A Wintery Beijing

Best thing about Beijing in the winter? Nope - not the minus 17 degrees!! It's being able to escape the hundreds and thousands of ANNOYING tourists. No matter how many times I go, there's just something so magical and majestic about the two most absolute famous sights of China - The Forbidden City and The Great Wall of China. I've seen them all year round now...in spring, summer & winter and honestly, I gotta say the latter is by far THE BEST time to go (my humble opinion).

On any ordinary day, I can understand why some people lose sight of why they even bothered to visit. The swarms of people pushing and shoving to take photos can be enough to put you off. It's pretty hard to imagine how the imperial family ever lived there or picture soldiers and horses running along e wall in battle amongst the massive tour groups wearing same coloured caps & waving the stupid "don't get lost" flag.

But on this sunny day in January, jin and I pretty much had the Wall to ourselves. It was bliss. We were really blessed with perfect winter weather (if there is such a thing) where the snow covered e ground for e best pics, but the sun kept us warm without even the slightest hint of a chilly wind (considering we were mostly on mountain peaks, I'd say what a massive relief!!).

I'll admit the Forbidden City wasn't quite as deserted but seeing that the grounds were so huge, there was plenty of space for everyone to do their thing :)

These giant trees in the Imperial Garden (back of the palace) have been around for centuries.... just awesome!

Beijing really has the best of both worlds; the most fascinating history & rich culture moulded together with international standards of hotels, restaurants, bars & shopping malls. I wanna go back and live there one day (fingers crossed). I guess that's another thing on the "waiting" list.

Travel ideas

I honestly hope that this will be useful to people who happen to chance upon this blog. Recently I've had the exciting task of planning our next holiday in January. Tight budget of course but always fun to pick and choose from the world...a new destination. God certainly created it to be amazing and my mum passed on the travel bug to me at a young age. I love exploring new places, and experiencing other country cultures. Sometimes u read about cultures that are dying out...pretty sad.

Anyway I've already gone thru some ideas and thought if you're in the region and in need of some inspiration - then allow me to share these wif u :)

(i) LIJIANG - CHINA

It's main attraction that would lure me there....is the Banyan Tree. hehe! Honestly it's beautiful and going in the winter time would mean soaking in a nice hot tub with a view of the majestic snow capped Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. This is the stuff of fairytales. And at a price tag of approx SGD$250 a nite. That's not far off the cost of some hotels in Spore....with no view and definitely no hot

tub!!

Lijiang has a quaint Old Town to explore and is officially a UNESCO World Heritage site. Thank goodness China is protecting some of its history and traditions in these small towns for the rest of the world to see. The photos I came across really make me wanna check the place out. Oh and the other famous site near Lijiang is the Tiger Leaping Gorge - sounds like something out of that Chinese movie..."Crouching tiger, Hidden dragon".

Noted it's not the easiest place to get to. Silk Air flies to Kunming fr Spore and then u have to transfer to a domestic flight to Lijiang. So far, have not had much luck searching for the domestic airfares...cos some of the info is in chinese and I can't read it. And the other website I found quoted prices in USD that sounded way too much! But still reckon tis would be so worth the journey there.

(ii) BEIJING - CHINA

Yes this is a more common destination I noe and I've already been to this awesome city twice (one time I stayed for 6 months even :). It's just that Singapore Airlines is having a great deal on the flight from Brunei...$820 incl of tax. And after the Olympics, this city has changed heaps...some of the stuff I found on the web - I can't even recognise anymore. The number of boutique hotels that have popped up are incredible and so cool....but ummm not cheap :(

Am just gonna list a few that appealed to me:

(a) The Opposite House www.oppositehouse.com Modern & free mini bar in every room.

(b) 3 + 1 Bedrooms www.3plus1bedrooms.com Very sml - literally 3 rooms & 1 suite.

Old converted hutong - where u get to experience the real old Beijing.

(c) The Emperor www.theemperor.com.cn Real close to Forbidden City so great views they say.

And saving the best til last.... there's been some talk about this place. It's located in one of the very best places u could want in China....right next to the Great Wall. Cool huh! It's called COMMUNE BY THE GREAT WALL. It's not only accommodation but a huge architectural project in itself - created by 12 high profile Asian architects...with private access to The Great Wall as your playground. I was just blown away by the whole concept. The pricetag doesn't help either, rooms start at SGD$500 each. Ouch!

Oh well.... a girl can dream can't she! Just imagine a full Beijing itinerary of historical chinese sites which can tire anyone out and then unwinding at the end of the trip with a night at this place. What a great way to enjoy the Great Wall. hehe!

So still have some way to go in terms of research before making a decision on where to go for our next holiday. Sri Lanka was also on the list but unable to find any good flight deals. Plus my bf and I are keen for a winter holiday for a nice change. I will likely freeze my butt off in Beijing as it's coldest in January but at least I know where to go to pick up some appropriate winter attire. Tell me that's not the best excuse for some shopping. haha! Okay tat's it for today.

P.S For those who know me.... think u'll start to notice that all of the above is a result of the sweet influence of my darling architect boyfriend who's dream is to one day design and build his own boutique hotel. Meanwhile as part of the research, we have no choice but to stay in some of the best... in order to create something just as good. hehe! Some of our personal holiday pics have already been used in his presentations to his clients. How good is it to be working & doing something u love! yeah!