Trip to Beijing -Pt 2

Next morning...everybody is excited to go to Great wall today...while waiting for others to board the bus ada orang datang jual souvenir. The kids dapat topi panda sorang satu...they wanted to wear it when going to the zoo the next day...nak amik gambar dengan panda.

muka excited pagi-pagi..

But surprise2....tak pegi great wall terus..they brought us to a jade factory first..I was busy listening on how to know a good quality jade. Lepas tu penjual kata kalau cuba jade bangle, boleh masuk lengan tapi tak boleh keluar, they jade is yours, tak payah bayar...a few of us tried but i wasn't interested...malas nak dengar their sales pitch..

so I walked around instead and saw a section where they were polishing the jade... after going round the area I went out to  a fruit seller nearby.. harga mahal coz it's tourist area but a bought some peach and pear and they fruitseller was kind enough to gave me this fruit

not sure what it's called here... gooseberry rasanya

DH also bought some almonds...roasted/baked/fried? with some creamy stuff..yummy

Our next stop is the crystal factory..this is supposedly the largest crystal ball in the world...betul ke?I'm quite sceptical of the facts that they told us actually...

Was told that Chairman Mao's coffin was made with crystal to preserve the body...if you really believe this crystal stuff then you will definitely buy some crystal here...hehehe..

Our next stop is still not the Great wall... it a cloisonne factory...apa tu? I never heard of the word before,,,tapi bila nampak barang baru tau...ooh...enamelware...

a very tall and impressive vase...these kind of things here has a six figure price attached to it.

We ate at the restaurant above this factory..food has many choices but tastewise is so so..so far the best food is the restaurant that we went for lunch on the first day

we are here!dekat belakang beratur orang turun naik tangga tu..


before climbing...amik gambar dulu..sementara suma masih boleh senyum..;-)

off we go....we were given slightly more than one hour to spend here...along they way DH and the kids were at the front, I was somewhere in the middle, FIL was further down..MIL didn't even bother with the climbing...Some tourists going down the stairs, upon seeing that I'm alone, bagi salam and start a conversation...hoii....I'm climbing up...and out of breath and you expect me to answer you? But I did answered their salam and just continued upwards.

finally reached the first post... this guy actually gave way to me on the way up..upon seeing him again here I jokingly ask him whether he is going further up. To which he replied.'No, no, no...I'm not going up anymore..

If u see very closely,..the kids and I was somewhere near the stairs that's going down to the rightside..

Only DH and Irfan continue upwards..

From DH's lens

Further up....for the kids and I we took a short break and went down. on the way down I just smiled at those climbing up...hahaha...I know how you feel..When we reached down it started drizzling. a short while later DH and Irfan came down. Next stop..burning cream factory..no pics here.
We then made our way to silk street..I bought several beautiful silk scarves here. As usual...must bargain hard.

The next day we went to a pearl and jade factory situated inside a stadium...yang ni nanti cerita..

Lepas tu berhambar depan stadium olympic 'sarang burung'..

then Ahmeng brought us to bamboo charcoal factory...haih...kilang macam ni pun nak bawak ke? i was asleep during most of the briefing..these stuff you can get in Malaysia...at the same price... buat apa nak beli kat sini? Buat berat beg aje..

Next stop...zoo...love the scenery and building here...rasa macam dalam kartun Kungfu Panda pulak hihihi..kacau pulak orang dalam gambar tu..

dapat jugak budak2 ni amik gambar with panda pakai topi panda...

We were lucky to catch the panda walking and moving around

Last stop before dinner...Yashow market...sorang mak guard tergelak besar tengok kitorang amik gambar kat sini...bila nak amik gambar dia sekali , terus dia lari tak nak..We bought winter clothing for the kids here.

Next day...Irfan doing some magic show...We took half a day here to settle our problems..

Lepas makan, pegi Honggiao Market/Pearl Market... banyak scarves here..price also better.

Lepas Honggiao market we went to Noo Yi mosque..a 1000- year-old mosque

the women's section is actually the one at the top right hand corner..the main entrance was from the left...berpusing2 nak carik women's section..

A very big and beautiful mosque

Done with his prayers..

these guys were watching people praying inside

after a Nasi Padang dinner at a shopping complex I saw this familiar sign...Owh. guardian pharmacy is called mannings here..After dinner Ah Meng sent us to the airport. We reached airport about 10pm and our flight home was at 1am. I took a short nap at the airport and slept during most of the journey home. Overall it was an enjoyable holiday...would i go to China again? Definitely yes..Would I join a tour here? hmm most probably not..

Trip to Beijing

During the Merdeka break we went to Bejing. This is the first time we took a tour package instead of going off on our own. The trip is heavily subsidized where a 5 nights stay only cost us RM200 per person for hotel, transport and food (irfan is free coz he's under 12) and another RM250 per person for entrance fee and tour guide tips to be paid one month before departure. Buy your own flight tickets after you decide which date you wanted to join the tour. The catch? They bring you to a lot of factories with overpriced items for you to spent your money. But was told by a traveler that a similar itinerary cost him more than a thousand ringgit.

We took MAS and reached Beijing slightly after midnite. Our guide was already waiting for us. There were 14 of us including 3 below 12 years old.Reached our hotel at 2am and before 3am I was already asleep. Next morning after breakfast we saw this car and there was a bride and groom at the hotel. We stayed at Taishun Business Hotel, got a triple bed room and was told that this hotel is popular among Muslims coz they serve halal food.

Later on our guide, AhMeng, Indonesian speaking local Chinese took us to a Muslim restaurant for our lunch. Food was great...love the fish dish with szechuan peppers.

 This is probably Beijing's version of  a tuktuk

 After lunch went to Nan Do You Mosque- a 300 yr old mosque

 bergambar dulu sebelum solat

 admiring the artwork

another photo at the signboard before going off to the silk factory.

 at the silk factory..while waiting for the rest of the group to gather

 briefing time...we had  a better explanation of the silk making processes in Cambodia before

yada yada yada...was already bored to hear and just wanted to take a look at their products... went off to explore while she was still talking. I didn't buy anything here, nice silk fabrics but much more expensive than the price in Malaysia.

went out to take photos with this baju and fabric. Love the design of the fabric on the right.

 Next stop- Summer Palace

 another photo while waiting others

 Weather was foggy but temperature was great, not hot and not cold.

 quite breezy

Just look at the weekend crowd

another photo- just a short stop here.. next stop acrobatic show

 enjoyable 1 hour show- ticket price included in the package

Dinner -love this dish...fried long beans with szechuan peppers. All shopping place in Beijing close at 8.30pm, so after dinner terus balik hotel. Malam2 memang tak keluar.

 Next day, waiting for the rest....haih..kalau ikut group ni yang leceh..some people tak punctual

 next stop- Tienanmen Square

 Gambar satu family

 From here there is an underpass to go to the building across the street- Forbidden City

 We are here!

 again, there was a huge crowd, AhMeng told us that this is a normal crowd on  a daily basis. if you look carefully at the path, at the centre the path is smooth while the rest is uneven,. The uneven path is the original ones. When they rebuilt the new path, they realized that the bricks a not just a layer of bricks but consisted of 15 layers of bricks to prevent intruders into the forbidden city.

 when you are travelling in a group, you are as fast as the slowest person in the group. so, with the senior citizens, kids and a baby in the group, we only covered one quarter of forbidden city. But DH and I went slightly further up on our own. We took those stairs up.

 and saw this building, at the side of the building there was a pathway,

 this pathway....if you look real close you'll  notice a small tower far away at the middle of photo- that's how huge forbbiden city is.

 at the side- ada shooting at the background

the guys admiring the East door of forbidden city

 the shorter way out..

after the exit, I saw this scene...love it...so tranquil

In front of the restaurant- my bet is that this guy is from northern part of Xinjiang- his features is quite different from the typical Chinese here. 

 the restaurant where we had our lunch

solat time-- too bad we don't have this chair in Malaysia, here the oldies yang solat duduk use the front part to put their head during sujud. We made a faux pass here- kalau kat Malaysia we  use to stand on the tikar and sujud on the carpet, here it's the other way round - kena tegur sebab pijak tikar- you are not supposed to do that coz that's where you put your head!

 Next stop- Herbal shop

 Indonesian speaking chinese or Indonesian, I'm not sure

we were given a hot water with herbs to soak our feet, got a free foot massage. some of us got conned here. Nanti cerita another entry.

 Next stop Tea factory

 the display

 A 100 year old tea

Tea tasting session. Another overpriced products here.

Last stop before dinner - Wang Fujing-- but it was raining and ended up not buying anything. tomorow-- off to Great wall!