranded other old people that did not play domino not bowling but cards. A long, long line of groups of players with poker cards playing something that made them sweat and laught. The Heaven Temple is an old nice building completly abandone in a nice park where I join a class of body exersice as a Chinese women explain me. But it was not body exercise at all. It was mainly hand movemnts that envigorate your soul after repeting some sayings the teacher was shouting before us. It was like clapping with different parts of the hand, between them and on your body. But actually the body does not moved it. It was not taichi, not ... read more
April 16th 2012
Sleeping on the train was actually OK. I managed to change into trackpants and T-shirt and had a doona if I felt cold. While I woke various times during the night (including when some of the people went in and out of the room, sometimes stepping on my lower bed), I got a lot of sleep until the attendant came in at 7am and announced the time (we were due in at 7.25am). We were told that our local guide, Leon, would meet us at the platform but once the platform cleared there was no one in sight. Fortunately I had been given his phone number, so I gave him a call. He was running late and advised to wait. Yet another example of the benefits of getting a local SIM card before starting my trip ... read more
BEIJING ... Team McDonalds/PizzaHut/KFC 1 - Team Mao 0
Published: April 15th 2012Asia » China » Beijing » Forbidden City
April 13th 2012
INVEST NOW! I'm thinking about investing in Crane Manufacturers and Spitoon-Making companies. I know a few years ago, ginseng growing in Canada was all the rage, because a billion Chinese consumers supposedly ate and drank ginseng like it was candy or Coca-Cola. I even bought some shares in a company that grew and sold ginseng in China … but of course the hype didn't hold up and the Chinese don't really buy any of our crappy Canadian-grown ginseng. But cranes and spittoons … the perfect China investments. I've seen for myself ALL of the cranes blooming in the sky in every city … it's like dandelions sprouting in your lawn in the spring. And Spitting looks like a Chinese national pastime like Mahjong or card playing … everywhere you look there are men AND women spitting ... read more
April 8th 2012
We flew from Shanghai to Beijing last weekend on Sunday. When we arrived, we got a taxi to our hotel which was only a 20 minute walk from the Forbidden City. Despite its proximity, the neighborhood was pretty non-Western. The place was nice, but a little small for the three of us, but with the location being so great it was really tough to complain. On Monday we walked to the Forbidden City and paid for an English speaking guide. It is tough to tell how legit these sorts of people are, but this lady was nice enough, and we walked around the city. She showed us a few more exclusive parts of the city (with many things to purchase obviously). The most notable nook was a caligraphy room with a man doing caligraphy for tourists. ... read more
Day 6 - Illegal Parking at The Forbidden City
Published: April 5th 2012Asia » China » Beijing » Forbidden City
April 5th 2012
Another exhausting day as the intrepid China explorers did Beijing's symbols of the past. We did the quick tour of the Forbidden City before getting ripped off by the bike taxis taking us the short trip from the back gate to Tianenmen Square. Despite the generous tip, the three drivers still chased us out of the drop off area for more money. All in good fun, we headed off for a typical Beijing lunch of refreshing pizza at a Belgian bar. We reckon the food will get more and more localised as we head West, so pizza was a hearty time-out for us. The afternoon we went our own seperate ways, with Stel and Ying Chu heading off to a shopping mall and a Korean movie, myself off to the new and first Lotus showroom in ... read more
The Last Day In China :( :( :( :( :(
Published: March 30th 2012Asia » China » Beijing » Forbidden City
March 30th 2012
Parker Today we went to the olympic stadium (birds nest). We went in and saw where they have seremoies. It was very cool to see everything. On the way out we saw the olympic tower and the torch. After we went to a lake, in Beijing, by the Bell tower, walked around and had lunch. Next we went to a shopping area we bought a few things and we had our last dinner in china, it was another hot pot. We all said I can't believe it. That trip went so fast we said what we liked about the the trip my mom my dad and myself said Mr. Chang.My mom and dad said that because it was just very cool to see him. I said because he said he went for a walk to hope ... read more
March 29th 2012
This was one of our last full days in Beijing, China! We went to the Temple Of Heaven. We took the public bus to the temple. The Temple Of Heaven wasn't really a temple was almost like a huge park!!! Parker and I both got a hackie sack except it wasn't a bean sack, it also had feathers. It was really neat. When we bought them we started to play with them. We weren't too good at it, but it was very fun! We also saw a man who had his legs up behind his ears and a pole that went across his shoulders and between his feet. He also had 2 stools to balance on. It was amazing to see what he could do. There was a work out area that Parker and I played ... read more
March 27th 2012
parker Today we went to Forbidden city,it was very big. We took lots of pictues, it was very interesting to see really different buildings and we got to see inside of some of them. After we finished at the city we went to the silk market to go shopping we bought lots of things the thing I liked the most were the magic tricks, I got 5. At the silk market we had another hot pot lunch. After supper we went to another pedestrian street and it was very busy. We looked around a bit and then returned to the hotel... read more
March 26th 2012
Hey everyone. This is our last stop, Beijing. Havn't been able to blog recently because of the train rides and no wi-fi. Yesterday we went to see the Terra-Cotta Warriors. When people come back and say that the room was the size of a football field, you're like 'Yeah, a football field. That's big'. But when you see it, it's just like 'Wow! This IS the size of a football field!!!' The warriors stood between 5 and 6 feet. The tallest warriors were the generals, they were 6 feet. They were all lined up in rows at the front of the building. Near the back workers had blocked off an area where they were still finding some. Then There were warriors standing up in a hospital like area. They still neaeed some maintence. This was all ... read more
Finally got to see the Forbidden City
Published: March 30th 2012Asia » China » Beijing » Forbidden City
March 26th 2012
We finally made it to the Forbidden City - yay :-) At least Josh, Lachie and I did. Stephen had to work. Best time to visit the hot spots of tourist destinations in Beijing are during the week. Although there are still Plenty of Tour Groups, but not as many locals. The guidebooks suggest to stay to the outer edges of the Forbidden City and we saw why, the groups seem to go straight through the middle and don't often visit the courtyards on the sides - strangely that is where the more interesting exhibitions are. The city is huge and there is quite alot to see, needless to say we didn't see it all, after 4hrs we were exhausted especially after our long walk the day before. It is however amazing and a must see. ... read more
