26 January. An important date in the history of Australia. Australia day….yes….this is 5 days late! But Happy Oz day for 5 day’s ago. It’s hard when I have not net access.
The day is also important for Superwoman and myself.
We both flew off to Beijing for a holiday on the 24th. As soon as I landed, I fell in love with Beijing. I love it. It’s awesome. Shanghai is lovely, but for me, Beijing just tops it. It’s full of history and culture. It’s a wonderful place. I also noticed that it was kept very clean since the olympics.
On the 25th, we walked from our hotel to where Tiananmen square is. It was a nice 40 minute walk. Bloody cold though! We arrived in Beijing with a high of -1 and a low of -14!!! It was freezing….but blue skies and sunny….
Our entrance to Tiananmen was to Ancient gates. They are massive. You have to cross the road via the underpass to enter the square. This one square is like a city. It house, the gates, Chairman Mao’s resting place, the monument of the people’s heroes and across another street…..Tiananmen Square and Forbidden. The Grandeur is impressive. It’s too hard to put into words. But it’s just awesome.
First we cimbed up the gates. That was awesome. It’s an amazing feeling when you are in amongst structures that are hundreds of years old…if not thousands……we then walked down the square and saw the monument to people’s heroes and across the street, Tiananmen square….where you see the massive painting of Chairman Mao. It’s amazing. This whole People’s square is so big, it holds 500,000 people. It is staggering to think how big this whole area is, and how many people there here! We were able to enter Tiananmen Square, but because of Chinese New Year Celebrations, Forbidden City was close from midday! So we missed…..for now.
That night we had dinner at Ho Hai lakes, where the lakes are frozen, but is surrounded by “old Beijing”. But “old Beijing is beautiful. The lanes, called Hutongs, are lined with shops or bars or restaurants. It’s soooooooooooooooooooooooo nice.
Anywho…..Monday was the 26th. We booked a tour to go to the Minh Tombs, Jade Factory and Great Wall of China.
First was the tombs. Where 13 of 16 emperors are buried. We went to 1 of the 13. Again, it’s massive. And beautiful. The architecture is just beautiful. Everything has meaning and reason. I’m pretty much left jaw dropped about the things we got to see…..in amazement.
Once we finished the tombs, we stopped off at the Jade factory for some shopping and lunch. Then the wall.
You can see parts of the wall along the route. We kept on asking…”is it that one?”…”no further ahead”…”is it that one?”….”no further ahead”…then we got there…..Jaw dropped…..there was the wall in all its grandeur. Resting peacefully on this massive line of mountains. It’s hard to imagine armies not just trying to cross the wall, but the mountains. The sheer size is crazy. Visiting the wall is one of the best things I have ever done!
We got to the start point…and I asked myself…Here? Nuh….at the top….it will have meaning…..so off we climbed….there are some real steap bits…but once your at the top….it is well worth the minor struggle….every 50 odd metres, there is a tower….in it, little off shoots or hideaways with opening like windows….I pulled Superwoman into one of them….and in Chinese, Spanish and English I popped the question……….”Yes!” I was extatic…….the nerves did not hit me until I said it in English, my legs prett much fell off……and when she said yes…..they shaked even more!
The 26th January 2009…is a special date.
That night we had dinner at Da Dong’s which is Beijing’s Best Peking Duck restaurant….and boy it was awesome!!!
The next day we had another tour…this time to Summer palace, Lama Temple and the Panda Gardens…..Lama temple was amazing….not only did we get to see the tallest standing Buddha in the world….26 metres tall…..but I was awestruck and mesmerised to see the monks doing their morning prayer…..hearing the murmor of their prayers was amazing…..I couldn’t move….for me it was a profound moment….
We then got to see the “Coolest dudes of the trip”….Panda’s…they are soooooooooooo cool….
And then summer Palace…in Typical Chinese grandeur and Architecture…it was simply amazing……we walked the long Corrider…this corridor…..728 metres long! next to it….on the huge hill….a temple Stands proudly…it’s amazing.
I forgot to mention…on the 25th, we also got to go to the temple of Heaven….that was also amazing…..this is more open air than anything else we’ve seen…but just so beautiful….
The day before we left…..we finally got into Forbidden city! Yayayayay!! I think it’s the size of a suburb. It’s just enormous. The amount of people in there is just ridiculous. It’s loaded. Buckets loads of people. Everywhere. In such a massive place. It takes a lot more than a couple of hours in a day to tour this place….we only did straight down the middle……we didn’t travel the sides….no time…too big.
We then got to walk the Hotongs….they are so cool….there a Chinesemen in Rickshaws taking you around…some are really funny….one just rode past us as we walked, and with a Big smile said….”Hello! Welcome to Beijing!” What a dude…..”Ni Hao! Shi-Nien Quay Le!” we would reply… (happy new year)
Chinese New Year…the one thing that made the trip frustrating. It’s an amazing festival….last a long time….the frustrating bit……a nations worth of fireworks going off all day and all night….not 1 day but multiple days. You soon get to hate fireworks!!!!
And now we’re back home to Shanghai…..where….I’m still chilaxing….and just starting to look for work…..hopefully I find something…..otherwise, Oz awaits for me in May….
This friday I’m off to Hong Kong….Looking forward to that.
Click on the above photo for all my current photos. I upload 3 a day. There is now a Shanghai Set and Beijing Set. There will be a Hong Kong set. Choose which one you want to look at. I took bucket loads of photos, so will take me a while to upload, but each post will have a link.
Hooroo/Zai Jane
