China

It was my first time to experience winter and, by far, my longest stay in another country. Three weeks of vacation time in China as I was invited by my sister to spend Christmas there. At first getting a visa was a challenge, especially if you are coming from the Philippines, because they require a lot of supporting documents that you need present in order for them to grant you a tourist visa.  But after a week of processing, I finally got my first Chinese Visa! I then packed my bags for a much-awaited three-week vacation. The flight from Manila to Beijing took more than 5 hours.  To be honest I got a little worried because our time of arrival in Beijing is already 30 minutes past the time the pilot announced that we were suppose to land at Beijing airport. There was no flight attendant around to attend to some inquiries plus the pilot was not informing the passengers what was happening. So I got a little worried but remained composed, of course. Then suddenly the pilot announced our  landing and like a snap of fingers I finally saw Beijing's Airport. The immigration officer gave me a good impression instantly by smiling at me and asked, "First time in China?" I smiled back and said, "Yes, and my first time to see snow." Honestly, I was surprised because of the tension between two countries. But as what my sister Anne told me wherever you go, which ever country you visit, there are good people and bad people.

As soon as we got our luggage, we headed to the airport gate and saw my sister Anne outside, waiving with a huge smile on her face and bouquets of flowers for us! After exchanging hellos, we boarded the service car already arranged by my sister in going to our hotel. I did not bring much clothes because I was planning on buying my winter stuff there. There is not much option here in the Philippines because we have no winter season, so most of the things packed inside my luggage are my sister's requests -- mostly food spices and seasonings which are not available in China.

Thank God she pre-arranged a car service for us because the taxi line outside the airport was so long.

I'm one who hasn't experienced winter and seen snow yet. So what can you expect?  Instead of resting after checking in into the hotel, we went out and played with the snow.  Took some pictures of course! Just a heads up, social networking sites like youtube, facebook, twitter etc. are not accessible in China. :D

After playing with the snow, we went to bed for the much needed rest in preparation for our sightseeing activities for the next day. I got up early because I was excited to see winter in daylight. I even opened our windows and felt the cold breeze of the air. For one who lives in a tropical country like me, it was an amazing feeling! After resting, we did some sightseeing around the area and had buffet at the Holiday Inn Hotel. I love eating Chinese food so going to China for a vacation had its consequences -- I gained a lot of weight! Hahaha!

The following day, on our way to the bus stop going to the Olympic Village I saw these cool bike terminals along the road. You can rent one to go around the city. You don't need to return the bike to the same terminal where you got it as you can return it to a different terminal near your destination. There a lot of bike terminals spread around the city.

Our first stop

Beijing National Stadium

Also known as Bird's Nest built for the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The Bird's Nest was just a bus ride from our hotel. As soon as we arrived at the Olympic Park, we started taking pictures. There were a lot of photographers at this area, some asking if you want to have your pictures taken for a minimal price which you can get printed in a few minutes. I think it is better if you bring an empty flash drive so you can ask the photographer to save the photo on it, and thus have a soft copy as well. The photographer searches around the Olympic Village for their customers so you need not worry whether you will still get your printed photo. 

Beijing National Aquatics Center
 Also known as The Cube, it is located just across the Bird's Nest stadium.

Quanjude

After visiting the Olympic Park we headed to Quanjude, one of the most famous roasted duck restaurants in Beijing. So I suggest you schedule this for your lunch or dinner. This restaurant deserves their number 1 spot on the top 10 Peking duck restaurants. I gave them 10 out of 10, from the service and taste plus they will provide you your own chef to slice the duck. They will start of course with the best part as a teaser which is the crispy skin. You can have the remaining to go if you can't eat the whole duck which is best used for soup. The long line outside the restaurant for take-out orders clearly speaks for itself.

As soon as we filled our stomach with delicious Chinese food, we went on our way outside for some picture taking. You will see vendors like this outside. You might be wondering what this is.  It is actually one of their winter street food and sort of a dessert, too. It's skewered fruit in caramelized sugar.

Tiananmen Square
A large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate.  Also known as the Gate of Heavenly Peace.

Don't ask!  It was negative seventeen degrees and very windy! So....

Trip to Xin Xiang
After a little shopping at Silk Market, we headed back to our hotel to rest. The following day, we traveled by train to my sister's place in Xin Xiang. We took the ordinary train which was an 8 hours ride from Beijing. Honestly, I was a little worried that I might get left behind during boarding because of the huge wave of people rushing at the train's boarding gate. After boarding the train, you will notice how Chinese people respect older people. You will also encounter vendors inside the train selling their goods. For me, it's a way of experiencing China the locals way and a way to see how rich China is when it comes to farm lands.

I met some of my sister's friends who were very accommodating -- Wency (wearing glasses), who studied in the Philippines and Jane (in gray sweat shirt), one of my sister's former students.  Jane became our translator during our shopping and sight seeing expeditions in Xin Xiang. So many thanks to her! She was our bargaining agent as well when we want to lower the price of items that we want to buy in the stores. It was funny because, just like my sister, we tell the vendors what item we like and then walk away. They will then have to bargain with us, with the price lowering up to 70 or 80 percent than the original price they told us. Hahahah! So tips to my fellow travelers -- better have a translator or learn to bargain like them.

I also met some of the vendors outside the school gate, majority of the people I met here in Xin Xiang were very friendly and always smiling which was a big factor for tourists like me.

How the vendor was cooking this sweet potato in an improvised oven caught my attention when we were buying some food outside the gate. My sister bought me one and I fell in love with it since then. It  was very delicious. So if you see one of this I suggest you try it.

My sister also introduced us to her class. She let us join her class' Christmas party before the students take their Christmas vacation. I admit I was shocked when I entered the room because they welcome us with shouts of excitement and cheers. They were all excited to see us since it's rare for a foreigner to drop by their province. I just wished I brought a special gift from the Philippines since I joined them in their exchange gift activity.

During our stay at my sister's place in Xin Xiang, we scheduled a ski trip since we don't have snow here in the Philippines. My sister found one ski resort a few hours drive from Xin Xiang. My sister invited her friend Wency. I was shocked when he called me kuya (common term for Filipino guys if you do not know the name or brother in English). I admit the land travel itself was already an adventure since traffic rules are just being introduced to Chinese drivers so you will see a bus making a U-turn in the middle of the express way and overtaking other vehicles using the opposite lane in the expressway. So thank God we arrived safe at our destination. Hahahah! If you are from a place where ski resorts are common you will not enjoy this resort. I only recommend this for those who have not seen one and experienced skiing and snow boarding, like me.

After enjoying the ski park, we went back to Xin Xiang and had dinner courtesy of my sister's friends. My trip to Xin Xiang gave me a whole different perception of Chinese people -- they  are extremely warm and generous on their guests. Smiling people especially on tourists and most of all very welcoming to their guests. My only problem during my visit here is not being able to go out by myself because majority of the people can not speak or understand English so you really need a translator or have a translator app on your phone so you can buy something to eat. Better know the basic Chinese greetings and numbers. But on the overall, it was still an unforgettable vacation and I'll definitely come back to visit again.

After two weeks of vacation at my sister's place, we headed back to Beijing to explore the city. We traveled via Bullet Train which was only 2 hours to Beijing instead of the usual 8 hours. We had our hotel map printed in Chinese so we can just show it to the taxi driver since we have no translator with us on our way back.

We stayed at the Days Inn Hotel located near the Forbidden City. We also got our tour packages from our hotel because it was really hard to go around without a translator. It's a good thing China is now introducing English language to their youth so in time this will become a tourist-friendly country, as well. The tour package had a reasonable price and you can choose which destination you want to visit so I will suggest that you join the tour instead of going out on your own. Since our hotel was near the famous shopping district which is the Wang Fu Jing Street, we always went there at night for dinner and some sight seeing and shopping.

You will pass by this market which sells exotic food like insects and souvenirs. According to Samantha Brown when I watched her show, when she visited this place the Starfish is delicious so I gave it a try. I made a wrong decision I guess. Hahaha! I didn't like the taste, it's like eating dust or sand texture so I just threw mine away.

We rested well that night because the following day we will visit the tourist attractions of Beijing. So after dinner we headed back to our hotel and prepared for our day tour on some of the cultural places in Beijing and the rest is history.

Forbidden Temple
Was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty. One of the most famous tourist spots in Beijing. It is located in the center of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum.

Summer Palace

A vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing, China. I think this kind of destination is best visited when trees and flowers are in full bloom and not during winter because all trees are dry. Not so good on photos but still a perfect destination on your trip to Beijing. I will still recommend this but be prepared to climb the stairs, though. Heheh!

Since it was winter you will not be able to enjoy the boats for hire to cruise the rivers of the summer palace because the river is frozen.

Temple of Heaven
Also known as the Altar of Heaven, it is one of the tourist attractions in Beijing. A complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. This is the largest extant sacrificial temple in China during the Ming Dynasty. If you will visit their temples best to learn something about it or else you will just end up saying they all look the same.

Ming Tombs
A collection of imperial mausoleums built by the Chinese Ming dynasty emperors. Not much to see but of course listen to the tour guide for some facts.

Jade Factory
If you purchase a package tour one of the destination is the jade factory. They will showcase their products and show you how they craft it from scratch.

Pearl Factory
One of China's famous product, if you visit this place they will show you how to harvest pearls and how to identify which is fake and which is not. They will also take you to their store which is just beside it in case you want to buy some pearl accessories.

Tea House
Final stop of our tour, the Tea House. They will give you a free tasting of their finest teas with different tastes and medicinal purposes. Best to try every tea they have before buying. For me their fruit tea is perfect. Bought 2 boxes with 3 boxes inside. I really liked the sweetness. They will include a tea mug for free and the Pee Pee boy.

A give away when you buy a pack of tea just ask for it or if they feel generous they will give you more than one. How it works? You take the pee pee boy out of the water if you need to test if your water is hot enough to cook the tea, once you pour the hot water on pee pee boy and it peed you're water is hot enough to make your tea.

Great Wall of China
One of the seven wonders of the world and the most famous tourist destination in China. They have a saying in China that you are already a hero once you've been to the Great Wall of China. There are many routes going to the Great Wall. We took the Mutianyu where there is a cable seat going to the top. For my recommendation best to visit this place of course when trees are in full bloom and colorful.  If you are in a tour like what we did because best to listen to the precautions and when the tour guide say be back at specific time make sure you set your alarm so you can be back on time.

My visit to China was truly an amazing experience! It gave me a whole new perspective when it came to the Chinese people especially those from Xin Xiang. They were very welcoming and accommodating to visitors like us. My stay there was an experience I will treasure forever and I'm sure I will return for another visit...and to go shopping, of course! Hehehe!

See you on my next boarding pass!