Wonder.Food.Travel

The end of this journey is near, yet the memory and experience live on. With a few hours to spare and not wanting to travel far (better be at the airport early), we checked out our hostel and visited the Beijing Zoo . It is easy to get there, use Subway to Beijing Zoo Station and exit through a labyrinth of shops, follow the crowd. We went on a Saturday and there were many families walking in the same direction. It was crowded at the ticket booth, and to be honest, i rarely see a zoo being packed with people. Maybe not in Malaysia, or maybe it was the weekend. Either way, get the normal entrance fee student price of only 8 RMB instead of the through ticket- no student price for through ticket. There is something about zoos that i find contradictory but i do not wish to dwell on in here. So, the main purpose of visiting this zoo? Pandas, of course! We quickly got in and found ourselves to the ticket booth of the Panda House. Entrance was 5 RMB. The pandas were kept in enclosures a...

It is no question that Beijing is rich in history and has ancient architectural buildings and monuments. Equally could be said of its modern design too and the shining example would be the catchy Bird Nest Stadium. A visit to the Olympic Park is surely a must when in Beijing, after the grandeur of the opening ceremony of the Olympics Games showcased magnificently in 2008. Opening ceremony of the Games would never be the same anymore. With the symbolic 5 rings of the Olympic Games. I visited the Olympic Park twice. It is free admission. Once during the day and another at night. If you have to choose one time to visit, visit at night. During the day, the Bird Nest Stadium and the Water Cube nearby looked rather ordinary, of course not considering the engineering aspects and the symbolic elements of both structures. But by night, i was visually impressed, fascinated and amazed at how these structures, when sunsets, came alive. It is also a park. A bird's nest in the park...

Going to China, one would expect to visit temples. In Beijing, i found these three temples to be the Top 3 temples to visit. Surely, i wouldn't recommend to visit all three temples in one day as to diversify your trip. Having said that, visit the Temple of Heaven separately from the Lama Temple and Confucius Temple because the two are close by and the Temple of Heaven required longer time, almost three hours. Temple of Heaven (Tian Tan) This temple was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual prayer ceremonies to the Heaven for good harvest. This temple complex was constructed as early as 1406. It is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites and is described as 'a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world's great civilizations'. Getting to the Temple of Heaven was relatively easy. Use the Subway to Tian Tan Dongmen Station and ex...

Of course, some time of our travel was allocated for shopping to buy souvenir or simply to experience their shopping culture. In fact, much can be said about the people through their shopping patterns. In Beijing, i didn't find much shopping complexes or large malls like those around Kuala Lumpur, but needless to say, there were a few that stood out as good shopping spots and apart from the air-conditioned-type malls, we sought their 'hutong' or alleyway-style shopping area for local goods, and foods! Note that some of the pictures and videos may cause displeasure to your tummy. Local Meals We usually had our breakfast near our hostel. There were many eateries, each calling out their menu and inviting guests to enter. Almost every other morning, we tried different shops. Most of the breakfast in Beijing were dissimilar to those in Malaysia. I was not very fond of their local breakfast may be because i grew up familiar with my home taste. Having said that, it was nice exp...