Archive for May, 2007
Nationalistic Chinese
May 30th, 2007 | 
Author: I’m a pure Chinese living outside China, been brought up in a totally different culture but my parents still maintained traditional Chinese culture, much more traditional than what I saw while I lived in Beijing for 6 months. I wanted to feel, how is it to be nationalistic…and there was a rumor I heard that there is the usual flag raising in Tiananmen Square around 6am, more on before the sun rises.
There we were, trying to get the feel of China through flag raising. Surprising, I saw a lot of locals still queueing to see the flag being raised. The winds were blowing hard that day, we weren’t prepared enough (cloth-wise), freezing ice cold but no choice but to stand for 30 minutes waiting for the soldiers to match in with the flag. The loud music (national athem) played and for a while (it took only 5minutes!) I felt the “nationalistic” spirit of China…I felt like a native Chinese for a while. It was all worth it!
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In love with La Paleta dessert
La Paleta is a sister venue of Bellagio that serves Cantonese food, dimsums, noodles, Hongkong style iced teas and a selections of iced desserts. My favorite has always been this: Mango and coconut ice dessert. The coconut ice cream simply is the best I’ve tried. The light serving of Chinese food is appetizing and the service is also acceptable.
Daily 10am-12mn.
Bldg 4 Anhuili Erqu (by the Asian Games Village)
Chaoyang District
(6481 0887)
Huang Shan: Scenic and celestial
Go to the Jade Screen Pavilion to view the South Sea,
the Refreshing Terrace for the North Sea,
the Paiyun Tower for the West Sea,
the White Goose Ridge for the East Sea
and the Legendary Turtle Peak for the Sky Sea.
There are a lot of poems which describes the ever immortal beauty of Huangshan (黄山). “Clouds in a myriad of forms”, “Peaks piercing the sky”, “A cool world”, “Fantastic and beautiful”, “Scenery of exceptional charm” are some phrase that describes the mountain. It is also an inspiration to some ancient famous painters of China. You can check out the description of Huangshan here. It is said that the four wonders of Huangshan are the strange pines, absurd stones, sea of clouds and hot springs. I’ve researched and found out that the best time to travel Huangshan is in winter because the place will look like winter wonderland. Unfortunately, the winter season this year is warmest ever (the locals said). So there wasn’t a lot of snow to see.
Our tour package includes a bus transfer from Shanghai to Huangshan city. We stayed for a night on the town proper and toured their city which is called Lao Jie (è€è¡—）means old street like Hutong.
The street has multitude of stores that sells different kinds of delicacies in their city and also souveneir items as well as maps of Huangshan. I also saw the cutest thing, a cat with two different eye color!
The next day, we left our luggage at the bottom hotel we stayed in and went up the mountain area. There’s a different bus to preserve and control the external variables, preserve nature. We took a cable car up to a certain location but alas, we need to walk up around 4-5 hours to reach our hotel! Read the rest of this entry »
The Place Mall
This is the newest mall I saw which looked so luxurious. I guess they want to market the Class A B of Beijing. The Place is located near Silk Market. It tends to market to Class A B of Beijing. The magnificent grandeur design is something to be excited about. Top that with a huge atrium where you can stroll around on a sunny day.
I remember seeing the huge Zara store (first branch in Beijing) so I went in to take a look. There’s not many people during weekdays but I’m sure this mall will be a hit to shoppers because of the quiet ambiance.
This new Beijing landmark, with its striking projection screen, will house Spanish fashion chain Zara and Canadian shoe retailer Aldo’s flagship store. Other outlets include Potato & Co., Folli Follie, Miss Sixty, Energie, Adidas, MAC makeup, Promod, Jessica, Chaterhouse and the Swiss Perfumery Shop. Clothing
Old Beijing: Hutong Pizza
Pizza in beijing! Can’t believe there’s a good tasting pizza in China. This place’s location is a bit of a maze because it’s located inside the old streets also called Hutong（胡åŒ). I appreciate the old-school feeling when I go to the place. The place is nice, small but still very comfy to hang around. There’s a mini garden where you can see oriental type of interiors.
Lesson from my first experience going there, look for a map not just address then call for a reservation. They actually close a bit early (before 12mn I think) so late night eaters beware, don’t go knocking at dawn!
The pizza are relatively unique because it’s not the usual round pie. I was actually amazed by their Mediterranean (Mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, pepperoni, roasted aubergine, courgette, pesto, feta cheese, olives) pizza. You can also try the Parma or Roast Chicken. I also tried their appetizers (jacket potatoes) but wasn’t so amazed with it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Crystal Jade Restaurant (beijing)
A room that is fit for a king/queen…
That’s what Crystal Jade offered us for no additional charge since it was the only room that can fit us (we were 15-16 i think). So we enjoyed the luxurious room without boring a hole in our thin pockets!
The service is close to perfect since we were assigned a server who generously given us much attention. The serving of the food is rather small though the price is steep. The restaurant prides itself for the first class Cantonese cuisine. If I want to show off one of the best restaurant to foreign friends, I would probably bring them here.
BLCU Cafeteria food
I miss our cafeteria food in BLCU. Although it might look dirty but it’s cheap and yummy! For students on a budget like myself, my friends and I usually eat in the 2nd floor Cafeteria in BLCU, located near the south entrance gate. It’s always jampacked during lunch hours, but if you get there earlier than 12 noon, you’ll get seats asap. Though we always get there late, we would seat at the first floor (typical canteen food)
We would always choose the two window corner at the right. Ordering rice (0.5 rmb a bowl) then beef and eggs 牛肉鸡蛋 （7rmb a platter), fried pork 炒猪肉 (8 rmb a plate) ， chicken fried rice é¸¡è›‹ç‚’é¥ (4rmb a plate)， thailand chicken å°å›½é¸¡ (9 rmb a plate)， thailand fried pork å°å›½çŒªè‚‰ (9rmb a plate)， lemon chicken æŸ é¸¡è‚‰ (8 rmb a plate).
When we order, three to four people share 2 orders so we get to save on food! That’s the nice thing about cafeteria. Surprisingly, the food is not bad. It’s actually more sumptous than my own cooking (well, i’m not a pro to judge haha). My only complain, their cooking is rather oily (很油泥）!
