Blogs from Dongcheng, Beijing, China, Asia - page 4

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Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng November 11th 2012

Hi everyone, taken a while to blog and I still need to add my Japan one but just thought I'd update you on some of our adventures in China. Yesterday we had our first real day in China and decided to go to the Forbidden City which in the book sounds amazing - a massive palace from some very old dynasties with lots of different parts to see. However, it was absolutely freezing and pouring hard with rain all day and to make things worse my coat that I thought was waterproof obviously was not (although it was only £5 from primark so what should I have expected). Anyway, the palace was large, yes, but amazing, no it wasn't. Probably the most uninteresting thing I've been to on my travels so far - maybe it was ... read more

Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng November 10th 2012

So here we are in China. Some interesting sights and smells have greeted our eyes and noses...! The first leg of our Chinese journey landed us in Beijing for 11 nights. Seeing as China is so open to their people having their own feelings and expressions (ahem...!) Facebook is banned, but I did however discover that Instagram has yet to be discovered by the Chinese powers that be! So we have found a small outlet for our thoughts, or namely photos! So if you want to have a look at some photos from our time so far then you can check out my profile on that...my username is sarahf85. I am reliably informed (by Will) that we will be reunited with Facebook when we get to Hong Kong in late November. So I shall recall our ... read more
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Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng November 8th 2012

Guilin After completing our long week of midterms, our group took a trip to the southwestern part of China to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a province very close to Vietnam! It was a great way to relax after a stressful week of tests and papers and it was especially nice to get away from the cold that has settled into Beijing. We went from pants, jackets and scarf weather to shorts and flip-flops! Our first stop was Guilin, which is located in the northeastern part of the province and is known for its karst peaks that are randomly placed and are mostly under 650ft tall. The city is concentrated near the Li River giving it very flat land along the river but then it has sporadic, grassy hills every where else. During our stay there ... read more
By the Pagodas
Bridge built with no nails!
Dong Woman in her shop

Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng November 5th 2012

A definite must mention is:- if you stay at a hotel near the airport do not expect a taxi driver to take you to the airport. The line up of taxis are unbelievable, they must have to wait for hours to get a fare. So we were forced to hire what is called a "black taxi" which is a private car. Feel free to try to bargain for a reasonable fare,we got one that was prepared to go there for ¥40 instead of the quoted ¥50. A taxi would have been ¥20. So Martin arrived, we slept for a few hours, and armed with a bowl of noodles and cup of tea in the morning we did the black taxi from our airport hotel to the airport to use the public transport trip to take us ... read more
First subway ride
Hutong area of Dong Cheng
Reading the menu?

Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng November 4th 2012

We got to Beijing (Beijing means "Northern Capital" in Chinese) at 2:00am so we got a taxi quite easily. For some reason the Terminal we landed at, Terminal 2, had a mild stench of rotten eggs. The taxi took us to our first hotel, The Grand Hyatt at Oriental Plaza. On our first day there, it was sunny and there was not that much smog. We were quite late getting up and we just made the buffet. Then we went to Temple of Heaven Park/Titandongmen. At the Temple of Heaven we saw the Hall of Prayer Sacrifices for Good Harvest, The Kitchen for Sacrifice, The Imperial Vault of Heaven (where the Emperors and his court kept some of their money) and the Circular Mound Altar. The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 during the early ... read more
A Gate at the Forbidden City
A Drum and Bell Tower.
The Beijing Opera House

Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng October 19th 2012

CHINA: What does Donkey taste like? Just like Horse! Within my first month of marriage Denise announced that I did not need to do any more cooking... preferred her cooking to mine. I wasn't offended...no Sirree...couldn't believe my luck. I had married not only a blonde hottie...but one whose passions were me...and cooking! Maybe it was my Signature Dish..."Cold Cucumber Soup". Dice a couple of cucumbers...into a saucepan of water...can of condensed milk for creaminess...bring to the boil...add cayenne pepper often as necessary for taste...cool and then add cold diced cucumber for texture...and serve. Took that to a Dinner Party...I providing first course...only one finished it...made it a joke he had the ability to do so! Or maybe it was my Lamingtons for a Bad Taste Night...sponge rubber soaked in chocolate...sprinkled with shredded coconut...stretchy as. ... read more
STARFISH
LAMB
HUTONG KITCHEN

Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng October 19th 2012

We, somewhat dazed from a broken nights sleep, arrived into Beijing West Railway station at 8am in order to get to our hostel The Happy Dragon. A 1hr taxi ride that cost all of £4 across to the east side of Beijing gave us a snapshot of just how busy the city is, especially during rush hour. There are cars, people, bikes, scooters and tuk-tuks absolutely everywhere on the pavements, roads, parks and alleys. Our first venture out into the city was for a stroll around the area closest to our hostel called the Dongcheng district. This part of Beijing is most famous for its 'Hutongs' which are courtyard houses. The straight lines of their construct result in fairly tight alleyways referred to as Hutongs, which are a hive of activity, especially in the Nan Luogo ... read more
The beautiful Summer Palace
Scorpions on offer at Wangfujing Street night market
The Great Wall - from Simatai looking back towards Jinshanling

Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng September 15th 2012

Saturday 15th September With no more tours booked was now a good time to see the things ear marked to see within the city. First stop was getting a cab to the drum and bell towers near the Houhai lake. From here haggled with some rickshaw drivers into a tour of the local Hutongs (name originating from the Mongols). For those of you going to visit Beijing this is a must. Not the rickshaw but just venturing around the Hutongs. The rickshaw driver was an overweight Chinese guy navigating his way around the Hutongs very slowly. He stopped off at a family to show me the inside of a Hutong residence. He tapped the door bell a few times and a lady opened the door asking for ¥30. Not knowing to expect I enter and hear ... read more
Drum and Bell Tower
Rickshaw Trip
Old Kung Fu Show

Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng September 12th 2012

After arriving in Beijing alone, with no mandarin and limited research I was relying on a bit of help. Thankfully from the moment I stepped off the plane I was welcomed by friendly locals. A couple of memorable occasions - the lady who saw me wandering the streets looking lost (trying to find the Lama temple) and who insisted in taking me in her car and dropping me off at the door, or the random old man who I chatted to at the Temple of Heaven(well I spoke English and he spoke mandarin {somehow it works!} who gave me a painting or just the countless people who gave me directions, smiled and said hello. In the Interest of keeping this blog brief I will cover off a few of the Beijing "must do's" that I did ... read more
Summer Palace
Bancheng hutong
Tianemen Square

Asia » China » Beijing » Dongcheng September 7th 2012

We got to Beijing and haven't stopped since. The last three days have been insane... THE FORBIDDEN CITY The Forbidden City was the first site we wanted to see. It is within walking distance from our hostel so we set our alarm, woke up early our first day here and set off on our merry way. We grabbed some dumplings and pastries for breakfast en route and got to the City gates right around the time it opened at 8:30am. The first thing we thought was, "Wow, so happy we aren't in a tour group!". The tour groups are adorable in the most chinese way possible. Most of them wear ridiculous hats or have matching shirts (or other matching attire) and they all follow around a Chinese person with a microphone and a flag. It's just ... read more
Garden
Ty climbing treacherous slopes
Rebecca on the wall




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