Malaysia – Penang; Visit to Kek Lok Si Temple (3)

December 16, 2013 by Just A Simple Guy

Glad that you are still with me. From the Air Hitam wet market, to get up to the Kek Lok Si Temple, there is a path way of steps which you will pass through small little stalls where you can buy local stuffs and also souvenirs. Since I was there really early (about 9am+), most of the stalls are still close.(mmmm .. I guess it was also a public holiday too. =P )

Walkway up….. with stalls still close (too early). Later in the day, there will be lots of visitors and also the worshipers who will come here.

Walking through the path, I saw a side entrance to a school which I did not even realized it until then. Guess it is one of the lower primary that cater for the children staying in that area.

A hand made sign board to lead you to the Kek Lok Si Temple. So, do not worry. You will not get lose here. =)

Another hand made sign out of partial carton box. Guess it says it all. Wonder which agency will enforce it? LOL!!

As you approach near the entrance of the temple, you will see a man made pond where it is filled with lot of black tortoises where you can buy some vegetable from the stalls nearby to feed them. Black tortoise or black turtle is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations and in China, they were thought to be spiritual creatures symbolizing longevity. Yup, some of them I believe would have lived close to 100 years old in the pond.

This is the entrance from the pathway (there is another way up to the Kek Lok Si temple which is by car but why waste the beautiful view when you can walk up) to the temple where you will be greeted by a small pagoda.

Another shop from the base of the temple looking up at the pagoda.

Interesting? If yes, then follow me on my next post on Kek Lok Si Temple. =)

China – Beijing, a walk back in History (8)

June 27, 2013 by Just A Simple Guy

My last stopped in Beijing trip was to Tianjin. Tianjin is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It is governed as one of the four direct-controlled municipalities of the PRC, and is thus under direct administration of the central government.

Its name means ‘the place where the emperor crossed the river’ and it is the fourth largest in China, after Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou.

After lunch, we stopped at the Tianjin’s Shenyang Road Antique Market. With more than 400 merchants peddling their often fake but handsome wares, Shenyang Dao is the perfect place to pick up tasteful decorative items such as ceramics, furniture, clocks, watches, calligraphy materials, and handicrafts molded out of precious metals. For me, capturing the building and see the people there in action was my main goal.

Colourful old style shops.

This merchant making decoration out of sweet candy.

..this one, he was making dragons out from strings.

Nice old bicycle on the walkway.

Another shot.

This shop was selling all the Chinese swords and daggers

This alley filled with the small time merchants trying to sell their items and antiques.

A shot of a row of motorbikes.

My last shot in Tianjin….

Hope you enjoyed a brief walk back in history of Beijing, China.

China – Beijing, a walk back in History (7) .. and also my 200th Posting in my blog since Nov 2012

June 25, 2013 by Just A Simple Guy

The next morning in Chengde, Hebei and on the way back to Beijing. Beautiful view of the bare trees on the side of the road.

Arriving back in the evening, we passed the modern part of Beijing; high rise offices and buildings.

We could still see lots of people cycling on the inner roads specially built for the cyclist.

…and the outer roads.. jam packed with cars and buses.

Later we headed to Wangfujing, located in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is one of the Chinese capital’s most famous shopping streets. Majority of the main shopping area is pedestrianised and is very popular for shopping for both tourists and residents of the capital.

Wangfujing Snack Street, located in hutongs just west of the main street, densely packed with restaurants and street food stalls. The food stalls serves a wide variety of common and exotic street food. Dare to try?

Follow me on my last posting on Beijing and see where the the last place I dropped by before heading back. 😊

China – Beijing, a walk back in History (6)

June 24, 2013 by Just A Simple Guy

Heading to Chengde city , Hebei province after coming from Putuo ZongCheng Temple.

Had the chance to walk around the city in the evening to see how the locals there lived and also the buildings and alleys.

Fruits displayed openly on the side walk.

.. and also food too.

This was the view of one of the alleys in the evening market where locals doing their marketing.

Their local food of which I do not even know what they are.

One of the restaurant along the street in Chengde.

In 1703, Chengde was chosen by the Kangxi Emperor as the location for his summer residence. The Mountain Resort in Chengde was used by both the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors. The site is currently an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The resort is a large complex of imperial palaces and gardens situated in the city. Because of its vast and rich collection of Chinese landscapes and architecture, the Resort is a culmination of all the variety of gardens, pagodas, temples and palaces from various regions of China.

This is the table of the Chinese Emperor in China and their family.

Beautiful frozen lake with a gondola at the side.

The big garden but bare during end of winter.

Want more? If yes, then stay tune for more.

China – Beijing, a walk back in History (4)

June 21, 2013 by Just A Simple Guy

After visiting the Great Wall, another place that we visited was the Beijing’s Hutong.

What are Hutongs? Actually they are a type of narrow streets or alleys; formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. The best way to get around and to see was on trishaw.

Just look the the row of trishaws waiting for customers or more like tourist like me….

One of the residence in the Hutong area

Yup… a row of trishaw bringing tourist around the Hutong area…. going through the small alleys passing along a river .

What a sight!!

Mini red fire engine that I saw in the Hutong area.

More trishaws….

Moving on… we stopped at southeastern corner tower of the city wall where it was built during the Ming & Qing Dynasty. What’s left was the remnants of the southern section of the Inner City wall near the Southeast Corner.

Stay tune for more……

China – Beijing, a walk back into History (1)

June 17, 2013 by Just A Simple Guy

Welcome back!! This is my 4th write up on China. This is on my visit to Beijing way back in Mar 2006.(You can read my earlier posting; Suzhou, Shenzhen and also to Shanghai)

In fact, this was actually my first visit to China; more than 7 years ago which was 2 years before the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games. Yes… Beijing at that time was rushing to get ready for the games and the city was busy with construction everywhere and was messy.

When I touched down in Beijing, it was just right at the ending of winter and beginning of spring so the temperature was still a bit cold (eeer.. more like erratic. LOL!! The guide told us that it was due to the wind blowing the coldness from Siberia) To tell you the truth, I did not know what to expect as I only heard stories from friends and read about China from newspaper and books but not see it with my own eyes.

First glances was,… mmm how do you say it… it was dull colour and not so bright looking. Maybe it was due to the building colours unlike in other countries where it is more lighted up or modern or upbeat. Maybe could also due to the cloud and also the time (ending winter). =)

Anyway, this was my first impression as soon as we started going around Beijing city.

Our first stop was at the Temple of Heaven or some people say it as the Altar of Heaven; is a complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties would visit the complex for annually for ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest.

This is the entrance to the complex of Temple of Heaven which covers about 2.73km² of parkland. It comprises of three main group of construction; The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, The Imperial Vault of Heaven and The Circular Mound Altar.

This is the Circular Mound Altar where the Emperor prayed for favorable weather.

… this is the Imperial Vault of Heaven which is a single-gabled circular building, built on a single level of marble stone base. Surrounded by a smooth circular wall, the Echo Wall, that can transmit sounds over large distances.

Outside the ground of the temple, we walked passed some of the flats.

Where’s next destination in Beijing? Yup.. as you guessed it; The Forbidden City. It sits in the central Beijing facing Tiananmen Square and has been designated as a National Palace Museum and its counted as one of the world’s five Palaces (the Forbidden City in Beijing, the French Palace of Versailles, Buckingham Palace, the White House and Kremlin). The palace of the Forbidden City is China ‘s largest and most significant ancient architectural complex with a total area of over 720 thousand square meters.

We entered the city from the northern entrance; The Gate of Divine Might, and heads towards the southern gate; Meridian Gate.

A brief summary of the history of the Palace Museum.

More to come….

P.S I will not tell too much or bore you on the history as there is so much here in Beijing to tell or write and some are very interesting. I will just share the photos while you can enjoy the reading of the history at your own pace. =)

China – Shanghai with a View (8)

March 1, 2013 by Just A Simple Guy

My last post on my Shanghai, China trip.

Walking along Nanjing Road, heading from the West end to the East end, it was to the busiest part of the street filled lots and lots of giant shopping mall and a pedestrian mall.

…. nice colonial building and also the amount of people there is incredible!!