Lost in China

It’s not only a lake. It’s also places for hang out, gathering and dinner on a boat.

Located on the northern of Forbidden City, you can ask the taxi driver to go here just by saying "HouHai". I never realize that this place is so big until last weekend me, Andam and Fitrix had a visit. It’s a place for hang out indeed.

You will find (western style) cafes along the lake (including Starbucks, I have to mention it hehehe…) and a lake with small boats (you can have a dinner on a boat). I think none of them has a Chinese cultural background for their entertainment package, except a live Chinese pop songs. So many expats at the area, just like the Sanlitun Area in a bigger scale with a lake inside. Well, all I can say that: this place is not for Chinese culture. It’s for me (and you) to hang out.

Just outside this lake area, you also can find the "HuTong", a Chinese traditional  housing area. The HuTong people always try to survive against the modernism. From the latest magazine,  I found out that all HuTong area in BeiJing will be demolished and replaced with high buildings for apartmentsas the preparation for Summer Olympic 2008. Pro and contra always comes up from the residents.

I’m wondering is there any lake in Jakarta that can be plotted just like this HouHai Lake entertainment area…??? Eh…

This is the place if you’re looking for the beautiful landscape of Chinese temple. Make sure that you have a best weather of the day.

One of my best visit beside the Forbidden City (the history) and Simatai Great Wall (the landscape & the challenge). Temple of Heaven is truly a must visit if you’re in BeiJing.

Located just southern of Wang Fujing Street, about two or three km to the north gate of this temple. The ticket is 35 RMB for "through ticket", the ticket that allowed you to enter the main gate, the Circular of Mounds and the Temple of Heaven itself. In my opinion this is the place that I always want to take pictures and still want to. Specially when you have a bright blue sky. Magnificent.

photo by: edwin 

Built first in 1420 during the Ming Emperor Yongle’s reign, it was expanded and renovated during the Ming Emperor Jiajing’s (1522-1566) and Qing Emperor Qianlong’s (1736-1795) reigns. The Temple of Heaven is a magnificent masterpiece of architecture in a solemn environment. Since the founding of New China, the government has allotted major resources to protect and restore the cultural monuments here. The Temple of Heaven with its long history, deep cultural significance and magnificent architectural style mirrors the ancient culture of the China.

Today (Friday September 15, 2006) me and Fitrix did the Friday pray (sholat Jum’at) at NiuJie Masjid, Beijing. Located southern part of Beijing, near the Temple of Heaven to the west direction.

We (me, Andam and Fitrix) arrived at 11.40am and found out that Friday pray at this masjid started at 1.30pm. Well, at least we still had two hours and we decided to take a lunch first at moslem restaurant around masjid. On the way to the restaurant we found one big moslem Supermarket: NiuJie Moslem Supermarket. That’s brilliant…!!! Looks like this area is a moslem area, so many people with XinJiang faces, people from middle east and also so many moslem restaurant.

While we wait for our orders at the restaurant,  someone waving at me. From his face I could tell that maybe he’s from South East Asia (Indonesia/Malaysia/Brunei). I bet he think the same way that I think, that’s why he waved at me. Mmhhh…brothers…

The masjid is a mixture of Islamic and Chinese cultures. The outside shows the Chinese influence while the inside decoration is rich in Islamic flavour. Founded in 996 during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the masjid was rebuilt in 1442 in the Ming Dynasty and expanded in 1696 under the Qing Dynasty. It consists of an observation tower, prayer hall, and minaret with a pavilion on each side. The observation tower is just behind the entrance. It was built and originally used for astronomical observations needed for drawing up the Islamic calendar. The hexagonal wooden structure is also Chinese outside but Islamic inside, with Arabic designs on the ceiling and the beams.

At masjid, we found so many different faces: Chinese (including XinJiang faces), middle east, western and South East Asian. All together doing the same thing, praying. I’t been a long-long time since I arrived in BeiJing, I finally found the big moslem community. And guess what, we met other Indonesian people also at that masjid.

Next Friday, I will be on a flight back to Jakarta.

That’s it. I’s my one and only chance to do Friday pray at this magnificent masjid. I hoped I can do Tarawih in BeiJing, but maybe Allah wants me to go back to Jakarta, to face the Ramadhan together with my little happy family.

I feel a bit daunted to post something on this blog recently. Since this blog became a reference for Asia Travel weblog a couple months ago, i think i need to be careful about the ‘quality’ of the posting. So much for a reason that i’m a woman, sometimes i feel i only write about my feelings and not really ’something’, you know. Often i neglect about the grammar and spelling, who cares??…i’m not a native english speaker, so what the heck?? as long as you understand what i mean…that wouldn’t be a problem, am i right?

So back to the story, a week ago, we went to an old mosque in Beijing, the name is Niujie Mosque. Located in southern part of Tian an’men square, the mosque has been there since 900 A.D at the age the Song Dynasty and was rebuilt in 1442 during Ming Dynasty and expanded in 1696 under Qing Dynasty. The architecture of the mosque is a mixture of Islamic and Chinese cultures. Just like any other Chinese construction, the mosque also has a wooden rooftop complete with typical Chinese reliefs but the difference lies on its pattern which can be flowers, clouds or abstract shape and not usual Chinese reliefs, dragon and phoenix. The construction itself consists of several separated buildings or pavillions: the worshipping hall, the calling tower, meeting hall and pavillions at each side and in the backyard, we can see two tombs of Imams, 2 muslims who came from Middle east and preached in the mosque. 

So, this Friday, edwin and fitrix gave a time to do Jum’ah Pray in the mosque. When the time approaching 13.30, many people pouring into the mosque, people from different races and nationalities, Chinese, African, South East Asia like Indonesia, Brunei, Middle East and etc…all mingled up into one harmony. A different atmosphere…though we have significant physical differences, like eyes, skin color, hair and we speak different languanges  but i can feel there’s a bond binding us…that we are all muslims and thus we’re all brothers.   

Gosh, how can I forget to write the story about this place…???

Sanlitun is located near the embassy area, close to Dongzhimen Street, Beijing. This area famous by the mall and bars along the street. For me,  a mall is a mall, nothing special (hehehe…sorry…) but  I love the bars located along the street. You can find a crowd night life at those bars, specially on the weekend.

You can find many expats at the area, perhaps because it’s near the embassy area, near many four star hotels and it’s located between ring road #2 and #3. I’ve been there, but to be honest I haven’t enjoy the night at those bar yet. Hey, how ’bout this weekend…??? Let’s see then.

I thought I still have more than 30 nights in Beijing, but looks like I have to go home early ("question marks" icon: on).

I should knew this two months ago, when this link came up on the "incoming links" tags.

Today I just found out that one person read our story about Indonesia food in Beijing through that link. That’s mean our story has became the reference for Asia Travel weblog. Isn’t it great…hehehe…

Simatai Great Wall is -I believe- the most magnificent Chinese heritage that I’ve ever visited. Located just about 3 hours driving from Beijing to the northeast direction, Simatai trully is a must place to be visited. You have to concern your fitness if you want to go there because you’ll find a lot of high hills. And don’t forget to check the weather, make sure that you’ll find a perfect blue sky.

photo by edwin 

It’ll take about two to three hours to climb, it depend on how fast you walk and how long you’ll take pictures (’puke mode’: on). On the other hand you can take the cable car and then walk from the cable car station to the tower #8 (still have to climb). I prefer to walk, taking pictures and enjoy the beautiful scene of northeast China. I can’t even describe how beautiful it is through the words, nor the pictures , nor the video cam. It’s an incredible & spectacular scene.

Different with Badaling, this Simatai is less (I mean really less) crowd, perhaps because of the -quite far- distance from Beijing and the steep tracks of it. In Badaling you’ll find a lot of people, so crowd that you can’t even take perfect pictures (’grin mode’: on). Simatai is a perfect place to take pictures with a beautiful scenery and with Great Wall background.

Again, if you want to go to Beijing make sure that you put this Simatai Great Wall on your itinerary.

I’m too lazy to post these stories. You can search all the history of these sites on the internet, free and you’ll find a lot more information. Or maybe Fitrix can help me to tell these stories…?

We visited Forbidden City long time ago, just about a week after me and Suryadi arrived in China. It’s in Labor Day holidays, a week holiday for the Chinese people. So you can imagine how’s the crowd at that time, people came from all around the China and it’s summer already. We walked for a half day and yet there’s still some places that we’re not visited. It’s a huge complex. If you’re really interesting with the history, maybe you’ll need more than one day. The first two gates are free. Starting the third gate you have to pay 60 RMB, then you’ll free to walk inside. The first gate is the special one, once you climb it (with 15 RMB), you’ll face the Tian’anmen Square to the south. As you know, Tian’anmen is the historical place for China reformation. I won’t tell this story, in fact I think no body in China want to tell this story. Dunno. So, back to the Forbidden City. You’ll find the audio tour guide, but I think it won’t help much. You’ll still need a tour guide to walk with you, not just an audio guide.

Almost forget. The China President’ office is located next to the Forbidden City, to the west part. And the Tian’anmen Square is located just across the Forbidden City.

I’m starting to hate visiting tourist spots in summer. It was crowded and hot. First was the Forbidden City, then Great Wall Badaling and now the Summer Palace. Gosh, we’re walking for about 2,500 acres (around 1 hectare) in Summer Palace in a halfday hot sunny day, together with a bunch of people around the world.

Anyway, we met again with our tour guide from the HQ. A little bit late entering the site due to the traffic jam in Beijing, but we’re survived at the end of the tour. One spot we missed is an Imperial Garden. Maybe it’s still under renovation due to the Summer Olympic in 2008. We found the Marble boat, but we didn’t take the tour boat to across the lake. Strange excuse from our tour guide, dunno. The rest, we just walk along the side lake, climb the palace, watching performances, see the historical things and then visit the island at the center of the lake. You can find the whole historical stories from the internet, I’m too lazy to tell you the history.

Wang Fujing is the name of the street that you have to visit if you’re in Beijing. Located just about 1 km eastern Forbidden City, near the Beijing Hotel. Remember Beijing Hotel…? The one that our friend Wang said: "This is the place where Real Madrid players stayed during their visit in 2005".

If you want to search original Chinese things, this is the right place. This is the place just similar to Pasaraya or Plaza Senayan Jakarta. Eventhough Wang Fujing has a western landscape, this place indeed is a luxurious city symbol. You cannot say that you’re already stay in Beijing if you never visit this famous street.

Three months stay in Yanjiao, eastern part of Beijing. Three months we have Chinese food as our daily menu, and we miss Indonesian food already. Maybe HaiShi Hotel can give us that kind of food…??? hehehe… :p

Anyway, there is no Indonesian Restaurant in Yanjiao, we have to go to Beijing to get one. Well, it’s quite an easy thing to find Indonesian food in Beijing because there’s only one. And it’s not cheap also, indeed.

This Indonesian Restaurant, located in Chaoyang District near the embassy complex. Actually it’s not originally an Indonesian Restaurant, they called themself "Java & Yangon Restaurant". Yup it’s Indonesian and Myanmar cuisine.

And how about the taste…? Well, it’s good enough to heal our tongue and stomach’s need : ).

Long time ago, the chef was came from Indonesia so maybe you can still taste the originality of Indonesian food. But now, according to our friend’s information, they provide Indian chef. Well maybe because it’s belong to Indian people. Quite nice place to relax and enjoy our back home cuisine.