Yinchuan (2) – Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region – PRC – March 2016

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Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, prc, Sand Lake, Shuidonggou, Western Xia Tombs, Yinchuan

More sightseeing in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

Our second day in Ningxia was full of history and sightseeing and some funny and rather sweet signs!!

Firstly we travelled some forty kilometres out of the capital Yinchuan to see the Western Xia Tombs.  The tombs include nine imperial mausoleums and there are also 250 tombs of imperial relations and officials.  This dynasty (Western Xia) existed between 1038 and 1227 after which it was conquered by the Mongols under Genghis Khan.  This area holds so much history and our guide gave us a great history lesson.

Our next stop was to Shuidonggou which is one of the oldest ruins in China.  On our way we stopped to see an old part of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty.  We saw what were referred to as ‘temples’ still in tact and said to be for the troops stationed along the Wall but also for locals and the guards to offer sacrifices to the gods.  There were also beacon fire stations along the Wall which were used by the troops to advise of enemy movement through the lighting of fires – there were 615 of these beacons along this part of the Wall during the Ming Dynasty.

Shuidonggou is said to have been inhabited by humans 30,000 years ago.  French palaeontologists discovered the palaeolithic site in 1923 finding over 50,000 artefacts, stone tools and fossils.  The majority of the finds are located in the local museum.

However there was a very interesting find in 2007 when the skeletons of a male and female were discovered under the sand where a temple was previously standing.  There have been many versions of how death occurred including murder and earthquake as it is said that the deaths were sudden.  Both skeletons are encased in glass available for viewing.

We then stopped for lunch at a lovely little ‘communist’ restaurant and by that I mean it had photos of communist leaders around the world, up on the wall and we were given a little book on communism in China to use as a note pad when we left.  Food was great – a huge bowl of wheat noodles with vegetables – I could only eat a quarter as it was so big.

My friend tried the local sweet tea which did look good but was a little too sweet for me.

Then we proceeded to Hongshan Fort, built during the Ming Dynasty (AD 1521) which housed an army general and his troops.  The underground barracks have now been excavated and are accessible to visitors.  They were really amazing; long corridors with dug outs for soldiers to stand guard and meeting rooms for planning.  There was a separate suite for the general which contained bedroom/kitchen/sitting room and secret access door through the wardrobe for escaping.

It was a great day; albeit long, but definitely worthwhile.

Yinchuan – Ningxia Autonomous Region – PRC – March 2016

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Ningxia Autonomous Region, PRC China, Western Studio, Yinchuan

A visit to the Western Film Studio 

 After six days visiting friends in Beijing, my Aussie friend Jon and I departed for a ten day tour of three provinces that I had not yet seen in China.

This is my second visit to Beijing since I was posted between 2011-2014 and it was lovely to return. (yes Sophie I did enjoy [very much] returning and quite a few things have changed), but firstly I wanted to thank all my usual lovely Blog friends who have taken the time to comment on my Zhihua Temple post – I cannot respond whilst in China for some reason (internet issues – grr) but wanted to acknowledge you all- thank you I do very much appreciate reading your comments!!

I am now sitting in the foyer of a Muslim/Chinese hotel in Qinghai Province trying again to access the internet (it’s not a bad hotel but because it’s Muslim – there is no alcohol – wow it’s now day five of no alcohol!!).

But after Beijing, our first stop was Ningxia Autonomous Region in northern China.  The plane ride from Beijing was about two hours and departed on time (loved this).  Having arranged my travel with a great tour company in China, my friend and I were collected at the airport and driven straight to the Western Film Studio which is a rather an uninteresting place really – I think I expected more…

But there were some good parts…the were some props used for movies about the Cultural Revolution which were interesting (and sad) to see, but it is China’s history and I do love reading and hearing about it!!!

Western Studio is one of the three biggest film studios in China and was set up in 1992.  I was reliably told by our lovely guide that over eighty movies have been filmed in this film studio. One such movie is ‘the man and his dog’ which our guide told us is a sad movie about the Cultural Revolution and funnily enough as man and a dog.  I haven’t seen it but did laugh at the fake dog on set…but from looking at the posters I think I would like the movie – now to try and find it.

For those of you who have lived/been to China you will understand when I say this studio was very ‘Chinese’ and I genuinely don’t mean to be derogatory but it was a bit strange.

Lots of sets but the one with the dinosaur bones didn’t really fit in with the Chinese theme throughout the studio..ah well!!

Zhihua Temple – Beijing – PRC – March 2016

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beijing, PRC China, Zhihua Temple

Return to Zhihua Temple – some things are not what they seem!!

I arrived in Beijing last week and unfortunately internet access has been dreadful especially with my gmail and WordPress (I really should have installed VPN prior to travelling) but anyway today  I am here in northern China at the Kempinski Hotel in Ningxia Autonomous Region and I have access so thought I would post on my travels.  By the way the Kempinski is fabulous…am sitting here in the bar having a glass of sav blanc with my friend and listening to a wonderful band playing old songs which of course suited me e.g. Carpenters/Kenny Rogers etc.

But…having no access to the internet in Beijing was extremely frustrating especially no access to gmail…but I have to move on from these thoughts about the Chinese and the internet!!

One of the first places I wanted to return to in Beijing was the Zhihua Temple as after I had been there in 2012 I read that every day there is a group of musicians that perform daily (10am and 3pm) led by an eighty-year old Buddhist monk who is the only surviving member of the 26th generation of musicians…so I was really looking forward to returning.

 

At the time of my original visit the temple was under renovation so I could not enter but this time the temple has been fully refurbished and was open to the public. So for 20 RMB (about $5 AUD), I entered. The refurbishments have been done really well with each building restored and painted to look like what it did around 1440.

At 10am we had walked to a separate temple at the back of the grounds and sat waiting for the monks to commence playing. They walked in all wearing their yellow robes and sat down at the table located at the front of the temple. They played for about fifteen minutes with some instruments I have never seen before but there was definitely a flute, drums and oboe type instrument. It was lovely and there was only about five of us listening in the audience.

 

I was feeling very happy to have seen original monks playing , but I got a little surprise when the four musicians finished playing, they all stood up and removed their yellow robes to display ‘normal’ clothes underneath then started chatting away and packing up the chairs!!!!

I felt a bit disappointed with them not being monks as I had read so much about the history of these musicians….but anyway….they played beautifully and the visit to the restored temple was definitely worth my time.

 

Canberra Balloon Spectacular – Canberra – ACT – Australia – March 2016

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ACT, Australia, Balloon spectacular, canberra

An Annual Event in Canberra

The Canberra Balloon Spectacular is a fabulous annual event and starts every year around mid March for nine days.  Early in the morning before the sun comes up, the balloons are laid out and owners start inflating on the lawns of Old Parliament House.

My friend Jane and I arrived around 6.15am and along with thousands of other people; some with young families and others with their children and furry families all waited for the balloons to ascend into the sky.

This year there were some lovely balloon shapes, one being the balloon similar to the balloon in the movie ‘Up’ and another of an owl and an interesting one of a whale with a baby whale attached to its side.

Last year, I had gotten up early and driven in to see the balloon spectacular but had arrived a week too late and there was nothing on the lawns..clearly I need to research better…this year my friend did the research and we arrived on time to see this great event.

I couldn’t believe how lovely it was to see the balloons being inflated then up into the sky..spectacular – all free for us Canberrians and of course all the visitors to Australia’s capital.

It was definitely worth getting up at 5.30am to see…I loved it…

And also lovely to see our Aussie Air Force have a balloon..

 

Cinnabar Restaurant – Canberra – ACT – March – 2016

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ACT, Australia, canberra, Cinnabar Restaurant, Kingston Foreshore

One of Canberra’s new foreshore restaurants

Kingston is a lovely suburb in Canberra and its foreshore in the 1920’s was the industrial heart of Canberra.  It is now home to many apartments and cafes, pubs and restaurants.  A nice place to go for breakfast, lunch or dinner and has a nice view across the river.

A new section of the foreshore has opened  and with it several new restaurants. Among these is Cinnabar – an opulent Asian restaurant which is run by a former banker and his business partner. Three friends and I get together every couple of months and have dinner; it’s lovely to see them and chat and between us we choose a nice restaurant and over a bottle of wine and good food we catch up.  I selected the restaurant on this occasion and chose Cinnabar as I had never been there.

The restaurant has a luxe look – stamped metal scales on one feature wall, beautiful black wood and translucent drapes. As soon as you walk in you are confronted with two huge terracotta warriors; they are striking and look fabulous; both wearing aprons which is rather cute.

(sources: http://www.foodpornjournal.com and http://www.thecinnabar.com)

I particularly loved the cosy but opulent booths around the side of the restaurant.

The waiter sat us on a table which was half inside the restaurant and half out with a lovely view of the water.

 I had read that the crispy fried eggplant with honey and sesame sauce was a house specialty so I ordered that dish and my friends ordered the special duck floss rolls and the eggplant arrived on a lovely plate and the duck came in what looks like a stand that is used to hold ice cream cones…really cute.  I think I was expecting my eggplant to be more like what I had in China and whilst it was nice, there was a little bit too much batter and not enough eggplant.  My friends said the duck was delicious.

Our main meals were the kung pao chicken with Sichuan pepper and dried chillies, steamed Chinese broccoli with oysters sauce (for me), the pan-fried wagu beef with wasabi and ginger and a bowl of plain rice.

The greens were absolutely delicious and I was told the chicken and beef were very good.  All in all a good night but it was a bit sad that when we left at 7.30pm there was still only three other tables occupied in the restaurant.

My friends had been to the restaurant before and thought they used MSG so asked the question and our waiter diligently found out that they do; so we asked for it not to be used in our meals and our request was accomodated.  I like food much better without MSG.

 

 

The Forbidden City & Jinshang Park – Beijing – PRC – 2010-2013

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beijing, Forbidden City, Jinshang Park, prc

Must see places to visit in Beijing during two seasons: summer and winter

This post I have decided to return to Beijing as I think all visitors to this city must visit the Forbidden City because of its rich history and really it is amazing to see.  Be warned anyone who has not visited…the queues are very long.  I have included a few more photos in this post than usual, so it might take a little longer to peruse than my regular posts (sorry!!).

But  it’s definitely worth visiting so try and get there early especially if you go in summer…the heat (with no shade) is relentless.  My suggestion is to enter from the southern gate which is called Tian’anmen, the Gate of Heavenly Peace and is always guarded by both uniformed and plain clothes police.  It’s difficult to get photos so you have to sneak them!! This entry is probably best known into the Forbidden City along Chang’an Jie (Eternal Peace Street).

It’s where the portrait of Chairman Mao hangs and you can take a leisurely walk to the northern gate without really getting lost – just walk straight!!  Unless of course you want to detour to check out the wonderful side corridors and beautiful doorways.

After you depart the northern gate, then take the underpass to the entrance to Jinshang Park where you can walk up the hill to have fabulous views over the Forbidden City.

But before we go to Jinshang, lets take a look around the Forbidden City…

It is said to house 9999 rooms for twenty-four Emperors during the Ming and Qing Dynasty and is enclosed by a ten metre high defensive wall.  It has a watchtower at each corner and encompasses some 178 acres!!!  There is also a moat around the northern part of the city.  As you can see lots of visitors in the summer; not many in the winter months.

Something I love about the Forbidden City – the rooftops and looking over them with their beautiful colours.

The northern gate is actually called the Gate of Divine Might which is just past the Imperial Garden – not really a garden but more like lots of stone with some plants…still beautiful though!

As I said once you depart the city then its up to Jinshang Park, which as I mentioned has a wonderful view over the Forbidden City (and also the Bell Tower and other parts of Beijing), but it’s not worth going if the Beijing pollution is bad because you cannot see anything…

What a difference a good weather day makes…one day my friends and I could hardly see the Forbidden City rooftops then on another occasion we could see all the trees and windows into the rooms…wonderful. And at sunset it’s very special too looking up to Jinshang Park…

And the daily sweeping of the Forbidden City to ensure us visitors don’t slip over and affords jobs for the locals..on both accounts – it’s great!!

 

Lake George Winery – New South Wales – Australia – February – 2016

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Australia, Lake George, NSW, winery

Wine tasting and lunch at a local winery 

My friends and I who live in Canberra had not seen a dear Sydney friend for about ten years so I arranged a luncheon date for us all one Sunday. I wanted to book a restaurant that was easy for my Sydney friend, Paul and his partner Fay, who I had not yet met, to come to without having to drive all the way into the centre of Canberra from Sydney.

So, years ago, I had been to this lovely restaurant which is just under a thirty-minute drive from Canberra centre on-route to Sydney.  It’s a small boutique winery on Lake George and not surprisingly called ‘Lake George Winery’.  It’s one of the oldest vineyards in the region and has a cellar door to taste and buy wines and a lovely restaurant which is open for breakfast and lunch with wine tasting which we enjoyed before we ordered and ate.

The restaurant has an open fire in the middle of the restaurant and a large balcony that overlooks the vineyards.  We sat on a lovely table with the doors open with a light breeze flowing through.

Before I tell you what we all ate, I thought I would tell you a little bit about Lake George – it’s an interesting lake because it completely dries out on occasions!!  It does not have any outflow of water to a river or ocean and is believed to be more than a million years old.

Between the late 1980s and mid-1990s, the lake lapped the highway but was completely dried out in 2002 and remained so until 2010 when it started filling. When the lake is empty it is used by farmers to graze sheep and cattle.  At the moment it’s empty.

(full lake – sources: http://www.smh.com.au/www.the-riotact.com.au)

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(empty lake – source: http://www.wierdaustralia.com)

It was a lovely day with us Canberra friends meeting our Sydney friend and his lovely partner – it’s lovely to know if you are good friends that even though you don’t see each other for years you still can take up from where you left…this is how our day went.

Now onto what we ate…my friends had three courses and I just had the one as whilst there were two lovely vegetarian dishes on the menu; both had cheese containing animal rennet which I don’t eat.  But as soon as I explained my dietary requirements to the waitress she said the chef would be more than happy to make me a potato gnocchi dish – which I ordered and loved.  My friends started off with local oysters with lemon granita and the smoked duck breast salad with watercress and vissino cherries.

As I mentioned my gnocchi was delicious; fresh gnocchi with vegetables and tomatoes in a light cream sauce and of course a bowl of chips with garlic aioli to share.

For main course my friends had the eye fillet of beef wrapped in prosciutto served on a garlic gallette with steamed greens and Lake George winery Shiraz jus.  They told me this was really good.

Dessert that my friends ordered was the smashed meringue with fresh berries and passionfruit double cream and also the vanilla bean brûlée with chocolate ganache with lavender tuilles.  I think the brûlée looked better than the meringue but my friends enjoyed both.

A lovely few hours out of Canberra enjoying time with a friend of over thirty-three years.