We went to the Forbidden City on the first day of the tour. This imperial palace took us four hours to walk through!
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| A female guardian lion at Forbidden City Can you see the baby lion? |
The construction of the palace was an interesting conservation with our awesome tour guide. The bricks were made from white lime and a whole bunch of mixtures that made it so strong. There were a lot to see. The tiles, decorations, and paintings were very intricate which made the four-hour walk interesting...and not so tiring.
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| The dominant colour in the the Forbidden City is yellow. This is why the roofs are built with yellow tiles. |
We went to a market for a quick street shopping. I really like the picture below. It's so colourful and it reminded me of the lady who sold us the cute pens on the left side. It was my first bargaining in Beijing :)
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| So colourful! |
The most memorable part of the trip is climbing up the steps of the Great Wall. I said climb because that was what my mom and I had to do. The steps were uneven. Some steps were low, but some steps were ridiculously high! Even though the weather was foggy, I still had a great time! The picture below is my celebratory pose :)
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| The Great Wall over the Eastern mountains |
There were a lot of nice views while climbing up the stairs...which gave me a good reason to take a break and snap some photos.
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| I took a break from climbing up the stairs |
We also went to the Temple of Heaven. Apparently it's bigger than the Forbidden City which doesn't seem like it. The tour guide said this temple was built to offer sacrifice to the Heaven, so annual ceremonies take place here as a prayer to heaven for good harvest. The temple was repainted so you can see clearly see how detailed the paintings are.
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| Temple of Heaven |
This is one of my favourite pictures with my mom. It was the first time to see some sunshine in Beijing so the lighting of this picture is a lot better. Plus, it was one of my favourite places that I visited.
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| Us at the Temple of Heaven |
The photo below was taken outside of the Temple of Heaven. I thought it was very interesting that this grandpa writes a poem on this pavement every morning. He would come back in two hours to rewrite the poem when it evaporates.
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| He writes this poem same place every morning |
At the end of the trip, we went to the Summer Palace, the largest and most well-preserved royal park in China. It was exciting to see some of the oldest trees and lakes.
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| My mom took this picture! |
Next stop, Hong Kong! Unfortunately I didn't photograph a lot of pictures because I got sick :( My mom and I didn't go sight seeing because we did that already from our previous vacation. So we came to Hong Kong with one goal: to shop until we drop. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't spend all my money :P but I did splurge on some cosmetics and a purse.
Hong Kong was great! I'm surprised that I still remember my way around. Even though I was sick during my whole Hong Kong trip, I still had a good time. I spent most days shopping with my mom, spending time with my relatives, and of course, eating! I was able to meet up with a friend who just moved to Hong Kong...it was sooooo nice to speak English with someone that day!
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| Tsim Sha Tsui with CY and KY |
Thanks for looking through my pictures! I hope you learned a few things about Beijing. There's so much history behind this city and the construction of the temples and palaces are just amazing.
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