Gong Xi Fatt Chai

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:59:24 GMT

Going off for my Chinese New Year holidays for the next few days. Today is the last day of the lunar pig year and tomorrow over 1 billion Chinese over the world will welcome the new lunar rat year. Will come back with more food to blog about.

Road Changes on Jalan Bukit Bintang from 11th August 2007

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:30:45 GMT

This must be good news for SMART Tunnel Users, now when you come out to Jalan Imbi exit, ahead of you there are 2 choices; left lane to Jalan Raja Chulan and right lane to KLCC. Previously the split is in front of the Bkt Bintang junction so now this bottleneck will be removed.

By the way below is my video shot of SMART on the 1st night it started operation.

Video: SMART - Opening Day

Fragrance Hill 20051031

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 03:39:42 GMT

Fragrance Hill is situated at the western suburb of Beijing. The height of the hill is 557 meters above sea level. It was establish in 1186. early emperors of Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasty build their palaces and yards here. The entrance fees is RMB10 each person. There is a cable car facility (RMB30 single trip) to go to the peak of the hill but I choose to travel by foot, mainly because the car takes you to the west side of the hill but I want to venture east where the concentration of red leaf is thicker.

I started the journey with a visit to Bi Yun (Azure Clouds) Temple. This is a separate part of the hill park and you got to pay an extra RMB10 as entrance. There are temples for the Lord Buddha, Guan Yin, Ni Le Buddha and a Lo Han Hall. The view inside Lo Han Hall is spectacular with hundreds of 8 foot tall monk statues in the building. One can find a guardian angel among the monks by choosing a particular monk and start counting one by one up to the number of your age. There is also a rule of where a man has to start from the left hand side of the temple and a lady from the right hand side. At first it is rather spooky because the temple itself is slightly dark and you find yourself looked upon by the 8 foot statues.

Another surprise I had is the memorial of Mr Sun Yat Sin is situated inside Bi Yun (Azure Clouds) Temple. His body is buried underneath the statue itself. This is odd consider Mr Sun (and his wife Qing Ling) is a Christian himself.

While not wasting my time to explore the red leaf scenery of the park, I head east because this is the thickest area where red leafs can be seen. I took the rode to the Pagoda and further up to Yu Hua You, this is basically a place where people stop for snacks and water. One can either head up the hill or go east towards the east gate exit. Besides F&B, this place is full of ladybirds where many of them keep on bumping onto my face.

From there I manage to find the next destination toward east – Laing Fong Ting. This is also a crossroad for 3 different types of routes around the hill. Heading down the hill leads me to the historical route. Along the route I found ancient remains of yards and temple. Many of them most likely destroyed during the war with Anglo – French alliance as well as the Eight Allied Forces. One such remain is the original Fragrance Hill Temple.

From Fragrance Hill temple I can see from afar the red leaf on top of the hill. There is a rest place which I believe is Bai Song Ting, but it could also be the other rest place which name I am not able to pronounce now. One can rest at the rest place surrounded with red leafs but you must ready to travel up there with the hill route, it is not part of the main route made by concrete and stones.

Traveling further down I found myself in a beautiful lake – Jing Cui Lake. There is a rest place on the right side of the lake. Not far on top again are the red leafs welcoming the autumn season.

Satisfied already with the nice scenery I proceed toward the east gate exits. On the main route out I discover a nicely painted red color building form afar. Figuring it could be some place special I walked towards it. The red building is actually the Hall of Diligent Governance (Jing Qing Dian) used by Qing emperors are office during their stay at Fragrance Hill. It was destroyed in 1860 during a war and rebuilt on 2002 to its current states. This explains the newly painted look it got.

That concludes my tour here at Fragrance Hill. From the exit you can walk down the road where two sides is full of stores selling all kind of stuff. I bought some red leafs book marks and some China knots which I consider cheap considered to else where in Beijing. There is also a shop selling tea pots at RMB10 each but my already heavy luggage does not permit me to buy a few here.

It was a wonderfully journey to have especially ones comes to Beijing during autumn. It is one of the most beautiful scenery during the autumn season and with more than 90% covered by flora and fauna, it is a great escape from the polluted city life in down town Beijing.

Place to visit in Beijing

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 04:07:37 GMT

As I am almost to conclude my stay in Beijing, I been wondering what place to visit. Beijing is the capital of China, and in this city lives the stories of the imperial court as well as the ministers who governed the country. So I guess I would like to pay a visit to houses of famous people in Beijing namely Song Qing Ling, He Shen, and Ji Xiao Nan.

I will post the story of these people later in this blog...

Addresses

1. 恭王府 -- 也曾经是和绅的家 (Gong Wang Fu - He Shen's House)

海西街17号

2. 宋庆龄故居 (Song Qing Ling)

什刹海后海北沿46号

3. 纪晓岚故居 (Ji Xiao Nan)

前门外珠市口大街。

My Latest Travelling Plan

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 07:51:31 GMT

Beijing - KL 16 June

KL - Beijing 21 June

Beijing - KL 20 July

Patrick's Bites: Travel

Gong Xi Fatt Chai

Road Changes on Jalan Bukit Bintang from 11th August 2007

Fragrance Hill 20051031

Place to visit in Beijing

My Latest Travelling Plan