A weekend in Nanjing -Jiangsu Province – PRC – March 2012

Two days in Nanjing

Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu Province and is full of history and culture.  The city is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and is about 300 kilometres from Shanghai.  To get from Beijing, friends and I took the fast train, so early one Saturday morning we got up and departed for the train station.  I had booked a first class seat and was very happy I had as it was very comfortable.

Nanjing is listed as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China was was also the capital of the Republic of China before the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

When we arrived we first visited the Zhonghua Gate Castle which is one of the biggest in Nanjing and said to be one of the best preserved.

Next stop was to the Nanjing Massacre Museum, which is one place we all wanted to visit and so glad we did.  The Museum is a memorial for those who were killed in the Nanjing Massacre by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1937.

The Museum is located in the southwestern corner of Nanjing known as Jiangdongmen, near a site where thousands of bodies were buried, called a “pit of ten thousand corpses”. It is said that 300.000 people died during the invasion.  The Chinese have created a very respectful and at the same time, informative, museum.

The Memorial of Nanjing is located in an open park of many acres, where metal statues are positioned with inscriptions from Chinese intellectuals, poets etc. The final statue – which very much resembles the Victory of Samothrace with a pigeon in hand stretched to the sky, is dedicated to eternal peace.

Then onto the Confucius Temple and the Nanjing Presidential Tower.  Confucius Temple was given to Taoist practitioners during the reign of the Hongwu Emperor. The current buildings date from the 19th century, with additions made since then. The temple lost all financial support by the state as a result oft the revolution of 1911. During the late 1920s to 1931 and again in 1932 it was used as army barracks for troops the KMT regime and left in a dilapidated state. It has since been refurbished.

I loved the Palace gardens and they were so big that I lost my friends when we were walking around.  The Presidential Palace housed the Office of the President of the Republic of China from 1927 until the republic was relocated to Taiwan in 1949.

After dinner we took a thirty minute boat tour of the canals which remind me of Suzhou – just lovely.

We stayed at the Nanjing Grand Hotel which I would thoroughly recommend (www.njgrandhotel.com).  Great room and probably one of the most comfortable beds I have slept in whilst in China.

On Sunday we drove to the Dr Sun Yet-sen mausoleum along with, what I am sure was, 20,000 other visitors.  A beautiful day in glorious Nanjing so everyone was out and about sightseeing which was lovely to see.

It was also the Plum Festival so we were fortunate to see the beautiful plum blossoms.

We also visited the Mochou Lake Park area and the Yangtze River Bridge.  The lake and park, named after the legendary woman, Mochou, was owned by Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty, and bestowed to his general Xu Da. Since then, it has become a famous garden best known for its two-storied Shenggi Pavilion. Within the park are other pavilions, gardens, pools and a stunning rock display. It is also noted for its architecture, collection of carved antique rosewood furniture and calligraphies. Visitors can take boats through the lotus blossomed lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is a double-decked road-rail truss bridge across the Yangtze River between Pukou and Xiaguan in Nanjing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its upper deck is part of China National Highway 104, spanning 4,588 metres. Its lower deck, with a double-track railway, is 6,772 metres long, and completes the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, which had been divided by the Yangtze for decades. The bridge carries approximately 80,000 vehicles and 200 trains per day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bridge was completed and open for traffic in 1968. It was the third bridge over the Yangtze after the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge and the Chongqing Baishatuo Yangtze River Bridge. It was the first heavy bridge designed and built using Chinese expertise.

Weekend trip to Pingyao – Shanxi Province – PRC – February 2012

Two days in Pingyao

One weekend, with a friend I took the fast train from Beijing over to Shanxi Province to spend two days in Pingyao which is located approximately 715 kilometres southwest of Beijing.  The train arrives into the provincial capital, Taiyuan and we were picked up by our tour guide to drive approximately 80 kms to Pingyao.

During the Qing Dynasty, Pingyao was a financial centre of China. The ancient city, whose history dates back some 2,700 years is renowned for its well-preserved city walls.  Pingyao is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a major tourist attraction and still inhabited by some 50,000 residents.

Our first stop was the Qiao Family Residence which is famous for being the chief location for the movie ‘Raise the Red Lantern’.  The Residence covers 9000 square metres and comprises 313 rooms, six large courtyards and nineteen smaller courtyards.

Our next stop was Zhenguo Temple which is a Buddhist temple with it’s oldest hall build in 963 during the Northern Han Dynasty.  The old hall is notable for featuring very large brackets that hold up the roof and flying eaves.   The sculptures inside the hall are among the only examples of 10th century Buddhist sculpture in China.

The Temple is located 10 km from Pingyao in the village of Hadongcun.

We then travelled to our beautiful hotel (Yide Hotel – http://www.yide-hotel.com).  The hotel is a beautifully restored courtyard home built in 1736 by a wealthy merchant during the reign of Emperor Qianong and the refurbishments have kept in line with the original home.

That evening and the following day we took a walk in the ancient walled city of Pingyao which was particularly beautiful at night.

I also walked part of the Wall that surrounds the ancient city which afforded me the opportunity to view the rooftops of all the shops and courtyard homes in the city.  Then around lunch time back onto the fast train back to Beijing.

Four Days in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – August 2012

A visit to North Korea

Since our arrival into Beijing to work, a few of us from the Embassy wanted to visit DPRK (never to be referred to as North Korea we were advised during our pre-tour briefing by our travel company).  We selected Koryo Tours (www.koryogroup.com) as our travel agency of choice as private tours are not allowed.  Six of us ending up travelling together for a four day visit.

The day before our departure we had to attend a pre-visit briefing in Beijing where we were given strict instructions on what to do, what not to do and most importantly, what not to talk about and were given examples of questions not to ask. For example do not ask about the new bride of President Kim Jong-un (by the way when I got to DPRK I completely ignored the instructions and asked the question of our guide – who told us she was very happy with the wife).

We were also advised we could not take any mobile phones, computers or camera with GPS function.  This was probably our best news…four days without contact from work!!!

The most important thing we were told is NEVER say a bad thing about the Great Leader, Kim Il-song or his eldest son and successor the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il or the current leader Kim Jong-un the Supreme Leader.  And we were to never walk anywhere by ourselves, leave the hotel and had to remain with our guide at all times.

So the next day we make our way to the airport and boarded our Air Koryo flight to Pyong Yang.  I had bought a business class ticket and my friends were flying economy but one of our friends had injured his shoulder quite badly (had an operation the day before we travelled) and the thing was if he didn’t travel then neither could all of us as we had to have six in our party.  So he came along and I gave up my business class seat so he would not have to worry about being knocked on the shoulder by another passenger.  He was very grateful.

As soon as we boarded I regretted my decision!!  Such a small aircraft and really small seats!!! Anyway we had many laughs on the flight about the food, the quality of the seats and many other things…so it was fun in the end.

We arrive at Pyong Yang Airport and within a couple of hours we had landed and were in our bus on the way to beginning our adventure.

As we were told in our pre-visit briefing  that we could not take any photos of many things including construction, military establishments or military officers without permission so we were initially apprehensive about taking photos but we got over that in about two minutes and all of started clicking away.

Our lovely tour guide along with another person (another minder probably) in the bus and our driver accompanied us on all our sightseeing trips – and monitored our photo taking during our tours.  Excellent English and really sweet people.  Each of the four days of our sightseeing we were told stories of past Presidents and then shown huge statues of the past leaders and other monuments.

We also saw other sights such as the Nampo Dam, and then monuments and more monuments and just when you thought it was not possible more monuments.

So what can be said about Pyongyang – it’s what I imagine it must have been like living in China in the 1950’s, but an incredible opportunity as it’s only 1.5 hours away from Beijing by plane and seeing a country that not a great deal of people in the world have seen, is incredible.

There are many parks in Pyongyang which are quite beautiful and on National Day we were lucky to see children out rollerskating and playing.  The children are still a little shy towards foreigners but we got smiles and waves from a few, after a while.  The children are awfully cute – no individuality of course – all wearing the same uniform apart from the boys wear long trousers and the girls skirts.  We saw a few weddings and the costumes were very beautiful and colourful.

There were several cars on the roads in Pyongyang but on our way down to the DMZ it was bare with only tourist buses on the road.  Sad sights of farmers with their goats along the side of the road or DPRK residents just walking along the road trying to get from point A to B without any transport.  One interesting incident was us driving past a motor vehicle accident (a mercedes with another car) and our guide told us we could not take photos. I guess they don’t want tourists to think DPRK has motor vehicle accidents.

One thing I did notice is that the (traffic) police women who perform traffic duties are all wearing uniforms from the 1950’s; not a new style I will recommend for the AFP.

Of course, as six diplomats travelling together, we guess we were monitored more than others , but we knew we would be and just focussed on enjoying the experience.  There is a lot of poverty out of Pyongyang which was very sad but our guides only showed us what they wanted us to see, of course.

There was definitely an up side to our visit – being able to see a country which is one of the last bastions of communism and driving around without a McDonalds, KFC or Starbucks in sight is a very good thing!.  I particularly enjoyed seeing the buildings around Pyongyang.  One of our days we experienced a torrential downpour which caused flooding in the capital – amazing to still see residents riding their bikes or just walking in thigh high water.

We also visited a school where the children put on a display of their dancing and singing.  Really gorgeous children and we sought permission and were given approval to bring pens/pencils/paper/books and children’s cosmetics to give to the children.  One of our party was taken up to dance and sing with the children – very cute!

People cutting grass with scissors was an interesting sight.  Clearly this was one photo we should not have taken but did.  We were told in our pre-brief that people who are cutting the grass with scissors are cutting it for their rabbits (I don’t think so!!!).  I am sure they were cutting it for aesthetic purposes without the use of lawn mowers there is no choice but to cut manually.

One of our days we travelled to the DMZ which is the de-militarised zone between North and South Korea.  There is one building that is used by both the south and north for meetings where the southern military and USA sit on the southern side and DPRK sit on the other side.  Of course we had to have our photos taken doing the hand-shake one the table.

The north side is guarded by DPRK military and you can see the actual line (line of concrete where the two soldiers are standing) dividing south and north Korea.  I am told that the reason there are two soldiers on the northern side is because they can stop each other from stepping into south Korea to stop defecting.

Whilst we were looking at the southern side, which is where the USA military are, there was a visitor who was looking at us through binoculars complete with many accompanying US military.  Our DPRK military minder told us this was unusual (not sure whether this is true or not) but for me to see the south side from the north was incredible considering I have been on the south side looking over to the north.

Whilst at the DMZ we were given a military minder who took a particular fancy to one of the girls in our group. We really thought we had lost her to DPRK but she decided to return to Beijing with us.  Our minder had a lot of questions about the US and Japan which we tried to deflect without being rude!!!

Whilst driving we saw a lot of interesting sights and stopped off to take photos and were able to go onto the USS Pueblo which was attacked and captured by North Korean forces in 1968, in what is known today as the Pueblo incident or alternatively, as the Pueblo crisis.

One place we were taken to was a shop that sold propaganda material i.e. postcards, posters, stamps etc.  It was a great opportunity to purchase propaganda items as we had seen so many propaganda billboards around the city; a lot of them depicting DPRK history or photos of past Leaders.

One of my favourite sights was the Pyongyang Metro which is the metro system in Pyongyang.  It is a beautiful underground station but also the train was incredibly cute.  The Metro consists of two lines: the Chŏllima line which runs north from Puhŭng station on the banks of the Taedong to Pulgŭnbyŏl and the Hyŏksin line which runs from Kwangbok station in the southwest to Ragwŏn station in the northeast.

People estimated to use the underground  is estimated to be between 300,000 and 700,000.

One evening we attended the Mass Games, which are held every August and comprise  approximately 100,000 performers.  With DPRK being a communist country the Mass Games emphasise group dynamics rather than individual prowess.

The Mass games are performed only in the May Day Stadium (highest capacity seating stadium in the world) and involves a 90-minute display of gymnastics, dance, acrobatics, and dramatic performance, accompanied by music.

Students practice every day from January onwards. The 90 minute performance is held every evening at 7pm and features the ‘largest picture in the world’ a giant mosaic of individual students each holding a book whose pages links with their neighbours’ to make up one gigantic scene. When the students turn the pages the scene or individual elements of the scene change, up to 170 pages make up one book.

Our rooms at our hotel were not too bad really, very basic but with a pretty comfortable bed – minor (major) complaint no wine anywhere in the hotel – only beer!! And considering we could not leave the hotel without our tour guide (minder) it was a long four days.

All in all – so glad I went – an incredible experience!! So time to say goodbye to Pyongyang and return to Beijing!!

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Restaurants in Beijing – PRC – 2011-2014

Tags

Capital M Restaurant, Courtyard Restauant, Orchard Restaurant, Tavola Italian Restauant, tian Di Yi Jia Restaurant, Transit Restaunt

Great Restaurants in Beijing

Throughout my three years living in Beijing I tried many different restaurants as with my many visitors I tried to accommodate all types of different tastes so after some internet searching, discussions with Beijing friends and of course trial I have come up with a few great places to eat; most with fabulous ambience.

The Courtyard Restaurant (95 Donhuamen Avene Beijing)

This restaurant is perched on the moat overlooking the Forbidden City and was listed as one of the fifty most exciting restaurants in the world by Conde Nest Traveller.  I am not sure what really constitutes an ‘exciting’ restaurant in Beijing but the private room upstairs was lovely and has magnificent views of the East corner of the Forbidden City.

The entrance doors are spectacular and once inside the wine selection is truly amazing with over 600 selections from around the world.  The food was good and they cater well for vegetarians..but I didn’t find the dessert menu as good or as extensive as ‘Capital M’ but a great night and well worth the visit.

Capital M Restaurant (2 Qianmen)

I am sure all the expat Australians who live in Beijing has heard of, and been to, Capital M.  Capital M is owned by an Melbournian (Michelle) who also owns ‘M on the Bund’ in Shanghai.  M in Beijing is located on Qianmen Street with spectacular views of Qianmen.

The service is outstanding and the restaurant serves a range of dishes from European to North African to Chinese.  My friends tell me the suckling pig is delicious but being a vegetarian I have eaten a range of great dishes including Artichoke pie and a Mediterranean mezzo plate.  Probably one thing the restaurant does not have is an extensive vegetarian menu but the atmosphere, service, wine, desserts and views make up for that.

The house savignon blanc is from Angoves in South Australia and very drinkable but so are the many other fabulous options.  Dining outside in the warmer months is very special – with an uninterrupted view of Qianmen – it makes for a very lovely evening – or you can sit inside in winter around the centre fire looking at the beautiful wall mural – and it’s worth a visit just to sit in the bar area have a cocktail and check out the floor tiles.

Tavola Italian Dining

 (2nd floor, Liangmaqiao Diplomatic Mansion, 19 Dongfang East Road, Chaoyang)

I really liked this restaurant!  I was taken there for a birthday party during my first few months in Beijing and as a result returned several times.  It has an open kitchen and an amazing wooden showcase table in the centre of the restaurant.  Great for big parties or take a smaller table with the white linen tablecloths for an intimate dinner.

The pizzas are very good and the chef uses authentic buffalo cheese imported from Italy.  Another restaurant with an excellent wine menu.

The Orchard

(Hegezhuang Village Cuigezhuang Township, Shunyi District North)

This restaurant is about a forty-minute drive out of Beijing in Shunyi – so one Sunday we hired a bus and driver and went first to Radiance (homewares) to do some shopping then to Mrs Shannen’s Bagel House for a hot chocolate and chocolate cake.  (which is a cafe definitely worth the visit).

Our next stop was the restaurant which is on a working orchard with over 1000 trees which the owner is in the process of transitioning to fully organic.  The owner also supports the Slow Food movement which is all about removing environmental degradation and growing foods without chemicals. There is also a botanical garden and lake within the property which is completely different in summer and winter.  The restaurant is western style and the buffet was very good.  Desserts were fabulous with the chocolate mousse and coconut sponge high on my list of delicious foods!

Tian Di Yi Jia (140 Nan Chi Zi Jie, Dongcheng)

I found this restaurant on the web under ‘best restaurants in Beijing’ and I was not disappointed when I arrived to check it out prior to making a booking for a birthday lunch.  The red front door is very impressive comprising a golden board with a Chinese calligraphy inscription which is the name of the restaurant.  The restaurant’s name means ‘heaven, earth and family’.

I have since found out that the inscription was written by Chen Kaige, the Chinese film director of Farewell My Concubine.

The restaurant is located on the eastern edge of the Forbidden City. Once you’ve stepped through the grand doors and into the serene, glass-ceilinged, stone-floored dining room, the chaotic sounds of street crowds are replaced by the pling-pling of classical Chinese music and the gentle swish of goldfish in the courtyard pond. The interior is spectacular with a seven metre high glass roof covered with paper umbrellas.

We sat on a table for eight in the square central dining area which has four stone pillars that feature the four divine animals of ancient China; the blue dragon, white tiger, linnet and black tortoise at each corner. The square is surrounded by a pond where you see red carp swimming by and the walls are covered with copies of famous calligraphy and artwork. The menu, in keeping with the surroundings, leans toward the traditional; among the classic.  The food is delicious and well-executed dishes here are fish fillets and bamboo shoots in wine sauce, sautéed assorted mushrooms with black pepper, pan-fried vegetable dumplings, and deep-fried spareribs with chilli and garlic.  I pre-ordered vegetarian and the dishes were delicious.  The ‘xiang qiezi’ being my absolute favourite.  (eggplant in oil and spices).

Surprisingly (for a Chinese restaurant), there’s an impressive wine list but the prices are not in line with a casual dinner at the local dumpling restaurant.

Transit Restaurant (4th floor, Village North, Sanlitun)

This is an elegant restaurant which is divided into two rooms; one large enough for private dining and the other a smaller dining room with a huge ceramic dinosaur.  We were really not sure how this dinosaur fits in the theme of the restaurant but it looked pretty cool.

This restaurant serves Sichuan cuisine and caters a little for vegetarians; and was probably the most spicy food I have eaten in my entire time in Beijing.  I ordered the Sichuan noodles which were delicious; but again very spicy.

My friends ordered the pork knuckle which I am told was also delicious.  Before 7.30pm, cocktails are ‘two for one’ so it’s worth sitting at the marble bar before dinner to enjoy a cocktail or two.  There is a good Aussie and international wine selections and that comes served in incredibly large and good quality wine glasses.

A night at the opera – Beijing – PRC – February 2011

The National Centre of Performing Arts (Guo Jia Da Ju Yuan)

The National Centre of Performing Arts in Beijing is colloquially described as the ‘Giant Egg’ for obvious reasons once you see it.  It is located on Chang An Jie close to the Forbidden City with the Great Hall of the People to its east.

The Centre was originally named the Grand Theatre and designed by French architect Paul Andrew.

It includes the main building (containing three performing venues: the Opera House, the Concert Hall, the Theater), underwater corridors, an underground garage, an artificial lake and a green space outside.

The Centre covers an area of about 118,900 sq meters; and the total area of building is about 217,500 sq km which in layman’s terms means it’s ‘absolutely huge’. The whole project started from December 2001 and after more than five years’ construction, was finally completed in September 2007. Now it is believed to be the deepest architecture in Beijing (the deepest place of the center is -32.5 meters, equivalent to the height of a 10 storey building.). It presents a sharp contrast to its surroundings with its oval exterior, which makes it very beautiful.

The exterior is a steel-structured oval shell which is formed by over 18,000 titanium plates and over 1,000 sheets of ultra-white glass.  This creates a vivid visual effect as if the curtain is drawn apart slowly before your eyes.

Surrounding the centre is a crystal-like artificial lake taking an area of 35,500 square meters. By the use of high technology, it does not freeze in winter and algae doesn’t grow in summer.

(above fabulous photograph taken by Jac Taylor)

To access a concert or opera at the Centre, you walk in with a layer of water above your head as all passages and entrances are built underwater. When we visited we saw a performance of composer Guiseppi Verdi – his tragic opera ‘La Traviata‘ – it was as good as any other opera I have seen in Australia and elsewhere.

‘La Traviata‘ is a tragic love story and one of the most produced opera of all time (a favourite of mine I must say).  When ‘La Traviata‘ first opened in 1853 the performers were jeered by the audience.  No such problems for us.  Our audience comprising mainly Chinese, some westerners and a couple of Europeans were very well behaved.  It was nice to hear the Europeans in the audience shouting ‘bravo bravo’ during the performance.

In our performance, Violetta, a French courtesan who is hosting a party after an illness, was performed by Inva Mula, an Albanian opera soprano.  Violetta’s husband, Alfredo, was performed by well known Chinese tenor Ding Yi.  A magnificent performance by both and a very worthy mention must go to Liao Changyong, perhaps China’s most distinguished classical music baritone and ‘Asia’s Number One Baritonee’ who performed as Alfredo’s father – a truly wonderful voice.

Of course at the end of the evening, it was pure chaos trying to catch a taxi from the Centre as taxis are not permitted to stop along Chang An Jie…so we walked adjacent to Tian’an men Square and finally found a little silver cart – which are quite unstable for long distances but as we could not find a taxi we hopped in and paid too much; but it got us home.

Side car tour of Beijing – PRC – February 2012

One of the best ways to see Beijing – on a side car and through the hutongs

A great way to see Beijing and its surrounding areas is to travel around in a vintage side car motorcycle.  A group of us booked through Sam at http://www.tribeijing.com and were picked up outside a restaurant near Tian’anmen Square one Saturday afternoon.  Tribeijing is run by an ex-pat called Sam and they were very accommodating for our needs.  There were eleven of us in the end and we felt like rock stars travelling around Beijing.

We were all given scarves to place around our mouths and noses (presume this was due to the smog in Beijing but we did all look pretty cool).

A little side track – I had the opportunity when I first arrived in Beijing to travel in a side car with a friend’s husband – that was in summer and whilst it was just the two of us it was so much fun.

On this particular occasion with eleven of us riding in tandem, our first sight-seeing destination was to a hutong in Dongcheng District called Nan Luo Gu Xiang.  Hutongs are a type of narrow street or alley, commonly associated with northern Chinese cities, most prominently Beijing.

In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of traditional courtyard residences (Siheyuan in Chinese which means a courtyard surrounded by buildings on all four sides.). Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another.

Since the mid-20th century, the number of Beijing hutongs has dropped dramatically as they are, unfortunately, demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. More recently, some hutongs have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history.

Nearly all siheyuan had their main buildings and gates facing south for better lighting; thus a majority of hutongs run from east to west. Between the main hutongs, many tiny lanes ran north and south for convenient passage.

The entrance gate, usually painted vermilion and with copper door knockers on it, is usually at the southeastern corner. Normally, there is a screen wall inside the gate, for privacy; superstition holds that it also protects the house from evil spirits. A pair of stone lions are often placed outside the gate. Some large siheyuan compounds would have two or more layers of courtyards and even private gardens attached to them. Such is a sign of wealth and status in ancient times.

But back to Nan Luo Gu Xiang, it’s a well-preserved ancient part of Beijing with traditional architecture. It was built in the Yuan Dynasty and received its current name during the Qing Dynasty, around 1750.  The area has become a popular tourist destination with siheyuan/antique shops/ceramic shops/bars/restaurants and cafes – everything from the chic to the kitschy can be purchased.  It’s a very busy street always filled with hundreds of Chinese and foreign tourists.  On this occasion, both the locals and tourists all parted way for our motorcycles to travel through.

Our next stop was to the Drum and Bell Towers.  The Drum Tower was originally built for musical reasons, later used to announce the time and now a tourist site.  The Bell Tower stands closely behind the drum tower. Together, the Bell Tower and Drum Tower have panoramic views over central Beijing and before the modern era, they both dominated Beijing’s ancient skyline.

Next we travelled  to Lake Hou Hai (literally meaning “rear sea”) which is a lake and its surrounding neighborhood in Xicheng District of central Beijing. Houhai is the largest of three lakes, along with Qianhai (“front sea”) and Xihai (“western sea”), that comprise Shichahai, the collective name for the three northern-most lakes in central Beijing.

We had a lot of laughs whist travelling along the lake as like Nan Luo Gu Xiang, people moved out of the way for us to drive through, but at the lake, there was a wall of photographers taking photos of us -we definitley felt like rock stars.

Since the early 2000s, the hutong neighborhood around Houhai has become known for its nightlife as many residences along the lake shore have been converted into restaurants, bars, and cafes. You can even take a little boat ride along the lake in the summer and in the winter when the lake freezes ice skating and chair skating is extremely popular and so much fun.

Day trip to Laolongtou Great Wall – Hebei Province – PRC – December 2011

Catching the fast train from Beijing to Laolongtou Great Wall

To get to Laolongtou (literally meaning ‘old dragon’s head’) Great Wall from Beijing you can either drive or take the fast train to Shanhaiguan which takes about two hours.  From there it’s about a thirty minute drive to the Wall.  This seemed the easiest and most comfortable option, so one Sunday, some friends and I set out early to take the train.  The train is very comfortable and travels around 302km/h.  There are snacks and water on board; complimentary if you travel first class.

I had done the same trip in summer and had wanted to return to see the snow and frozen sea.  Very different sights in winter and summer – in summer the end of the Wall has several hundred sightseers; winter – none!!

 

 

 

 

 

Laolongtou lies five kilometres south of Shanhaiguan Pass in Qinhuangdao City and is the eastern starting point of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Great Wall. It is the only part of the Great Wall that is on the sea.  It extends about 20 meters into the Bohai Sea and looks like a dragon drinking water, hence its name.

This part of the Great Wall was built in the Ming dynasty (1579). It survived for centuries, but when the Shanhaiguan Pass was invaded by the Eight Power Allied Force in the 1940s, it was almost completely destroyed. Then eighty-four years later, the people in the city of Shanhaiguan restored it.

In the day, Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty would stop here for a visit on their way to Fengtian (Present – day Shenyang, Liaoning Province and the largest city in northeast China).

Standing at Laolongtou, facing the sea, visitors can easily picture Emperor Qin, the first emperor of China, sending people into the sea to find a drug that would give him immortality.  Clearly whatever drugs he took didn’t work as he is no longer with us!!

You can see the Great Wall as it zigzags over the rolling mountains like a giant dragon to the north. Looking to the south you can see the vast expanse of sea stretching far to merge with the sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apart from thirty or forty military cadets, we were the only people visiting the Wall on this day so we had the opportunity to take great photos and walk through the maze by ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The area surrounding the Wall and beach area is made up of court yards, temples and the brick maze I just mentioned.  So for the next couple of hours we amused ourselves walking in the maze and looking at the lovely scenery.

Winter travels – Harbin – Heilongjiang Province – PRC – December 2011

Tags

china, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, ice, prc, snow

Winter travels around China – Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival

Over the christmas period in 2011, with a few friends, I travelled from Beijing to Harbin which is located in southern Heilongjiang Province.  Harbin receives cold winter wind from Siberia. The average temperature in summer is 21.2 °C, and –16.8 °C in winter. Annual lows of -35 °C are not uncommon!!!

We stayed at the Ffour Holiday Hotel which was small and clean and near the Songhua River which flows through both Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces.

We arrived to minus 22 degrees and had organised a local tour guide and drive (Joe) who was fabulous.  He had a love of the Aussie band ACDC and he sang ‘dirty deeds’  and other songs to us whilst in the warmth of his car.

To prepare for our travels to Harbin, we each bought ‘puffy jackets’, two sets of gloves, thick socks, beanies, facial masks, thermal leggins and tops, then proper snow outer clothing…AND hot pads to put into our trousers, gloves and tops…and I was still cold walking the streets!!  We did a walk at dusk (4pm in Harbin) along Central Street, and as Harbin is known as Eastern Moscow, the street is floored with square pavers according to a Russian engineers design.

We visited Saint Sophia Cathedral which was a former Russian Orthodox church located in the central district of Daoli.  A spectacular cathedral build in 1907 after the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway which was completed in 1903.

The Cathedral was expanded and renovated from 1923 and completed some nine years later. It stands just over 53 metres and its main structure is laid out like a cross with the main hall topped with a huge green tipped dome. Under the bright sun, the church and the square area it lies on is said to look quite like the Red Square in Moscow.

Our next stop was the Songhua River and some of my friends did a little bit of skating.  There was also horse and carts and dog and cart rides available on the river and a long ice slide for the more adventurous (i.e. those not afraid of having a numb backside).  Me, being an animal lover, was very happy to see the dogs keeping their bottoms warm on little rugs on the ice.

The main reason we travelled to cold Harbin was to see the famous Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival.  We made the decision to go to the Ice Show in the evening to enjoy the lights and were really happy we did.  Again a ‘bit’ cold but worth it.

This annual festival commenced in 1963 and every year has a different theme.  The sculptures at the 2011 festival were inspired by fairy tales. Folkloric castles, icy pagodas, and oriental palaces are scattered over 603,000 square meters of frosty terrain.

Officially the festival starts on January 5 every year but you can go earlier to avoid the crowds.

Swing saws are used to carve the ice into blocks, taken from the frozen surface of the Songhua River. Chisels, ice picks and various types of saws are then used by ice sculptors to carve out large scaled ice sculptures, and worked on all day and night prior to the commencement of the festival.

The next morning we went to the Snow Sculpture Festival which is located on Sun Island; a recreational area on the opposite side of the Songhua River and features an expo of enormous snow sculptures.

A trip to Sichuan Province – PRC – September 2011

Tags

Animals Asia, Chengdu, Moonbear, Moonbear Rescue Centre, panda, Red Panda, Sichuan

 A trip to Sichuan Province

If you live in China, in my opinion, you must see the pandas in Chengdu! Through my faithful tour company, Global Easy Tour, I organised a six-day trip to Sichuan Province.  My first stop was Chengdu, the capital, to visit the panda reserve and of course I just had to cuddle one (1000 RMB – around $215 – but I have heard that since 2014 visitors are not allowed to cuddle the baby pandas due to the possibility of passing on any disease).  I always thought the panda would have soft fur but it’s rather coarse.  They are placed on your lap after you put on overalls and booties and fed bamboo by their keeper.  They are incredibly cute and I am so happy I took the opportunity to cuddle one.

I also did a tour of the grounds which were spectacular with large bamboo trees in abundance to feed the residents.

One lovely monk also allowed me to take a photograph of him whilst walking along the bamboo footpaths.

Another resident of the Reserve is the Red Panda who are equally as cute and of course the new born area of the Reserve showing the infants playing in their cots and the new borns in their humi-crib.

The next day I travelled about forty-five minutes by car to visit the Chengdu Moonbear Rescue Centre which was founded by the wonderful Jill Robinson MBE.  I have been donating to Jill’s organisation, Animals Asia, for many years and was really excited about visiting the centre.

You must pre-arrange the visit with the sanctuary and Animals Asia staff will pick you up from your hotel in Chengdu and drop you back.  At the time, in 2011, there were about 179 rescued bears living at the sanctuary and all have endured an incredibly painful existence in small cages with a catheter implanted to remove bile.

To see the horrific conditions the bears previously (and of course many still do) lived in is absolutely heartbreaking but Jill and her team are desperately trying (and succeeding) to rescue as many bears as possible from China and Vietnam and at the same time educating the younger generation and farmers on alternative natural options for bile.

A Tibetan brown bear was also a resident and he was absolutely huge (and gorgeous).  On the day I went it was absolutely pouring rain and the bears were enjoying the water on their faces and fur.  They were still playing out in the rain and climbing onto hammocks in their huge enclosure.

A fanstastic experience and one I will never forget.

My next stop was Mt Emei Scenic area where I visited Mount Leshan to see the giant Buddha and other statues which are carved off a rock face.  They all face Mt Emei with the rivers flowing below the giant Buddha’s feet.  I took a boat ride which lasted about forty minutes and took us really close to the stone carvings which are truly amazing.

My tour guide told me that the giant Buddha’s construction started in 713, led by a Chinese monk.  The monk hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that plagued the shipping vessels travelling down the river.

When funding for the project was threatened, the monk is said to have gouged out his own eyes to show his piety and sincerity.  After his death, construction halted due to insufficient funding and then about seventy years later, funding was found and construction was completed in 803.  Apparently the massive construction resulted in so much stone being removed from the cliff face and deposited into the river below that the currents were altered by the statue, making the waters safe for passing ships.

Next trip in Sichaun was an hour’s flight from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou (literally Valley of Nine Fortified Villages and takes it’s name from the nine Tibetan villages along it’s length), which is 330 mms north of Chengdu.

Jiuzhaigou is part of the Min Mountains on the edge of the Tibetian Plateau and stretches over 72,000 hectares.  My first day I spent walking inside the Huanglong (literally yellow dragon) Scenic Area – which is located in the southern part of the Minshan mountain range and is known for its colourful pools formed by calcite deposits.  My guide and I caught a cable car to the top and then spent the next two and a half hours walking down.

Really lovely scenery and beautiful clear bright blue water ponds..and as the weather was relatively cool it was a wonderful experience.  Lots of construction going on at the top and on the way down I would see many of the workers carrying bricks and other material walking up to the top…so fit!!

Huanglong covers an area of 1830 km2 and at an altitude of between 1700m and 5588m it could be a little difficult to breath but guides always carry portable oxygen.

My second day at Jiuzhaigou I spent at Jiuzhagou Valley, a nature reserve and national park.  The Valley has multi-level waterfalls and colourful lakes – all very beautiful.  One of the prettiest places I have seen in China.

And finally my last day and evening in Sichuan was spent at the Min Jian Yuan Buddhist Village where, before dinner, I went for a lovely walk to enjoy the typical Tibetan architecture.

Tibetan architecture has more in common with India than China with Buddhist flags flying from shops and houses.  Many of the houses are typically built on elevated sunny sites facing south.  The homes were extremely colourful; painted blue which symbolises the sky, green symbolising air, red for fire, white water and yellow for the earth.

My hotel was a little bit Chinese and a little bit Tibetan.  Lovely rooms but an interesting ‘huge’ bronze statue of Chaiman Mao in the foyer!!!!

Dining at Aubergine Restaurant – Griffith – ACT – July 2015

Dinner with friends at Aubergine Restaurant

18 Barker Street Griffith

Since moving to Canberra ten years ago I have always wanted to try Aubergine Restaurant at Griffith, so last week I went there with three of my ‘foodie’ friends.  The food at Aubergine is contemporary and the kitchen is supplied by local farmers so the menu changes daily depending on what is fresh.

Our evening meal was four courses for $90.  I pre-arranged a vegan meal which was to coincide with my friends’ four course meal.  Chef did a very good job with my food which was delicious and displayed beautifully – I am not really sure that it was worth $90.  My friends loved their meals and one friend decided to take her family back three days later.  Their courses included  duck breast/ocean trout and a mustard glazed pork neck – all we believe worth the $90 price tag.

We tried a Sauvignon Blanc from France and then one from Adelaide (Shaw & Smith) which was preferred by me.  Delicious!!