Beijing: Exploring the Summer Palace (颐和园, Yíhé Yuán)

Following the previous post, here are some of the sights within this extensive ground of Summer Palace.

Suzhou Market Street (Suzhoujie, 苏州街)

If you travelled to Yíhé Yuán by subway, you will end up entering via North Palace Gate (Beigongmen, 北宫门) like us and start your way from Suzhou Market Street.

This are is named as Suzhou Market Street simply because it was constructed to mimic the market street in Suzhou. It was said that when the imperial family were there, maids, etc would act as peddlars or shop keepers of those shops. I wonder if they kept the 'acting' real, including paying for the things they purchase. Most of the shops are either souvenir shops or eateries.



葫芦 (húlu), wiki said it is call Calabash in English (I didn't know prior to this) - we thought they were edible fruit (if it was we would have bought it to try) but was told these were toys.

According to this website, this street was built by Emperor Qianlong to make one of his concubines happy when she was home sick. The 'concubine' in this story was a nun from Suzhou.



 

 

Hall of the Sea of Wisdom (Zhihuihai, 智慧海)



Front gate



On the slope north of the Tower of Buddhist Incense (the next site), or behind the tower, depending on which gate you get in the complex, sits the green and yellow brick and tile 18th century Hall of the Sea of Wisdom. Technically, we reached this Hall prior to the Tower of Buddhist Incense.

Each archway/gateway has a different characters at the top. The one on the front side showed Zhong Xiang Jie (Realm of Multitudinous Fragrance, 众香界), the 3 archways at the back each showed different characters. The one on the photo showed Ji Xiang Yun (Auspicious Cloud, 吉祥云). This hall housed a statue of Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy).

 





Tower of Buddist Incense (Foxiangge, 佛香阁)

 

 



The highest building in Summer Palace, one finds the prominent, octagonal Tower of Buddist Incense or some books refer it as Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha (Foxiangge, 佛香阁) standing atop the Longevity Hill.

 

 

This tower was destroyed, and rebulit during the reign of Emperor Guangxu. Of note, this was where Emperor Dowager Cixi prayed and burned joss sticks on the first and fifteenth day of each lunar month. A statue of the thousand-handed Guanyin Buddha, cast in bronze and gilded with gold stands inside the tower.

 

 

Even for someone like me with almost non existence knowledge in China history, I find this tower really did stood out amongst the rest of the buildings.

 

Staring down from this tower, we found the buildings in the centre has orange, or yellow roofs.

 

 

 

 

Hall of Dispelling Clouds (Paiyundian, 排云殿)

 

 

This hall was initially the Hall of the Great Buddha of the Temple of Immense Gratitude and Longevity (Da Baoen Yanshou Shi Da Xiongbao Dian, 大报恩延寿寺大雄宝殿). [phew, that's a mouthful!].

 

It was built by Emperor Qianlong as a gift for his mother's 60th birthday. It was burnt down by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860 and rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Guangxu as a place to celebrate Empress Dowager Cixi's birthdays.

 

 

Long Gallery/Corridor (Changlang, 长廊)

 

 

Longest corridor (728 meters) in Chinese classic gardens with different painted stories for every single beam. I overheard a tour guide said one of  the painting was on Monkey King. I can't attest to that as I was not able to locate that one.

 

It was said that the corridor was initially built by Emperor Qianlong for his mother so that she could enjoy the garden regardless of weather.

 

 

Marble Boat (Shifang, 石舫)

 

 

This western design boat was often associated with Empress Dowager Cixi, in a not so good way in my humble opinion. Reason being this boat was financed with funds meant for the modernization of the Imperial Navy. Far from any use to the Imperial Navy, this boat was used to enjoy the lake view with a cuppa tea.

 

It was not made with marble, but of wood but painted white to look like marble. The boat is now the only western-style structure in Summer Palace.

 

 

Seventeen-Arch Bridge (Shiqikong Qiao, 十七孔桥)

 

 

This bridge was built to connect the eastern shore of Kunming Lake and South Lake (Nanhu) Island.

 

I don't have a lot of photos on this bridge, as I kind of cheated on this one - viewing from afar. Then again, if we were to walk to near, it would be hard to capture all the seventeen arches, no? Grin.

 

 

Hall of Benevolence and Longevity (Renshoudian, 仁寿殿)

 

 

The principal ceremonial hall houses the throne upon where Cixi sat. According to this very informative website, the pair of bronze statues - dragon and phoenix were  used as incense burners to perfume the air on formal occasions.

 

The phoenix statue as opposed to dragon (representing the Emperor) was placed in the centre of the courtyard, representing Cixi who managed the affairs of the state.

 

 

Garden of Harmonious Pleasures (Xiequ Yuan, 谐趣园)

 

 

Save the best for last. I like this garden in particular, maybe given its location, I find it significantly quieter compared to the rest of the grounds, since hordes of tourists visit Summer Palace. 

Abundance of fishes

This was modeled on the famous Jichang Garden in Huishan, Wuxi (Jiangsu Province). Therefore it was first known as Huishan Garden prior to refurbishment during the reign of Emperor Jiaqing. Emperor Jiaqing renamed this garden, to its current name based on a poem by Emperor Qianlong. This garden is well known as the "garden within a garden"

 

 

 

Side note: I've learnt a new proverb "行到水穷处, 坐看云起时"

 

P/S: I read up a few websites here and there and book to summarize the above, though primarily thanks to this site. Maybe next up I shall just post up the photos and said, refer here for details. ^ ^

Beijing: Summer Palace (颐和园, Yíhé Yuán)

Yíhé Yuán was initially known as 'Garden of Clear Ripples' (Qīngyī Yuán, 清漪園) back in 1750, reign Year 15 of Qianlong Emperor. It has a large natural mountain and water landscape, dominated by Longevity Hill (Wàn Shòu Shān; 万寿山 and Kunming Hu (昆明湖).

As early as Liao and Jin Dynasties, there were already palaces built at the site at Xiang Shan (香山) and 玉泉山. In Yuan Dynasty, Longevity Hill was named as Weng Shan (瓮山) from Gold Mountain. Weng Shan was named so due to its urn-like appearance, as Weng Shan is literally translated as Urn Mountain.

Legend has it that a jar with treasure was found inside this Weng Shan. The founder inscribed the following inside the jar "When this earthen jar is moved, the emperor's decline shall begin." It was said that the loss of this jar coincided with the fall of Ming Dynasty, during Jiajing period as predicted by the founder of the jar.

To make things even more complicated, Emperor Zhengde of the Ming changed the name back to Gold Mountain during his reign. During Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Emperor erected Temple of Gratitute [edit: I believe it is now known as Hall of Dispelling Clouds / Paiyun Dian] and renamed the mountain to Longevity Hill in commemoration of his mother's 60th birthday.

At the south of Longevity Hill, the low-lying land at the bottom of the hill accumulated water from springs of Jade Spring Mountain (Yuquan Shan, 玉泉山), forming a sizable lake. This lake was named as Wengshan Pool, and renamed as West Lake (Xi Hu, 西湖) in Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Qianlong then expanded the scale of this lake, and named it Kunming Lake in 1750. The story as to why it was so named (Kunming Lake) was that Emperor Wudi of Han Dynasty dugged an artificial Kunming Lake for a navy battle practise in the ancient capital of Chang'an (present day Xian). Kunming Lake was named in reminiscent of this artificial lake previously. At the same time, Longevity Hill was also renamed.

The palace complex suffered two major attacks during the Anglo-French allied invasion of 1860 and Boxer Rebellion in 1900. The garden survived and rebuilt. In 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi diverted 30 milion taels of silver originally for the navy to reconstruct and expansion of this garden. It was given its current name by her - Yíhé Yuán. Yíhé Yuán served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, therefore I assume also known as Summer Palace now.

She had the southern side of Longevity Hill laid out in imitation of West Lake of Hangzhou and northern face in the architecture style of Suzhou.

In an even more short summary, the naming and renaming goes like this:
Qīngyī Yuán -- Yíhé Yuán
Gold Mountain -- Weng Shan (Urn Mountain) -- Gold Mountain -- Wàn Shòu Shan (Longevity Hill) **Note: I have absolutely no idea how it turned from a mountain to a hill though.
Wengshan Pool -- West Lake -- Kunming Lake

Guardian figures on a roof, this one has 7 figures in between the dragon and the man riding on phoenix

Are you still reading? Grin, I hope so. Anyway, I don't know if anyone actually finish all the sights in Yíhé Yuán. Maybe we have little legs, maybe we proscratinate too much or spent too long taking photos, reading the description of the place, we didn't manage to see everything in this 290 hectares (716 acres) ground. However, if you need to skip some of the places due to time constrain, there are couple of major sites not to be missed. Next post will be on some sites that we visited.

We took subway to North Palace Gate (Beigongmen, 北宫门), once exiting the station, you will be approached by guides, many guides. I am not entirely sure if they are authorised but we have decided not to engage one, so we declined all of them and walked straight on.

Most will tell you to get only the basic entrance tickets and "save" the balance of money to have a guide. Separate tickets are required for certain major sites inside this Summer Palace. Some of them will tell you that you will need to walk pass a hill to get to the major sites, therefore engaging their service will save you from unnecessary walks. There is some truth in that - as in needing to pass through a 'hill' but fear not, if me with short legs and non existence stamina can crossed that, there is little to worry about. :)


Side note: Choya umeshu extra years costs $45... takaii :(

Beijing: Accommodation and Logistic

Warning: This will be a boring post on stay and logistic.

We stayed in a simple, no nonsense hostel named Beijing 235, ¥200 a night. Sis made booking via whatsapp. Yes, you didn't read wrongly, the room reservation was made via whatsapp. Very up to date. However we did ask for a confirmation letter for visa application.

Corridor leading to our room

Silly me didn't take a picture of the front door but you can see it on their website. Also no pictures of the room, because we crashed to bed straightaway on the night (or rather, morning) we arrived. Simple room, 2 beds, 1 bathroom. It was one of those bathroom with no specific shower area, just a shower head so the bathroom floor would be wet.

It is located in Andingmen nei (安定門內), about 10 minutes walk to Andingmen (安定門) train station (Line 2). Bus stop was a very short stroll away. There is also a designated train ticket booking office nearby, just a block down across the street.

Transport wise, it is definitely worth it to grab one of those Beijing Transport Card, to avoid queuing to purchase tickets every time, on top of the security check and 60% discount on bus fares. Subways are fixed at ¥2 regardless of distance (no discount on subway fare but it is economical enough). Bear in mind though, only certain stations process the refund.


Side note: Doraemon museum ^ ^

From Melbourne to Beijing

My flight to Beijing was the first time I travelled with China Southern Airlines, being the cheapest option at the time of travel. I know, I know it's probably more advantageous to stick to one airline and earn the reward points. However it is hard to ignore if a cheaper flight came up.

The flight was pretty alright, economy class were even allowed 2 checked in luggages up to 23 kg respectively. I would really like those individual inflight entertainment unit though considering it was a nine hour flight to Guangzhou for transit. Those travelling business class and first class (of course) had their own individual entertainment unit but if you are sitting amongst the rest in the economy class - tough luck, we were all sharing a couple of units hanging from the top of the plane and pre-selected movies.

The flight took off from Melbourne on time and I find the inflight food selection were rather different but not in a bad way. One of the food option for dinner was 糯米饭 (nuo mi fan, glutinous rice). I had a blonde moment and picked the other option which was spaghetti bolognaise. I wished I had pick the glutinous rice because it was wrapped in lotus leaf and sure smelt delicious.

The flight attendants spoke to me in Mandarin, and I assume to every Chinese passenger as well though I know that vocabulary used would vary. Just like one of the food selection, chicken with potato. Potato is called 土豆 (tu dou) in China but 马铃薯 (ma ling shu) in Malaysia. Another interesting difference with China Southern Airlines was that they aired a series of exercise/stretching routine, said to aid with fatigue/tiredness from flying. Grin, I followed along, not sure if it helped but at least it was good to have a stretch.

Overlooking the baggage collecting area from transit lounge

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was huge. There were free shuttles carts to connect between Area A and Area B. It certainly looked modern and new, but strangely enough the toilets in the transit lounge was rather out of place. It was two squat toilets, side by side with each other, completed with metal doors. No flashy entrance or anything of that sort, just two metal doors at one corner of the transit lounge. -_-

The connecting flight from Guangzhou to Beijing unfortunately was delayed by fifty minutes. We were boarded on time but grounded in flight, said they were pending for air traffic clearance. The crew was doing a good job, they even offered to serve the food before take off if anyone was hungry. I think it was very thoughtful for the crew to remind everybody to wear their coat before leaving the plane as Beijing was significantly cold as compared to Guangzhou.

It was not fun sitting in the flight that was stationary for close to an hour but all ends well, I touched down almost the same time as sis. After meeting up with her, we proceeded to the taxi (chūzūchē, 出租车) rank and we sure had a 'warm' welcome by the first taxi driver we encoutered in Beijing. Despite queuing at the designated taxi rank, the taxi driver decided that our destination was not far enough to be profitable to him, he parked his taxi about 100 metres from the taxi rank, left our luggages in the trunk and both of us at the back seat, he went down to look for other customer(s) to share the taxi. = =""

After about 5-10 minutes, we decided to abandon this cab and made our way back to the taxi rank again. We were ok this round and eventually arrived the hostel we made reservation before departing.


Side note: It's so hard to progress in this 'project' :(

Ten Random things about China

In no particular order, just some random stuff.


10. Train stations in Beijing are huge. Even if it is a connection station (from one train line to another), be prepared to walk a couple of blocks. We only encounter one, at most two, that does not required massive walking for train connections.

9. 10 cents, 50 cents and 1 renminbi in banknotes were more widely use in Beijing but in Shanghai, same denomination in coins were used.
[According to my friend who is working in China, this is because geographically wise, Beijing is closer to the minority regions. Banknotes has minority languages text]

8. People actually gives out flyers/pamplets inside paid attractions, makes me wonder if they pay entrance fees everyday to give out those flyers/pamplets.

7. People queue (when they did not cut queue) very close to each other. I've noticed people stand very close behind me in a queue, much closer than my usual comfort level.

6. There is a Xray scanning machine at every single subway and train stations.

5. There are actually a fair bit of electric motorcycles and bicycles, they are quiet and can easily 'sneak' up behind you.

4. There are still people who spit on the road.

G (Gaotie) Train from Wuxi to Suzhou

3. No English announcements were made in the intercity train stations but there were on the trains.

2. I think it is quite nifty that one of the switches in the bathroom turns on the lights together with some sort of heater so it is warmer on those cold days.

1. Of course there are tricky traders hanging around, but there are also many kind and helpful people around :)


Side note: I was told by my colleagues that some music from and old Australian made movie (Picnic at the Hanging Rock) was quite creepy. Maybe I'll google it sometime.

Middle Kingdom

Fisher girl in Zhuhai

Middle Kingdom is the literal translation of China in Mandarin. China in Mandarin read as "zhōngguó" where the first character zhōng (中) means middle and second character guó (國/国) means country or nation. Therefore - middle kingdom.

This brain of mine was easily reminded of Lord of the Rings, just because of the same word 'middle'. Lord of the Rings was set in a fictional Middle-Earth. As a result of this connection my brain make, I do think Middle Kingdom sounds exceptionally interesting. Grin. Anyway, the concept of the term "zhōngguó" was also used in the past in reference to centre of civilisation as oppose to the rest of the states.

As for the photo above, it was taken in Zhuhai sometime in 2006 when I did a day trip from Macau. It is probably one of the most iconic attraction in Zhuhai.

Like any famous statue, this one also has a story behind it. It is said that the Fisher Girl was originally the daughter of the Southern Sea Dragon King. She came for a visit but stayed on as a common fisher girl as she loved the place. Being the daughter of  a Dragon King, she had a magical bracelet that kept her immortal. She fell in love with a young man named Hai Peng but he wanted her bracelet as token of affection after believing in some malicious accusations (silly boy!). The fisher girl gave him the bracelet and died. Of course he regretted his foolishness and long story short, he found/given a herb which could bring Fisher Girl back to life but first he must grow and water the herb with his own blood. As how fairy tale always end, the girl was revived, married Hai Peng and they lived happily ever after. The version in wikitravel also mentioned that on the day of their wedding, a gigantic magic pearl was found and presented to an Elder who taught Hai Peng where to get the herb.

Out of so many historically rich, interesting, beautiful places in China, surprisingly Zhuhai was my first destination in this Middle Kingdom. Despite Zhuhai is unlike Hong Kong and Macau which are the Special Administrative Regions and well located in Guangdong Province, very much a part of China, it is hard for me to register the fact that I have been to China. Anyway, I have fixed that now - after my recent 2 weeks travel to Beijing and a couple of cities in East China.
^ ^

The itinerary was simple - seven days in Beijing with my sister and I extended additional six days to East China (excluding travel days). Of course, East China deserves more than the measley six days, but due to time factor and it was partly visiting friends, it would do for the time being. Oh, and also that I was almost convinced that everybody has been to Shanghai. Seriously, only two out of many friends who I have asked have been to Shanghai. That was why I ended up on a solo trip on the Eastern China leg.


Side note: Today I found out that there was a time when smoking were allowed on flight.

Music-Man II

Source: Here

After slightly over 6 years, I've finally get to see this talented and charming musicman in person (albeit from a certain distance). Long story short, I was planning to one of his concert 6 years ago but the timing was not right.

Due to the lack of chinese based radio in Australia (at least to my knowledge), it was by pure chance that we stumbled upon his concert poster plastered above an entrance to a carpark in Chinatown on one of my walks with a friend. Fate :)

Little P has been most generous to be willing to keep me company to watch this long awaited concert. I am sure if you do a little search on the net, you will find numerous review and posting on Youtube so I won't write in detail, but it must be said that I love it. :)


Side note: Am still sorting those travel photos...