China 2013: Day 4

Day 4 of our China trip was our last day at Beijing.  We checked out of the hotel, Holiday Express Inn (which apparently they have a lot of there), quite early.  We said our good byes to Sherry who even gave the kids panda hats, so sweet of her.

We rode the bullet train to Shanghai, which took about 5 hours.  We didn't mind though since it actually had more leg room than an airplane would!  And we got to see the landscapes of part of China as well.  Their train station looked like an airport too.

We arrived at Shanghai around lunch time.  Our first stop was a short cruise.  Timing was good since we got a glimpse of the sunset.  When we reached the Oriental Pearl Tower which looked like a rocket about to launch, it was evening already.  All the lights were lit up and from above it was really cool, especially in the part were they had glass or crystal flooring. 

Check some of my photos at my Flickr. :)

China 2013: Day 3

Even on our third day in China, we still were surprised at how cold we felt.  The morning of the third day was the time we went to the Summer Palace.  The cold though made us not want to wander around.  Instead, we just took some photos and left after about 20 minutes.  It was unfortunate since the place really looked nice.

It was so nice seeing the elderly freely exercise in this open space.  Made me sorta guilty of not having any exercise at all. Hahahaha.

And here we have a giant rubber duck floating in the middle of the lake!  It was so cute, but it kept on being knocked out by the wind; sometimes, it even faces flat on the water.

After the Summer Palace, we spent a few minutes on a bridge to take some shots with the Bird's Nest, Beijing's stadium that was used to host the Olympics.

I think we had lunch after that and I believe that was one of the group's favorite restaurants of all those we went to during the trip.  But more on that later.  After, since the tour guide knew of the Filipinos' favorite past-time during trips (other than taking numerous photos), she brought us to a "mall" that held all these souvenir shops and imitation everything.  Below is a photo of the group fussing over an imitation iPhone.  The phones really look alike except for the box and the photos the camera take.  Beside that was a "mall", but more of stand-alone shops like Uniqlo, Mac, etc.

After, we watched the Acrobatics show which was quite fast, but amazing, especially the last act.  The last act was about 7 motorcyclists driving inside a sphere.  Crazy!

The ladies bought matching boots from the shopping and wore them right away to beat the cold.  The technique in haggling with the vendors is to simply walk away.  Then, they'd just come running to you giving you the price you want.  Man are they aggressive.

For better quality photos, try viewing my Flickr. :)

China 2013: Day 2

Day 2 consisted of these tour spots:

• Jade shop
• Ming tombs
• Big-ass and expensive souvenir shop 
• The Great Wall
• Panda zoo
• Red Theatre for the Kung Fu Show

Of course, the highlight of the day was the Great Wall.  It was unbelievable to actually be there and actually climb the wall.  I think, there's a part of the Great Wall that has a cable car, but we weren't brought there.  I think it was better that way since we'd be able to experience it up close.  If only it weren't too crowded.  The photos are not in order, by the way.

Below is a photo taken at the Ming Tombs.  The weeping willow trees are so nice on the photos and in actual.  I wish we could have them in the Philippines.

Look at their extra long buses.

The many souvenirs of China.  Its amazing how they have a lot of intricate detail in everything.

They didn't allow viewers to take shots of the performance, but it was amazing how good the actors were in Kung Fu and how young the others are.

These are what they call the Locks of Love.  I'm not so sure of the story behind this, but you'd see it on the sides of the wall. :)

For better quality photos, try viewing my Flickr. :)

China 2013: Day 1

Hey there. 

Here's more of a photoblog of our trip to China.  The first few days were in Beijing.  I regret that I can't give detailed narrations of what happened as it happened a month ago and this post is super delayed.  Also, as always in our trips, I forget some details and forget to take notes.  Thus, photoblog.  :)

The trip from Manila took about 5 hours.  We arrived in time for lunch.  I'll probably make a separate post about the food.  From the restaurant, we walked to Tiananmen Square, which was filled with tourists and locals, I believe.  From there, we continued to walk to the Forbidden City.  It was interesting to see it all and hear about the history behind it.  We spent about the whole afternoon walking and adjusting ourselves to the cold weather.  Good thing we come from Baguio, which is safe to say, one of the coldest places in the Philippines.  

We had a short visit to the Temple of Heaven before heading out for dinner.  We didn't stay long though since it started drizzling. 

These were the kids with us during the trip. :)

This is me and Kiko.  Posted this to emphasize how impressed I was of the Canon S110 which was my choice of digital camera for the trip.  But I just had to bring a DSLR as well, my Canon 600D with a 50mm, 1.8 lens on.

 This was our tour guide for Beijing, Sherry.  She organized quite a good trip and was very fluent in English.  You definitely should go on a tour with an experienced tour guide rather than take on the hassle of commuting and trying to communicate.  Most locals barely know how to speak or understand English.

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

Forbidden City

Forbidden City

Expect to do a lot of walking despite having a tour bus.  So, wear comfortable shoes.

Temple of Heaven

 Traffic is tolerable compared to Manila traffic. :)

For more quality photos, you may want to check my Flickr account. :)

Hoping to post Day 2 tomorrow.