“How can something so beautiful be destroyed?”

That was what I thought when we visited the Old Summer Palace in Beijing near Beida University. This attraction is not usually famous spot for tourists but it serves a very sound reminder of the humiliating past of China.

It was originally the Imperial Garden that was built by the Emperor Kangxi in the early 1700’s for his son. It was greatly expanded during 1725 by Emperor Yongzheng, adding up ponds, lakes, streams to compliment the gardens.

The Imperial Gardens were made up of three gardens: the Garden of Perfect Brightness proper, the Garden of Eternal Spring (Simplified Chinese: 长春园; Traditional Chinese: 長春園; Pinyin: Chángchūn Yuán), and the Elegant Spring Garden (Simplified Chinese: 绮春园; Traditional Chinese: 綺春園; Pinyin: Qǐchūn Yuán); together they covered an area of 3.5 km² (865 acres). They were almost 5 times the size of the Forbidden City, and 8 times the size of the Vatican City. They had hundreds of halls, pavilions, temples, galleries, gardens, lakes, etc.From: Wikipedia

There were European styled Palaces built inside with thousands of national treasures once a sight to behold.

Sadly, this astounding beauty was destroyed during the Second Opium War when troops of the Great Britain and France launch to full force to destroy where it would hurt China the most. It took almost 3500 soldiers to destroy this in just three days. They looted the place and let it to rut. Sad sad….This would have been the grandest sight that China can boast around the world. (more…)

One of the main attractions of Beijing is the Summer Palace (Yi He Yuan), located at the other end of the Haidian District.

The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value.

Beauty in every level can be seen in this place. Would you believe that the Longevity Hill was made out of dirt taken out of the Kunming Lake? Behind every step, every temple, every corridor, I sense its history. It’s not just an “imperial garden” to me where you can take a lot of good photographs.

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Houhai is one of Beijing’s bar hot spots. It is located near Behai. Though in the morning, it looks like an ordinary restaurant strip, at night, it will look livelier. I visited this place only twice. Once when my friend Jessica toured us back in 2005, and we got lost looking for Hutong Pizza. The second time, when I was studying and my friends and I went to eat at Hutong pizza after touring BeHai.

The lake looks serene day and night. But at night, the bars around the area will be the highlight. It’s famous getaway for expats. During winter, the lake will freeze thus you can skate! (more…)

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

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I love this place! Seemingly, it’s because of the serene surroundings that it has amidst being inside the urban city of Beijing. I’ve seen that this is the symbol that China decides to parade in the Olympics 2008 Summer games rather than the Great Wall. I’m not very good at the history of this place so I took time to research in Wikipedia (which is banned in China internet, don’t know why).

Temple of Heaven is in the Xuanwu District southeast of Beijing. This ancient temple is one the temples where the emperors prayed for good harvest. I got a hold of a map of the place, but I wasn’t able to finish getting around the place since we took a lot of time taking pictures while in the big hall where it was said that the emperor would shout, and the whole city will hear some rumble (that was before because everything was quieter before!)

Some facts from WIKI:

* The Temple is surrounded by two cordons of walls; the outer wall has a taller, semi-circular northern end, representing Heaven, and a shorter, rectangular southern end, representing the Earth.

* All the buildings within the Temple have special dark blue roof tiles, again representing the Heaven.

* The Altar of Heaven was constructed with details representing the number nine, the representative number of the Emperor.

* It is said that if you stand at the centre of the platform and clap your hands, you can hear the echo because of the concavity of the surrounding wall.

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They say that one the must-do before anyone dies is walk the Great wall in China which some see as one of the new seven wonders of the world.
YES! At least I can cross that off my list of must-do! I’ve walked up the Great Wall thrice and each time I did..it blew me away..from the sights and also the walking!
I dare say, that the old ones walking up are far better than I am.

Mutianyu: This area is where tourist mostly go. We went here for our field trip in school (BLCU ‘06).
We went up these stairs first before reaching the Great wall.

My classmates chose to go to the right, but both ends have some limit where tourist need to stop since it’s dangerous already. The steps here are more messier. I had a harder tiem walking up but I reached some end! I reached some end after meditating about getting my breath. And friends pushing me to go!



After the long walk, I rode a toboggan ride..which costs around 100rmb if I remember correctly. Takes you down fast!

Badaling: This area is also packed with tourists from all part of the world, young and also old! I remember when I was young (1994) , this was part of our tourist package. The placed was packed! I sometimes wait for people to go up before me so that I can hold on to the railings. The second time (2005) I went here with my friends, with so many people still, I was able to reach up to the forth tower. My journey was long and hard..for a weakling like me. My knees were trembling each time I stop…and yes…the old ones are far more healtier than I am.
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Once, before school began last school year, we went to some show in Red Theater.

It was supposed to be about shaolin monks, like a play about kungfu. Didn’t quite understand what the story was but the moral story seems to be about love, honor, etc! It was quite interesting, took a few shots eventhough we were not allowed to take pictures!
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