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Tag Archives: PRC China

Kuanzhai Xiangzi Alley (Wide & Narrow Alley) – Chengdu – Sichuan Province – October 2018

04 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 30 Comments

Tags

Chengdu, Chinese snacks, Kuanzhai Xiangzi Alley, PRC China, Sichuan Province, travelling with friends, Wide and Narrow Alley

A slow stroll down a long alley

fullsizeoutput_5ebWhilst visiting Sichuan Province our friend Peter took Jon and I to a famous alleyway  called Kuanzhai Xiangzi which consists of a wide alley (Kuan Xiangzi) and a narrow alley  (Zhai Xiangzi).  There are actually three parallel ancient city alleyways and forty-five courtyards along them and I am sure most Sichuanese were out on the same day as us [it was a Sunday so it is lovely to see everyone out and about].  But boy oh boy; so many people!!fullsizeoutput_5fdfullsizeoutput_5d6There was plenty to see along the way including lovely entry ways to courtyards and shops and beautiful large wooden doors with brass knockers…fullsizeoutput_5dcIMG_3052fullsizeoutput_5eafullsizeoutput_5f6And of course ‘interesting’ figures.  But I feel this one made some sense [much more than others I have seen] as the province of Sichuan is known for its spicy chilli dishes and the figure was outside a shop grinding fresh chillies…fullsizeoutput_5ddfullsizeoutput_5e7One thing that the alley has is plenty of food stores selling all sorts of wonderful hot and cold dishes to eat like beautifully displayed tofu with lots of chilli, sweet fried balls and bread along with cold rice and noodle dishes.fullsizeoutput_5f3

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fullsizeoutput_5f1fullsizeoutput_5f2The history of the alley way is dated back to the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911 AD). At that time, the area was a city called Mancheng City or Shaocheng City where its residents were troops.  As with most places left unrestored, the city decayed but in 2003 renovations began and the alley way opened in 2008.  It has small restaurants/souvenir shops created to look like those from the Qing Dynasty and of course tea rooms selling delicious Chinese tea.IMG_3054

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fullsizeoutput_5e2fullsizeoutput_5f8I really enjoyed seeing the local drinks and desserts as they are very different to what we enjoy here in Australia.  Pretty drinks with what looked like hot ice coming out of the top of a very large plastic cup.fullsizeoutput_5ecfullsizeoutput_5edAnd all flavours and colours of ice cream (some more interesting than others), ice blocks, small rice cups, cups full of cream and fruit and of course watermelon.fullsizeoutput_5e3fullsizeoutput_5dbfullsizeoutput_5effullsizeoutput_5dafullsizeoutput_5f5We walked one length of the alley on the right hand side and then turned around and walked up the other way to make sure we saw all the shops…a lovely afternoon out even though most of Chengdu was with us!!

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Shenyang – Liaoning Province – PRC – September 2018

26 Saturday Jan 2019

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Benxi National Park, Benxi Water Caves, Liaoning Province, PRC China, Shenyang

Another province visited in China

fullsizeoutput_53bWhilst in Liaoning Province last year, my friend Jon and I went to Benxi Water Caves for a visit.  These caves are about an hour’s drive from the capital Shenyang so again using a trusty guide and driver, off we went.  fullsizeoutput_52fThe caves are located in Benxi National Park and our guide told us they are the longest underground water-filled caves found in the world and that they contain the world’s longest underground river at 5.8 kilometres. Of this, only 2.8 kilometres are accessible by boat.  I never think our guides are untruthful, however I have heard many [many] times during my travels around China that some structure is either the oldest/biggest/longest/tallest so I am not sure of the accuracy of this statement.fullsizeoutput_533My photos are not great [or even good] as I only had my mobile telephone with me in the caves which were quite dark.  The ride in small boats took about forty-five minutes and wearing too small life jackets we boarded and then on occasions we had to duck our heads as the stalactites were quite low.  Was a fun time though with the usual bright and colourful lights highlighting the cave.img_2611fullsizeoutput_530Little bit of interesting information on how to remember which are stalactites and which are stalagmites…the word stalactite has a ‘c’ for ‘ceiling’ and the word stalagmite has a ‘g’ for ‘ground’…an easy way to remember I think..fullsizeoutput_531After our visit we hopped off the boat and took a short walk through part of the cave where at the exit we were met by our driver and taken to lunch.  We arrived at a typical Chinese looking building with basic interior but enjoyed an ok lunch[I say ‘ok’ as it was not some of the best food I have had in China] consisting of several Chinese dishes including an egg dish, rice, a meat dish for Jon and the usual eggplant dish for me.fullsizeoutput_52efullsizeoutput_52bfullsizeoutput_52aBefore returning to our hotel we took a quick tour of Shenyang city; not an awful lot to see but we got out of the car to look around and seeing as it was very warm, got a good spray of water from the fountain in the city centre.fullsizeoutput_536fullsizeoutput_53afullsizeoutput_535Then back to our hotel after another great day in China!

 

 

Changchun – Jilin Province – PRC – September 2018

11 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Imperial Palace of Manchukuo, Jilin Province, Jin-An Hotel, Jinyue Lake Forest National Park, PRC China, Puyi Mansion, travelling with friends

Four days in Jilin – a province in north west China

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My friend Jon and I caught the bullet train from Liaoning Province to Jilin; it was only about an hour and half ride and I recall we slept most of the way.  Upon arrival we went straight to our hotel (well that was after we haggled with a ‘private taxi’ over a price to our hotel).  I immediately jumped on the bed to see if it was a typical Chinese hard mattress or western style…pleasantly surprised..western style; nice and comfortable.  After this, I followed my usual routine of checking out the bathroom [clean with all necessary amenities] and then took photos from the window.fullsizeoutput_4f2After a relaxing evening, early the next morning Jon and I were picked up by our tour guide and driver and taken to Jinyue Lake Forest National Park.  The park covers an area of 200 square kilometres, with over 4.3 square kilometres water surface and 80 square kilometres planted forest.  We told our guide we wanted to walk quite a distance within the park so our driver dropped us off at the main entrance.  Firstly to see as much as we could and secondly to ensure we reached our 12,000+ steps for the day.

The park has many features; a golf course, a man-made beach that holds up to 3000 people, BBQ areas, temples and 1000 spotted deer located in over 30,000 square metres in Deer Park.  Or you could just enjoy walking, skating or bike riding around.fullsizeoutput_4fbfullsizeoutput_4f8img_2777The park also had some cartoon character statues – no idea why they were there but I have come to enjoy seeing these statues in many places around China!!  Pepa Pig and family were first to greet us followed by some other characters I didn’t know and then Mr Fox and Ms Rabbit…fullsizeoutput_4fa

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The walkways are paved beautifully [very old our guide told us] as well as treelined and circle for kilometres through forests and alongside the water.  It was a pretty hot day but the shade from the tree branches made our walk very pleasant.img_2782

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Walking around the water’s edge was also beautiful.  There are small boats that can be sailed around at the lake but we decided to continue walking.fullsizeoutput_502fullsizeoutput_4f9fullsizeoutput_4f6Although after about four hours, we were a little tired and rather hungry so we cheated a little and had our driver pick us up from another entry/exit point to/from the park.  A great day out to enjoy China’s surprisingly beautiful bright blue sky.fullsizeoutput_500The next day we visited Museum of the Imperial Palace of Manchukuo. fullsizeoutput_509The palace was the official residence created by the Imperial Japanese Army for China’s last emperor of the Qing dynasty, Puyi.  It was where Puyi lived as part of his role as Emperor of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. The Chinese refer to the museum as the Puppet Emperor’s Palace & Exhibition Hall and are not particularly complimentary about Puyi with his ‘defection’ to Japan.img_2717HISTORY – [source: Wikepedia] In 1931, the Japanese took control of the Northeast of China, the area of modern-day Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, which were historically known as Manchuria. The Japanese created an officially independent state in Manchuria which they named Manchukuo which was in reality a puppet state of Japan. In an attempt to lend legitimacy to Manchukuo, the Japanese installed Puyi as Emperor of Manchukuo.fullsizeoutput_505Finally, in 1945, the Second World War was brought to an end and the Japanese surrendered to China. At the same time, the Manchukuo ceased to exist and Puyi returned to the status of an ordinary citizen.

A puppet state is independent but is completely dependent upon an outside power. It is nominally sovereign but effectively controlled by a foreign or otherwise alien power, for reasons such as financial interests, economic or military support.fullsizeoutput_50eBut back to the palace – it was designed as a miniature version of the Forbidden City in Beijing and is divided into an inner court and outer court. The outer or front court was used for administrative purposes and the inner or rear court as the royal residence.  Both the front and rear court were maintained beautifully and the furniture was stunning.  You can imagine an emperor living there…fullsizeoutput_508

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fullsizeoutput_507fullsizeoutput_504The palace grounds cover an area of 43,000 square meters.  We spent most of our time in the royal residence but also took a short stroll around the grounds.fullsizeoutput_50dfullsizeoutput_511

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Then it was time to leave the palace, return to our hotel and make our way to Inner Mongolia by plane to more fabulous adventures in China!

Yangtze River (Cháng jiāng) – Sichuan & Hubei Provinces – PRC – October 2018

19 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 37 Comments

Tags

Chang Jiang, Hubei Province, PRC China, Sichuan Province, Yangtze River

Cruising down China’s longest riverfullsizeoutput_3d9

After a great week in Sichuan Province [more on that later], my friend Jon and I took the bullet train to Chongqing where we were picked up by our guide and driver and taken to dinner at a hotpot restaurant before boarding the Victoria Anne cruise ship for our cruise down the Yangtze River. Jon loves spicy food and said this was probably the spiciest food he had eaten in all our travels around China (and he had some seriously spicy food in Sichuan).

I hadn’t eaten all day so was famished; the food was sensational. One side of the pot was [for me] seasoned water with mushrooms along with some spices and a little bit of chilli and the other side was [for Jon] a meat stock also with vegetables but with lots of chilli. fullsizeoutput_3efOur guide kindly made us a dipping bowl of oil, shallots, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds and sesame oil.  This fabulous concoction we used to dip our cooked food into before eating.  Jon added more chilli to his bowl and told me he regretted this as it was ‘so’ hot, but he still ate all his meat and some vegetables.fullsizeoutput_3edI cooked and ate so much food; incredible noodles, bean sprouts, sweet potato, cabbage, three types of mushrooms, some tofu and delicious tofu skin.  What a meal!!fullsizeoutput_3ebfullsizeoutput_3ecThen it was time to hit the traffic and head to the ship.  Once on board we were asked if we both wanted to upgrade our rooms to suites; we did!  And really glad as the standard rooms were very small but the suites had a lovely lounge area with a little balcony.fullsizeoutput_3f0Usually non-Chinese are seated in a different eating area to the Chinese which I didn’t like so Jon and I asked to sit with the Chinese and we met some really lovely people.  We sat on the same table for each meal and enjoyed the company of a range of very friendly Chinese.  These two gorgeous little girls were our favourites – they spoke some English but loved it when I spoke Chinese to them.fullsizeoutput_3daI had previously taken this cruise in 2013 and was lucky enough to travel through the five ship lift locks but we were told now-days passenger ships cannot travel through the lift locks.  This is a photo from 2013 looking out the back of our ship as we had travelled through the locks.  It was an amazing experience.Our ship sailed through three gorges; Qutang, Wu and Xiling over four days and three nights.   yangtze-river

(source: http://www.yangtze.com)

I really enjoyed the views from the front of the ship and also relaxing in the Yangtze Club with a glass of sauvignon blanc and my book looking at the villages along the shore.P1020323fullsizeoutput_3e6P1020291fullsizeoutput_3d8fullsizeoutput_3cefullsizeoutput_3defullsizeoutput_3d5The views of each of the gorges was lovely and some better than others due to the time of the day or just plain bad weather.fullsizeoutput_3e0fullsizeoutput_3ddP1020323fullsizeoutput_3e1The crew put on a show each night which was lovely.  Wonderful costumes and great singing and dancing.fullsizeoutput_3cd

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fullsizeoutput_3d1One day we took a smaller boat to a part of the river that could not take the larger boat; so beautiful!fullsizeoutput_3e8fullsizeoutput_3e9fullsizeoutput_3eaSuch a wonderful relaxing time as after four weeks’ travelling around China, I think we needed this.IMG_3565

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lee Tung Avenue – Wan Chai and The Peak – Hong Kong – PRC – April 2018

30 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 34 Comments

Tags

Chinese lanterns, Hong Kong, Hong Kong views, Lee Tung Avenue, PRC China, The Peak, Wanchai

 

 

The High and Low of Hong Kong

fullsizeoutput_313Whilst in Hong Kong, my Chinese friend had told me about Lee Tung Avenue to visit to look at the Chinese lanterns and have a cup of tea. On my last day I decided to walk from my hotel and try and find it without a map of any sorts ie paper or smart phone.  I knew the general area so I set off.

I walked for about forty-minutes and then felt I should turn off the main street in Wan Chai, which proved to be a good choice as after another turn into a smaller street,  I saw  many [many] Chinese lanterns.  fullsizeoutput_2c7

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The shops along this tree-lined pedestrian avenue sell everything from cosmetics, cakes, toys, jewellery and fashions to ice-cream. The avenue was once called Lee Tung Street with a nickname of  ‘wedding card street‘ because almost all the shops were related to bridal services and products.  There are still many shops selling wedding paraphernalia.fullsizeoutput_2c2Walking along and looking up, I loved the juxtaposition of the old apartments on the next street and the brand new shops along the avenue.fullsizeoutput_2c6fullsizeoutput_2c5fullsizeoutput_2bffullsizeoutput_2c4There are also some pretty cool people just sitting around enjoying the lanterns…fullsizeoutput_2beThe cafes are quaint with beautiful displays of gorgeous pastries, (over priced) jams and other beautifully wrapped and bottled items.  fullsizeoutput_2c3fullsizeoutput_2c0It didn’t take long to walk along this avenue but its so pretty that it is definitely worth a visit.where to do wan chai hong kong-2And of course one of the the ‘must’ do’ things in Hong Kong is a visit to The Peak.  One very warm afternoon, my friend Naomi and I walked to the tram station but as it was 2pm there was a huge line for the tram so we decided we would return the next day when the tram first opened and miss the lengthy queues.

I love the little tram;  it’s a very steep ride both up and down the mountain.  Great views each way over Victoria Harbour; both to Kowloon, over Hong Kong Island and the very expensive homes and apartments.

We arrived at The Peak and did the circle walk which is so lovely as it’s shaded by overhanging trees.  fullsizeoutput_311

 

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It’s not a long walk but along the way you get panoramic views of Victoria Harbour, those amazing apartment blocks and the waterfall near Mount Austin playground.  Image 314Image 314It started off a little cloudy but towards the end of our walk we were fortunate to have clear views of Hong Kong Island…but foggy views of Kowloon.fullsizeoutput_312fullsizeoutput_315If you are wealthy enough, then a home on The Peak is for you.  The more privileged residents of Hong Kong not only have the great views but also an escape from the scorching summer heat.  When I lived in Hong Kong I was lucky enough to get invited to the home of the Australian Consulate General which is on The Peak; beautiful home with stunning gardens…wow I would have loved to live there!

But for Naomi and me it was just a visit to see those spectacular views.fullsizeoutput_310fullsizeoutput_319

 

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Revisiting Hong Kong (2) – PRC – April 2018

15 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 54 Comments

Tags

Hong Kong, Kowloon Walled City, PRC China, Star Ferry, the lawless city, Victoria Harbour

Different things to do in Hong Kong

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During my six days in Hong Kong, my friend Naomi and I did all the usual sightseeing, but there were a few places I wanted to take her which were a little off the usual sightseeing program.  One was the previous site of the Kowloon Walled City or as it was colloquially known ‘the lawless city’.  I had last visited back in 2008 and just knew Naomi would like its history.fullsizeoutput_1dbI did a little bit of research and found we could take the larger ferry from North Point to Kowloon city.  Only thing was I had no idea where to go from Kowloon as I had not previously been there and our map didn’t cover Kowloon but I thought there would be signs…wrong!! Plenty_River_NWFF_North_Point_to_Kowloon_City_10-06-2017Outside the ferry terminal was the bus station and I asked for help but no-one knew which bus would take us to the Walled City including some of the drivers.  Finally a lovely man approached us and offered assistance.  He found out which bus we should take and off we went.  He approached us at the bus stop once again and asked if we knew where to get off.  We both laughed as we hadn’t even thought of that…thank goodness for this lovely gentleman.

And when we got off at the bus stop he recommended, I saw this sign…great relief!!fullsizeoutput_1cbWe walked to Kowloon Walled City Park; about ten minutes from the bus stop. From the 1950s until 1994, over 50,000 people lived and worked at Kowloon Walled City.  It was a massive complex of 300 interconnected buildings that took up an entire city block.  A government survey in 1987 showed an estimated 33,000 people resided within the City and at its peak there was an estimated 50,000.  Based on this survey, the Walled City had a population density of approximately 1,255,000 inhabitants per square kilometre making it the most densely populated spot in the world.

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Until the 1970’s the city was controlled by triads and had high rates of prostitution, gambling and opium drug abuse along with an inordinate amount of dentists.  Police, customs and taxation officers were said to be afraid to enter.

image(source: Greg Girard ‘City of Darkness Revisited’)

In 1987, the Hong Kong government announced plans to demolish the Walled City. After an arduous eviction process, demolition began in 1993 and was completed in 1994.  A park now stands in its place with some historical artefacts from the Walled City remaining including remnants of the South Gate.  fullsizeoutput_1cdfullsizeoutput_1ccOnce you enter the park, you immediately come across a model of the walled city; it’s amazing to see how many buildings comprised the city. fullsizeoutput_1d0fullsizeoutput_1d1The park has many beautiful gardens, statues, terraces and floral walks.fullsizeoutput_1d5Image 143Every plant and tree is beautifully manicured and maintained including bonsai and one long bush shaped as a dragon…fullsizeoutput_1ceImage 144fullsizeoutput_1d6There is also an educational aspect which was really interesting.  We watched a few  videos on the city and its occupants.  There were dozens of alleyways often only 1–2 metres wide with poor lighting and drainage.  Construction in the city went unregulated, and most of the roughly 350 buildings were built with poor foundations and few or no utilities including electricity.  fullsizeoutput_1d7

 

(photo taken from video in park)

We then strolled around the park looking at the trees, pavilions, lakes and gardens…so lovely.fullsizeoutput_1d4fullsizeoutput_1d2fullsizeoutput_1cfImage 148We decided to take a taxi to the Star Ferry terminal to get back onto Hong Kong Island; one of my favourite things to do in HK, enjoying the views of the well-lit buildings along the harbour front.  Image 172fullsizeoutput_1c7fullsizeoutput_1bcfullsizeoutput_1c3fullsizeoutput_1c8And also passing by one of several junk boats on the harbour…Image 173After hopping off the ferry, we decided to walk back to our hotel and along the way we stopped and bought pineapple cakes, which really are fresh milky bread with a sweet topping – not a pineapple in sight but delicious anyway.fullsizeoutput_1c9Another great day out in fabulous Hong Kong!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nine Dragon Screen & White Pagoda – Beihai Park – Beijing – PRC – July 2010

24 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

Beihai Park, beijing, Nine Dragon Screen, PRC China, White Pagoda

 Two Large Structures in Beihai Park

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One of Beiing’s largest public parks is Beihai (which means northern sea) and used to be an imperial garden.  It is now used by thousands of Chinese, expats and foreigners to stroll around, take boat rides or eat snacks from local vendors.

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Beihai is also home to wonderfully ornate pavilions, canals, a large lake and several large structures.

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One of the main structures is the White Pagoda which is a 40-metre high stupa, located on the highest point on Jade Flower Island and built to honour the visit of the 5th Dalai Lama in 1651.

img_4142img_4162Its body is made of white stone and there are sun, moon and flame engravings on the surface of the tower. It was destroyed in 1679 by an earthquake and rebuilt the following year, and restored again in 1976 because of the Tangshan earthquake near Beijing.

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A Five Dragon Pavilion which comprises five connected pavilions with spires and pointed upswept eaves and built in the Ming dynasty is also located within the park along the waters edge.

img_4179And to the south of the Five-Dragon Pavilion lies the Nine Dragon Wall.

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It was built in 1402 and is one of three walls of its kind in China. I saw another one during my travels to Datong in Shangxi Province and also the third but cannot recall where I saw it.  This one is very similar to the one I saw in Datong, made of seven coloured glazed bricks with nine complete dragons playing in the clouds and these  decorate both sides of the wall.

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Beihai is definitely worth a visit; it’s a wonderful day out, walking, riding or rowing, and even if you are not culturally minded, the colourful buildings and vibrant trees and shrubs around the park in summer and spring are just lovely.

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Chengde (1) – Hebei Province – PRC – 2010

15 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

Chengde, Chengde Mountain Resort, Hebei Province, PRC China

First day of a weekend away to Chengde

img_3470Whilst I was studying Mandarin in Beijing in 2010, friends of mine invited me to a weekend away to Chengde to see the Imperial Summer Mountain Resort and its outlying temples, which is about a three to four hour drive from Beijing.  I thought this was a great way to see somewhere out of Beijing and escape the heat and pollution, so off I went with five others in a hired bus complete with tour guide.

We took lots of snacks on the bus as my friends already knew that the stop along the way would not have the sorts of delicious (unhealthy) snacks we we wanted (nor toilets I would use).  And along the way we saw many hard-working Chinese along the freeway, building or making goodness know what -but still working very hard!!

img_3489The Mountain Resort is a summer palace for the Emperor during the Qing dynasty and was built between 1703 and 1792 and took eighty-nine years to complete. The resort is ‘huge’…it’s as big as the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace combined. It’s surrounded by a ten kilometres long wall and covers 590 hectares.img_3575img_3482Emperors often spent several months a year at the resort to escape the summer heat in  Beijing and the palace area in the southern part of the resort was designed to resemble the Forbidden City in Beijing. It consisted of two parts: the front where the emperor received high officials and foreigners and the imperial family’s living quarters in the rear.img_3456img_3477img_3493When we arrived in Chengde we first taken to our hotel to check-in then after a quick lunch went to visit the resort.  We took a lovely boat ride along one of the lakes and enjoyed the surrounding scenery.  The boat staff were dressed in traditional Chinese clothing and parts of the boats were painted ’emperor yellow’.img_3467img_3463img_3472The resort is known for its seventy-two scenic spots which were named by two different Chinese emperors. Many of the scenic spots around the resort’s lake area were copied from famous landscaped gardens in southern China. For instance, the main building on the Green Lotus Island called  ‘Tower of Mist and Rain’ is modeled upon a tower in one of the lakes in Zhejiang Province.img_3479The resort also has a seventy metre tall stone Chinese pagoda, said to be one of the tallest in China and built in 1751. The pagoda is shaped with an octagonal base, while the pagoda’s nine stories are decorated with colorful glazed tiles and the steeple is crowned with a gilded round spire.img_3488After the boat ride we were given time to ourselves to walk throughout the grounds and the ruins of the palace.  A very beautiful place to stroll although because it was summer time and there were many parts of the grounds without shade, I found it pretty warm albeit not anything like the heat in Beijing.img_3483img_3461img_3474After a very long day, we returned to our hotel for dinner, followed by another day in Chengde which I will post on another time!!

 

 

 

Dongcheng District – Beijing – PRC – 2011-2014

29 Sunday May 2016

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

beijing, Dongcheng District, dongzhimenwai Xiao Jie, PRC China

Dongcheng District in Beijing – My Home For Three Years

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Between 2011 and 2014 I lived in Dongcheng District 东城区whilst working at the Australian Embassy in Beijing.  So I thought I would post some photos I had taken during the different seasons over those three years and in particular for my dad who, unfortunately never made it to China and would love to see where I lived.

I lived in a fabulous building about a four minute walk from the embassy and every morning I would walk over a lovely stone bridge to get to work; regularly seeing lao Beijingren (elderly Chinese) performing their morning stretching.

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I had all different sorts of views from my lounge room windows which included local buildings, a canal and a children’s play area as well as the lovely garden and BBQ area for use by the occupants of the building.  As you can see the views were different in summer and winter especially after a snow fall.

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The canal was especially pretty to walk along in summer as there was always the local Chinese men fishing and walking their dogs as well as swinging small birds in their bamboo cages.

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Dongcheng covers the eastern half of Beijing’s core.  It’s about forty km2 and subdivided into seventeen sub-districts which includes all the old city inside the 2nd Ring Road.  There are currently six Ring Roads in Beijing with the 6th being an expressway which runs around the city and approximately 220 kilometres long.

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(source: http://www.wildgreatwall.com)

Dongcheng includes many cultural attractions including Tian’anmen Square, the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven amongst many others. But what I really loved about living in Dongcheng is that one minute you are walking in a concrete jungle and next you are looking at beautiful old buildings, trees and ponds.

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There were also the many stray cats I fed over my time and many bicycles parked on the side of the pathway, whilst their owners popped into local restaurants for a quick meal.

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And at night the sights are very different to those seen during the day.

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And of course if you don’t want to walk or cycle you can always take one of the little silver carts that are available around the district…they are not supposed to go onto the main roads but do or usually take the back streets…always good to set your price before you get in otherwise the drivers usually charge way too much (I know this from experience but did need to get home one night so I guess 50 RMB [around $10 AUD] was worth it).

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So, this was where I lived for three years and really loved it in all seasons [although my least favourite season is summer – it’s just too hot].  I much prefer the cooler seasons!

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Giuzhou Province (3) – PRC – April 2016

22 Sunday May 2016

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 29 Comments

Tags

Chinese food, Guizhou Province, Malin River Gorge, PRC China, Xingyi

Malin River Gorge, locals mountains and a lovely Chinese lunch 

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It’s day three in Guizhou Province and we have spent the night in Anshun town so we made an early start after breakfast to visit Maling River Gorge which is located about ten kilometres from Xingyi where we intending to spend the evening.  There are between sixty and a 100 waterfalls in this beautiful  gorge; all different heights and widths along with tropical and sub-tropical plants covering the rock sides.

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The gorge stretches for fifteen kilometers and the river is sometimes veiled fro the many waterfalls running down the sides of the rocks. Regular rainfall and high humidity have encouraged the growth of vines and clinging plants all along the cliff walls but I think the most interesting part of this gorge are the rock formations that look like mushrooms or tapestries which hangs over portions of the man made walkways.

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We reached a point on the walkway where we have the option to cross the river via a bridge and walk along the other side or keep walking on the same pathway to reach the end of the gorge.  There are several bridges that cross the river, one is extremely high and I would never have the courage to walk on that one; and another two which are not as high.

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The lower bridges I didn’t want to walk on either so I stayed on the same pathway arranging to meet my friends at the end.  My pathway took me to the old beautiful stone bridge that was used to cross the water many years before.  So lovely to see.

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I do think I had the better walk as near the end I had to walk under a fabulous waterfall.  Incredibly noisy with the water running so fast; really beautiful.

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This next photo I took whilst at the back of the waterfall looking out – it was pretty special [and pretty wet].

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Before we arrived at the bottom of the gorge we had to walk down many (many) steps and all I could think of was the return walk and how hard it was going to be, but the best news ever was given to my by our tour guide as we neared the bottom of the gorge; there was an enclosed escalator we could use to reach the top.  My two friends decided to walk back up the steps but tour guide and I took the escalator as I really dislike walking ‘up’ steps especially when there is an easier way to reach the top.  The escalator was so incredibly steep but all we had to do was stand there and all of a sudden we were at the top; easy!

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After we met at the top of the gorge, we walked through the car park where some entrepreneurial Chinese had set up stalls selling lots of different things including great looking fresh fruit.  We stopped off and tried some but didn’t buy any as we were on our way to lunch and didn’t really need any snacks.

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Before lunch, however our guide wanted to show us one of the local famous bridges; the cable Malinghe Bridge where we stopped and my two friends walked across (not me…too scared as the bridge was incredibly high) so the driver drove me over (the bridge swayed even as we were driving across so I dread to think how my two friends walked across it but I must admit Jo from Beijing is so not afraid of heights and was able to lean right over the side and take photos) but we met at the other end and were able to take in beautiful views of the gorge and mountains.

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So then it was finally lunch time and of course we enjoyed a fabulous Chinese meal consisting of a delicious potato dish, a beef dish for my friends, incredibly fresh root vegetables and an eggplant and green bean dish in oil and chilli.  We loved the potatoes albeit a little bit spicy (but all eaten even with stinging lips) and the eggplant and bean dish was truly amazing!

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Then off we went to Wanfenglin which is a forest of ten thousand peaks; a visit I will cover in another post.

 

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