Guangzhou and Beijing 10th - 18th April 2025

Many first time visitors to China normally target Beijing first since it is the capital. Not so with me. This visit to Beijing was done after I have probrably covered 15 other cities in China. Why so? First, I prefer scenic outdoors spots much more than historical and cultural spots.Secondly what I heard about Beijing concerning its smog, weather and food deter me slightly. So this trip to Beijing was only because we were going in spring when the weather is better and we can climb the Great Wall in spring. But we also decided to stop by Guangzhou for 2 nights because of its reputation for yummy food  . 

Day 1 April 10th 2025 Guangzhou 

It was great to meet my cousin  Ming Lian 明涟 and her family for the first time ever in  our lives . The food in Guangzhou is superb. We went to Diandude in Tianhe to eat yummy dim sum. Dinner at Datong was courtesy of Ming Lian and family. We walked off our excessive eating by going to the park Yue Shiu and walking alongside Pearl River. 

Day 2 April 11th Shunde. 

Shunde is touted as the Gastronomical Capital of the world. And yes, it lives up to its reputation! I love the yummy dim sum, the desserts - double skinned milk buffalo milk, ginger bumped milk etc etc. We ate till we could not eat anything more. Food places are Shunde house morning tea 顺德人家早茶 Huagai Street 华盖路步行街, Madam Pork Private dishes 猪肉婆私房菜 . We also went to Qinghui park 清晖园 Shun Feng Park 顺峰山公园 Fishermen Wharf 渔人码头夜景 etc to walk off the food.The walnut crisps 核桃酥 we bought at Fishermen Wharf are so wonderfully memorable. No where in China nor inMalaysia have I tasted such good walnut crisps. Upon returning to Guangzhou, we went to White Swan Hotel and old Beijing Road for shopping and desserts. 

Day 3 April 12th Beijing 

We celebrate God's goodness and timeliness for us. On 11th April, 400 flights to Beijing were cancelled due to strong winds. But our flight on 12th April departed on time despite much turbulence mid-air. Our hotel is walking distance from Beijing Water Cube and Bird Nest Olympic Stadium. We enjoyed the pretty peonies and blooming plum trees there. It was very cold because of the strong winds. We enjoyed our first meal in Beijing with yummy Peking duck.

Day 4 April 13th

Many parks were closed due to the strong winds earlier. At the Botanic Garden, we met a patient garden warden who directed us to visit a small flowering area nearby. Here we enjoyed the flowering red plum trees and spring flowers. We then changed our itinerary to visit the hutongs in Shichahai instead.

Our 1st stop was Yan Dai Jie 烟袋街 Tobacco Pouch Street. Next we visited Shichahai 什刹海 in her glory. Shichahai, is a historical and cultural tourist scenic spot in the North West and is located in the Xicheng ( West District ) adjacent to the central axis of Beijing city. It has a water area of 336,000 square meters and is the only open scenic area with open water in the inner city of Beijing, and is also the largest and most complete historical district in Beijing
We looked for and found our hot spots - the bridges, the narrow streets, the shops with high point views etc. The lovely wind but sunny weather made for great times. We entered ZhonglouWan hutong to look for the Bell ( Clock) tower and the Drum Tower. These 2 towers faced a common square and these 2 towers kept/ announced time since 1270 - the times of Kublai Khan.
We queued at the Michelin Star Fang Zhuan Chang courtesy Jason's googling skills and had a yummy lunch Zhajiangmian soya beans paste noodles and a very appetising tripe with glass noodles dish there.

2nd n 3rd hutong: Wang Fujing 王府井 the shopping street reminds us of Nangjing Road in Shanghai. We walked over to Heping Guoju 和平购物中心 at Basement 2 and experienced Beijing in her nostalgic past.

4th hutong: We took the Didi to XiangYukou 香鱼口 街 past the Qianmen area 和前门街. We had the good fortune to catch a train crossing ahead of us while crossing the hutongs.Here the hutongs streets are much broader with plenty of street food. We rested to drink and escaped from the cold while someone had his ears cleaned.We ended the night with a yummy hotpot dinner for 388 RMB for 4.

Tip: Do use the Didi to avoid being fleeced by taxi drivers. Taxi driver ask for RMB100/-. Didi cost us RMB 41/-. But the temptation to take the waiting taxi is always there due to the cold winds. Mandarin words helped me pronounce, find and understand the locations we went to.

Day 5 April 14th

Taking the S2 Sea of Flowers spring train from Huangtudian 黄土店火车站 toBadaling Great Wall 八达岭长城 via Juyongguan Pass is a hope fulfilled. The train tickets cost RMB 7/-per pax. But sadly the heavy winds earlier had blown off most of the flowers.

This is the first time a Tabernacle of David TOD team of 6 people climbed the Great Wall together. We dressed in TOD new signature steel blue T- shirts. Despite seeing only a small portion of the apricot blooms, we were still very happy. Mid March would have been a better time to see the sea of apricot blossoms on the hills.

There are hordes of people climbing. We climbed the south gate Badaling Great Wall. It was exciting to climb a good portion of the Great Wall together as a team. Some sections were very steep from 45-60° in gradient. Jason,Siang Hwa,Bryan and Joanne went the furthest in distance.

We had a well deserved good meal before boarding the S2 train back. From Huangtudian, we detoured to the Olympic Forest Park and had a great time photographing the lovely flowering trees and the Olympic Torch Building.

We had another yummy Peking duck dinner at a high class restaurant Quan Jude 全聚德

Day 6 April 16th

TOD team in orange T- shirts climbed Mutianyu Great Wall 慕田峪长城 today. Jason, Siang Hwa,Bryan n Joanne reached the last tower Tower 20 while Mui Leng and me were very happy to reach Tower 18. There are very steep sections at some places.

Mutianyu is more popular with foreigners but less crowded as it is 75 km northeast from Beijing . Somehow Badaling GW is very crowded with Asians despite being 79 km to the northwest of Beijing - maybe prehaps due to its accesibility.

We rushed to our next stop Simatai Great Wall 司马台长城 about 140 km north east of Beijing. Simatai has the only Great Wall section that is lit and accessible by night. Our driver Wang was very helpful to ensure we checked in and to reach in time to catch the sunset and night views. I am thankful Jack Fang - our tour operator from mainland China Dragon tours has helped us coordinate logistic details of transport and tickets with helpful recommendations.

Simatai is more rugged. There are no safety side walls and the steps are unevenly spaced. We climbed very slowly up and down to ensure safety. Bryan and Joanne took the route to Tower 6 and 7 while we took the route to Tower 8. Both routes are challenging but perhaps the route to Tower 6 and 7 is safer. We viewed a drone show over Gubei watertown while being up there.

From our 6 star hotel rooms in Gubei watertown, we could see the lighted Great Wall ridge. We went for a long onsen soak to relax our muscles - fatigued by 2 long climbs in a single day.

My mainland blood cousins Ming Gui and Ming Lian says

中国有句古话叫：

不到长城非好汉.

你们现在都是好汉了哈.

If you haven't climbed the Great Wall, you haven't become a hero.

Today the TOD team are heroes 3x. What an awesome day!

7th Day 16th April 2025.

We asked for a late check out from the Gubei Water Town hotel. After breakfast, we went to jetty A and took a slow boat ride on the scenic canal to jetty C. There are many places for photo shoots of traditional buildings, lovely bridges etc. The canal runs through to the site of the church on a hill and offers great views of the Simatai Great Wall, a well-preserved section of the Great Wall with many military outposts. The hiking route is challenging. We came across several groups of cute ducks and geese during our canal town.

Gubei Water Town in Gubeikou Town, 古北口古北水镇 Miyun District, Beijing is 140 km from Beijing exudes historical charm. 90% of our photo and videos credits are to Siang Hwa.

We went from our hotel at Holiday Inn Express at Dongzhimen,Beijing to Botanical Garden,South East Gate. All of us had senior citizens free entry into the park.Yes!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed the tulips 郁金香 festival. We searched and found the peony 牡丹 garden. I totally loved the lilacs 丁香花 garden. We sang and worshipped in the lilacs garden, overwhelmed by their soothing fragrance. The wisteria 紫藤 section brought us much joy. The peach 桃花 garden was simply beautiful and the yellow forsythia 连翘 is so cheerful.

Joanne and me, the FFT were always the first to reach flower sites and the last to leave.

What a lovely relaxing afternoon! Simply thankful to God for beautiful weather, the sense of sight and smell and fellowship of friends and spouse.

8th day 17th April 2025

A long but doable queue to enter TianAn Men Square 天安门 and the Forbidden City 紫禁城. We ar very thankful for Fred, our English speaking tour guide who met us at our hotel, arranged our transport and navigated us through the long queues and passports check points. He pointed to us various buildings from TianAn Men Square and posed us several questions.

We went through an underpass beneath ChangAn Avenue 长安街 a long road separating Forbidden City from TianAn Men Square. We entered through the South Gate and passed through several layers of courts and buildings.

I found the hall where the students took the Imperial examinations interesting. The best candidates from each province sat for the examination. Only the wisest were promoted. This Imperial examination is likely to be the cultural root of the Chinese parental pressure to make their kids shine in school.

The Forbidden City exemplifies the opulence of the residences of the Chinese emperor and traditional Chinese palatial architecture. It influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia. UNESCO list it as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

The Forbidden City central north–south axis remains the central axis of Beijing. This axis extends to the south through Tiananmen Gate to Tiananmen Square, the ceremonial centre of the People's Republic of China, and on to Yongdingmen Gate. To the north, it extends through Jingshan Park to the Drum Tower and Bell Tower. This axis is not exactly aligned north–south, but is tilted by slightly more than two degrees.

Only 4 real men ( non castrated ) are allowed beyond the official meeting places of the Emperor and the court officials. Eunuchs are not deemed real men.

The view from the vantage point 45 m of Jingshan Park 景山公园 over the Forbidden City is lovely. I loved the peony garden and other flowers at the base of Jingshan Park at the West Gate. There is a lovely almost white Chinese fringe tree whom 2 veteran photographers excitedly spoke to us about. There was also a huge lilac tree and a glorious red plum tree.

We went for a quick lunch of steamed buns and Zhajiang mee at Xian Yi Kou 鲜鱼 口before quickly returning to queue for the Temple of Heaven 北京天. TOH is where the emperor prays 3x a year to ShangDi 上帝 the God up in Heaven for Good Harvests. He fast for 3 days from good food, women, wine to cleanse and prepare himself for these prayers.

9th Day 18th April

We went to the Summer Palace. It was beautiful but the day was a wet day so we didn't take many photos. That night, we flew home. It is a happy and fruitful trip.

Long OverDue Visit to my Dad's home village 家乡 in Quanzhou 泉州

We first visited my dad's home village Dongzhang Village 东张村 ,Jieshan town, Quangang, Quanzhou,Fujian in December, 2002 with our parents on both sides,my hubby Jason and our 3 kids 23 years ago.Sue Ann was then 16,Sue Jan 13 and Ken Jon 12 years old. We had planned to visit Dongzhang Village, again in August 2020 but the pandemic in March 2020 prevented all planning. Then my late dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 Liver cancer in July 2020 and he passed away in Aug 2020. After travel restrictions were lifted, my cousin and uncles came over to Malaysia to connect with us. Then we wanted to visit them at Dongzhang Village 东张村 . A distant relative's wedding invitation neccasitated our trip in Jan 2025.

Day 1 on 13 Jan 2025. This time, my brother Chai,my hubby Jason and me flew to Quanzhou.I cannot describe the joy and tears as we reconnected with uncles,aunties and cousins. We were recieved at Jinjiang 晋江 airport by cousin Ming Chun明春. He took us to meet our youngest cousin Ming Gui明贵 who brought us for a lovely lunch in Wudianshi 五店市- a 4A UNESCO heritage site with lovely red bricks warm buildings. Wudianshi was formed by 5 descendants who started 5 restaurants, is now the core of Jinjiang. We also had Starbucks coffee in a very quaint traditional heritage home.

Cousin Ming Chun drove us home to my 6th uncle and aunt's home. We passed by the 66-room house my late dad built with his hard earned money while being super frugal on our Malaysian family. My 4th aunt was at the gate. She blithely crossed the road to greet us. My late grandma and every single uncle,aunt,cousin lived here until 2000. The house is part of 33 Nanyang heritage homes. I was struck at how close everybody in the village were to each other.My cousin blithely wind down car windows and chatted with relatives and neighbours he met otw driving home. What a joy to see my 6th uncle and aunt! They are both the same age as Jason and me. 6th aunt cooked traditional dishes my late dad loved - fresh oysters in a gummy style with peanuts, mee sua, abalone. How happy Dad must be in heaven, looking at us enjoy what he loved. That night, 2nd, 3rd, 5th uncles n aunts and 4th aunt, cousins n friends gather and we chatted of many things. I felt 4th aunt's sorrow as she spoke of 4th uncle unexpected death from a stroke last year. And 3rd aunt had tears as she remembered her son who passed away recently.They are family indeed - our hearts are knitted together!

Day 2 started a sumptious traditional breakfast followed by visiting 6th aunt's vege garden. Giant radishes, Holland peas, cabbages, cauliflower, leeks, spring onions, spinach, carrots etc - she has very green fingers.

Visit to HuaiHua Miđdle School 蕙华中学 in my father's village. It is such an honour to be received and welcomed by the school. During the time my father was in Dong Zhang village, no school existed. So dad had to go faraway from home to study. That made him to understand the emotional pain of students and parents who had to part because schools were too far away from homes. That spurned him to try to start a school in his village.My father was not as rich as many of his villagemen who made it big in Malaysia but his passion and excellent social networking skills made it possible for him and others to organise resources to build this school. The school is flourishing and testament to his passion and desire. I was very happy to see dad and mum's photo in a prominient top left hand corner of a gallery of people who had contributed to start the school and improved it. I also was very happy to see letters and documents carrying father's and my sister Irene's handwriting showcased in the school heritage room. My 6th uncle liased many of my father's efforts to improve the school. Indeed,our dreams and legacy outlive us!

After the school visit, we went to the receiving the bride ceremony 迎接新娘仪式 Yíngjiē xīnniáng yíshì. After a heavy lunch, we visited our grandparents' graves as well as 4th uncle and cousin Ming Hwang memorial place. We visited cousin Ming Yang from 4th uncle 5-storeyed house. We had a lovely walk around the village. It is very clear the village is well taken care. After the wedding dinner, cousins and nieces who came back from Quanzhou and distant places visited us. Many hugs and Wechat exchanges and long chats warm our hearts.

Experiencing ground zero mainland Chinese wedding! The tea ceremony brunch reception has auspicious longan groundnuts red dates lotus 早生贵子” Zǎoshēng guìzǐ ( idiom to wish for speedy birth of grandchildren). A host of luxury cars followed the bridal car.She was recieved with crackers and fireworks at mid-day! All bridal cars had a slab of belly meat hanging from front door handle! The street and multi-storey house is decorated with wedding paraphenialia. Celebrations run for 4 days or more but we ate 2 days of 2 sumptious lunches and 2 dinners. Thrice we ate lobsters, 2x Alaska snow crabs, 4x abalone,whole sharksfin soup x2 etc. My favourite is seafood porridge - simple, home cooked comforting feel with more than 7 ingredients such as scallops, abalone, prawns etc. I ate 3 bowls of that porridge at the 4th dinner. The drinks - ginger tea and sesame soyabean are also very interesting while the wine runs free flow from expensive potent Chinese white wine( 53% alcohol) to brandy and western wines.

Our host arranged 2 nights of beautiful 20- minutes long fireworks display.He had come from a very poor background and his good food times were only during wedding receptions of his neighbours and friends. So he happily splurged on this wedding, remembering the hard times during his childhood. Shortly after we reached home, we found he returned all our angpows. Quanzhou highlights in 6+ hours! Quanzhou is the East terminal of the Maritime Silk Route. Marco Polo sailed from here. Chai enjoyed his first train ride in China and understood the phrase - its like taking a plane. Cousin Ming Gui welcomed us at the train station. He is a pro at being tourist guide! He drove us to the 5A Unesco Heritage Site Qingyuan Mountain park. We took photos with the signature Laozi rock. Instead of doing a strenous hike up, he drove us right up to the peak. Here we had a 20 minute walk and viewed Quanzhou westward and saw sights like West Lake etc. Next was his office near CBD. He parked his car so we could go on a walking tour to best enjoy Quanzhou highlights on cultural tourism. We enjoyed many yummy small snacks 小吃。 1st stop: Beef with rice. The beef restaurant is often crowded that there is a table wedged in a doorway. Ming Gui and Chai sat inside the shop while Jason and me sat outside the shop eating on that same table.Food arrived 5 minutes after ordering! Yummy and beefy!

2nd stop: Very fine textured smooth mee xian noodles in a delicious broth near Zhongshan middle road. We started near the Qingjing mosque - the oldest mosque in China and covered touristy spots - like the roundabout, bell (clock) tower etc.For lovers, Quanzhou have cute romantic avenues with lovers' sweet nothing sayings off Zhongshan Middle Road 中山中路. The broken white bridge illustrates also getting over being heart broken in love with a witty idiom . 有些路是不通就算， 爱情也就一样 Some roads are just not connected, its ok, love is like that.

We emerged at the four loves Presbyterian church. There is a play of words - four loves versus fall in love - illustrated by the 4 heart shapes in the Chinese word love 爱。

3rd stop: A cute coffee and cakes cafe to view the twin pagodas (Song dynasty) Zhenguo and Renshou in the Kaiyuan Temple, the tallest stone pagodas in China. There is a quaint view of old and new city from the cafe.He tapao mochi for us to eat as we walk more avenues We hopped on a tourist bus back to his office. Pro tourist guide Ming Gui highlighted spots to us and answered other tourists questions on the bus ride. He got the car and drove us to the Shaolin temple for the martial arts show. I enjoyed their amazing moves especially those of the cute 4 year old boys. We went shopping n I got 2 pairs of Li-Ning shoes,courtesy Ming Gui pocket. We visited his apartment near the stadium, got Jason's desire - the little wine cups. He drove us back to our village Dongzhang in time for the family dinner at 7 pm. We covered 2/3 of Quanzhou in 8 hours! A pro indeed Each night, the relatives gathered together in 6th Uncle's home to chat with us. We were touched by the many cousins who returned to the village to reconnect with us. The last night of our visit, many cousins,nieces and nephews came to host us for the farewell dinner. Those who could not come back called us to chat.

Now I understand why my late dad always felt so at home in his 家乡.