Weblog Shanghai

Definitely the place to go when planning to flee the crowds and smog of the city. Nowadays not only opened for the Empress Cixi it boasts a unique combination of a scenic lake skirted by numerous bridges and the obligatory monumental palace (which is under construction like many sites making themselves ready for Beijing 2008). If time and weather allows take off a few hours and take the long walk around the lake, best way to avoid tourists and gets you prepared for the hike up the mountain for the final breathtaking view. Exiting on the north gate gets you a coffee or something refreshing from the golden Mc. Plan half a day to enjoy my personal favorite Beijing attraction.

One of Beijing’s Parks where tourist and locals meet while either strolling around, singing or enjoying a good deck of cards. Entering in the south wandering through the park gets you to the north within two hours. There the Echo Wall, (not really made for crowds that absorb sound waves) the Temple of Heaven and the Round Altar, which brings the same feeling to me as being in Stonehenge, complete the experience. For a beautiful glow either chose dusk or dawn.

Nowadays Y60 (Y20 Student) gets you into the once Forbidden City. The hazy weather made the enormous complex seem endless and mysterious. Definitely a must-see when in Beijing. At the end of your visit, exit in the north and enjoy a birds-eye view from the nearby Jingshan Park (Y2). It features a hill that successively gained heights during the construction of the Forbidden City which was going on between 1406-1420 AD.

The following panoramas and close ups try to give an impression.

Ranked no. 1 in term of size in Beijing the Lama Temple is the place to go for temple sight seeing. Numerous halls and the obligatory Bell and Drum Tower close to the entrance round off the temple experience. Take a look at the beautiful carved roof ornaments and the stunning building design. Y25 (Y15 Students) get you in and away from the Beijing streets. If you have a little more than for the Beijing must-sees take yourself a few hours off and go there.

On the 1th of October getting on the main shopping streets at night boasted a different picture than usual. Highlighted in the first picture you can see the Chinese flags, on the lamp posts and sold on the street. Y2 got us 4 one of which now decorates our apartment. In the middle of the picture you also see a huge balloon type hitting bat. This is the fun part of being in the street, esp. hitting the boy/girl-friend seems to generate great enjoyment. But as always going too far gets you into deep trouble for the rest of the night. By the way no picture of the bund, couldn’t reach it without getting lost or crushed. Picture number two gives you an idea about the masses.