China Beijing Sightseeing Day 1

Day 1 in China. We were petrified by the cold.

4 layers of clothes : winter coat, normal shirt, long johns and underwear. And still, nothing beats the beautiful heat in Malaysia.

Anyways….here we go, Day 1 in China.

Waited for all the cars to pass by to snap this peaceful wide road, beijing is unusually quiet this season… well, chinese new year it is! And every Ah Kow Ah Mow Ah Go Ah Chai goes back to their origins to visit their father mother sister brother and all their ancestors of a long ago.

Forbidden City. Lake’s frozen. So much for preventing break-ins.

Yes, this is a tree…. wrinkled by all the photographers that snapped at it.

Mom, who took care of a lot of the details we would otherwise have missed… such as buying long johns ~_~

The door has 9×9 knobs on it. Suggesting that the emperor will live forever. (In Mandarin, “9″ has a similar pronunciation as “longevity”)

These stones are the real stones from ancient times… 200 years ago?

If you make it big, you’ve made it big. Get a free poster of yourself posted onto the wall for all to see. Or else, become a soldier, forced to stand there till sundown.

Valentine’s day was around the corner. After some inquires ALL roses are imported.

OOOO, so loving my zoom lens. Michael Chong, Professional Photographer.

If you see a soldier on a red box, he’s being punished (I think).

Now, this box, is a little different. You’re showcased instead. Glad you have a gun incase people try to make fun at you.

Some meals in China comes with dances and magic shows. Maybe a compensation that their food ain’t the best… with a little distraction and you’ll just eat what’s set before you without thinking twice. To me, this restaurant doesn’t have enough meat.

The slab where I’m standing, is the ‘tallest’ pinacle of the entire city. Previously only Kings are allowed to stand on it (I think), and now nothing more than a tourist site. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His Word will still remain”

Heanvely Center Stone. The surface of the uppermost terrace of the Cicular Mound is paved with nine concentric rings of stone slabs; the round stone slab in the center is called the Heavenly Center Stone. It is surrounded by 9 stones in the first ring, 18 int he second, up to 81 in the 9th ring, symbolizing the Nine Heavens. The voice of a person standing on the Heavenly Center Stone, sounds particularly resonant and sonorous.

The ‘small’ vases in the center of the picture, I think were martyrs. And the parents of the martyred were forced to pay for the ‘mess’ their children made while being martyred. Mad times huh.

Well, till the next day. :D