Photo Posts « InChina

Photo Posts

Badachu Park

Badachu (八大处) means the “Eight Great Sites” and refers to the eight Buddhist temples and monasteries scattered across the Cuiwei, Pingpo, and Lushi hills in the Shijingshan District, at the foot of Beijing’s Western Hills Scenic Area. Located along the outskirts of Beijing, it was restored during the 1980s and has since become a famous tourist destination.

Enough of an introduction. What with Siqi busy in preparation for her finals this June and the fine weather we’ve been having, it was about time I got out the house and made some little day trips of my own. Things kicked off last week with a trip to Badachu Park on a scorching summers day (37 C). It was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and I was surprised to see that there were so few Chinese tourists visiting this beautiful park. The whole loop around all eight “Great Sites” took me three or four hours and was hard work under the glaring sun. Still, managed to get some nice snaps and some good exercise. Definitely worth a visit.

That’s it for now, it’s been chucking it down over the last couple of days and there are forecasts for more rain tomorrow so my Beijing adventures must be postponed momentarily – which at least gives me some time to put some photos up and get some blog entries written. Maybe time to get the guidebook out again and seek some more inspiration, sure I can get somewhere a bit further afield on Wednesday!

I’ll leave you with some more photos…

Sun was beating down

Climbing Up

Golden Elephant

Wonky?

Nice Pagoda

Pagoda

Nice Roofing

View out over the park

Path with a view

View out over Beijing

Self Portrait

Scorched

For the lazy

Jingshan Park

Me and Siqi have somehow failed to visit this beautiful park ever since I’ve been in Beijing (almost two years now) so it was about time when we visited last week!

Jingshan Park is situated just north of the forbidden city and is a must-visit on a “Blue Sky Day” if you want a commanding view over the entire city (well most of it anyway). There is a very strong Chinese feeling about the place – what with all the Chinese grannies and grandads gathering there to sing, play music and dance… or simply out for an afternoon stroll with their grandchildren.

After that there was a necessary bus trip to be made to Xinjiekou (新街口) where we had a super spicy Sichuan meal in our favourite little restaurant before retiring to the little tressle tables and chairs outside for a sample of some of the finest Xinjiang kebabs in Beijing.

Grand Day Out… This is the way things should be!

成都小吃

North Gate, Forbidden City

Beside the moat

晒

North of Forbidden City

Gate of Forbidden City

Forbidden City Behind

Before the Forbidden City

Forbidden City from Above

Forbidden City Behind

Blue Sky Day

Superb Sky

Magpie in front of Beihai Park

Walk in the park

Looking out over Beijing

Sunbathing

景山 Park

Kebab Eater

馋～

Kebab Time

Xinjiang Restaurant

膀爷 Beijinger

Dining and Cooking / News / Photo Posts — No Comments
8
Jun 09

Exam Celebrations

I took my Mandarin Chinese HSK exam on the 23rd of May after a couple of weeks of fairly solid revision. As expected, the exam was exceedingly difficult – not so much in terms of the difficulty of the language itself but rather the harsh time limits imposed. I managed to make a mess of the oral which is a shame as it should be my strongest point – but there’s nothing that can be done so I may as well just wait until July sometime when I can get my results back. The exam was split up into a Listening and Reading exam as well as an Oral exam and Writing exam. Even if I can’t pass them all it would be nice to have at least one HSK certificate!

Anway, to let off the steam me and Siqi and Ajun headed out to a nice restaurant where you can sit outside and enjoy some great food along with a nice cool beer. My studies in Beijing have in some ways reached a climax now… it’s downhill now right through to September when I pick up my studies at Leeds once again. So I might as well enjoy myself for the time being!

情侣？

感情深... 一口闷

"我不喝酒"

肉串狂

大排档

酒鬼

香死了

吃光了

Dining and Cooking / News / Photo Posts — No Comments
31
May 09

21st Birthday Party

It was strange to spend yet another birthday here in China – in the end I took some friends out for a meal and then for some Karaoke later on. There are some interesting cultural differences with regards to birthdays over here…

Whilst in the UK it is often the birthday boy/girl who gets treated to a free meal, free drinks and is generally looked after for the evening, in China things are quite the opposite. Not only did I have to pay for all the food and drinks (there were ten of us, lucky food is cheap over here!) but it was also my responsibility to fuss over my guests during the evening, making sure their drinks are poured and that they have had enough to eat! Certainly a change from the drunkenness of the average 21st birthday bash back at home.

I guess that the Chinese see birthdays as an opportunity to thank friends for being there and give something back – whilst in the west it’s our friends who celebrate us being there and make sure we have a good night. Another thing to note however is that in China, the more money you have, the more friends you can afford to invite along and the fancier a birthday party you can throw – some invitees are not necessarily there for your birthday but just for the great food and entertainment (a bit like weddings maybe?). In the UK, it doesn’t matter how much money you have, normally only your closest friends go out with you on your birthday and maybe it’s more of a genuine experience.

Anyway, the food was excellent, we ordered far too much and still managed to eat it all. After slackening our belts, we headed to the KTV (Private Karaoke Club) nearby where we sang until the early hours of the morning to a mixture of Chinese and Western pop music. Photos below!