We arrived in Beijing at around 1:00am already. Our tour guide Amy was there with a banner with my mom and her friend’s name on it.
We were brought to the hotel, Taishun Business Hotel at once since everyone is tired and needs some rest for the day’s activities. Since we arrived at dawn, Amy was kind enough to offer that she will fetch us late and will go directly to Lunch so it’s okay not to have breakfast in the hotel and just sleep well.
She fetched us at 10:50am and went straight to our lunch buffet in a Chinese restaurant. Sorry I wasn’t able to ask what’s the name of the restaurant in English.
After lunch, we’re off to our scheduled activities/tour for the day.
Temple of Heaven
A place of worship. This is where the Emperor worships when he is asking something from the gods or heavens. The place is big but it’s just one temple inside.
Emperor’s Tea House
This is where the Emperor goes after he prays and offer gifts in the Temple of Heaven.
This is also where I bought the most expensive tea I ever had in my whole life. Hahaha! The famous Pru’er tea was sold there and claims to have a lot of health benefits that includes lowers cholesterol, lowers sugar for diabetics and even lowers uric acids.
The most famous tea from Yunnan is Puer. People collect puer tea for three main reasons, which include enjoyment of the tea, overall health benefits and the investment potential. It became popular outside of the traditional markets of Tibet and Mongolia, where for many years it was exchanged for horses, when it became sought after in Hong Kong for its health benefits, and for its mysterious quality of slow, natural fermentation, that causes it to improve with age.
Source: http://www.sevencups.com/about-tea/puer-tea/
With its benefits and fermentation process, it works like a wine. The longer stored, the better. So meaning, the older it gets, the higher the price!
They also demonstrated how to make tea and told us their benefits. To make the whole experience in the tea house short, in the end we bought their “package”. 1 pack of Pu’er Tea, a can of Lychee and Oolong tea plus a tea mug and pee-pee boy freebies.
I don’t know if we really had a good deal after the negotiations. Nevertheless, we should start drinking tea when we get back home.
Forbidden City
This is the highlight of the day. This is where the emperor lives together with his wives. The place is sooooo big! This is now called as Palace Museum since it is not a forbidden city anymore. The forbidden city is divided into 2 parts: The Outer Court where they do the ceremonies and then the Inner Court where the Emperor and his family lives.
Tianan Men Square
This for me is very similar to our Luneta Park. Hahaha! We went to the other side of the road thru an underground passage way. Nothing much to see here. Just like a simple park but very huge.
Acrobat Show in Theater
This is not included in our original itinerary but our tour guide was very kind to inform us about the shows in China. I should’ve watched the Kung Fu show but due to time constraints wasn’t able to. Well, next time then.
We watched the Acrobat Show: Myth Jinsha. The RMB 200 ticket is so worth it as you will be amazed with their talents!
The performance was consist of 10 acts:
- Rolling Hoops
- Power
- Playing Diabolo
- Playing Straw Hats
- Variable Face
- Soft Art
- Ball Skills
- Through Hoops on Ground
- Dance Meteors
- Flying on the Big Ball
Check out my Flickr Account for more pictures: Beijing First Day
That’s what happened on our first day. We had fun learning China’s history and culture.
You might want to see our China Itinerary.
For best packages for China tour, you can visit: Reliable Travel Tours (tip: inform them you read it from my blog! ^_^)
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