Beijing - Chengde - Tianjin (29 May 2006 - 6 June 2006)

"How's your trip?" That's the question that most prompted when back from Beijing. My reply is always standard. Well, not bad only. Why not bad only? Read on, then you will know.

Some people may find that visiting historical places like China, would be a boring trip. Or some would even say, "Eeee, china ~ old folks go one!" But to me, it all depend on the area of interest. It's very interesting to know their culture and learn their history. In chinese, there's a phrase "bai wen bu ru yi jian", in direct translation, it means "listen for hundred times is not like see for once". The translation may not be so accurate as what the phrase appear to be. Whoever have a better translation, correct me please. Thanks!That is so true.

We departed from KLIA and reached Beijing International Aiport 6 hours later. I hate to say that i vomitted twice in the flight. What a shame! It was ages that i did not vomit in flight, u know??!! And now, twice kok!~ I like to travel, but i don't like long hours flight. Yea i know 6 hours of flight is nothing compared to longer hours to any other further countries at the other end of the world map. Well, i always have hard time sleeping in the flight. That's why~

During these 9 days 7 nights trip, I been to : (erm, as much as i can remember)

• Summer Palace where Empress Chi Xi rebuilt it for summer stay. Mainly of the Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake.
• Tian'an men, symbol of new China after liberation.
• Forbidden City, now called Palace Museum, located center of Beijing is the largest palatial complex.
• Temple of Heaven, the site which emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties offered sacrifices to Heaven, prayed for rain and good harvest.
• Emperor's Tomb @ Ding Ling. It's underground of about 27 metres deep, approximately 9 floors height.
• Bell Museum where the world's largest bell located. You will definitely amazed by the art of the bell.
• Panda Museum where i thought of 13th panda. There are only 4 or 5 pandas, they are adorable but not as clean as 13th panda.
• Underground City. This is not included in the itinery, but recommended by our tour guide. A worth visiting place. It's cool during summer and warm during winter. This underground tunnel can link to many places in the city, but only part of the tunnel is opened.
• Great Wall ( ha, i did not complete the track!)
• Hutong
• Deer city a.k.a Chengde, where the Emperor stayed during summer. 4 hours drive from Beijing.
• Tianjin where dim sum - "gou bu li bao zi" is famous. From the name, it means "dog dun care the pao". My taste bud said not nice. It's like pao but hard.
• Watch Shaolin kungfu show. According to the tour guide, the westerners like this show the best. And it's always full house.
• Watch acrobatic show.
• Jade, Crystal, Pearl, Tea factories...
• etc etc etc

Shopping is great. A lot of imitation goods too. Mind you, they are so cheap. Quality-wise, i doubt. 1 pair of shoes can be sold at different prices, depending on how good you are at bargain. 1 Malay couple bought it at RMB200, where other chinese tour member bought it at RMB45. Well, there's a communication problem here i guess? So, sharpen your bargain skill and learn the tactic before going to China. Set yourself the lowest price you want to offer, it's you who offer oh, not the seller offering you. hahaha... When you turned away, they will call for you to let go the item. One tag that i did not like to see when entering some shops there is, "No Buy, No Trying". Well, how do i know the dress suit well on me or not if i don't try, yea?

Hmm, the "not good" about this trip is probably the food. First day, you will feel fresh with the food served, but days following that, you faced the similar menu until sien~~~. I missed kch laksa so much. Another minus of the trip is the tour guide herself!~ I believe she was and she is and she is going to be always so soft spoken, that you can hardly hear her. Clean off your ear, otherwise hard to hear her. Other than that, hotels were just so-so. I am only happy with the last 3 nights hotels. One last thing, not enough time to shop. hehe... so you must be fast ~ not only fast at shopping but also fast at walking, coz the places visited are all big big in area. If you are slow, you won't be able to catch up with the rest.

Well, that's much i could remember and write for now. tata~~~