Blogs from Beijing, China, Asia - page 5

The subway leading to the Temple of Heaven was packed. I took exit A2 from Tiantan Dongmen station and it was a short walk to the entrance gate. I queued up to buy my ticket to find out that they only accepted cash, WTF, everywhere usually accepts mobile payment and some places don't even accept cash. Annoyed, I headed off to find an ATM. Then made my way back to the ticket office. I bought the through ticket which covers entry to the park and the three main attractions: the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, The Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Circular Mound Altar. The ticket cost 28 RMB, as it is off season so cheaper, I don't know how much it would be in the high season, but probably not too much more. ... read more

Beijing airport the 2nd largest in the world next to Atlanta Georgia, followed by Dubai, Tokyo, London Heathrow, Los Angeles and Hong kong. We have now officially added this task to are bucket list and visited them all. Beijing formerly Peking is the capitol of peoples republic of china, the worlds most populous city proper, and most populous capital city. Located in Northern China, governed under the direct administration of central government within urban, suburban and rural. The hutong's are a type of narrow street or alley commonly associated with Beijing. Hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. Many neighborhoods were formed by joining one siheyuar to another to form a Hutong, and then joining another to another. The word Hutong is also used to refer such neighbourhoods. Since the mid 20th ... read more

I spent the day today at Beijing’s Summer Palace. This is located about an hour’s subway ride north of the Forbidden City and is where the Qing dynasty emperors retreated to get away from the heat of the summer. It was a working palace, but it also leaned heavily toward entertainment and diversion for the court. There are many buildings with different functions spread over the large grounds. Perhaps the most recognizable is the Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha (first photo). The views from up there are apparently quite good, but there was so much smog today that I could barely make out the little boats on the lake. More enjoyable to me were some of the buildings that I had read about. The Marble Boat is a party pavilion built in the shape ... read more

29th Sept: Well, a three hour flight delay meant I arrived in Beijing quite a bit later than I had intended. It didn't take me too longto get to my hostel by subway and after getting slightly lost, I managed to find it. I had stayed in this hostel 12 years ago when I first visited China, so it was a nice trip down memory lane. The hostel and the neighbourhood hadn't changed too much. After some umming and ahhing, I decided to stick to my original plan for the day, which was to visit Beihai Park. It took me about half an hour to walk to the park from where I was staying and the sun was already starting to dip as I headed on my way. The park's entrance fee was 30 RMB and ... read more

CHINESE MASSAGE...healing the inner Chi. She sidles up and strokes my cheek...from Inner Mongolia...in Beijing to work...reminiscing she had had another Aussie boyfriend sometime before. My mate sidling up and whispering in my ear, "Be careful". But I whisk him away 'cause I don't object to the attention...her hand gently stroking my cheek. When he later returns advising there are pictures in the toilets of what they are prepared to do to us...I advise her I am bound to another...departing into the white blizzards of the night...the other girls eyeing us as opportunities taking flight. Our next stop is a nightclub where one pretty girl for each of the four of us...dice games...if you lose you buy her a drink as well as yourself. Her way of surviving in the city...her way of making a buck. ... read more