Day 7 - Summer Palace and Pearls

What a day!  No tour today but up at the crack of dawn and so thought I should start my day!  Was on the metro by 8:30 on my hour long trip up to the northwest area to see The Summer Palace. I obviously went in the entrance not used my tours or tourists as I was wandering around for a good hour in the woods wondering why everyone thought this was such a great place to visit and then finally I get over the hill and low and behold there is the lake and loads of people.

Long Corridor

I walked around this palace forever! It was so windy the paddle boats which usually are all over the lake were parked, unable to rent. But I walked over the seventeen -arch bridge made with marble lion on top of the 544 balusters.

This palace was made by empress Cixi.  She is remembered as China's most powerful woman.  She borne one emperor's son as an imperial concubine, she became power to the throne to two more, her son and nephew.  She was known as the leader behind the curtain.  Since she was a woman she was not allowed to be part of the politics so she had a sitting room beside the council rooms separated by a curtain so she could hear what was going on.  Also since her son was so young she needed to know what was going on so she could advise him.  She blocked the state reforms and lent support to the xenophobic Boxers in their rebellion, she paved the way to end the imperial era. 
Then I found the Long Corridor and then took an unpaved path up back up the hill to reach the Tower of the Fragrance of the Budda. The views overlooking the lake and palace were great but I smelled no fragrance and we couldn't take photos of the woman Budda which had 24 arms.

I went back on the metro to Hong Qiao Market (aka The Pearl Market) Oh My Goodness this place was huge. First floor sold watches, silk clothes; second floor shoes, purses, bags; third floor pearls and other gems and stones; fourth floor more pearl shops but more in a store location not like the stalls on the floor below.  Serendipitously I picked this one store called Ling Ling. I saw the price of one of the necklaces and was turning to walk out when someone said they had lest expensive pearls. Long in short, I spent 2 hours there buying so many pearl items, necklaces, bracelets and earrings. I custom made 2 of the which I coin then Jill Jewel necklace. The pearl necklaces come on these strings all clumped together and then once you decide to buy one they restring them putting a knot between each pearl and attach a clasp.  I have many gifts all set for the year!!!

in front of the Pearl Market

So when I got home/back to the hotel and checked my emails Kirsty had recommended Ling Ling pearl store as they had a good reputation for good quality pearls. Jane the woman who helped me said that most of their business is wholesale sellers and not usually tourists.
I did bargain some but it was so cheap to begin with it was difficult and I was on my own.
On my way out, I also bought a new larger Longchamp purse and a bright pink Tory Burch purse.

Finally got back to the hotel at 5:15 and needed to be at Bryan and Jane's hotel at 6:30 showered and ready for dinner which I successfully accomplished whilst making reservations as well. We went to Din Tai Feng restaurant which is well-known for its dumplings.
And for the last night ended it in an illegal taxi just like when I started!!!!

Day 6 - Temple of Heaven and Forbidden City

Monday, April 9 - Today's tour were joined by Brian and Jane from the UK, a lovely couple heading back to the UK from being in New Zealand for 3 months. 

We got dropped off at the Temple of Heaven. We enjoyed walking around the parks seeing the local people dancing the tango, doing tai chi, playing games, exercising, etc.

Then we continued to the Temple of Heaven (Tiantam) This temple is completely made out of wood and constructed without using nails.  This temple was used to pray to the gods for good weather for good harvest.
Dragons represent emperors and phoenixes represent empresses.
4 pillars inside represent the 4 seasons, then 12 pillars represent 12 months and the others represent  12 hours in the day because that is all they had in the 14th century.

Jill in front of Temple of Heaven

Materials transported to Beijing to build the Forbidden City and the temples were moved during the winter months to use the ice to pull the heavy materials along.

in front of main entrance of Forbidden City

Entrance to the Forbidden City writing to the left of Mao says "Long live to the People's Republic of China" and on the right says "Long live to the great unity of the people of the world"

Tian'an Men Square

Jill, Tommy (guide), Jane (UK)

Forbidden City which goes on and on!

Entrance to the Forbidden City writing to the left of Mao says "Long live to the People's Republic of China" and on the right says "Long live to the great unity of the people of the world"

Jing Shan Park  - great views overlooking the expansive FC - however more steps! 

Bryan, Jane (UK), Vivian (Beijing), Joe (USA/Beijing), Jill, Amy (USA/Singapore)

Dinner tonight at Dali Courtyard - recommended by Kristy Kelly!

THE GREAT WALL

morning awakening

Day 4 - Sat. April 7

What a day! I was picked up at the crack of dawn (6:25) and then we picked up another guy, David from Perth and we headed out of town to the Great Wall of China!  We arrived about 8 and hardly anyone was there. The sun had risen and the sky was blue.

We intelligently agreed to take the cable car up to the wall, instead of climbing the 1000 steps. We had enough steps to climb in our trek, thank goodness we did do that.  We began at Mutiayu Great Wall.
At the top we started at tower 14 and here our guide Tommy left us to hike to tower 20 on our own (and back again).

 David and I got on really well. We both loved to stop and take photos and our pace was the same. David has two daughters 26 and 29 and a wife which permits him to go on his own holidays to places he wants to go. So here he is and she is doing some B&Bs around Perth!

Again because we were the only ones on our section of the wall it was fantastic! The crisp morning air and the bright blue sky made wonderful photo ops. The wall kept going and going and so did we.
Our guide Tommy did say one could possibly go all the way to tower 23 but after tower 20 the wall has not been restored. Tower 23 was on top of the mountain and so that was David and my goal.  Though the steps to tower 20 were brutal, so steep and they kept on going.  It took us about 50 minutes to get tower 20. But with the Chinese flag flying in the sun and the view it kept us going.

After tower 20 it still was restored though the wall just kept going up and up. But at tower 21 then it looked almost impassable  but we kept going.  Though we did have cling to the wall and the few trees to help us and keep our balance. Two hours later, we finally succeeded!!!  The view at the top was amazing!  The wall kept going and going and going!

We had to call Tommy to tell him we would be late as we were suppose to meet him at 11:00 and it was just 11:00 when we reached tower 23!  So 2 hours later we were down at the bottom of the hill. Obviously as we retracted our steps back the sun was higher and it was getting hotter. I cant  imagine doing this in the summer. We had then most perfect day.

We then drove to a place for lunch and when we got back to the city we went for a neck and shoulder massage and then a great foot massage.

Really spectacular day!

Beijing - Day 3 and 5 - duck, bikes, art

Friday, April 6 (Day 3) I went on a bike tour through the Hutongs which are areas which the original/older huts are located.  Pretty much a poor area.  On our bikes was a great way to go through all these small alley ways and cover a lot of ground.  There were 4 other people on this tour with me.

Isabel and Jill - enjoying Peking Duck

We had lunch in somoene's kitchen/living room/shower area - there are no bathrooms even still in these places.  (Although I have just learned that my colleague who lived in the hutongs for 10 years did have 2 bathrooms with western toilets. ) Then we learned how to play Mahjong, a popular game played by the Chinese.

Coincidentally, my friends Isabel and Robert were in Beijing the same time as me and we got together for a wonderful Peking Duck dinner.  The restaurant was called DaDong Roast Duck Restauarnt.  We had 6 delicious vegetables and then 2 ducks (there were 7 of us).  What a really lovely meal, good food, good company!




Sun. April 8 (Day 5) James from Ireland joined my tour today  I didn't really like this tour today. The only part I liked was seeing the 2008 Olympic stadium aka the bird's nest. We went inside to see the whole stadium.

in front of the Bird's Nest - Stadium

Prior to that we saw "the Egg" which is where concerts/ballet are held and then we saw this stone and wood private museum - very small. 

After the Olympics we had lunch then walked around the 798 art district. Very modern and weird art and sculptures. 

Wish the summer palace was a part of this tour.

Pandas - Chengdu, China

April 4 - I was picked up at 7:30 and then we went to pick another person (Gordon) from Australia. And off we went to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding Center. The best time of day is the morning and it was awesome there were so many pandas all eating or walking or sleeping in trees. We saw many grown pandas.

2-3 year old pandas

Then we saw a bunch of 2-3 year old cubs eating bamboo. It was really cool to see so many all together as they are solitary animals. They looked just like stuffed animals. They eat about 8 times a day and of all the bamboo they eat they really only consume 20% of it and poop out the rest.  After they eat they drink water and the combination of the water and the bamboo basically results in making the pandas tired and this is why they then sleep!

Mei Lan is the panda born in the USA and is the national symbol of the WWF!  When he/she was brought to China he could not understand what the caregivers were saying because he only new English!

Qing He was a lucky panda as she was born a few days before Beijing was named host of the Olympics 2004.

We went to see the red pandas too. They are actually not even pandas they are part of the raccoon family. I didn't really care too much for them.

Since this place is the only place in the world to hold a baby panda that is exactly what I did for a small fee!!! Actually it was a set price donation so says the certificate I received!  I had to put these blue slippers over my shoes and put on a blue scrub thing and plastic gloves. The baby was about 9 months old. I just realized I did not find out its name, the whole process was quite rushed and you could only the panda for a minute!  But she was so soft and fluffy!  She was placed on my lap but didn't feel that much heavier than one and half year old baby. They gave the baby panda bamboo with honey on it.

I gave the people your own camera and they took pictures for me unfortunately Gordon nor Green could come in with me and no video allowed. It was really special and totally worth the price!  While others were getting their photos taken I got some great close up photos of the panda. I got a certificate, a video of pandas being born and a grey hoodie sweatshirt.

Afterwards we watched a movie which gave us more information about why pandas are decreasing in the wild and what the research center is doing. You know panda bears are an old animal they have been around for 8 million years!!!

Her paw was in my hand!!!!!  Ahhhhh!

And then we headed back to town. What a great first half of my day!

Yes that is a real panda!!!!!!

Sichuan Province highlights - China

I arrived in Chengdu, China west China in Sichuan Province early on April 3, 2012 and walked around the town for the day and did a Sichuan Cooking class in the evening.  My hotel was in this historical (tourist) spot.  And as it was the holiday, Sweeping of the Tombs it was quite crowded with Chinese tourists.

practicing my chopstick skills

Second half of the was exploring more of my neighborhood so past there place I had gone twice but not much further there was tons of stalls of merchandise and food. A lot of food I could not tell you what it was and scared to even guess but I finally found some food to eat. It was a good thing to as I was becoming quite hungry. This is a difficult nothing for me traveling by myself as I am so unsure of the food I go hungry. But after some careful watching and some signs written in English I was able to buy some food.

My driver picked me up at 7:30 and took me to a place to see the Sichuan opera which is actually not an opera but a collection of performers.  There was some dance performance which told about some ancient story, shadow hand presentation which was quite neat as the person also had sound effects for the animals, a hand puppet with sticks performance, a acrobat - a girl who lay back on this tilted cushion and spun things with her feet. She began with circular cloths and then went on to a large vase and a square table. Then there was this comedian duo and then this man who played a two stringed instrument with a bow. And the finale was the changing faces performance. I had seen this at the lantern festival in the Chinese gardens in September but even closer I still don't get how their faces change - quite cool!