A Trip To Beijing #3 Forbidden City

BEIJING BACKPACKING TRIP #3

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I wish Salam to everyone,

We took the Beijing Airport Express from Terminal 3 Beijing International Airport to Dongzhimen Station. The first Metro Train was 6.30 a.m.

At Dongzhimen Station, we changed to Beijing subway Line 2 Dongzhimen-Fuxingmen. Beijing subway Line 2 was actually a ring line, the train on this line travels on a circular route, if you don’t get off the train somewhere it will take you round and round.

Beijing Railway Station

We got off at Beijing Railway Station (Běijīng Zhàn). We went out through Exit C and headed to the hotel.

It was the very first time we set foot on the courtyard in Beijing City Center. On our arrival here, we were greeted by the cool air and winds of Beijing.

The hotel entrance was really near, just a few steps away from the subway exit.



BEIJING CITY CENTRAL YOUTH HOTEL 

We checked-in at Beijing City Central Youth Hotel. We dropped-off our things, quickly freshened up and had bread for breakfast that my wife brought from KL. We were ready to go.

Beijing City Central Hostel, night view

There were lots of KFC and McD outlets around this area. I stepped into one of the McD thinking if I could buy Fillet-o-Fish as our take-away meal.  I couldn't find fillet-o-fish in the the food list or perhaps I need to have my eyes examined should I not see, if its there in front of me.

While walking along a street in Beijing, I saw a shop owner threw out free packets of tissues on the sidewalk in front of his shop, at the time of opening of his premises in the morning. Majalah 3 had already shown this Chinese local custom on Malaysian TV, if I am not mistaken. Otherwise, I have seen it on some TV channels or read about it somewhere. The Chinese men on the sidewalk seemed to spit wherever they like. Be careful not to step on spit, it's filthy.

We then boarded Line 2 subway and got off at Tiananmen Dong Station. We headed to Tiananmen Gatehouse and the Forbidden City.


TIANANMEN GATEHOUSE and THE PALACE MUSEUM 

The Forbidden City, officially known as the Palace Museum (Gugong Bowuyuan)

Tiananmen gate

The Forbidden City was located directly to the north of Tian'AnMen Square. We entered Tian'AnMen Gate to get to The Forbidden City. This Tiananmen gatehouse has a giant-size passport photo of Mao Zedong hanging in front.

Tiananmen Square. In front of Forbidden City

The Tiananmen Gate door, a massive palace door were laced with lots of bulging palm size ornate brass studs sticking on door exterior surface, something that looks like plenty of huge rivet heads fixed onto the door.

Main Palace Entrance. Studs spangled door

We passed through Tiananmen gate and we can see another gate that was almost identical to Tian'anmen. This gate was called Duanmen 端门. This building was used to store ceremonial dress for many of the attendants, ministers, and soldiers who would join in processions when the emperor would either host a celebration within the palace or would venture out into the city to perform rites at one of the temples.

Between Duanmen and the Meridian gate has an open area, a courtyard, on the left side of that square was located the admissions ticket booth to the Palace Museum. At that time, our intention was to go to the Forbidden City and we don’t want to go to any Palace Museum.

We proceeded to the security check in front of the Forbidden City, the security personnel asked us for tickets and pointed to the booth we saw earlier and requested us to buy tickets. We had to turn around and walk to the ticket booth, only then we knew it that The Palace Museum and The Forbidden City was one and the same thing.

We entered the Forbidden City through Meridian gate 午门 ( Wǔ mén ) once we got the tickets.

The Forbidden City 紫禁城 (Zǐ jìn chéng) was the residence the imperial family during the rule of the Qing Dynasty until the dynasty was overthrown in year 1924. The Forbidden City was then known as The Palace Museum and was established in year 1925.

Distance front to end of the Forbidden City was something like 1.3 km and having a lot of buildings with the main attraction was the Supreme Harmony Hall located in the Centre of the Forbidden City.

Ada satu kawasan di dalam Forbidden City ini yang di namakan Imperial Garden 御花园. Ia adalah satu taman yang penuh dengan bunga-bunga, tasik, pokok-pokok, batu-batu dan pelbagai tumbuhan lagi yang cantik. Di sini ialah tempat penghuni Forbidden City bersantai dan menikmati keindahan alam.

Bilik tempat bersantai yang terdapat di Imperial Garden

Pokok berusia ratusan tahun, tua-tua ubi berisi. Setiap kali musim luruh gugur semua daun-dauanan..hanya tinggal ranting.tetapi sentiasa kukuh tegak berdiri.

Our tour of Palace Museum ended by going out through the north gate, situated along a street that was called Jingshan Front Street (Jǐngshān Qián Jiē).


BUS NO. 685 TO NEAREST METRO STATION

We waited at a bus stop along Jingshan Front Street. It was Gugong Zhan Bus Stop and got aboard bus no. 685. It took approximately 10 minutes to reach the nearest Metro Subway with bus. We got off Dongsi Lukou Nan Zhan Bus Stop at the 3rd stop  (故宫站 --> 东四路口南站) and walked to Dongsi Subway Station that was nearby.


ON BOARD METRO LINE 5. THEN CHANGE TO METRO LINE 2

We continued our journey by Metro. We got on subway Line 5 at Dongsi Subway Station (东四站) and changed to subway Line 2 at Chongwenmen Subway Station and then got off at Changchunjie Subway Station exit A2.


BUS NO. 88 TO NIUJIE STREET

A short distance walk to Changchunjie intersection north bus stop l. We took bus no. 88 and got off at the 4th stop, as we have reached Niujie Libaisi bus stop. (长椿街路口北 --> 牛街礼拜寺)

On board bus no 88 to Niujie Mosque

We finally arrived at Niujie Street. The journey you find yourself into may be a bit challenging, especially for finding halal food. It is said that Beijing has the best snacks in China, the best snacks in Beijing are the Muslim snacks and the best Muslim snacks can be found on the Niujie Street in Beijing.

Niujie is outstanding for its large multi-ethnic community and Niujie Mosque which is among Beijing’s most historical and majestic mosque which attract tourists from all over the world.

We walked to Niu Jie Muslim Supermarket that was nearby. (牛街清真超市Niú Jiē Qīngzhēn Chāoshì)

We had lunch at Qingzhen Meishi Restaurant located on the floor above Muslim Supermarket.

Qingzhen Meishi Restaurant

Niujie Mosque was built during the Liao Dynasty era, founded in 996 by Nazaruddin, an Arab resident, at that time Beijing was known as Xijin Fu 南京析津府. Beijing wasn't the capital city - it was just another city located south of Liao Territory. The capital of Liao Territory at that time was Shangjing 上京 (ie. The present day Harbin). Niujie Mosque is the oldest mosque in Beijing.

I'd really appreciate it if you'd checkout my next blog post and find out which tourist attraction venues we went! Please click Great Wall Of China





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A Trip To Beijing #2 Taking The Flight

BEIJING BACKPACKING TRIP #2

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I wish Salam to everyone,

Mid-November 2014. Flight MAS MH360 scheduled for departure from Kuala Lumpur Airport KLIA at 6.45 in the afternoon, dan kami expect to arrive in Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3 pada pukul 1 early morning past midnight. The duration of travel will take approximately 6 hours journey.

Arriving at KLIA, we immediately arrange for baggage check-in and getting the boarding-passes. We then entered the departure hall and finally we boarded the airplane. In the plane, it seems that passengers are mostly consist of Chinese citizens. This can be seen from their way of their dressing and the dialect they converse.

The much awaited moment finally arrived. Alhamdulillah the time of airplane departure was as scheduled.

Throughout the flight journey, I prayed hard that nothing bad befallen us during the journey. I keep reciting Du'a keeping my voice as low as a whisper. My heart was pounding, worrying about bad things that could happen. I could also see my wife's lips muttering the Du'a praying everything will turn out alright.

Close to our seating in the airplane was a Malay family, Malaysian citizens. Muslims people, all heads down reciting ayat-ayat suci Al-Quran sejurus apabila kapal terbang memulakan perjalanan.

Alhamdulillah the weather was fine and smooth throughout the journey. Penerbangan kami tiba dengan selamat tepat pada waktunya.


BEIJING AIRPORT

We disembarked from the airplane at about 1 in the morning and walked to the immigration area. It was still a long queue at the immigration counter with the flights passengers arriving from Moscow and other locations at about the same time as us.

After going through immigration and customs, we then rushed to baggage claim and thankfully our bags made it safely to Beijing with us.

Airport express train and bus service were not in operation in Beijing within 11 p.m. – 6 a.m. There were still taxi services but as I mentioned earlier, we don’t prefer taking taxis.

There were free shuttles sending passengers to terminal 2 even at 2 a.m. There were a few cheap hotels around Terminal 2. I didn’t make any arrangements for a Hotel near Beijing Airport. I should have, because it was Zero celsius freezing cold even at airport lobby, perhaps next time.

There were only 2 direct flights a day from KUL to PEK. Malaysian Airline MAS arriving in Beijing at 1 a.m. and AIRASIA arriving around 2 a.m. We should check-in at a hotel close to airport or to arrange with a tour agency to fetch us up. Capital Airport Hotel was quite near to terminal 2 and the room rate for standard twin was something like 150元 to 200元, it would be OK to spend the night in a hotel close to airport, close to winter the temperature out there was freezing cold.

We wouldn’t want to book a in a hotel near airport that would require us to travel some 30 km back to the hotel every day. All the nice things were in the city center, therefore we have already booked a hotel located in Beijing City Center.

The regular public transport was not in service after 11 pm at night. Taxis were available 24 hours but we avoid taking taxi. Therefore we had to spend the night at the airport. We waited at the seating area nearest to Beijing Metro Train ticket counter.

Anyway, for this trip, it wasn’t that bad waiting all night long at the airport lobby to catch the first train to the city center.


USE THE SMARTPHONE

In Malaysia, I use Celcom mobile phone as the network operator and when in China, the international roaming service aligned with Celcom was China Unicom mobile phone network. It was really useful to communicate with family and friends. The last people in the world that I would expect to receive calls and messages were from the boss and clients, out of sight out of mind.

We were living in the Information Age or we can say, The Computer Age, therefore having access to internet is very important and very helpful to find our ways around Beijing and help us to bargain with the seller during shopping by searching for market price for the products you want to buy, since some places in Beijing you were able to get things really cheap if you negotiate - request the seller to meet your price, not just simply pay the price on the tag and sometimes you can get the things you want at just 30% of the price tag, say if the price tag shows 100元 if you negotiate you might just only pay something like 30元 or even less in the end, depend on your bargaining skills. Don’t worry, the seller have made enough profit already otherwise they won’t sell it to you.

Well, it’s good to get out see China and do things tourists supposed to do. Let’s get on with the story. We will start with day one, find out our Happy First Day in Beijing! please click Forbidden City

A Trip To Beijing #1 Prologue

BEIJING BACKPACKING TRIP #1

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I wish Salam to everyone,

The plan was to have a vacation in Beijing. However, we don’t want to use travel agent service since we were afraid that we might be cheated. We heard that some tour agents will bring tourists to some jade marketplaces the whole day, of which jade was no interest to us both and don’t want to waste time on jade viewing.

We want to spend more time at locations of our interest. There might even be some tour agents that will close down their businesses after taking your money. All that, at the end of the day would be translated to frustration and unhappy feelings.

We want to be independent and we were not willing to pay extra Yuan to any tourist guide or anything unnecessary.

To Travel Is To Live

PLAN THE TRAVEL

Let’s suppose a traveler was trying to prepare a travel plan. He needs to decide what mode of transportation to get from his home to a destination city chosen for his vacation. There are a number of possible routes, each requiring different duration of time and costs. The traveler must gather all the required info before making his decisions.

The traveler should determine which hotel to stay and how many days to stay in that hotel. Which tourist attraction venues he wants to visit? How to get from the hotel to the first venue, how long to get there, how long the time to spend at the first venue, which venue to go next, and so on.

As resources are concerned; he does have some idea of how much money is available and how much money and the number of days he is willing to allocate for the vacation.

A part from the above, other things such as travel visa requirement, adapter for electrical appliances, appropriate clothing for winter etc. if he plans to travel abroad.

The travel plan need would consider an alternative plan so that he could have another choice to proceed with, should the initial plan didn’t work out.

FLIGHT TICKETS

I bought roundtrip Flight tickets via the internet; from Malaysia Airlines official website about 2 weeks before the day of departure. I was worried that it will be more expensive or ran out of tickets if it got closer to the date of travel. Also, will take a few days to get the Tourist Visa.


TRAVEL VISA PREPARATION

The printout of the Flight Itinerary to be ready. This is required for China Tourist Visa application, along with other documents ie. Passport, a copy of passport page on personal particulars, Passport size photo and the money for visa preparation fees.

Below is the link to China Visa Application Service Centre Website.

https://www.visaforchina.org/KUL_EN/


The preparation of the travel plan in Beijing was done much earlier.


MODE OF TRANSPORTATION IN BEIJING

- Airplane Flight: From KLIA to Beijing and return by Flight.

- Beijing Metro Subway: From Airport to hotel and for almost all destinations within Beijing by Metro. Exit the Metro Station and walk to the entrance of the tourist attraction venues.

- Train: Take a train from Beijing North Train Station to Badaling Greatwall.

- Local Bus: I have to admit that commuting by bus in China is so overwhelming and very exciting (Don't you love to ride the London bus? You will also love to ride a bus in China).

Usually, once I get on a bus I will tell the bus driver which stop that I want to get off and ask him to give me a yell once arrive at the bus stop. The drivers are definitely able to recognize that you are a tourist by the look of you. The buses also have voice annunciation announcement that tell you the bus has arrived at, and it will tell you the next destination. Very convenient, right?!!!

-Taxi , 2-wheeled and 3-wheeled transportation: A definite no-no. I have a phobia of taking these sorts of transportation in Beijing.

I and my wife travelled to Beijing on our own to some of the most attractive locations in Beijing where we will spend the entire day there from dawn until dusk, only then we will go back to hotel.

Normally bus and subway service will start operation at 6.30 a.m. We don’t want to take the taxi; they will charge us more and a bit risky. We can make the most out of the buses and subway transportation.

Follow us on our journey to Beijing. To be continued in the next post, please click Beijing Airport




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