后海 - Houhai

Saturday outing with Hubby - a walk at Houhai area. It started off with a lazy morning at home, breakfast in bed. We went to Houhai area around 2pm, to a place called 南锣鼓巷 (Nanluogu Xiang). This is one of the famous hutongs (back lane / alley) which has been in existence for more than 700 years. It has now turned into a thriving streets of bars, cafes and boutiques of art & crafts.

Here are some pictures taken at Nanluogu Xiang:









We continued our journey through Gulou Dajie, and at the corner of the streets, we saw a lot of foreigners walking out from a lane. We took a turn into the lane to see what's in store. There were 2 tourist attractions there, Drum Tower and Bell Tower. Doesn't look interesting to us so we did not enter.



We continued walking down Di'Anmen Dajie and saw the long queue here... we took a peek at whats selling and it seems like some kinda bread or pastry. Heard it was one of the famous pastry, but could not understand why people queue such a long queue. Maybe it's really good.



Continue walking down Di'Anmen and we saw a lake. This is Qianhai (前海).


There are many people swimming in the lake! This is the first time I see people swimming in a public recreational lake area and I thought it was pretty dangerous as it was deep, dirty and there was no lifeguard.


We continued our journey to the street opposite the lake and arrived at the famous bar street, Houhai. We saw something interesting here; this bird was trained to place RMB1 into the piggy bank. It only choses RMB1. Many passersby tossed 50 and 10 cent coins and it refuses to perform! Cute! Really smart!



Here are some of the bars at Houhai, preparing for a busy Saturday night. It was still early and not really crowded yet. We saw a nice Thai restaurant with tables by the lake, but unfortunately, we were not hungry. Maybe next time. I would really love to have Thai food sitting by the lakeside.



Me and Hubby were really tired after the long walk. We should have taken the rickshaw. Anyway, it was a good walk under the great weather. I shall visit 北海 (Beihai) in my next Beijing by Foot adventure.

Beijing's CCTV Tower

I went for a stroll around Beijing CBD area, where during the Ming Dynasty era, this entire area was a deer hunting ground.

I spotted this and took some pictures... CCTV tower (China Central TV) - famous as a tourist site because part of the new building was burnt just right after they completed it. Mandarin Oriental Hotel was also the victim... just completed renovation and about to begin operation.

Here is the picture of the burnt building.


On close up... it was really badly burnt. According to reports, the fire started from a fire cracker. Thats why the entire exterior was badly burnt.


The other block of CCTV tower which was not burnt. Thank God... this is an amazing structure and if this was burnt... really cialat!


This is the China World Trade Center Tower III. The tallest building in Beijing standing at about 330m tall. Cheh... kecimiau... nothing compared to Shanghai World Financial Center aka The Bottle Opener.


I also spotted this at the corner of the street; interpret this as you wish:

First Weekend Out in Beijing

Over the weekend, me and Hubby went to explore several places in Beijing near our home area. First, we went to a place called 'shi shui jie'. A one-stop shop for whatever you can get in Shanghai's Xiangyang market, SH Ke Ji Guan, Shanghai Pearl Market, etc. all housed under one roof. Very convenient and it's near my house.

We also went to some pet market coz Hubby wanted to get a dog. But we didn't get one coz I think it's too much trouble taking care of an animal when both of us are working.

I was trying to look for some Malaysian food and found a Singapore restaurant called Lau Pa Sak. The same Lau Pa Sak in SG selling hawker food.



I must say the sambal fish cakes are pretty good. Very tasty.


The restaurant was near Sanlitun bar street so we went for a stroll along that road after dinner. Not bad... this place has quite a number of bars along it and some pretty good shopping malls.


In the middle of the shopping mall area, they have this fountain thingy... which reminds me of Seoul. It's like an open air water fountain for kids to play around and get themselves wet... :)


Nice Apple store logo illuminating the area... very artistic.


Sanlitun Village... not a bad place to visit at night for those who visit Beijing.