Beijing

I was plain bored for not going anywhere outside Malaysia since the last three years. Therefore, I am almost certain that it was because of my constant nagging that my mother decided to bring me to BEIJING, China. Her friends wanted to go to Beijing so they asked my mother if she wants to join. My mother said yes to herself, my aunt, and me joining them and a group of strangers and pack our bags to China. This time my dad and brother did not join us :( As we stepped out of the airport we were greeted by our native tour guide. We were all shocked when she greeted us with Bahasa Malaysia. Her name was Nur Ain. Actually that was not her real name but it was to make it easier for us to remember. She studied here in Malaysia and it was her lecturer that gave her the name.

Our first stop in Beijing was Tiananmen Square. It is in front of the Forbidden City and it was there that the protest of the 1989 took place. We didn't do much accept taking a few pictures. It was really cold for me as the weather was below ten degrees Celsius. That night Nur Ain took us watching an acrobatic show. Acrobatic is really popular in China and parents send their young kids to train since an early age. Stupid me, I forgot to bring along my camera that night.

The next day we went to the Forbidden City. By this age (thirteen) I was totally into the whole history of China and the Forbidden City. It used to be the palace for the emperor when China still had an emperor. It was huge in area and there were a lot of small house-like buildings including the emperor's bedroom, 'throne room', and official room. It was also called forbidden because we were forbidden from taking pictures. However the architecture was uniquely Asia and I like it. After that we went to Niujie Mosque to pray. It was a really 'ancient' mosque of Chinese architecture. Definitely a new experience for me.

On the third day it was the climax of our journey when we had to leave the hotel very early in the morning to make our way to the Great Wall of China all the way in the north. It was morning and it was cold so forgive me for sleeping almost the whole journey. But once we arrived, there were already many tourists at the bottom of the Great Wall. Without hesitating I made my way up the stairs of the Great Wall. It was really steep so thank God I was quite healthy back then compared to now *cough*. I don't remember how far up we went but we stopped at the place they sell certificates saying, "Congratulations! You've climbed ___ meter of the Great Wall of China!" For some reason I didn't get that certificate for myself :( After a tiring morning 'exercising' we spent the rest of the day at the silk and jade center where we did our shopping :p

The next day we went first to the Beijing Zoo! More animals for me! This time it was the panda bears that caught my attention. The black-patched bears were so cute as they rolled around eating bamboos. I feel like taking one home! Later we went to the Summer Palace of the emperors of the past. It was really beautiful here with Chinese art all over the place. Similar to the Forbidden City it wasn't made of one castle like the Kyoto castle but instead of scattered buildings. There was also a lake in the middle of the palace. Then we went to the silk street where we shopped for, what else, silk!

On the last day before heading home we took the bus to TIANJIN. I don't really remember what we did there. The only thing I remember of Tianjin was of me eating the famous peking duck! It was delicious! Plus, my table was made up of oldER *cough* people so they left most of the duck for yours truly. Hehe.

The next day I remember perfectly it was raining in the morning as Nur Ain sent us off to the airport to bid us farewell. Well, it was farewell to her but hello Jakarta for me!