"This is a stupid idea, whoever suggested this should be axed for robbing my sleep," I recalled complaining to at least a hundred people about a month before the trip.
And there we were, arriving at the grand square, about 3:45am in the morning, with 18 degrees Celsius. Very cooling, and really refreshing. The sky was just about to hint sunrise.
Super blur and low quality pictures but you get the idea...
And wow, it was amazing. I felt a sense of patriotism. Of course, partly due to the fact that I am half-Chinese. But also because of the fact that we've been in China for so long, and studying about China for a year and almost a half, that it just feels... patriotic and proud. The entire ceremony was pretty cool. You see soldiers marching in, and then just as the anthem starts, the guard swings the Chinese flag proudly. The wind blew strongly against the Chinese flag.
It all felt a bit... communist. But I loved that feeling.
After that we went back to the hotel and took a nap. Except the nap lasted 1 hour more than expected and we missed breakfast... and were late for reporting at 9am.
Still, could be worse.
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Bought this very patriotic flag for RMB5. Or was it 2? No matter, it was pretty worth it.
We then went to visit the 798 Arts District. Was great fun, there were really a lot of art studios and shops. The concept is to basically locate all small museums and art shops into a small area, which was really cool. After walking for about an hour, I bought a few communist poster-decorated notebooks and a T-shirt that read "I LOVE KARAOKE" for my dad.
Next up, we visited a small factory that used something unusual to make pottery. I can't remember what though.
The vanishing vase. It's the same vase as the picture above, just that from this angle, it's invisible. Cool, I know.
Just kidding, the above caption is fake.
It was time for the Great Wall of China! We only climbed for about 40 minutes, which was really little. But the view was so scenic and amazing.
The 4 of us - Yasmin, Meng Leng and Ryan - decided that we did not want to climb further, and hence stopped at about 80% distance, sat down, and took some selfies with a "Stone-that-Mao-wrote-on".
And turns out, it was just a cardboard with a sticker on it. I was quite chattered when I realised that.
They say when you're ugly, it's better to act ugly in pictures than to smile cos even when you smile you'll still look ugly anyway.
I concur.
Next up was the Beijing Olympic Park! We did nothing, but I did appreciate the structures around. The Bird Nest Stadium looked really magnificent, and so did the Aqua Park Swimming Centre. It was a nice place, but we did nothing...
I like how they do not capitalise the "p" in "park"
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...except we tried Smelly Toufu. Which was utterly bad. We expected it to be fragrant, but, trust me, China's smelly toufu does not work. I think I'd have rather tried smelly toufu from like HK or TW. But not China's version. It was just bitter, and just not fragrant at all.
Oh well, in the words of Meng Leng,"at least we can now say that we've tried smelly toufu before!"
And then not long after, we rushed to the nearby drinks store to get some Ice Lemon Tea.
Day 6 ended pretty early - but started pretty early too - and we soon retired to our hotels (Or as our Chinese tour guide pronounces it, HORTERL)
Final day. Let's finish blogging this part because I do have a bit more things to cover next time up.
Day 7 and well, it was the final day in Beijing. Sadly.
It was time to visit the National Museum located just beside Tiananmen Square. As you can probably tell, I was still obsessed with my China flag.
We saw a few paintings of Mao, which covered his whole political life pretty nicely.
Next up, after walking around searching for about 30 minutes, we finally found the exhibition that everyone wanted to go. It showed China's path towards communism today. I shall not commentate much, so here's a selection of pictures in sequence of the exhibition.
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After the museum, it was time to visit the Forbidden City. I've never seen Mao Zedong's portrait this big. It was a proud moment, to be there in Beijing and being somewhere near the great leader himself. It was cool.
We went for lunch in a restaurant inside the City, and then when we came out...
But fortunately, once the weather gave us mercy, we managed to witness the beauty of the Forbidden City.
We finally had what we wanted 7 days for - BEIJING DUCK! Okay, it wasn't as crispy or as crunchy as we expected, and certainly a lot of us were disappointed. But hey, at least we got to wrap it around a skin with cucumbers and the sweet sauce, right? It was a big moment. We were so delighted.
The plane was delayed for 30 minutes, but somehow arrived about 45 minutes early. I'm not going to start rambling geography and talk about the jetstreams and stuff, but you get it - winds favoured our flight.
The flight back consisted of trying to watch a movie with Ms Yong and Faith, but unfortunately, not long after, we all went to sleep. I woke up to read TFIOS for a moment, shortly before breakfast was served. We then touched down, and yeah, got to see my parents.
And then we were done. Home sweet home.
I miss Beijing. I had withdrawal syndrome for a few days after that, because all the memories, all the nights we shared were so good.
I'm going to summarise all the nights we had in Beijing - EPIC. We only managed to study for half a night out of 7, and pretty much just played cards and partied. It was really, really, fun to see everyone so candid and laid-back at night, after midnight. I wish we could do more of it, because those nights were the highlight of this whole trip.
So, here I am, 1 month after the trip, blogging about this. Been awhile.
#ok
WITHDRAWAL
Quote of the day:
"You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world... but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices."
(This quote is so relatable. It's amazing. But tragic.)
Song of the day:
MKTO - Classic
(I'm now addicted to both Maps and Classic.)
It was time to visit the National Museum located just beside Tiananmen Square. As you can probably tell, I was still obsessed with my China flag.
We saw a few paintings of Mao, which covered his whole political life pretty nicely.
Next up, after walking around searching for about 30 minutes, we finally found the exhibition that everyone wanted to go. It showed China's path towards communism today. I shall not commentate much, so here's a selection of pictures in sequence of the exhibition.
No, that is not a human. But we were pretty convinced by it.
Yes, you have not read wrong
The many flags of China. Or rather, ideas.
The mic used by Mao Zedong when he declared the People's Republic of China. In the background, his words and the subsequent maiden airing of the PRC anthem repeated over and over again. Just to make you feel even more communistic.
China's first space exploration
After the museum, it was time to visit the Forbidden City. I've never seen Mao Zedong's portrait this big. It was a proud moment, to be there in Beijing and being somewhere near the great leader himself. It was cool.
We went for lunch in a restaurant inside the City, and then when we came out...
The rain was enormously big. We were all stuck - about 300 of us - inside a small gate.
Ponchos everywhere
That is actually not a lake. It is a floor.
But fortunately, once the weather gave us mercy, we managed to witness the beauty of the Forbidden City.
One of the Emperor's many resting areas
A for effort, Yasmin
"Ceiling porn!" says Yasmin
When the Emperor and Empress got married, this was where it all happened the night of the marriage
Now that is an actual lake
We finally had what we wanted 7 days for - BEIJING DUCK! Okay, it wasn't as crispy or as crunchy as we expected, and certainly a lot of us were disappointed. But hey, at least we got to wrap it around a skin with cucumbers and the sweet sauce, right? It was a big moment. We were so delighted.
We toasted with the Peking Duck, and then wished everyone a happy trip home, a trip back to reality - JCTs.
My one and only Dark Mocha at Beijing. Shame I didn't bring my Starbucks card...
The plane was delayed for 30 minutes, but somehow arrived about 45 minutes early. I'm not going to start rambling geography and talk about the jetstreams and stuff, but you get it - winds favoured our flight.
The flight back consisted of trying to watch a movie with Ms Yong and Faith, but unfortunately, not long after, we all went to sleep. I woke up to read TFIOS for a moment, shortly before breakfast was served. We then touched down, and yeah, got to see my parents.
And then we were done. Home sweet home.
I miss Beijing. I had withdrawal syndrome for a few days after that, because all the memories, all the nights we shared were so good.
I'm going to summarise all the nights we had in Beijing - EPIC. We only managed to study for half a night out of 7, and pretty much just played cards and partied. It was really, really, fun to see everyone so candid and laid-back at night, after midnight. I wish we could do more of it, because those nights were the highlight of this whole trip.
So, here I am, 1 month after the trip, blogging about this. Been awhile.
#ok
WITHDRAWAL
Quote of the day:
"You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world... but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices."
(This quote is so relatable. It's amazing. But tragic.)
Song of the day:
MKTO - Classic
(I'm now addicted to both Maps and Classic.)
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