we started exploring the place immediately after we checked-in.
we walked to tian'an men square..
the map is really deceiving.. it seems so near..
but in reality.. the walk is so long and tiring...
we were suppose to take a look at the Chairman Mao Memorial hall but to our surprise..
not bag allow!! we were suppose to deposit our bags.. and an unknown and unorganised place.. so scary..
this is the place.. we ended up only taking photos outside.. then we went for lunch.. peking duck.. but little did we know that a duck feast is awaiting us for days... for the continunous number of days we were there, we had duck for almost every meal.. NO MORE DUCKS for me.. haha..
then we crossed over to the forbidden city.. i must say it's so disappointing.. more than half of the place was renovating.. boring... afterwhich we were so so tired.. the lack of sleep and the long tiring walk.. we headed back for the hotel.. cutting short the itinerary by a bit..after our short nap we went for our traditional peking show with tea..
the little delicacies served during the show..
the next day we engaged a private tour to pick us up.. going to the places we chose.. we started off with The Temple of Heaven .. there we saw a very interesting sight of the lives of the people in China.. they do different activities around the park.. from exercising to singing to dance to playing cards to playing chess.. we also saw the Echo wall.. and trees of hundreds of year in age!
Temple of Heaven
After the Temple of Heaven, we visited the Temple of Bells.. Being a communist country, their main attractions are mainly Temples.. there were so many bells in this place.. bells from all era.. and the largest bell in China and if i'm not wrong Asia.. we also learned the making of a large bell..
Bell of Macau 1999
Largest Bell
we then went for lunch at a thai restaurant before visiting one of the famous Song sister's residence.. Song Qing Ling.. she was Sun Yat San's wife.. one of China's most respected woman!
Our next destination was Summer Palace.. the history of Summer Palace goes a long way back.. it was burnt and rebuilt at a very high cost.. the empress dowager cixi actually spends almost 3/4 of the year here and only returning to the palace during winter..
Long Corridor
this is the glass boat that Cixi likes to glaze stars in..
the guide told us that it was surprising to see our request of next visit.. he says that only locals go there, even he haven been there.. hahaha.. we wanted to visit the 'zi zhu lin'..
something different.. Purple bamboos..
Finally we ended the day with our specially arranged private dining.. the place was so difficult to find but it was so crowded.. i love the food! i doubt i'll ever taste it in Spore.. the chef is a descendant of the imperial chef of the emperor!!
On the third day.. mum's meeting ended early and we went to Great Wall of China.. One of the man-made wonders of the world.. it is so long that u see no end.. it is divided into part with only certain areas assessable to the public.. we took a cable car up.. but we decided to only take a short talk.. no stamina to walk for so long with those steep steps built..
Little did we know... dinner that night is at a restaurant called Quan Jude and it is the restaurant for peking duck.. the exact same one as the one we had the first day!! hahaha.. but luckily.. the food fare that we had is a little different.. we had more than peking duck..
the last day was free and easy day.. we went beihai park for lunch 'Imperial Cuisine'.. Yum yum!! hahaha.. it cost abt S$60 per person.. expensive but worth.. a Must try in Beijing!
the food we ate..
with this.. our beijing trip ended..