A Singaporean who loves cooking, eating, photography and travels. Here to share my experiences and tips for fellow like-minded wanderlusters and foodies! Life is short; eat what you want and travel where you will.
On Day 3, my mother and I headed to the Old Summer Palace 圓明園. If you saw Jackie Chan's CZ12 (Chinese Zodiac 12) which was released in 2012, you'll know what I'm talking about. The Old Summer Palace was the main residence of Qianlong Emperor and his successors. There are an immense number of gardens and beautiful lakes so you can be sure that if you're exploring the grounds, you're getting a lot of steps on your Fitbit/Tracker.
During the Second Opium War in 1860, French and British troops who were supposed to negotiate a Qing surrender were found to be looting and destroying property. Thus, they were imprisoned and tortured by the Chinese. In retaliation, Lord Elgin, the British High Commissioner to China, ordered for the palace to be destroyed completely. With the work of 4000 men and 3 days of burning, the entire 800 acres of the palace was reduced to ruins. Priceless artefacts and artworks were looted.
As a side note, I can say that learning about history really makes me hate the whole Anglo colonialism era. I've studied quite a bit of history and if there's anything I've learnt, it's that colonialism is terrible. The "colonialised" have to give so much and in the end, they are left with nothing.
The Old Summer Palace comprises of three main sections:
Garden of Perfect Brightness 圓明園
Garden of Eternal Spring 長春園
Elegant Spring Garden 綺春園
I'll provide more information about each section as the photos come up. For starters, let's talk about how to get to the Old Summer Palace or Yuan Ming Yuan. From where we were (Xidan Station), we took Line 4 of the subway heading towards Anheqiao North and alighted at Yuanmingyuan Station 圓明園站. Then we took Exit B (closest to the palace).
Interior decoration at the subway station, providing you some info about history.
The entrance to Yuanmingyuan which has been restored. There are many lillies which adorn the entrance. This was the original entrance to the Elegant Spring Garden 綺春園.
Tickets to enter the venue. I think we paid about RMB25 to enter all palaces? The prices might be different now though so do check on their website before heading there.
Even though it was relatively crowded, I have to say that it was still peaceful. Probably best not to visit Beijing in July though because it is so hot. I think roaming around the Old Summer palace in a spring/autumn weather would be perfect though.
There are a few stalls here which sell some souvenirs and knick-knacks.
Malt Candy in the form of different animals! A treat for the kids and young at heart.
This lady was selling snuff bottles 鼻煙壺 which was known to be a remedy for common cold or illnesses. Usually, exquisite art would be painted inside. She can even help you paint your name inside the bottle! I bought one for myself =) Could not resist taking a bit of history home with me and thought this was the perfect souvenir.
We then found a building which contains the replicas of the 12 zodiac creatures which used to be around the fountain at Haiyantang in the Summer Palace. This is a drawing of how this fountain used to look like:
Source: Wikipedia (Haiyantang)
These twelve heads used to be spewing water into the fountain. During the British invasion of the palace, the heads of these statues were cut off before the palace was grazed. Till today, the whereabouts of some of the heads are still unknown.
Replicas of the full statues (head and bodies). Didn't manage to take photos of all of the replicas as some people were taking photographs of them for a long time.
Peaceful pond with lilypads
Place to board the traditional boats to take you nearer to the entrance (which my mother and I desperately needed after the long walk). I swear my step count was off the charts that day. However, it was not time to board this yet. We wanted to explore the ruins first before exiting.
So sad that people can bear to cause so much destruction to a building/a venue just to tear down the history of another culture. I'm not blaming just one group of people for such acts. But we as Asians are aware of what colonisation does. Still, the ultimate message should be that we should live in harmony and equality instead of letting ego get in the way, trying to be better than one another.
After the tour around the ruins, it was time for the boat ride which was such a relief for my feet!
Click to see the view we had while on the boat.
Passing another boat
Apart from the smell of the motor oil, this was a really pleasant ride. You got to experience the views from the water and pass under these beautiful bridges.
Boat wasn't too crowded which was nice. We weren't squished up against strangers which frankly, with how sweaty we were, was a relief for not just us but for others as well.
Cool and well-shaded, where we were getting off, and where some people were getting on. It was 20 yuan for one-way trip and I would say the best 20 yuan I spent that day 😂
And that's all I have on the Old Summer Palace. Another place that I could tick off on my bucket list because I'm a real Chinese history buff (with the whole royal family).
Verdict? If you're big on palaces and ruins, I'd say go ahead and give it a go! One particularly eye-opening experience I had
here was how much destruction was caused that it was heartbreaking to see. In my education, we've learnt a lot about colonisation and how different countries were affected by it. This was no act of colonisation and merely an act of disagreement between nations coupled with a my-sword-is-bigger-than-your-sword issue. Or rather, a my-sword-is-able-to-destroy-your-palace issue. If you'd like a touch of history in your trip around Beijing, I'd highly recommend this place for you. If you loved the movie CZ12 like I did, you would love this venue as well.
Thank you and I hope you
enjoyed reading this post. In the next entry, I'll cover part 2 of Day 3 where my
mum and I grabbed some lunch near our hotel and explored the beautiful area of Qianmen in the evening! Stay tuned!
Hi all, I'm back after a long hiatus again! 2018 was, well, a year of pretty drastic changes for me. There was quite a bit going on in my personal life so I had to take a bit of a break.
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:
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.
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.
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.
You have a little black bean topping above the cold noodles, and some freshly sliced vegetables are served on the side.
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.
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.
It was already evening time when we arrived. The weather was pretty cool and great for an evening stroll since the grounds were HUGE.
The building where the swimming competitions were held, also nicknamed "The Aquarium".
View of the Bird's Nest up close
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.
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!
