China Day 1 - Qianmen Street / Tiananmen Square, Beijing

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

From previous entry (here).

12 January 2016

Beijing, China

Selamat jumpa hotel walau sempat sesat sebab salah ikut direction (tulah daulat sama arahan). Dalam screenshot email si DJ, suruh pi kiri lepas exit Dongsi Station. Tapi bijak bestari si Err ambil kanan & jalan menonong ke depan penuh kondifen. I chose to blame the cold winter though; beku pemikiran aku! Yang si Jea pula haruslah ikut jak ke mana langkah kaki ku sebab itinerary Beijing ni aku yang buat. Pasrah!

After nearly 15 minutes jalan & still ndak jumpa hotel, barulah realized memang sah salah jalan. So kitorang stopped kejap tepi jalan, and try digest betul-betul map hotel yang ada di tangan. Ndak susah pun wei! Semua depan mata jak tapi sebab salah belok tu yang ke laut terus tu. Ok tipu, Beijing tiada berlaut.

Alhamdulillah selamat jumpa hotel (tu update nanti). Pastu boleh check in awal pula. Double hooray. Masuk bilik, terus urus diri. Bersiram & bersiap. While tunggu Jea bersiram, aku isi perut & online. VPN berjalan lancar, dapatlah update media sosial. 

Settled semua, kami pun mulakan langkah. Sebelum keluar, aku hafal siap-siap route yang paling senang & mudah untuk balik hotel nanti. Harini plan adalah untuk mengukur jalan. Ndak lah perlu terjah semua yang ada dalam itinerary, setakat termampu jak. 

Direction to Qianmen Street : Dongsi Station Line 5 (purple) ---> Chongwenmen Station Line 5 ---> Qianmen Station Line 2 (dark blue) Exit B 

# Archery Tower of Qianmen Gate (seen from Exit B)
Gotta walk pass through this gate to get to Qianmen Street

# Qianmen Archway

Ada tram (called Dangdang Che by locals) yang lalu sepanjang jalan Qianmen ni tapi masa kami sampai tu, nan hado bayang tram. Yang ada cumalah tram yang idle; aku assumed diorang buat display sebab tram tu 'pakai baju'. 

# Kaki ada, jadi walkertapaki jak lah kami ('tram' paling reliable)

# Starbucks branch in an old classic building
Mau lepak ngopi tapi sebab travel partner kali ni bukan berjiwa ado-ado macam Mak Jemahs, so kita simpan niat. Next time insha Allah, amin 

# From another angle

Tujuan pi Qianmen ni memang untuk witness by ourselves the ancient commercial street. Ndak rugi tempat ni first yang kami tuju. I simply fell in love with this place. Everything look so classic & elegant. No wonder it is said that thousands of people come here everyday; mainly to experience the relics of historic wealth. I now know why.

# Memang automatic dynasty-kinda-feeling tu ada bila nampak buildings di sini

# Tiba-tiba lah kan kedai dari kampong pun ada di sini

# Geng Uncle-uncle; membawang sambil berbisnes tepi jalan

We walked where our feet led us. And whenever we saw crowds. We walked through the small & big street, narrow lanes & alleys. We entered few of the shops but decided not to buy anything as yet. Baru first day, nafsu membeli masih berbelah bagi. 

Initially we planned to have our brunch here. According to my research, ada few shops with halal sign at this area. We went to one of the restaurant; flipped the menu booklet given...and eventually decided to leave upon seeing few menu yang meragukan. Ndak apa, tenaga dari breakfast roti di hotel masih ada. Moh ler kita menjelajah lagi Qianmen Street ini.

# Dashilar Street
The most ancient, famous & distinctive street in hutongs of Beijing. 

# Pengabadian kenangan katanye

# Authenticity
Tidak hilang ditelan zaman

# Cuci mata
Mostly souvenir pun memang sudah selalu jumpa di mana-mana, akibat selalu menghadap barang Made in China jak kan 

# Hutong 

# Banyak lagi yang boleh ditinjau di sini (mostly shopping)

Sudah agak-agak puas mengukur jalan di Qianmen, kami pun patah balik to where we started our journey this morning; the Qianmen Gate. Banyak lagi yang mau dijejak di Beijing ni. Esok sudah mau pi tempat lain pula so marilah pulun sebaiknya peluang yang ada. 

# Qianmen Gate Tower; highest tower gate in Beijing

Also known Zhengyangmen, it served as the South Gate of the capital city in Ming (1368 – 1644) and Qing (1644 – 907) dynasties, bearing a history of over 600 years. First built in 1419 in Ming Dynasty was said to be the Gate of the Nation. Qianmen was an entrance merely for imperial carriages. It was only opened when the emperor went for worshiping heaven in Temple of Heaven or during the emperor and empress's wedding. -wiki-

From Qianmen Gate, we followed the sign to Tiananmen Square; one of our highlight of must-visit place in Beijing. Aku ler tu yang taruk tempat ni dalam our must-must list tu. Si Jea menurut jaklah perjalanan yang aku atur. Tapi betul lah kan, ni salah satu landmark China. Alang-alang sudah sampai, haruslah menjejak.

# China Railway Museum
Seen from across the street on our way to Tiananmen Square from Qianmen Gate

And sebelum masuk dataran nan luas ni, kena ikut laluan underground untuk sesi scanning diri & your belongings. Sila bawa passport, sebab diorang akan check. Ni based on our experience 2016 haritu. Ndak tau lah valid ka masih di tahun 2019 ni. 

# Monument to People's Heroes
Located at the center of Tianmen Square; it is the largest monument in China's history. Eight unusually large relief sculptures show to the people the development of Chinese modern history. Two rows of white marble railings enclose the monument, simple and beautiful (source: here)

# National Museum of China

Note that yellow barriers; it continues throughout the square. Hence dari celah mana kau plan untuk masuk Tianmen Square ni, memang perlu pass through security check. 

And obviously we didn't enter the museum. Memang tiada dalam itinerary...and kalau pun ada, memang ndak lah aku 'berkari' mau go through the security check lagi. Queue satu hal, leceh mau scan beg bagai satu hal. Memang berhal-hal so marilah kita proceed pi ke arah Tianmen Tower. 

Dari kejauhan sudah nampak muka si Chairman Mao Zedong. Nasib bukan gambar dia melambai-lambai else harus kami rasa macam dialu-alukan lah sangat kedatangan kami. 

Cerita masuk Forbidden City aku continue next entry. Pening mengimbau route perjalanan (update lah lagi once in a blue moon, kan?!). Lagipun entri ni berjela-jela sudah, jari jemari perlu rehat. Gitu alasan si Bibie.

Until next entry, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim