2010 will be a busy year for China (Shanghai Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games)

It may be concluded that 2009 wasn’t really full of much sport or other major events that can associated on the International calendar. Those set of activities belong to 2010. The last major sporting event was, of course, the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and that brought China into the global limelight. 2010 is destined to be ever better. Shanghai is going to be hosting the world expo from May to October, while in December; the southern city of Guangzhou will become the first Chinese city in history to host the Asian Games.

Then there are the three other major sporting events happening around the globe: The FIFA Football World cup in South Africa, the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. I will begin my 2010 blogging with an article on the Shanghai Expo 2010 and then follow it up in coming days with other events.

The world awaits Shanghai Expo 2010!

The Shanghai Expo in 2010 is geared up to be the next big thing after the Beijing 2008 Olympics. This world event only happens once every 10 years and Shanghai is going to be at the centre of the world’s attention for five months from May. An Expo is meant to be a unique platform for a country to show off its economic assets to the world. I believe the Shanghai Expo 2010 is not meant to be a showcase for China to the world, but a showcase for the rest of the world to showoff to China. So, it’s to say, for example, this is the Spanish Expo booth and this is what we have to offer to China’s economy or we are India, and this is what can do to invest in China- and so on. One of the most interesting aspects of this is that countries are going to be looking for lucrative deals to invest in China’s future- and they will be using cleaver ways to sell themselves to China. I have been told that the Belgium Pavilion is going to be giving away free diamonds and expensive handmade chocolates (through prize draws), while the French pavilion is going to be giving away all expenses paid honeymoons’ to Paris to every couple who will come to the French Pavilion wearing wedding clothes. These are just two examples out of the many.  The Chinese government officially bid for Shanghai to be the host city on November 18, 1999. With much valued support from home and abroad, the world expo governing body decided to officially award the 2010 Expo to Shanghai- the bid was won on December 3, 2002, at the 132nd General Assembly of the International Exhibitions Bureau. I was invited by the Shanghai Expo 2010 executive committee to have a preview of the facilities. I would like to share some photos I took from the VIP stand at the media centre, where the world’s media will stand in May. Special thanks goes to Mr. Chen Xian Jin, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Expo 2010, the senior PR team at the Shanghai Expo 2010 media centre, and Mr. Han Zheng, Mayor of Shanghai, for arranging the visit for me.

Although the weather was a bit hazy to take photos, nevertheless, I should not complain as I felt privileged to just be there and have access to some breathtaking views of the Shanghai Expo 2010 area. 

Since the days of the first ever world expos at London’s famous Crystal Palace exhibition hall in 1851, world expo fairs have supplied guests with two things: First, a worldwide outlook via displays of products and services from around the world and; second, a flavour of what people can expect in the future, via displays and demonstrations of new creations and state-of-the-art machines and structures. As a former and now restored global metropolis, Shanghai has a distinctly international location complete with revolutionary objects, such as its first-in-the-world, ultra-high-speed magnetic levitation train, the Maglev.

Much bigger than any other exhibiting event in the world, the Shanghai Expo in 2010 will take place over a period of six months from the 1^st of May to the 31^st of October. Shanghai 2010 Expo’s motto is: "Better City, Better Life,”, and this is one which represents the universal desire for any citizen or country around the world, so that citizens can benefit from improved living standards. The aim of the Shanghai expo is to allow China to be a major show case for the global community, and along with all the world’s countries that would be exhibiting there to provide a platform where new ideas, technologies and ways of improving life will be shared. The 2010 Expo theme characterizes a common apprehension of the worldwide community for future policy making, urban policies and sustainable economic growth.

To give you an idea of how important this all will be, in 1800, only 2% of the world’s population lived in cities. In 1950, that figure became 29%, and by the beginning of the new millennium in 2000, approximately 49 percent of the world’s population moved into cities, and by the time the Shanghai Expo is opened, as per the estimates by the United Nations, the world’s urban population will account for 55% of the total human population. That alone is a indication that the world is going to require better infrastructure in terms of Electricity, Oil and Gas, but also the basics of life would become just that more important, such as sewage system in developing countries, food readily available to everyone, health facilities and all the other essentials of life.

The mission for a much improved life has run through the urban history of mankind. Through its diverse sub-themes (i.e. exhibition halls and areas of the Expo will be dedicated to different themes); the Shanghai Expo 2010 will create blueprints for prospect cities and urban life styles. All of this would be for providing an excellent educational and entertaining platform for visitors from all around the world. The main attractions will be placed within the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, which is an exhibition centre. With a total area of over 127,000 square metres, since its opening in 2001, it has played host to various exhibitions in the past, including the Shanghai Motor Show and the 2002 Tennis Indoor Masters Cup. The centre's indoor exhibition will increase to 200,000 square meters by December 2010. It is predicted that more than 60 million people will travel to Shanghai for the Expo – and around forty percent of them are likely to visit surrounding cities such as Suzhou, Hangzhou, Wuxi and Wuzhen.

The official Mascot

Shanghai Expo 2010 has a mascot which has so far proven to be a success. During the beginning of 2009, quite a number of stores in and around Shanghai have started selling products related to the Mascot. The name of the mascot of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China is Hai Bao (as shown above), which when directly translated into English means the “Treasure of the sea”. The name of Hai Bao was chosen out of many because this is quite easy for non-Chinese people to learn and memorize. Also the colour of the mascot goes with the meaning, blue colour for the sea, plus it’s catchy, friendly and finally “Hai Bo” is a characteristic Chinese name which can brings good fortune and blessings. Hai Bai is the good well ambassador of Shanghai Expo 2010. Just like the five mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the Shanghai Expo 2010 Mascot, Hai Bo, will definitely bring together all the world’s cultures and traditions to Shanghai.

Where exactly is the Shanghai Expo 2010?

An area covering 5.28 square kilometres will occupy a site for the Expo from

the Nanpu Bridge to the Lupu Bridge region. This is all located in central Shanghai on both sides of the Huangpu River, with the exhibition also placed below the river on the underground walkway between the Bund and the Pudong area. On both sides of the Huangpu River the total expansion of the site is separated into 3.93 sq km in Pudong and 1.35 sq km in Puxi.

How is the Shanghai Expo 2010 arranged?

There are five functional zones marked A, B, C, D and E respectively, each with an average area of 60 hectares. Apart from the five zones, there are also 12 pavilion groups, 8 of which in the Pudong Section and 4 in the Puxi Section, each with an average area of 10–15 hectares.

Ticket Types

There are nine types of tickets available:

·               Peak Day Single Day Admission

·               Peak Day Special Admission

·               Standard Day Single Day Admission

·               Standard Day Special Admission

·               3 Day Admission

·               7 Day Admission

·               Evening Admission

·               Group Admission

·               Student Group Admission

Clusters: There are 26 pavilion clusters, each covering 2–3 hectares. The average floor area of each pavilion cluster can house 40–45 exhibition units with every exhibition unit covering a total floor area of 20,000–25,000 square meters. Visitors will be reassured to know that each pavilion cluster will contain small canteens, shops, telecom, western style toilets, nursing services and other public facilities. These facilities will be available in and around the expo, and organisers have made sure that there will be no problems. The entire event will go as smoothly as possible. 

Overseas national pavilions representing over a hundred countries are planned to be grouped according to the continents they belong to. There will be three types:

Type 1 pavilions are designed and constructed by official participants;

Type 2 pavilions are stand-alone pavilions constructed by the Organizer and rented to participants and;

Type 3 pavilions are joint pavilions constructed by the Organizer. Space in this pavilions are offered free of charge to countries from the developing world. 

The Five Zones

Zone A is situated among the Expo Boulevard to the west and the Bailianjing rivulet to the east in the Pudong Section. Zone A will host China Pavilion and national pavilions for Asian countries except Southeast Asian ones.

Zone B covers an area between Zone A to the east and Lupu Bridge to the west, hosting national pavilions of Southeast Asian and Oceania countries, Pavilions for International Organizations, Theme Pavilions, Expo Centre and Performance Centre.

Zone C is located in Houtan to the west of Lupu Bridge in the Pudong Section. It will host European, American and African national pavilion clusters. A large

public amusement park of about 10 hectares will be built at the entrance.

Zone D is located to the west of the Expo Boulevard in the Puxi Section. The land is one of the original places of modern Chinese national industry and the site of the Jiangnan Shipyard. Some of the old industrial buildings will be kept and renovated into corporate pavilions. The docklands and slipway to the east of the corporate pavilions will be reserved and made into space for outdoor public exhibition and cultural exchange.

Zone E situated to the east of the Expo Boulevard in the Puxi Section, will host stand-alone commercial pavilions, Urban Civilization Pavilion, Urban Exploration Pavilion and the Urban Best Practices Area.

MG 6 on show at a shopping mall in Guangzhou!

Image Copyright Navjot Singh 2009

I was fortunate enough to be invited to a photo shoot of the new five-seater MG 6, which was briefly being showcased at the Grand View Mall in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou earlier this month. The MG 6 fastback was first shown at the Guangzhou Auto Show in mid-November 2009. Based around the architecture of the Roewe 550 sedan, which in turn is based on a similar status on the late 1990s’ Rover 75, the production version of the MG 6 is powered by the same 1·8-litre engine, and the range-topper is a turbocharged model. The fastback neatly ties in to the British image which was firmly established for the brand by NAC, MG’s original Chinese purchaser, and SAIC, which took over NAC. Within the first day of being showcased, MG confirmed around 200 potential buyers (would you believe it, those 200 buyers are just regular shoppers who happened to walk by and thought "Hmm...I would not mind taking a MG home today!"). You'd be amazed what you can get in China!

The model is Miss. Jiang Li. With Miss Li’s, and MG's permission, I have the pleasure of sharing some photos with you. Please note that some of my photos are only available on my website (www.navjot-singh.com) because of copyright issues. Enjoy!

Image Copyright Navjot Singh 2009

Image Copyright Navjot Singh 2009

Today is the festival of 七夕節 (QiXi)- or "Chinese Valentines Day"

 
To the rest of the world most probably it is just another ordinary day, but in China and most SE Asian countries where Chinese festivals are celebrated, today, the "26th of August 2009" is the Chinese equivalent of St Valentine’s day. More formally it is known in Mandarin as the Qi Xi Festival (translated into "The Night of Sevens"), and falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar; hence its name. Always on a different day every year.

There is no official holiday in China, but let it be known that most restaurants are fully booked well in advance, and all couples (especially the males!) have to make it a commitment for a romantic date, either at home for dinner or outside at a restaurant. State media also have special television shows dedicated with the theme of romance. CCTV1, the national television channel (as well as many local provincial channels as well), air a special Blind date show for young viewers. If you are in China for the first time and are confused at the sight of a large number of couples holding roses in the middle of August, usually red or white; and also if you are unable to get a seat at most good restaurants, then at least I hope now you know the reason why! There are many stories which explain the meaning for this day.


Fond memories of Guangzhou as well, on the banks of the Pearl River where many young (and sadly poor) children roam around with bunches of small Roses in their hands, eagerly looking for any couples to whom they can sell the Rose flowers to. Festivals such as the QiXi are the perfect occasion for these children to make as much profit as possible. As soon as they see any couple approaching, some of the children can even climb onto the people's legs, determined to hold on as tightly as possible until the person buys the flowers from them. It can be a shocking experience for anyone who would not imagine that a young child (maybe under the age of 10) would be so desperate to sell a Rose flower worth only 3RMB (Approx £0.20 pence), that they would not let go of your leg until you pay them money or purchase the flower. It's not nice to see and experience. These children must be under great pressure to make as much money as possible, and maybe they don't even get to keep that money. It's so ironic that on such a day of love and laughter, that one has to come across this scene on the banks of a romantic river. You just wish there is no poverty in this world....anyways coming back to the main subject...

I remember being told that in some parts of Guangxi Province, young women offered fruit and cakes to pray for a alert mind. While in other provinces there are girls who would do weaving and handcrafts. Overall it’s a great day to enjoy good Chinese food!

2002年我的第一次旅行向中国….并且如此开始的旅途 (My first trip to CHINA in 2002- including Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai)

Monks at the Six Banyan Temple in Guangzhou
On the afternoon of Friday the 23rd of February 2002 (it was also my sisters birthday), I left Loughborough for Heathrow giving myself of what I thought would be ample time, in the hope that I would be able to join my parents and sister for a short dinner at the airport terminal before leaving on the 13 hour evening flight with British Airways to Hong Kong. It just so happened that I arrived late (as always I do for my flights!), had no time to think about any long good-byes let alone a dinner; and ended up running for the departure gate (as always). Its a bad habit of mine, running at airports to catch my flight at the last minute, irrespective if I am on a business or pleasure trip...however, remarkably I have never missed a flight (YET).

Perhaps the greatest trip of my life so far because I had done so much preparation to understand the culture, the language (although I could not even say "Hello" in Chinese) and the food...but I am not exaggerating. In actual fact the whole week seemed like a long dream because everything happened so quickly. I completed my final exam in the morning in the (annoyingly) wet and windy Loughborough; and 24 hours later I was on a night cruise on the Pearl River in the middle of Guangzhou, and it was like, I have to make the most of this trip because I am only here for seven days. When you are so far away for such a short time, not knowing if you will ever go back to the place again in the future, then there should be a second wasted. So effectively everyday seemed like a great dream because I saw so many things in such a small amount of time. It was amazing.

First impressions of China?

China is a very beautiful country, one which has so much to offer but does not normally get the chance to show off its true inner self to the outside world- what do I mean by this? Well, there are those who question if it is still a friend or foe, there are also lots of biased points against (and some, of course, for) China’s policies. Media can be a wrong source for digesting a destination’s good and bad points because not all media is full of positive points. For example, the coverage of the Beijing Olympics (as an example), I believe was not covered in a well balanced way. I use factual data to take wherever I go (like for example from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Website). Of course, one does not expect a simple and smooth approach to life from a country which is still considered by some hard-line economists as a sleeping dragon that is too ambitious...the obvious answer to this statement would be that even Rome was not built in one day.

It goes without saying that the cultural differences do not hit you when you land in Hong Kong (as most of its’ colonial British feel is somewhat fading away at a slow pace- for many it’s still a home away from home). There used to be a saying among the English, “If you cannot make it in London, then go to Hong Kong”, however, even though Hong Kong has a “International” feel to it, that statement would no longer stand as the former colony is now, of course, part of China. Nevertheless, the real culture shock would hit anyone once they cross the border into the mainland. Shenzhen is the city that borders Hong Kong and at that time had only 2 border crossing, one at Huanggang and the other at LoWu.

From Hong Kong, once I crossed the border I took the Guang-Shen train straight to the capital of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou. If I just say that “China is amazing and full of so many surprises that one cannot just sum up the whole picture in one go”, that would be a common statement these days because so many people have experienced the country, but then in 2002, for me, those were the first words that came out of my mouth. China has of course a lot of similarities with its neighbours (namely Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, India etc), and like any Asian country which is moving from the developing stage into a newly industrialised stage, it has the good points, the bad points and the unmentionable ones- and that’s not too difficult to observe.

A short ride on one of the many local buses will open your eyes immediately; you may be travelling in a very affluent area at one point, and then suddenly you may come across a highly deprived neighbourhood. An extreme example as it may seem, but just imagine you are driving through the suburbs of a busy western city like London one minute and then suddenly you are travelling through the shanty towns of, say an economically deprived rural village, and a minute later you are suddenly back into the affluent area (vice-versa). There may be many places in the world where such contrasts exist, but to see it in the flash and blood is a unique experience. Watching something on the television or reading about it on the internet is not quite the same as experiencing it in real life.

Then there are also the minor but important downsides from living in the world’s fastest growing economy: China is also a VERY noisy country, especially in the big cities (Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai), for example it is considered normal to use the drill or do heavy construction at 2am in the morning or even all night! If you are in London and you have noisy neighbours, I bet nothing is more annoying than having a drill go off almost all night long.

China is also the world's largest consumer of alcohol so it is no surprise that if your neighbours (irrespective if it is a hotel or home) are heavy drinkers, then they will sure keep you awake all night with loud shouting and arguing over Mah-jong or any card games which they be playing. It may be quite and then suddenly you hear a loud “Arrrgggg” (of course, indicating that someone has won the Mah-Jong equivalent of the national lottery!).

China is also the worlds largest market for tobacco, therefore it is no surprise that you will be exposed to smoke everywhere because people smoke in Internet cafes, restaurants, cafes, buses...and if you don't smoke (like myself) then you are going to find it just that little bit challenging!

If you are in the workplace (corporate culture defines a very different meaning in China as compared to say a more "International" environment such as London, Hong Kong), then you will be exposed to things such as the "normality" of answering you mobile phone in the middle of a corporate meeting/presentation and even a formal Interview!

What about the culture, the people and those Famous Chinese Restaurants?

While it is quite difficult for a lone western tourist to get around and speak English with the locals, the people are very friendly and assisting. Over in the border in Hong Kong it is more of a relaxed approach towards foreigners because of the reason that Hong Kong is multicultural (and maybe because there are too many people), however that is not the case in the mainland. You do get a lot of respect and VIP treatment as a foreigner in China.

To some extent it's an advantage to be a foreigner in the mainland because you get treated in a much better way. I mean as an example I remember popping into a local sweet shop (nothing more different then a newsagent in the UK), and as soon as they saw me entering the shop, they were so eager (not pushy or anything) to lend a hand or get me to buy anything. Now I can imagine that kind of hospitality would seldom be seen towards a tourist in the UK- of course there are good places and bad places everywhere. That’s just one simple example, and also another one is that people are most willing to learn English.

The Chinese food you get in your local takeaways’ in the UK is nothing compared to what you get over there in China, of course that’s the same with all other foreign foods I hear you say, but the experience is totally different. You simply have to taste it to believe it. The most wonderful thing about seafood in Chinese restaurants is that it’s FRESH and you can choose what to eat straight from the fish tanks!

Food, especially when it comes to eating out at Dinner time, is a very important part of the Chinese lifestyle- and even more "fashionable" in Guangzhou because of the variety of seafood available here.

Restaurants in general within the UK are nothing compared to what you will see in Guangzhou or for that matter the whole of China, it brings out a whole new meaning to eating out. The competition can be so fierce in some cases that some of the best seafood restaurants in Guangzhou are similar in size to four story buildings, which usually tend to have their own Karaoke Bars (a must to try even if you do not speak the language and a popular pastime of the locals).

Chinese tea...and did I hear someone say night zoo?

One of the highlights of my trip was going to see a zoo at night (yes.. a night zoo). A unique experience which is seldom seen in the west..with all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures. Not only a zoo but mix that with a night circus, a laser disco show, and a whole load of water acrobats show which consisted of the Chinese water sports Olympic team...so it was more like a huge funfair but at nighttime..quite impressive actually. Sounds too good to believe.

Moving on from night zoos...lets talk about something which is a bit more of a common thing in China...Tea! Apart from India and Sri Lanka, China is the world largest exporter of the stuff...and its pretty much quite hard to avoid...leaving China without trying at least 4 or 5 different types of tea would be a comparable to leaving Scotland without trying whiskey. If its your first time drinking Chinese tea, you would be immensely surprised to know that it has no taste just sweet smell, nevertheless after a week of trying the stuff- day in day out, it felt soo good that I got put off drinking English tea altogether!

This one week’s trip was my first trip to China and just about when I thought that maybe this would be also my last time to go there, I was fortunate enough to have been offered a contract position as a Graduate Sales Engineer with Philips Semiconductors in Shenzhen, China. This was indeed an exciting opportunity, so much for my fate that I have been in China ever since and never looked back.

2004年我的第一次旅行向北京 (My first trip to Beijing in 2004)

The gateway to the Forbidden city in Beijing


It was just coming towards the end of September 2004 and I had been in China for just over a month. The Chinese Mid-autumn festival (Moon Cake Festival) was approaching and all of my colleagues were going on vacation during that week. I had so many choices ranging from Thailand, India, Singapore and cities within China. Nevertheless in the end I chose to visit the capital city, Beijing. This was my first trip to a Chinese city outside of Guangzhou and I couldn’t wait to get going. Booking flights and accommodation was bit of an experience for me for a number of reasons; firstly I could not speak Chinese so I could not join a tour and secondly most places were fully booked because of the peak holiday season…I also felt a bit guilty that I had always relied upon friends and colleagues to translate for me and that’s when I also started making a serious effort at learning Mandarin.
In the end I decided that I was going with a tour group however I was only to stay at the same hotel as them, everything else I decided to do it myself as I am a fond tourist and quite an adventurer anyways.
I remember that even though it was the first week of October, the air in Guangzhou was still quite warm and humid on the morning of my departure date. Hurrying to the airport in a rush I finally managed to find my tourist group, who, like most tour groups in China, were carrying bright saffron coloured triangular flags. After the three hour morning flight on a China Southern Airlines Boeing 757-200 aircraft, I finally arrived at Beijing Capital Airport where the temperature was almost freezing and the air was dry with little humidity, which was much fresher than the highly humid and sticky Guangzhou that I had left nearly 4 hours behind me in the south- suddenly it seemed as if I had come to a different country! However, the truth was that for the next five days every experience, every sound and every smell and every taste would echo loudly in my ear that I’ve arrived somewhere magical, somewhere special…and even the cold temperatures didn’t deter me from enjoy moment of it.


This is the beauty of being in China I suppose that because it’s such a massive country that you are bound to come across not just different cultures however different climates as well considering if you travel from east to west or from north to south; and vice versa. Of course as a first time visitor to a country or a city so far away, like most tourists, I found Beijing to be a great place to be in, and I wished I could stay there forever...rather see it with my eyes than keep it in my heart I’d say.

Whenever I’m in Beijing I feel like I am in the real ancient China because you are always surrounded by a bit of history which ever street or building you are in, and amazingly unlike the rest of China, even though Beijing is becoming more modernized, nevertheless it still treasures a rich past; one which is to be proud of. The people are nice, the food is scrumptious and the sights are truly more than just breathtaking…from my personal experience no visit to China is complete without paying a visit to this ancient seat of power and tradition!



Before arriving here my knowledge of this splendid city was quite poor, indeed I had heard and seen the Great Wall of China and Tiananmen Square on various media coverage in the UK and I suppose this made me want to discover those places of interest even more than before. I had five days and four nights to explore the place where thousands of years of history were waiting to be absorbed.



After checking into the splendid Renaissance Beijing Hotel in the Yanshan area (Chaoyang District), I headed off with the tour group to Beihai Park for a brief one hour visit before attending dinner at the world famous Quan Ju De Roast Duck (Beijing Duck) Restaurant on 32 Qianmen St (of course not only the oldest restaurant which has been visited by worldwide diplomats and dignitaries, however also very special because of the unique taste of the Beijing Duck that it has); more often than not it’s renowned to be the mother of all Duck restaurants in China! With this in mind it wasn’t at all surprising to observe that it was busy indeed; luck was on my side when the waitress, dressed in an elegant Chinese Traditional costume (Qí Páo, 旗袍), lead us to our reserved room. The chef brought the freshly roasted duck and served it in front of us…and I must say there is nothing quite like it! That crispy taste mixed with bamboo shoots and soy sauce is a sheer luxury and the art of real Chinese cuisine.



After the scrumptious meal we gently strolled across to the fascinating Tiananmen Square, to witness the largest square in the world. For me it was like a dream come true, I had seen it on television many times but I never imagined it would be as big as it is. The famous portrait of the great Chairman Mao still looks on from the front gate of the Forbidden City. It was an amazing moment; just standing in the middle of the square makes you feel and think that this is something really special. Be it day or night, it’s probably not only the largest but also one of the most beautiful and romantic squares in the world.



From day two onwards I was going to travel on my own without the tour party. I had an early breakfast, naturally Chinese, with fresh warm Soybean milk (Dòu jiāng, 豆浆), a white bun made with Cow’s milk along with a sweet egg yolk mixture inside it (奶黄包, Nǎi Huáng Bāo) and a long bread stick with butter (Yóu tiáo,油条). I had pre-arranged to meet one of my Chinese friends who had been kind enough to accompany me to the Forbidden City where 24 Chinese emperors ruled China for over 600 years.



Being in the forbidden city makes you feel as you have step back in time, the remarkable feeling is that I was walking on the same piece of ground that those emperors had been walking on…of course some parts are still the same and some have been renovated. We strolled through the main gates and into Tiananmen Square itself. During the day time it is quite beautiful. I felt lucky to have met Chairman Mao in his Mausoleum; however, we did not talk much (!). I also got the chance to observe the stunning Arts Museum in the square.



The afternoon was spent shopping at the long Wangfujing Dajie for souvenirs before departing to a Beijing bazaar to do window shopping as well have dinner in one of the many local eateries!

Day three: I was going to spend time at the Great Wall (Badaling) in the morning and then the Ming Tombs in the afternoon. The cost of the transportation and tour guide (Chinese Speaking) for the whole day was only 50RMB, this included traveling from Qianmen Gate in the centre of Beijing to Badaling Great Wall, about 2 hours drive in the north of the capital; then to the Ming Tombs, visiting a Beijing Duck factory and a handicraft factory on the way from Great wall to the Ming Tombs and finally visiting a traditional Chinese herbal medicine clinic/museum on the way back to the city centre in the evening.



After weeks of planning I finally arrived at the Great Wall of China. Snaking its way through the lush green mountain tops, it was just like a dream come true for me to even step foot on this speculate of the humankind. Just looking at it makes you wonder how much hard work must have gone into constructing such a marvel. No matter how differently I want to describe the Great Wall before the millions who have before me, I cannot think of any other words except that it simply is a “Magical place”.

Two hours was not enough to absorb the exquisiteness of the place. We made our way to one of the 13 grand Ming Tombs and on the way paid a visit to a Duck factory, where on one side of the factory you see the alive ducks, while on the other side of the factory you see the roasted ones…quite attention-grabbing indeed…each prepared to sheer perfection. Here you can get your hands on all things to do with a Beijing Duck; everything ranging from duck meat sweets (!) to preserved duck food and soups…ironically the only thing you cannot purchase is an alive duck itself! 

Then we arrived at the Ming Tombs themselves. Situated here are the tombs of 13 of the 16 Ming Dynasty emperors. Dragon Hill lies to the east and Crouching Tiger Hill to the west. The first emperor to be buried here was Yongle who died in 1424. His tomb, Chang Ling, and that of Emperor Zhu Yijun, Ding Ling, who died in 1620, are the only two opened to visitors today. One of the more impressive sights at the Ming Tombs is the Sacred Way. The Sacred Way runs for about a kilometre and is flanked on both sides by carvings of human and animal figures. There are 12 large stone human figures and 24 of animals, all carved from single blocks of granite in 1435 during the 10th year of the reign of Emperor Xuan De. I spent the evening enjoying the renowned Peking Hot Pot dinner in the city centre.

Day four: I went to the Temple of Heaven in the morning, while the rest of the day was spent looking at the Summer Palace (and you need more than half a day for this!). Words are not enough to describe the exquisiteness and peaceful ambiance of this nature’s gift. Vogue Greece happened to be carrying out a photo shoot in front of the main Lake, much to the unwanted attention from the large crowd which had gathered as the word quickly spread around.

As the evening drew closer I made my way towards a park in the middle of the city centre where there was to be a spectacular fireworks display along with a musical Peking Opera show in the middle of the lake in celebration of the Mid Autumn Festival. This park also accommodates a small zoo at the park with a small number of monkeys and Peacocks as well as other smaller animals, all of whom you can touch without worrying. The opera show was nice with the brightly lit and colourful boat making its way slowly around the lake while the people dressed in traditional costumes told folk Chinese stories through Peking opera. A pleasant ending to a long day.

Day 5: The concluding day of my short trip had arrived quicker than I could say “Tiananmen Square”. I had a late evening flight back to Guangzhou; so subsequently I spent the morning going to Beihai Park again, this time to enjoy a peaceful walk and taking a few last photos. The afternoon was spent walking around the Hutongs that are within the main area around Wangfujing Dajie. 

In these walled hutongs you'll find individual residences and courtyards where thousands of Beijingers still live, many astonishingly without modern conveniences of which we take granted for in our lives, such as a fridge, television, an electric cooker or even hot water. Many have opted to move into the more modern apartment buildings, but many still prefer the community style living of the hutong. Like many other Asian countries (India, Thailand etc) there are quite a lot of Rickshaws (3 wheeled cycles powered by a human) and I could not resist but taking a small ride around town.

I took the last flight of the day with China Southern Airlines, this time with a smaller Airbus A318 aircraft which gently flared its way towards a warm and humid Guangzhou at midnight. On the taxi back to my home from the airport, my mind was still fresh with the sights and smells of the past five days and again I had the feeling that I just experienced a long dream, where I ventured in another country and then the reality hit that maybe I may never get the chance to go back again.

However to my delight I surprised myself, after this trip I have had the chance to go to Beijing many more times.



On business trip, I have been lucky to go to Beijing more than five times, and after that I have also had the chance to live in the city for over a year (in the “Shangdi” and “Qi Er Xi” area). It’s a city which does not bore me at all. Every time I go to Beijing, it seems to get more attractive!

The journey begins...in 2002

The author's first photo on his first trip to China in 2002 (Spring festival). Lian Hua Shan (Panyu, Guangzhou). In those days there was no metro or bus to this beautiful park. Though the park has not changed much, but the infrastructure of Guangzhou has become more modern in time.