Here to continue with the Beijing travelogue. This post will be substantially shorter than the Forbidden City entry. In case you missed it, you can read the previous entries of my Beijing trip here:
- Planning for the Beijing Trip + Travel Tips
- Day 1: Changi Airport - Beijing International Airport - Hotel Grand Mecure - Bian Yi Fang
- Day 2 Part 1: Tiananmen Square - Forbidden City
After exiting the Forbidden City, we went in search of some food to fill our tummies. We practically wandered around the palace for hours having eaten nothing but steamed buns.
We followed the crowd out and chanced upon this traditional street selling tourist memorabilia and souvenirs. There were also a couple of food stalls there so we headed into a random noodle shop in one of the alleys.
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| Some souvenirs and shoes that we bought as we strolled down the alley. You might think that all the stores there are tourist traps but you'll be surprised that some were actually quite affordable. |
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| We went in and ordered a Zha Jiang Mian (thinking it would be something familiar) and some tomato noodle thing. When they arrived, we were quite stunned. For one, the tomato noodle looked more like a mixed-vegetable dish (even though it tasted really good). The Zha Jiang Mian was more of a culture shock? It was a cold dish and this was different from what we expected. We've only ever eaten hot Zha Jiang Mian (Black Bean Noodle). I guess the temperature of the noodle would help to make one feel refreshed in the sweltering heat of summer but it was a little too unique for my tastebuds. |
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| You have a little black bean topping above the cold noodles, and some freshly sliced vegetables are served on the side. |
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| The meal left us slightly unsatisfied (wasn't that much either) and we started looking for drinks. This cute snacks and drinks stall was just around the corner. It was really clean and I do miss some of the unique drinks I managed to try out in Beijing. |
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| This souvenir shop is along Dafosi East Street 大佛寺东街, which is where we did our shopping. You can head towards that street if you are interested! |
We spent most of our afternoon there and headed back to the hotel to dump off our loot. Souvenirs and shoes can be pretty heavy too! After resting for a short while, it was time to make our way to the Olympic Park (from the Olympics in 2008) where the popular "Bird's Nest" is.
Directions:
Take Subway
Line 2 heading towards Jishuitan 积水潭, and alight at Gulou Street Station 鼓楼大街站. Transfer at Gulou Street Station 鼓楼大街站 and
take Subway Line 8 heading towards Zhuxinzhuang and alight at Olympic Sports
Center Station 奥体中心体育场站. Take Exit C to head to the Olympic Park.
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| It was already evening time when we arrived. The weather was pretty cool and great for an evening stroll since the grounds were HUGE. |
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| The building where the swimming competitions were held, also nicknamed "The Aquarium". |
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| View of the Bird's Nest up close |
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| This was some kind of transmission/viewing tower I think. |
There is a mall created in the area so my mum and I headed over to grab a quick dinner. We found a food court and shared this beef dish. We weren't super hungry but just didn't want to starve.
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| Black Pepper Beef Rice on a hot plate. If you know me personally, you'll know that I hate black pepper but this was pretty decent so I just bore with it and tried to think of it as pepper lunch? >.< |
When we were done with cooling down with the air-conditioning and headed out again, the view was completely different. With coloured lights moving around, it was quite beautiful.
Verdict? If it is your first time in Beijing, I'd definitely recommend you give it a whirl and go once. One particularly eye-opening experience I had here was how massive every building was. I'd recommend going in the evening so it is cooler and that will also give you a chance to see the buildings light up at night. If you're going in summer and the weather is too hot, you can duck into the shopping mall for some respite.
Olympic Sports Center
Chaoyang, Beijing, China
And.... that's the end of Day 2! Thank you for sticking with me and I hope you enjoyed reading this post. In the next entry, I'll cover Day 3 where my mum and I went to the Old Summer Palace (where the 12 zodiac heads were stolen). That'll be another picture-heavy post because there was just so much to see! Stay tuned!
Till then,
Fly Safe and Eat Happy,
V
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