Ni Hao! I'm done with my Philippine tour, well not exactly done but I've gone to most places I wanted to see like Cebu, Bohol, Palawan, Boracay, Vigan etc so I think it's time to go international. :)
Asian countries are in my line up now and the first one is Beijing and Shanghai. Not because I'm half Chinese (Who doesn't speak Mandarin, Cantonese or Fukien at all!) but because I wanted to see China, a powerful country in Asia which I think one day would rule this planet. @_@ Despite the issue between the Philippines claiming Scarsborough and Spratleys, I still pursued this trip because I'm not like other people who are close minded and would take things personally. This is a matter between the government and I have my opinion about it but it has nothing to do with my travels or the people in China.
Travel Agency: Uni-Orient Travel Inc.
Itinerary: 3-Days in Beijing and 3 Days in Shanghai. (May 11-16, 2012)
Tour Price: $1,200 (So you'll have an idea for your budget. This includes food, entrance fees and 4 star hotels booking.) Not included: Travel tax, Visa and Airport fees plus $3 tip per day and per head to the tour guide.
Binondo Office Tel: 2433888
Makati Office Tel: 8189585
Beijing, North China
Beijing is a 4 hour and a half plane ride from Manila, (PAL) we arrived there at about lunch time and we met Emily, our tour guide. According to her, Beijing has a population of 23M and the whole China, 2.2B. The cost of living is also high. The price of a house is 30,000 RMB (Yuan) per square meter (that is Php 210,000)! I've also noticed that Audi, Buick and BMW are ordinary cars here unlike in the Phil that Toyota, Hyundai, Kia and Honda are the most common. Temperature is about 18-22 Celsius. Love the foggy weather! It's very clean in Beijing and also in Shanghai, lots of trees and flowers along the roads. Mostly are locusts and cypress trees. Whoever said that China is polluted, should get educated and come over. Definitely, Manila is dirtier.
Day 1: We had Peking Duck for lunch! Most of our food are in Lauriat style and if not, it will be buffet. Our breakfast and most dinners are buffet! I definitely gained weight here in China.
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| Dy plus Sy Family and Emily, our guide. I forgot the Resto's name as I couldn't pronounce it haha.. GREAT food! You can't go wrong with Chinese food. :D Peking duck was delish. |
After lunch we went to the Temple of Heaven. This is where the emperor or empress worships and offer sacrifices and pray for good harvests during Winter months.
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| My uncles and aunties. |
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| Emily explaining historical background. I forgot which dynasty but this emperor uses the number 9. Everything here is in multiples of 9 which is also a lucky number in China. |
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| This temple if seen from the top, looks like a dart board according to Emily. |
In Beijing, we did a lot of walking! As China is huge, so are their tourist attractions. The Temple of Heaven is around 200 hectares if my memory serves me right.
Afterwards we watched Kung Fu show at the Red Theatre. Pictures were not allowed during the actual show so I don't have some cool kung fu moves shots.
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| Red theatre probably came up because the interior and exterior are mainly in red color! |
The show ended at around 8:30PM and we proceeded to our hotel, Xiangda. It's a 4 Star hotel which seems to be very similar to Mandarin Hotel in Makati.
Day 2: After breakfast we headed to Jade Factory where all sorts of stuff made in jade are sold like Jewelry, pots, vases etc. Jade accdg to the Chinese, is for good health and luck. I noticed most women are wearing jade bangles. Price ranges of jewelry are from 8000 RMB to 100 RMB depending on quality. Expensive huh?
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| All sorts of stuff made in Jade Stone. |
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| Saleslady explaining how to know if the Jade is real. She also has good sales talk! I managed to buy a Jade bracelet worth 150RMB which I kind of regret as I purchased another one from a diff store with a Pishu dangling from the bracelet for only $9 or 54RMB . Pishu is a mythical creature in China with no rear end. It's a charm for earning more money and not spending it. |
My auntie managed to haggle good, especially if you're half chinese and half filipino, who can speak Mandarin. You can get the price drop to 70% lower! Dang!
The Badaling Great wall was our next stop. Composed of 4000 steps and you can also ride the cable car to get to the top and vice versa. Me and Uncle J managed to climb all the way! It's harder to go down as the steps are inclined around 85 degrees! And not all are stairs. Very steep so watch your step.
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| Everyday is crowded according to Emily. |
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| Me and Uncle J climbing all the way to the top! He sure is strong for his age. |
After the long climb, Emily took us to a place to have our foot massage. :)
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| Feet will be soaked in hot tea, which are gotten from Tibet. Forgot the name though. Then will be massaged. :) |
Next stop was Olympic village. This is where the Olympics was held last 2008. We saw the Birds' Nest and Water Cube. Bird's nest capacity is estimated to be 90,000 people.
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| Olympic Village. |
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| Watercube for water sports. |
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| Bird's nest with the Sy Family. All their names starts with V! |
The walk around the park got us thirsty and we headed off for some tea. :) David's Tea House I think, where all sorts of tea were introduced. I also bought a tea set and garden tea here for 400 RMB.
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| The lady explaining different kinds of tea and how good it is for your body. Jasmine, Green, Oolong, Garden and Pu-er Teas were served. |
Day 3: More walking! The imperial city is where you can find the Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. It's called Forbidden City because during those times it's forbidden in public, only the Empress / Emperor or his subordinates can go inside. Also his concubines! Emperors in China had a lot of concubines ranging from 70-100. Emily said that women that time, if the emperor summoned you, will be bathed and presented to the Emperor's bedroom naked. Also, if you bore a son, your rank goes higher.
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| I actually forgot what this place is called. :( I think the Opera house, not sure but concerts were held here. We went here first before Tiananmen Square. |
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| Tiananmen Square located right outside Forbidden city. 40 Hectares. |
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| Nice Flowers. :) We certainly came at the perfect time in China. Cool and foggy weather. |
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| Behind these walls is where Forbidden City lies. 72 Hectares of walking! |
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| Forbidden city is divided into two main parts. 1st-Outer Court consists of 3 main bldgs where the emperor attended grand ceremonies and conducted state affairs. 2nd-Inner Palace, where the emperor conducted his daily affairs alongside with the Empress and his concubines. |
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| Only the emperor can walk through the middle gates and walkways. Oh correction I meant carried by strong soldiers! Emily said the Emperor never walked inside Forbidden city, he was always carried. |
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| This is the Empress' bedroom. Outside you can also find the bedrooms for the other Concubines. |
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| Me having a great time in Beijing. I'm learning a lot about Chinese history. If you noticed, I'm paying attention to our tour guide. |
We went to the Silk Factory next, every garment worn by the Empress / Emperor is made of silk which is why it's famous in China. I didn't buy anything here though, too expensive and I think it's not suited to be worn in my country where the weather is always hot.
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| We saw the lifecycle of silk worms and how silk was made. |
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| Look at that freakin Arroyo wearing Silk. Analysts said the Philippine economy boosted during Arroyo's. Well we sure didn't feel it but I know her pockets did. |
Next stop was the Beijing zoo but we only went to where the Pandas are! Sooo adorable. There were only two and I didn't see any cub. One was sleeping and the other mercilessly asking for bamboos. @_@ I didn't get to see much Panda movements. No rolling Panda. :(
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| Poor hungry Panda. :( |
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| Same Panda, just wanting bamboos. |
After all the cutesy, back to some more walking in Summer Palace which is three times bigger than Forbidden City. This is where the Empress / Emperor would take a vacation from the summer heat. It is now a public park where people can stroll and relax in China's ancient cultural legacy. You can also ride the dragon boat to take you around or from east to west.
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| Chinese Pedicabs :p |
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| The entrance to Summer Palace. |
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| People strolling and lilies in the river. On the right are pedal boats for rent. |
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| We rode the dragon boat from east to west. |
There are a lot more scenic views, just check them in my acct. I didn't upload all of our photos as I have a lot.
The next day was our flight to Shanghai. We had to leave early to avoid the traffic, we even had our packed breakfast. (No buffet food this time, take out and by default, sandwich and sausages.. too bad..) Out flight was 10AM with China Eastern Airlines.
Shanghai, South China
Shanghai is a 1hr and half plane ride from Beijing. Population is 22M which is less than Beijing but the cost of living is pretty similar. These are where the modern buildings are found and if you take a look at it at night, you will see Vegas in China. :P
Day 1: After lunch we headed to Yu Garden and Bazaar. It's an ancient garden located in Old town Shanghai. First created as a private garden in Ming Dynasty and as a gift to his parents but now it's considered as a tourist spot in Shanghai.
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| Man made lake here. |
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| These lion statues' gender can be identified by looking under its paws. A cub is found under the female while a ball for the male lion. |
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| Yu-an Bazaar right outside Yu garden. Here is a lady inside a glass pouring tea and encouraging customers to come. |
Next stop was Nanjing road for shopping. Branded clothes and various food marts are found here. I bought some food too to take back home.
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| Tour Nanjing road? |
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| Nanjing road shops |
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| Shopping galore. I also saw some people dancing on the streets. |
At night our guide, Cindy took us to a ship to cruise around Huangpu River so we'd be able to see the night lights. Too bad it was drizzling on our first night so I couldn't stay on deck to take photos but I got some.
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| Auntie and Cindy running towards the ship to avoid getting soak |
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| Inside the ship |
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| I love Shanghai! |
Day 2: We stayed at Ramada hotel (btw both hotels we stayed in China are 4 stars not 5 stars.) and the travel agency gave me a free room so I had my own! Woot. WELL they should give us freebies considering how much money I paid for this tour. Peak season so this trip is pretty expensive but it's definitely worth it. :) Even our visa was expensive as this was just arranged in a span of 1 week. We had to pay for 1 day processing Visa which is more expensive. (Php2,600 for 1 day processing.)
It was a sunny day and the perfect weather to stroll. Got to see the love bridge first.
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| Called the love bridge because this is a hang out place for couples at night. |
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| Me and a bed of flowers. :) |
We walked further to get to the Pearl Factory, The Bund and the TV tower. I know there are a lot of pearls in the Philippines which are cheaper but I bought a couple for my mom as a mother's day gift. Not pricey but I know the pendants I bought would be cheaper in the Phil.
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| A giant sea pearl. I wonder how much would this cost? |
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| You can only find 1 sea pearl in clams which is why it is more expensive than fresh water pearls. These are fresh water pearls off course. |
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| Pearls for sale. |
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| Cindy in line to buy tickets for the sight seeing tunnel in the Bund. |
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| To the sight seeing tunnel under Huangpu river I think to get to the other side. Lots of fancy lights! |
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| This is just the beginning, there were lots of light themes like Magma, time travel etc. Very cool! |
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| The Oriental Pearl TV Tower |
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| Check the above photos for a yearly comparison of Shanghai's progress. |
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| Similar to Crowne Regency in Cebu, you can walk around the glass floors for a sky rise view (263m high) of the city. Don't look down though, it will make you dizzy! |
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| We went to a small Shanghai museum inside the TV Tower. |
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| Just one of the many stuff you can see inside the museum. |
Then after lunch, we went to another Museum. Shanghai museum consists of 4 floors displaying ceramics, chinese currencies, state treasures, calligraphic works, paintings etc.
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| One of the displays are chinese furnitures |
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| Traditional clothing in China |
After having dinner at a Vietnamese resto, with a cultural dance show, we watched an acrobatic show. It was really fun especially the part where the guys were swapping hats and also a single guy juggling 8 balls and even dribbling them! One girl was like boneless making all sorts of disfigured poses and guys going on hoops. Magic tricks and others were also part of the act, you should definitely add this to your itinerary. It's more fun than the Kungfu show. :)
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| The cast. :) |
Day 3: We didn't go to much places here just the Complex, and some car show shops like Lamborghini woot. Then we rode the Maglev train to the airport as part of our itinerary. These trains are only found in 4 countries, Shanghai, Chicago, Germany and Amsterdam. It's similar to a bullet train and maximum speed is 300km/hr. We got to the airport at only 7mins flat! So do the math and compute how far we traveled. :)
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| This had the Intramuros aura, lots of restos and coffee shops. |
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| Very clean. :) |
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| My dream car! |
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| You won't feel this speedy train. :) |
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| Me and Cindy, my new Chinese friend. Isn't she pretty? |
Okay I was hurrying up as this post because it's starting to look like a scroll (Too long). 3 hr and a half flight to Manila. We arrived at around 8:00 PM at the airport. All I can say is I am impressed with China's fast progress. One day I still believe, that China will rule this planet. @_@ Haha..
If some of my friends will come here, I'd most probably come with them especially in Shanghai, I haven't seen most of it! And I also want to go to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors and Xiamen. I had a blast here, my 6 day trip passed by so quickly.I need to save up money again!
I'm going to Hongkong and Macau this September so I'll add more Asian Countries here in my travel blog. :) I'll fill you in with the details, don't worry.
