First published on January 17, 2012, Tuesday
I was so disturbed of the thought that I will be celebrating my 9th BapDay at Beijing International Airport since we have 12-hour stopover before our connecting flight going back home to Singapore. 12 hours was so very long and I can't think of ways of making the time pass without me feeling so bored.
But you know, luck
was on our side. At immigration, the officer told us that we can actually go out
to the City to burn the annoying 12 hours. Wow! I was so happy and astonished! I
was so excited that my husband even asked me to control my emotions hehehe. This
was actually the way I wanted to spend the waiting but I thought we needed a visa.
We did'nt know until that day that going out of the airport while waiting for a
connecting flight is allowed. I consider this thing as a very unforgettable gift
for my BapDay. Yehey!
In my imaginary
list, Great Wall was the primary priority in my must-see-places in Beijing.
However, we ended up visiting Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and one local
mall because the famous wall is so many hours away from the city.
 |
| Without a tripod, we gotta make a way to have pictures with us together. And here's the results. I think these photos are not bad at all ;) |
The Tiananmen Square has a great historical
signifacance in China history. Few of the things that I can remember is the
bloody protest wayback in the 80's, and some more political protests that I
cannot remember anymore why people did such protests. Damn. I was still a child
then. All I cared for were toys and playmates.
Just behind the famous square is the equally famous and historical Forbidden City. It was built and developed during Ming and Qing dynasties centuries ago. Among all ancient building clusters in the country, this place is the most well-preserved and best maintained. Each cluster shows the great Chinese architecture. Also, each corner of Forbidden City will make you imagine how the lives were back those ancient times.
Looking at the whole place, I imagined the scenes I saw in Chinese movies. Those well-choreographed marching of soldiers, a king so well respected in the midst of thousands of warriors asking them to do this and that with full authority, a lady fighter knocking down a batallion of antagonists (just like what Zhang Ziyi did in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and those warriors that can walk in the air and jump on top of trees and houses and buildings. When I was a child, I really believed that all of these were true. That all of these were special skills that is distinct to Chinese people only. Hahaha! What a gullible child I was.
Just behind the famous square is the equally famous and historical Forbidden City. It was built and developed during Ming and Qing dynasties centuries ago. Among all ancient building clusters in the country, this place is the most well-preserved and best maintained. Each cluster shows the great Chinese architecture. Also, each corner of Forbidden City will make you imagine how the lives were back those ancient times.
Looking at the whole place, I imagined the scenes I saw in Chinese movies. Those well-choreographed marching of soldiers, a king so well respected in the midst of thousands of warriors asking them to do this and that with full authority, a lady fighter knocking down a batallion of antagonists (just like what Zhang Ziyi did in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and those warriors that can walk in the air and jump on top of trees and houses and buildings. When I was a child, I really believed that all of these were true. That all of these were special skills that is distinct to Chinese people only. Hahaha! What a gullible child I was.
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| Roaming around the busy streets Beijing. (From L-R, down) 1. Standing by Tiananmen MRT station, 2. Walking along a sidewalk across The famous square, 3. Outside the mall we went to. Malls name? I forgot hehehe. 4. Inside the MRT station. Stampede! Hehehe. Too much people! As in. |
Kidding aside, I adored Beijing so much. It was
so nice seeing it for real.The infrastructure was great. The citylights were
amazing. A clear picture of a progressive city. Then, I can't help to feel a bit
sad. Filipinos are far more better than Chinese. But.... nevermind. I might go
on a protest in front of Malacanang if I proceed with this discussion LOL. But
yes, the city I saw was so amazing. Clean streets, wide roads (normal roads huh,
I am not yet referring to expressways), bullet trains, high rise buildings,
multi-layered flyovers. I really wanted to see more of Beijing City but we were
running against time. Well, hopefully, there will be next time.
On our way back to airport, we spotted a mall that is just a step away from MRT exit so we took a short glance to see if the malls in China are different from what we saw in other places we've been to. Hehehe, craziness! Then inside, as we looked for a place where we can find something awesome to fill in our stomachs, we found Pepper Lunch! Yumminess! It's one of my favorites. this may not be awesome to others, but it is for us.Then, Pepper-Lunch-ing we went :) We ate what we can't in Singapore, the yummy beef and chicken pepper rice :)
Hopefully, (yes, I am hopeful) we can comeback here and see more of the China's beauty. See you next winter. When is that next? I don't know. But still, I am optimistic that we will see each other again.
By the way, all these happened on 03 January 2012. :D
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