Beijing : The Great Wall of China

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I wished I went there during Autumn or Spring. I'd probably enjoy walking around the area , and stepping on thousands of steps much more excitedly. But it was winter, it was blisteringly cold and windy, it was icy and slippery. From one point to the other, we had to cling on a long chain, slowly hiking up, putting our feet along a small drain. If my boots were spiked, it might help big time. 

White vapours came out from my mouth while I was speaking. We were a bit 'jakun',  and I kept on saying " This is where Karate Kid was filmed ! ", of all movies, I chose to remember Jackie Chan's Karate Kid. Very original.

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I took out my tin soldier and put it on the wall, backgrounded the view of the high peak of the wall tower. " This, is the Great Wall of China ! ", I whispered to myself.

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On our way back, we had to slide down. There was no other ways, it was too icy to walk. Some people had fun crawling all the way up several times to slide down on the icy path. I envy those joy of falling down, they made it look like fun.

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Along the handler, were hundreds of padlock chained, little red ribbon tied up to each padlock. Each padlock got its initial, later I found out from Google that it symbolized an eternal love. Usually couples come there to hang a padlock and throw the key away so that their love will be forever locked on the sacred place. But we used it as our chain to hike up ! :D 

I am so sorry , there was no other way !

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There is always a serene feeling when I go to old ancient places. Each place kept secrets and stories, some were told, some were forgotten, and some were never known. It kept old souls deep within. 

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Pictures were taken by using :

Lumix LX3

Nikon dSLR D40

iPhone 4s

I hate watermarks, so please be informed that

all pictures are mine.

Thank you.

Beijing : Modern Architecture

On the fifth day in Beijing, we finally visited their famous modern buildings , the National Stadium & the National Aquatic Center. 

It was cold, windy and a bit snowy. We walked for 150 meters from where the bus parked, before stopping to take some photos in front of those buildings.  

I asked my brother :

What do you think of the designs? Do you like it? 

I don't know. I don't feel anything. 

Well, I don't like it. I loved their old buildings very much. But the new ones are pretty ugly. If this is what modern architecture is, well, I don't like it.  

I'd probably love all old buildings, so I managed to come out with so many excuses to dislike modern buildings.

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Little Facts :

The National Stadium, also known as The Bird's Nest by the local people was designed by Herzog & de Meuron from Switzerland. It looked more like a huge cocoon, ribboned.

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The National Aquatics Center ( " Water Cube " ) looked like a lot of soap bubbles from afar. It was designed by PTW, Australia & CCDI, China. I didn't really like the design too.

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The China Central Television Headquarters ( CCTV ) designed to look like a 'continuous loop'. It was freakishly huge and odd.

Picture taken from Boston.com

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Around the area , snowy morning :

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New friends :

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Pictures were taken by using :

Lumix LX3

Nikon dSLR D40

I hate watermarks, so please be informed that

all pictures are mine.

Thank you.

Beijing : Niujie Mosque

We had a chance to visit the oldest Mosque in Beijing, China. "Niujie" means Cow Street. It was built in the 996 AD, during the Liao Dynasty, it was later reconstructed and enlarged during the Qing Dynasty. It is located in Xuanwu District, the biggest town inhabited by Chinese Muslim. The mosques is really big, it has the capacity of few thousands worshippers. 

When I walked through the main gate, I was mesmerized by the strong Chinese architecture and cultures, mixed with a little bit Islamic calligraphies. The cold weather didn't really stop me that one time, I felt the urge to walk around the area to see how different it is than mosques in Malaysia.

It was almost empty and silent. My nervousness of walking alone disappeared when I saw my brother snapping photos not so far from me. We walked around, taking photos as a reminder. I saw little dragons on the rooftops, beautiful colours, a nice maze to be lost in.

This has been a nice reminder, 

that we are not alone in this world. 

There are people from all part of the world, believe in what you believed in. 

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Pictures were taken by using :

Lumix LX3

Nikon dSLR D40

I hate watermarks, so please be informed that

all pictures are mine.

Thank you.