China Day 1 - Forbidden City, Beijing

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

12 January 2016

Beijing, China

So from Tiananmen Square (story here), we walked to Forbidden City; which houses the Palace Museum. This place has always been on the top in my must-visit list. Sebab dulu-dulu before all the K-Drama craze, C-Drama was the big deal. Well, for me at least. Memang hantu drama & movie Cina. Nasiblah ndak terjebak C-Pop bagai.

Alhamdulillah Allah bagi peluang menjejak. Once only in my dream...and now, berdiri seketul Err di tengah-tengah city ni. Bersyukur sangat banyak benda yang aku mau, Allah makbulkan. Aku jak yang selalu kufur nikmat. Tetttt!

Sila lah baca sejarah Forbidden City ni. Memang menarik & wow sangat. Kami yang dalam tu pun memang gigih mengukur kawasan. Just imagine, dalam 'city' ni jak sudah ada 988 surviving buildings with 8,886 rooms! Tahniah paling ulung untuk inang-inang  & guards di zaman tu. You have my ultimate respect. Hands down.

"Once served as the imperial palace for 24 emperors during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 - 1911). It was first built throughout 14 years during the reign of Emperor Chengzu in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Ancient Chinese Astronomers believed that the Purple Star (Polaris) was in the center of heaven and the Heavenly Emperor lived in the Purple Palace. The Palace for the emperor on earth was so called the Purple City. It was forbidden to enter without special permission of the emperor. Hence its name 'The Purple Forbidden City', usually 'The Forbidden City'." (source here)

# View of the Tiananmen Gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace) from Tiananmen Square

# One for the album
Tetaplah tertempek muka Mao di situ kan

# The back view of the Heavenly Peace Gate

# Fascinated we are with the huge door; the nine-by-nine array of golden door nails
For your information, all gates in Forbidden City are decorated with this door except for East Glorious Gate

# Meridian Gate; the front entrance to the palace comes with two protruding wings

# Entrance ticket sold at one of the wings of the Meridian Gate
40 Yuan per pax (datang berdua, tiket tetap satu. Jimat kertas katanye)

# Try test GoPro

Tapi memang sejenis failed-benda-high-tech so after few shots, bersemadilah dia dalam bag. Letih oii adjust remote control bagai. 

Actually mau tunjuk kami berdiri atas jambatan; di bawah tu sepatutnya mengalir Inner Golden Water river tapi kami kan datang winter...so sungai adalah kering. Sungai ni merentas dataran besar Forbidden City & could be seen once masuk via the golden nails door tu.

# Ber-background-kan Gate of Supreme Harmony; the focus of the palace complex

# Percubaan Jea untuk dapat angle apa ntah; aku pun ndak mampu mentafsir
Yang pasti, berketul-ketul 'muscles' si Err diinterpretasi dalam gambar. Sobs

# Truly am grateful (hence the pose?)

# Ceremonial ramp, featuring symbolic bas-relief

# The colors & decorations are somehow similar to those palaces in my kampong. Eh?

# During Ming Dynasty, Emperors held morning court & accepted memorials from officials at this place

# As the first & main hall, this hall is also known as Hall of Golden Chimes.

# The symbolic cistern in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony

# 1 of the 18 vats inlaid with gold

# On the right side is the Hall of Military Eminence

# View of the Hall of Central Harmony from the square; yang belakang tu Hall of Union

This place is massive. Huge! Rasa sudah lama dalam ni yet seems like we had only covered quarter of it. Banyak benda sejarah dihadam, tapi haruslah masa tu jak aku ingat. Mau mengarang entry ni, ke google lah aku mencari info. Ngeh~

# The three-tiered white marbles terrace rises from the Supreme Harmony Square

Like seriously lah, memang ndak dapat imagine how life is like back in the days. Dalam Forbidden City ni jak sudah seluas alam (lenguh kaki mengukur jalan), imagine Beijing itself. 

# One of the relic in the Imperial Garden; the Incense Burner

I think I did take picture of the pavilions (4 of them but I only saw 2) in this garden but can't found any of it in my hard disc. Ntah di mana-mana jaklah kau saved all those pictures kan Bie.

# The gate to the Imperial Garden

Anyway, Imperial Garden ni is a private retreat area for the imperial family. 

# Gate of Heavenly Purity 

This is the gate to one of the three halls in Inner Court. The Emperors lived here. Note that back in the days, Emperor & Empress (Palace of Earthly Tranquility) lived in a separate building. They only 'met' in the Hall of Union (located between) during certain period which was determined by the palace. Boleh tahan complicated jugalah life diorang ni hatta kau seorang Maharaja. Tabahlah demi takhta. We didn't enter these three halls as we're just too tired (and hungry) to tour around. Perut sudah start mau ber-konsert.

# The northern gate of the palace; Gate of Divine Might
We exited via this gate. This is the back gate of the palace; used by the palace workers. Women being sent to the palace for selection of concubines entered the palace via this gate as well.

# Nun di atas itu pavilions at Jingshan Park

Naik atas tu, boleh nampak full view of Forbidden City (from Wanchun Pavilion; at the central hill). Kalau datang bulan May, bolehlah layan bunga-bungaan atas tu. 

Ikut initial plan memang mau menapak naik atas tu. Dulu kala pernah jadi imperial garden for the royal family. Tapi sebab perut sudah berdentam-dentum pesta muda mudi, terpaksalah let go plan. Walau haritu ada baca dalam blog si Syieda; boleh jak naik bas untuk sampai atas. Bila kau lapar, bas yang parking depan mata pun harus kau ndak nampak. Apa lagi usaha untuk cari bus stop. Hentikanlah niat untuk berpavi-pavi bagai sebelum penyakit lain datang. 

# Northwest tower & moat...and frozen river

# Kanan tu penghujung Forbidden City, and kiri tu aku ndak tau lah area apa

Dua wanita jelita gigih menapak to the nearest subway station. Cadang untuk cari makan area hotel sebab DJ bagitau halal restoran is just 2 door away from the hotel. Masa ni memang subway station tu misi teratas tau. 

So berjalan lah dua ketul ni menyusuri tepi frozen river. Sambil layan view & sempat lah aku layan feeling melankoli sebab view gini memang favorite. Gitu kepoyoan aku kan. Ndak sedar si Jea kebekuan sejuk sudah di sebelah kau kan Bie.

Anyway, cerita makan pertama di Beijing akan disambung next entry. Alhamdulillah berjaya juga habiskan entry Forbidden City ni. Wish list eventually ticked off. Ndak sangka akan menjejak. Thank You, Allah.

Insha Allah, aku plan untuk datang Beijing lagi (tapi ntahlah bila). And this place memang akan repeat. Banyak lagi area kami ndak habis explore haritu. Next time datang, memang akan isi perut siap-siap. Or bawa bekal. 

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

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

China Day 1 - Beijing Capital International Airport

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

Finally roh Rajin merasuk diri lagi. Syukur! Barulah ada mood mau update cerita pasal China trip yang sudah 3 tahun lamanya itu. Bertabahlah mesin processor didera untuk mengimbau segala cerita. 

Plan mau explore China ni memang sudah lama bermain dalam fikiran. So bila si Jea bentang idea to explore the country together, bagai pucuk dicita ulam mendatang lah si Bibie. I immediately agreed. Sebelum ni cuma 'bertentang komen' di alam maya, this time akan mengembara China bersama for two weeks. Percubaan meracun Jea untuk suka winter, alang-alang dia memang mau pi oversea during her birthday.

Segala urusan beli tiket (flight, train etc etc) or booking accomodation discussed via whatsapp jak. As well as the itinerary. Since aimed aku mau jejak Beijing & Harbin, therefore aku kena study & plan itinerary for that route. While Jea planned for Zhangjiajie & Fenghuang. Xi'an & Changsa adalah bonus route for us both. Win-win sebab aku ada tempat mau tuju di Xi'an & si Jea memang mau balik Malaysia via Changsa (penangan Lay EXO chenta hati).

# Summary trip Ni Hao 2016 kami
Curi gambar ni from Jea's blog because I was just too lazy to make a new map, alang-alang dia sudah buat so kita pinjamlah (minta dihalalkan eh)

12 January 2016

Beijing International Airport

Flight from KLIA2 departed on time (11 Jan 2016). Sempatlah lepak ngan si Nily (penasihat utama aku untuk trip China ni; Kak Long kawasan dia ni) before departure. Kutip boots sekali. Original UGG yang sudah jadi bahan waris si Err. Terima kasih daun keladi Nily, sangat-sangat jadi penyelamat aku masa kat China haritu. Ucapan delay bertahun-tahun kaedahnya kan.

According to the information details on my pictures, we arrived Beijing Capital International Airport at around 1-ish in the morning (next day).  6 hours plus jugalah dalam flight. There is no time difference between Beijing & Kuala Lumpur so tiadalah kejadian jetlag bagai.

Didn't order nor buy any meal on board sebab preferred layan mata. Lagipun sudah melantak before departing. Haruslah tidur lagi afdal.

# In front of the arrival hall
No one with our names on cardboard waiting for us so marilah terus menuju waiting area

# Meet my travel partner
First time jumpa masa trip ni lah

# Beijing Airport selengang alam
Sampai pun sudah jam 1am kan, jadinya airport tu memang kami yang punya

Sebabnya kami memang ndak sempat untuk naik airport express train to downtown Beijing (last train is at 22:52 from T3 & 23:10 from T2), makanya kenalah stay overnight di airport. Luckily boleh bermalam di BCIA ni else terpaksa kami cari hotel berdekatan airport. 

As usual, aku extra excited sampai tempat baru. Lepas jumpa port yang ok sikit untuk melepak, kami bergilir pi toilet. Yang si Jea sudah ready untuk beradu, yang aku pula mata sudah bersilau-silau mau explore area airport. So I left Jea with our bags after kami dua melantak Maggi. Untunglah ada hot water dispenser provided (saiz super bagak ok!). Not only do they provide hot water; they also provide cold, iced & purified water. Clapping hands for BCIA.

# Memang lah franchise nan satu ni; macam seluruh pelusuk Asian wujud

# Sebab winter, and ndak mau cari pasal...aku stay dalam airport jak. Keluar kalu, panjang lagi langkah aku kang

# Anganan untuk lepak di Starbucks (sebab memang kan poyo perangai ado-ado kalau travel). Tapi cancelled sebab diorang tengah prepare untuk close store masa aku sampai tu

# Elok si Jea layan mata di kerusi sebelah. Luckily tiada arm rest between chairs so bolehlah baring kuak lentang conquer the whole row

Lepas menjelajah lebih kurang area Terminal 2, aku kembali ke 'lubuk sementara' kami. Ada wifi free di airport so I spent time surfing the internet. Untung ikut nasihat si Hang Dhamin; installed few VPN apps siap-siap di Malaysia sebelum penyesalan tiada berguna once landed China. Sila google apa itu VPN, am too lazy to explain. Gituuu! 

Kalau aku ndak silap, ada juga aku terlelap di kerusi tapi takat tidur-tidur ayam jaklah. Rimas sebenarnya sebab aku belum mandi seharian. Dari pagi sudah berterbangan dari KK pi KL, then sambung pi Beijing pula. Tabahlah, demi keriangan travel berganda katanye.

# Beijing extensive subway map
Sebab sudah biasa subway di kampong ku Seoul, aku cool jak bila nampak peta yang berselirat gini

We woke up an hour before the first train departure time (06:22 from T3 & 06:35 from T2). Siap-siap me-refresh-kan diri. Sempat juga buat minuman 3in1 sebelum gerak pi train platform.

# Fyi, boarding sites adalah di level -2F
Yup you read it right. -2 it is; underground ke bawah-bawah

Macam biasa kalau di China, semua haruslah go through security check. Bag kena scan everytime mau masuk train station. Aku kelam kelibut sikit pagi tu jadinya ndak lah sempat ambil gambar. I was in the 'adjusting phase' with Beijing katanye.

Before boarding the train, we bought the Yikatong card from the counter. Thanks Merengmate for information you shared (gigih share gambar kad bagai). Boleh baca lanjut about this transportation card; here. 

# Queuing for the train
Terima kasih for acknowledging what queueing up is

# Sabar tunggu pintu train buka; and letting people going out from the train

# Yikatong Card ku yang sudah pudar
This card requires 20CNY refundable deposit. I didn't return mine because I intended to keep it hence I don't get my deposit back. Considering we have 2 days to explore Beijing before we depart for Harbin, we reloaded the card with just 50CNY

# Tu dia semangkit si Jea mau cepat sampai platform for subway train

Dari BCIA, kami naik Airport Express sampai Dongzhimen Station. Then from there, we took the subway on Line 2 (dark blue) to Chaoyangmen Station. Later boarded the subway on Line 6 (orange) to Dongsi Station. Sound complicated ain't it? Sebenarnya easy peasy jak tapi kalau explain in words memang jadi berjela-jela. Ngek. 

BCIA ---> Dongzhimen Station (Line 2) ---> Chaoyangmen Station (Line 6) ---> Dongsi Station

We stayed at the hotel yang pernah si DJ & En Mie tinggal juga. Memang mudah kerja aku masa draft itinerary. Murah hati si DJ share itinerary trip Beijing dia...also email dari En Mie (map to hotel & other useful maps as well). Terima kasih banyak-banyak, hanya Allah yang layak balas jasa baik korang.

# Subway train lengang lagi sebab masih awal

Sampai Dongsi Station, maka bermula lah penggembaraan kami berdua mengukur bumi Beijing. Journey from the airport tu baru 'intro'. Cerita yang sebenar started once sudah menjejak downtown. 

Berbekalkan direction dari DJ & map dari En.Mie; maka dua ketul wanita comel pun menyelusuri jalan Dongsi Street mencari hotel. 

Dalam sejuk bedi, sambil pikul anak gajah yang boleh tahan berat, perut yang sudah start berkonsert, badan penat sebab sehari semalam belum dapat proper rest...pastu angin winter yang mengigit kulit lagi. Tabahlah Jea melayan perangai Princess Elsa aku di awal pagi tu. Mau sangat sejuk kan, telan lah. Suka sangat winter kan, hadap lah. 

So, did we find the hotel? That I will continue later. Ni mukadimah jak, demi meraihkan roh Rajin yang datang semula. Harap kali ni kekal lama sikit dalam sistem. Ahaks.

Till next entry, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim