A short flight from Tokyo to Beijing....very impressive airport! / Ein kurzer Flug von Tokyo nach Peking....ein beeindruckender Flughafen!
After 3 times walking up and down the airport searching for 'the' shop that sells mobile sim cards, we finally found it - not quite a shop, but rather a machine with (finally) a polite salesgirl to help us out.
The 'shop' that sales mobile phone cards... and the 'shop-assistant' / Der 'Laden' welcher Pre-Paid Karten verkauft...und die 'Verkäuferin'
Equipped with a Chinese mobile number, chinese Renmenbi and the right mindframe (i.e we are no longer to expect polite and friendly service) - we took the taxi and headed for Beijing city.First impression of Beijing.....SMOG! / Erster Eindruck von Peking.....SMOG!
Second impression of Beijing.....Traffic jam! / Zweiter Eindruck von Peking.....STAU!
We had 5 weeks allocated for exploring China, so we decided a week in the capital was appropriate. We stayed at Hotel Kapok, a Chinese venture capitalist boutique hotel, literally behind the Forbidden Palace - a very convenient location for sightseeing. After a quick rest, we headed to explore the Wangfujing area - down the road from our hotel - shopping haven of Beijing. In this area, there is also the famous eatery street - where one can sample grilled (live) scorpion, worms, insects etc...Pasci also found his favourite chinese sweet here - the peanut candy.
Our fancy hotel in ideal location....but lousy service! / Unser schönes Hotel in idealer Lage....aber lausigem Service!
*Yeay* we're in Beijing :) / *Yuhui* Wir sind in Peking :)
Fancy trying....??! Grilled (live) scorpion or starfish?.....mmmm!/ Lust auf....??! Grillierter (lebendiger) Skorpion....oder Seestern? mmmm!
Busy Wangfujing area...here you can buy all your tourist hearts wants! / Viel beschäftigte Wangfujing Gegend...hier kann das Touristen-Herz alles kaufen was Du brauchst!
Anyone wants a Kebab??! / Möchte irgendjemand einen Kebab??!
These guys produce a delicious peanut cookie! With lots of sweat.... / Diese Jungs produzieren ein köstliches Erdnuss Gutzi! Mit viel Schweiss....
Our fancy hotel in ideal location....but lousy service! / Unser schönes Hotel in idealer Lage....aber lausigem Service!
*Yeay* we're in Beijing :) / *Yuhui* Wir sind in Peking :)
Fancy trying....??! Grilled (live) scorpion or starfish?.....mmmm!/ Lust auf....??! Grillierter (lebendiger) Skorpion....oder Seestern? mmmm!
Busy Wangfujing area...here you can buy all your tourist hearts wants! / Viel beschäftigte Wangfujing Gegend...hier kann das Touristen-Herz alles kaufen was Du brauchst!
Anyone wants a Kebab??! / Möchte irgendjemand einen Kebab??!
These guys produce a delicious peanut cookie! With lots of sweat.... / Diese Jungs produzieren ein köstliches Erdnuss Gutzi! Mit viel Schweiss....
Not quite Big Ben but still big and there is a clock! / Nicht ganz Big Ben aber trotzdem gross und eine Uhr!
After that we headed back to the Hotel, got changed and met up with Adlyn. Adlyn is a school friend of Mishell who runs a Gourmet Food Tour company in Beijing. She took us to some hidden gem restaurant which is also an Art Gallery (sorry, forgot the name - but if you're interested contact Adlyn) to eat the famous Peking duck! *Yummy*
Although we are not the biggest fans of Peking duck (because we both are more of meat persons, whereas Peking duck is all about the crispy skin), we enjoyed the duck a lot.
Our boutique Hotel.... / Unser Boutique Hotel....
Preparing our duck....*slurrp* / Der Koch bereitet unsere Ente zu..... *slurrp*
Preparing our duck....*slurrp* / Der Koch bereitet unsere Ente zu..... *slurrp*
The delicious sesame sauce and roasted garlic topping that goes with the duck....like a piece of art! / Die köstliche Sesam Sauce mit gerosteten Knoblauch welche perfekt zur Ente passt...wie ein Kunstwerk!
Crispy skin and juicy meat....delicious! / Knusprige Haut und saftiges Fleisch....köstlich!
Mishell's school friend Adlyn who runs her own gourmet food company in Beijing. Check it out: http://www.hiasgourmet.com/ / Mishell's Schulfreundin Adlyn welche ihre eigenes Gourmet Kost Unternehmen in Peking hat. Check it out: http://www.hiasgourmet.com/
Attempt I: Everyone says 'cheeeeeeeeeeese'..... not quite in the middle though! / Versuch I: Alle sagen 'cheeeeeeeeeeeeeese'.... jedoch nicht ganz im Zentrum!
Attempt II: hhhmmmmmm....something went wrong here as well.....can the waiter do a better job? / Versuch II: hhhhmmmmm....etwas ist hier auch schief gelaufen....kann es der Kellner besser?
Attempt III: hmmmm...guess it does not get any better! / Versuch III: hmmmm....vermutlich wird es nicht besser!
The next day we had a looooong lie-in and only got up around lunch time. We decided to take it slow today and just to pay a quick visit to Tiananmen square and the surroundings there.
The Tian'anmen gate to the Forbidden City / Das Tian'anmen Tor zu der verbotenen Stadt
The Chinese flag is being raised every morning at sunrise...and taken down every evening at sunset. And it is shown live in TV! / Die Chinesische Flagge wird jeden Morgen bei Sonnenaufgang gehisst... und jeden Abend bei Sonnenuntergang heruntergenommen. Und es wird Live im TV gezeigt!
The Monument to the people's heroes / Das Monument der Helden des Volkes
Unfortunately the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong was already closed. It is only open in the mornings....stupid!
Mishell's school friend Adlyn who runs her own gourmet food company in Beijing. Check it out: http://www.hiasgourmet.com/ / Mishell's Schulfreundin Adlyn welche ihre eigenes Gourmet Kost Unternehmen in Peking hat. Check it out: http://www.hiasgourmet.com/
Attempt I: Everyone says 'cheeeeeeeeeeese'..... not quite in the middle though! / Versuch I: Alle sagen 'cheeeeeeeeeeeeeese'.... jedoch nicht ganz im Zentrum!
Attempt II: hhhmmmmmm....something went wrong here as well.....can the waiter do a better job? / Versuch II: hhhhmmmmm....etwas ist hier auch schief gelaufen....kann es der Kellner besser?
Attempt III: hmmmm...guess it does not get any better! / Versuch III: hmmmm....vermutlich wird es nicht besser!
The next day we had a looooong lie-in and only got up around lunch time. We decided to take it slow today and just to pay a quick visit to Tiananmen square and the surroundings there. Unfortunately it was really cold here in Beijing...about 12 degrees. We were totally not equipped for this kind of cold weather :-/ And we probably over estimated the temperature on the first day...i.e. we were walking around in our sandals/slippers. OOooops.....we realized that it is bloody cold only too late when we were on the Tian'anmen square and everybody was sort of checking out our footwear!
Tiananmen square is really impressive and according to Lonely planet, the largest public square in the world! It's simply hughe...! It has been the site of many events, among them a gathering of pro-democracy protesters in 1989. The protest ended when hundreds of these protesters were killed by government troops in the streets leading from the square.
Tian'anmen Square the largest city square in the world! / Tian'anmen Platz der grösste Stadtplatz in der Welt!
The Tian'anmen gate to the Forbidden City / Das Tian'anmen Tor zu der verbotenen Stadt
The Chinese flag is being raised every morning at sunrise...and taken down every evening at sunset. And it is shown live in TV! / Die Chinesische Flagge wird jeden Morgen bei Sonnenaufgang gehisst... und jeden Abend bei Sonnenuntergang heruntergenommen. Und es wird Live im TV gezeigt!
The Monument to the people's heroes / Das Monument der Helden des Volkes
Unfortunately the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong was already closed. It is only open in the mornings....stupid! Anyway, it was already time for dinner now. We grabbed something quickly in the restaurant opposite our Hotel. We headed to bed early because we had plans to go to the forbidden city tomorrow and wanted to get up early.
The final resting place of Mao Zedong....unfortunately only open in the mornings! / Die Ruhestätte von Mao Zedong....leider nur Morgens geöffnet!
The final resting place of Mao Zedong....unfortunately only open in the mornings! / Die Ruhestätte von Mao Zedong....leider nur Morgens geöffnet!
12 degrees and we were running around in our slippers.... we got lots of stares *ooops* / 12 Grad und wir hatten unsere Flip-Flops an....die Leute haben uns angestarrt *ooops*
Dinner was great....spicy Sichuan beans with beer! Perfect! / Abendessen war super....scharfe Sichuan Bohnen mit Bier! Perfekt!
Mishell likes the dinner! / Mishell mag das Abendessen!
No 'Lonely Planet' available in the official 'International Bookstore'...crap! / Kein 'Lonely Planet' verfügbar in dem offiziellen 'Internationalen Bücherladen'....scheisse!
Beef noodles soup *yummy* / Nudelsuppe mit Rindfleisch *yummy*
We managed to get up probably around 10ish and headed out to the forbidden city right afterwards. The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty.
We decided to get the electronic guide in order to better appreciate what we are looking at. The map on the guid consists of red led lights that go off once you've visited a place. So there we started....It is quite a walk because this place is sincerely huge.
Dinner was great....spicy Sichuan beans with beer! Perfect! / Abendessen war super....scharfe Sichuan Bohnen mit Bier! Perfekt!
Mishell likes the dinner! / Mishell mag das Abendessen!
No 'Lonely Planet' available in the official 'International Bookstore'...crap! / Kein 'Lonely Planet' verfügbar in dem offiziellen 'Internationalen Bücherladen'....scheisse!
Beef noodles soup *yummy* / Nudelsuppe mit Rindfleisch *yummy*
We managed to get up probably around 10ish and headed out to the forbidden city right afterwards. The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty.For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government. It is basically a city within the city and covers an area of about 720,000 m2. UNBELIVABLE!
The Gate of Supreme Harmony is the second major gate at the southern side of the Forbidden City / Das Tor der Harmonie ist das zweite grosse Tor auf der südlichen Seite der Verbotenen Stadt
We decided to get the electronic guide in order to better appreciate what we are looking at. The map on the guid consists of red led lights that go off once you've visited a place. So there we started....It is quite a walk because this place is sincerely huge.
The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The Outer Court includes the southern sections, and was used for ceremonial purposes. The Inner Court includes the northern sections, and was the residence of the Emperor and his family, and was used for day-to-day affairs of state.
Perfect Asian Tourist: Camera, Travel book, electronic guide.... *smile* / Perfekter Asiatischer Tourist: Kamera, Reiseführer, elektronischer Touristenführer....*smile*
The central stairway was reserved exclusively for the Emperor and his immediate attendants / Die mittlere Treppe war reserviert für den Kaiser und seine Dienerschaft
The Meridian Gate, front entrance to the Forbidden City / Das Meridian Tor, Vordereingang zu der Verbotenen Stadt
Some background information on the palace...if you can read it! / Hintergrundinformationen zu dem Palast....falls Du es lesen kannst!
The wooden structures are beautifully painted / Die Holz-strukturen sind wunderschön bemalt
The Hall of Supreme Harmony used to be the ceremonial centre of imperial power, and the largest surviving wooden structure in China / Die Halle der Harmonie war das Zentrum der kaiserlichen Macht, und das grösste Gebäude aus Holz welches überlebt hat
Art shot by Mishell / Kunst-Foto von Mishell
The Meridian Gate, front entrance to the Forbidden City / Das Meridian Tor, Vordereingang zu der Verbotenen Stadt
Some background information on the palace...if you can read it! / Hintergrundinformationen zu dem Palast....falls Du es lesen kannst!
The wooden structures are beautifully painted / Die Holz-strukturen sind wunderschön bemalt
The Hall of Supreme Harmony used to be the ceremonial centre of imperial power, and the largest surviving wooden structure in China / Die Halle der Harmonie war das Zentrum der kaiserlichen Macht, und das grösste Gebäude aus Holz welches überlebt hat
Art shot by Mishell / Kunst-Foto von Mishell
Sorry forgot which hall that was..... :) / Entschuldige bitte, vergessen welcher Saal das was... :)
The Chinese tourists were pushing and fighting to get in the best position to take a picture! / Die Chinesischen Touristen stossen und kämpfen um in die beste Position zu kommen für ein Foto!
One small step for humanity, one BIG step for a Unternährer :) / Ein kleiner Schritt für die Menschheit, ein GROSSER Schritt für einen Unternährer :)
What should one think about this...? Some dude clipping his nails in the Forbidden City...!!? Interesting! / Was soll man dazu denken...? Jemand der seine Zehen-Nägel in der Verbotenen Stadt schneidet...!!? Interessant!
Large Stone Carving....read yourself! / Grosses Schnitzerei aus Stein....lese selbst!
We tried our best to get all the information out of our little electronic guide, unfortunately this item seems to be a bit old and we were hunting for the spots without success. I.e. although we were in the right position, this thing just wouldn't start talking! How annoying....
Large Stone Carving....read yourself! / Grosses Schnitzerei aus Stein....lese selbst!
We tried our best to get all the information out of our little electronic guide, unfortunately this item seems to be a bit old and we were hunting for the spots without success. I.e. although we were in the right position, this thing just wouldn't start talking! How annoying.... As mentioned the Forbidden City is very important in China's history and therefore a huge magnet for the crowds! There were loads and loads and loads of them...like little ants swarming around and blocking each others view from the sights.
Hmmmm....why is the red light still on although I am standing on the right spot...??! / Hmmmm....warum ist das rote Licht immernoch an obwohl ich am richtigen Ort stehe...??!
Some beautiful trees were in the Forbidden City / Es hatte schöne Bäume in der Verbotenen Stadt
Looking through the windows of the buildings reveals how they used to live back in those days / Wenn man durch die Fenster der Gebäude schaut, kann man erahnen wie sie in den vergangenen Tagen dort gelebt haben
Hmmmm....why is the red light still on although I am standing on the right spot...??! / Hmmmm....warum ist das rote Licht immernoch an obwohl ich am richtigen Ort stehe...??!
Some beautiful trees were in the Forbidden City / Es hatte schöne Bäume in der Verbotenen Stadt
Looking through the windows of the buildings reveals how they used to live back in those days / Wenn man durch die Fenster der Gebäude schaut, kann man erahnen wie sie in den vergangenen Tagen dort gelebt haben
houh....what is the voice in my ear mumbling?! / Houh...was sagt die Stimme in meinem Ohr?!
Once you are through the Forbidden City, out of the north gate you can climb the Jingshan hill and get a great view of the Forbidden City. After we got down the hill, we looked for a taxi.
Once you are through the Forbidden City, out of the north gate you can climb the Jingshan hill and get a great view of the Forbidden City. After we got down the hill, we looked for a taxi.The Forbidden City, viewed from Jingshan Hill to the north / Die Verbotene Stadt, Aussicht vom Jingshan Hügel im Norden
Tourist attraction: Dress up like in the emperors time and take a picture / Touristen Attraktion: Verkleide Dich wie zu den Kaiserlichen Zeiten und mach ein Foto
The huge size of the Forbidden City can be better imagined from up here... / Das Ausmass der Verbotenen Stadt kann besser Abgeschätzt werden von hier oben...
The huge size of the Forbidden City can be better imagined from up here... / Das Ausmass der Verbotenen Stadt kann besser Abgeschätzt werden von hier oben...
Unfortunately in this area taxis were not allowed to stop, so we ended up on a 'modern rickshaw' that has an electronic motor. At first we were unsure, cause it looks quite dangerous. But it was quite o.k.
Our ride back home to the hotel.... a motorised rikshaw! Adventure :) / Unser Taxi zurück ins Hotel... eine moterisierte Rikshaw! Abenteuer :)
The northwest corner tower / Der nordöstliche Eck-Turm
This evening we followed a recommendation of Mishell's brother, Chee Foong, to try another Beijing duck at the infamous DaDong restaurant. Again the duck was good, the skin very crispy (and you dip it in sugar to enjoy the skin) but we thought that the meat was a little bland (not quite like the Four Seasons duck in London!). Adlyn managed to join us as well for the dinner - lovely surprise.
A perfectly roasted duck / Eine perfekt gebratene Ente
After dinner we took a walk around the Sanlintun neighbourhood....going out area of Beijing! / Nach dem Abendessen sind wir ein bisschen in der Sanlintun Gegend spazieren gegangen....Gegend zum Ausgehen in Peking!
This evening we followed a recommendation of Mishell's brother, Chee Foong, to try another Beijing duck at the infamous DaDong restaurant. Again the duck was good, the skin very crispy (and you dip it in sugar to enjoy the skin) but we thought that the meat was a little bland (not quite like the Four Seasons duck in London!). Adlyn managed to join us as well for the dinner - lovely surprise. After dinner, Adlyn took us to an Expat coffee place/bookstore where we were able to buy the Lonely Planet of China. GREAT!
A recommendation for Beijing duck: DaDong Restaurant / Eine Empfehlung für Peking Ente: DaDong Restaurant
A perfectly roasted duck / Eine perfekt gebratene Ente
After dinner we took a walk around the Sanlintun neighbourhood....going out area of Beijing! / Nach dem Abendessen sind wir ein bisschen in der Sanlintun Gegend spazieren gegangen....Gegend zum Ausgehen in Peking!
After a long and tiring day it was time to go home, watch some TV and go to sleep.
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