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| Nan Chi Zi Street & Hutong, Beijing |
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| Imperial Ancestral Temple, Beijing |
Day 2 Friday Oct 11 2024 (Beijing, China) - my number 7th visit to Beijing & my first was in 1997 & my last visit to Beijing was in Aug 2015, so here I am saying hello to Beijing Ni Hao once again after a lapse of 9 years ! My wife's last visit to Beijing was in 2002 ! As for my travel buddy, Thompson & spouse, this was their 1st visit. So for today after a good night rest, our group took a metro from Jiangtai station > Tiananmen East Station & made our first appearance in Tiananmen Square !
1) Hotel Accommodation (Beijing) - our group's 3 nights stay in PiaoHome Inn, Jiangtai West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing; room tariff Rm193 (US$44.40, twin sharing) per night, check-in last night at around 20.00 after taking a Capital Airport Express train from Beijing Capital Airport Terminal 3 (flight arrival approx 18.00) > Sanyuanqiao Station (transit) > Jiangtai Station.
2) Metro train ride from Jiangtai Station (nearby our hotel) > Tiananmen East Station to visit Tianamen Square & the surrounding.
3) Arriving in Tiananmen East Station - our group wasn't aware that visiting Tiananmen Square required one day advance online registration via email (providing passport number & name) in order to enter. After seeing a long queue of visitors lining up to enter Tiananmen Square, National Museum & Mao's Memorial Hall (releasing batch by batch for those with pre-booked registration number), likewise this applies to visiting the Forbidden City requiring visitors to book & purchase tickets on line from official website at the earliest opportunity. Was it over-tourism or Post National Day Celebration in China (Oct 1-7) resulting in high number of visitors showing up to visit these top notch touristy places in Beijing ? After hanging around the area for a short while, it was time to move on & we took the opportunity to visit the Nan Chi Zi Street, located next to the Forbidden City & explored the surrounding area !
4) Nan Chi Zi Street & Hutong nearby, Beijing - a popular tourist street lining up with eatery stalls serving authentic & old Peking food !
5) Small Eat - our group's breakfast in an old Peking Zha Jiang Mian Stall in Nan Chi Street, Beijing; savoured a bowl of Old Beijing Zhai Jiang Mian (Rmb20 = Rm12 = US$2.75), a noodle dish made with hand-pulled wheat noodles served slightly warm with a tangle of shredded cucumber, bean sprouts, bright radish & soybeans & stir in oily brown sauce, also tasted a piece of Peking egg & green onion pancake (Rmb13 = Rm7.20 = US$1.65) & a bite of sweet corn (Rmb5 = Rm3) as a snack while doing our walkabout in this busy old street of Beijing !
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| Lao Beijing Chao Gan Mian (Rmb20) |
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| Egg & Green Onion Pancake (Rmb13) |
6) Beijing Working People's Cultural Palace - also known as Taimiao, it was the imperial ancestral temple during the Ming & Qing dynasties, located on the east side of Tiananmaen Square & is surrounded by walls on all four sides. The cypress trees in Taimiao are relatively famous, many of the trees are hundreds of years old & are under the China's cultural relics protection program.
Taimiao was built during the 18th year of the reign of the Ming Dynasty's Yongle Emperor & rebuilt several times during the years of Jiajing Emperor, the Wanli Emperor & the Qing Dynasty's Shunzhi Emperor. The architecture of Taimiao is beautiful, with multiple pavilions, gorgeous glass doors & stone bridges. After the founding of the People's Warlord Era, the temple was changed to the Beijing Working People's Cultural Palace. Nowadays, there are activities held here, such as book fairs & cultural exhibits etc
7) The Imperial Ancestral Temple (Taimiao), Beijing - built in 1420 during the Ming dynasty as a place to worship the ancestors for emperors in Ming & Qing dynasty. Free admission for senior citizens ! Though our group missed visiting the Forbidden City (I had in the past visited this historic palace site three times !) but I was overtly happy after visiting the Taimiao, no doubt this visit saved the day & I look forward to visit Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City when I show up again in Beijing !
8) Old trees (hundred years old) under protection & preservation in Imperial Ancestral Temple, Beijing
9) Autumn flowers in full bloom, Imperial Ancestral Temple, Beijing
10) Natural scenery of rocks & stones in Imperial Ancestral Palace, Beijing
11) A light lunch in a local eatery stall nearby our hotel, savoured a dish of xialongbao (Rmb10 = Rm6) & soya bean drink (Rmb3 = Rm1.80)
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