It has been an adventurous fortnight for Trivia G here, especially in the vehicles department. Well, at least now I know that Bruce is capable of taking care of itself, whenever I am not around, and that it gets cranky (literally) when I do not drive it for more than a week!

Ok, back to Beijing. Today, lets go to the summer crib of emperors of the yore, and see a bridge with many lions...

But first, let me introduce you to Beijing's infamous traffic...I spent alot of time in the bus, to the extent that I managed to master a game on my mobile phone, during the 7 short days I was touring...

A lakeside view of the Summer Palace. The cool breeze of the lake was a welcomed reprieve from the sweltering Beijing heat. It is a HUGE structure, and it spans the lake, the palace on top of the hill, and some more gardens to the left of the lake (picture below)!!

and this....

The Nanjing Bridge where the Nanjing Massacre took place. I guess they did not know how to build draw bridges, as the enemy used this bridge to enter into Beijing and (I think) conquer it. It is also known as the Marco Polo Bridge, because....the famous explorer rode his horse through here and deigns the scenery of the bridge to be the most beautiful he has seen...Each of the lions/mythical-creatures-that-look-like-lions here are different from one another. K the tour leader asked us to count the number of lions, and answers ranged in the 100's. It was kinda fun seeing the Uncles in my group trying to count the lions - one needs to walk the bridge twice because there are lions on both sides, and its kinda confusing to try to count both sides at once...

....And here's the scene.... err.. yes, it is a bridge across a field.... because the river that used to flow through it ceased to do so because of a dam upstream....Still a sight to behold, no?

The path on the bridge itself was re-surfaced, leaving a small part in the middle of the bridge which is made of the original stones - it was well-worn and very uneven to walk on, unless you really want to sprain your ankle(s)!

Linguistic Clash

As one observes from TG's profile, she cannot speak, write, or comprehend Mandarin. Bad, bad goddess, as that language is actually supposedly her mother tongue. Technically though, the Chinese come from various dialect groups, and I am a Hokkien - Sin-Neng hybrid. I usually simplify matters by telling people I am Hokkien, as Sin-Neng is an obscure dialect group. I can understand Sin-Neng abit (hah! take THAT you Mandarin-spewing peeps!!), and have the comprehension and vocabulary of a 7-year-old in the Hokkien dialect - enough to order food, ask to be fed... what more could a goddess ask for??

Anyway, I digress, after HPAIR, I was supposed to join a tour of Beijing-Tianjin-Chengdu with a tour group from my hometown. The tour leader (K) asked me to meet them at the Temple of Heaven, which was 20 mins away from the hotel. Hence, I made my way there, anticipating lots of knowledge and fun for the next 7 days.

I met them at the pearl shop at the Temple of Heaven - an anti-climax if there was every any, as what I saw was oysters with pearls, and lots and lots of pearl-based-girl decos. This goddess is not into pearls, and her significant other has often-times sighed a big sigh of relief because of that - s0, dont go telling me that 'oh, girls must like jewelry one maaaaa!!"

The Temple of Heaven - apparently a place where the Emperors of China came to pray for good harvests, etc etc. Also a place filled with local and non-local tourists.

Me infront of the structure that was supposed to symbolise the 4 seasons, no. of elements, and how many lunar cycles etc etc - all apparently matches the no. of pillars and levels there are in the structure.

The reason for this pathetic knowledge of what I was visiting? Well, my friends, from today onwards, my knowledge of China will be transmitted 2nd hand - by K, while the Tour Guide (got difference one, you know!!) babbles on in Mandarin (re: first paragraph of this blog). K can only do this while she is not busy hearding the 31 other people who are in my travel group, and when she is not busy making calls to the next accomodation or destinations to make arrangements.

So, out of boredom, I made it my mission to take pictures of the places from un-common angles - like the one above - I think it is from a bunch of stairs - yes there are more stairs. And is it me, or did they paint all these temples/palaces the same shade of red, blue, gold, green, and white?? By this time, it was getting really, really hot, and thankfully, the tour ended, and all of us gathered at a park of some kind. Watched some people play a version of badminton/tennis which a racquet that had a shortened handle and a rubber ball - it was so graceful, and seemed to defy the laws of physics, and also something that South Malaysians will know was Chap-teh - a shuttle-cock-like thing that one kicks with ones leg.

After that, we went to, what I was told, was supposed to be a special lunch. It was..... Peiking Duck.... AGAIN for me!! Oh well, I ate some, but I guess the jaded feeling for this duck is slowing seeping in.

We went to see pandas after that. Australia -Kangaroos, China - Pandas - natually. First we only got a$$ shots of those shy animals - which would be sufficient, but then, disaster struck.

We followed the other people there to another enclosure where a panda can be seen close-up. And yes we did. I think the panda is cute, and HUGE. Reminds me of a certain someone ;-) HOWEVER, can you see the thing he is playing with???

It is a plastic mineral water bottle!!! Stupid tourists threw that in, so that he will come nearer to the fences where we were, so that they can take a better picture of it. WEI!!! GO DOWNLOAD A PICTURE OF THEM FROM THE INTERNET LA!!! THEY ARE ALMOST EXTINCT, YOU KNOW, AND YOU WANNA HURT THEM WITH YOUR MAN-MADE ECOLOGICALLY-UNFRIENDLY THINGS??? As this picture is being taken, another tourist has thrown in another bottle as this one was tearing to bits. I really hope that panda does not get hurt playing with these dangerous objects - would you let a child play with this bottle???!!