Ni hao!
I’m back! Our Beijing trip was a wonderful experience. Thanks to everyone who shared their advice on how to deal with the cold. Your tips were all very helpful! I layered a lot and discovered I could handle zero degree cold. Yeah! After the jump, I’m sharing some pictures from the trip. It will be quite lengthy so grab yourself a bag of chips before the show begins.
The shopping was excellent. I got the hang of haggling after awhile. If we had more time and more pocket money, I could’ve shopped another day. The sights were awesome and I feel really lucky to have seen the beautiful Beijing landmarks. The food was okay. It was very delicious, but honestly I think the Chinese food here in Manila tasted pretty much the same! The people were generally pleasant though I did encounter some rudeness. Tsk tsk.
Highlights of my trip were: Eating hot noodle soup and hard boiled egg at the Great Wall. Climbing the Great Wall. Getting lost in the city with friends and finding our way home with the help of a rare English speaking Chinese MBA student. Finally learning how to haggle. Drinking a Starbucks latte at the Forbidden City. Watching a panda scratch his butt on a tree trunk. Eating Peking Duck at the best place ever. Having my and H’s English and Chinese names carved on soft jade. Eating candied strawberries. Watching Prime with my roommates instead of going out drinking. Coming home.
Pictures! Mouse over to see the descriptions and click to enlarge.
alt="Chinese Food 2" height="75" /> 
March 13th, 2007 at 10:54 am
the pics are great, toni! thanks for sharing them.
i’m glad you had a wonderful trip. 
March 13th, 2007 at 11:07 am
I am happy you enjoyed your China trip. Wishing you more travels in the future.
The food looks very delicious! I also like your friend’s gloves with the funny characters in them.
March 13th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
very nice pics…haba na ng hair mo!!!
nagulat ako tapos na yung trip, and wondered why it was so short…but nevertheless, ang dami mo nagawa!!! jetsetter in the making!
March 13th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Oo nga, ang ikli naman ng trip! Mukha ngang super enjoy ka. Will you be going back there soon with Husby?
March 13th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Mabilis ba??! We stayed there for 4 days!! Okay na yun. Bitin ako sa shopping though.
March 13th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
hey toni,
sa susunod, SG naman ha?
March 13th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Whoah, I’m envious! Great Wall of China… Starbucks latte at the Forbidden City… OK
March 13th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
looks like you had a fabulous trip, toni!
i love all the panda-themed stuff – panda overload, hehe!
March 13th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
wow!!! nice pictures toni!!!
galing! great wall of china!!
March 13th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
You didn’t mind the cold? Buti ka pa! Di ko kaya ang malamig. Hehehe…. But those lovely Beijing shots you took make me want to visit the place, probably when its not 0 degrees.
March 13th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
hI sistah…
welcome back and its good you had fun there… Thanks for sharing the pic ha…you made me drool over those yummy spicy food
March 13th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Ang sarap naman ng adventure nyo. Great pictures!
March 13th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Ni hao! Toni and welcome back! Ohhh, i love the pictures! I think I browsed through them 3x last night. I love travel pics where all the subjects are enjoying..smiling even if its sub zero temps. Thanks too for the greeting card..time to look at the pics for the 4th time
March 13th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Hello Toni! Welcome back! I’m glad you had a terrific time at Beijing. Thanks for sharing the photos of your trip. I enjoyed hovering over the photos too. I appreciate the little notes about the photos. That’s a cute panda souvenir. Nice that you had fun sight seeing and shopping.
March 13th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
You looked great in your winter outfit. Thanks for sharing such great pics-haven’t been to China so it’s nice seeing Beijing through your pics. Am glad you enjoyed your trip (& the shopping!). Yup, you’re right–there’s still no place like home (with hubby!)…Have a great week.
March 14th, 2007 at 4:26 am
Saya naman!! At least you got to taste authentic Chinese cuisine. Nice pictures.
March 14th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
I just came back from Beijing too…it was so cold and now I am sick like a dog. Food was good though…:)
March 14th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Wow a Starbucks at the Forbidden City, who would have thought that capitalism would now thrive in China of all places. Well I guess that’s progress and it (China) is truly on its way (or maybe it is already there) to becoming a global economy to contend with.
Anyways great pictures Toni, glad you had a great time. I agree coming home is the best part of any trip!
March 14th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
wo hen hao toni! ang cute-cute ng panda, it’d be great to have a pet if only they weren’t a rare specie! congrats sa pag-conquer ng zero degrees, at least you didn’t have to adjust to the food. did you also ride the bikes?
March 15th, 2007 at 3:28 am
Love the pictures, kapatid! Especially the food.. nakakagutom nga lang!
March 15th, 2007 at 3:42 am
hi toni! nice pics. glad you had fun in beijing.
March 15th, 2007 at 8:02 am
wow, my hubby just got back from beijing too kasama niya ang mga officemates niya. baka nagkasalubong pa kayo dun
you went to pretty much the same places.
and i agree with you that the best part of the whole trip is coming home
March 16th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Hi Toni,
great pics. thanks for sharing.
my first trip to great wall was with my 2 kids, then 1 and 4 years old! and we climb all the way to the tower at Si Ma Tai station. When we got to Badaling station, I didn’t have the energy to climb up again.
hope you were able to see the World Park too…
March 21st, 2007 at 11:48 am
haha! you survived!
March 23rd, 2007 at 1:45 pm
OMG Toni! Why didn’t you tell me? Treat sana kita kahit one dinner….
we could have a pic together at the forbidden city….
waaah sayang!
But yes! Beijing is really nice, isn’t it?
Beijing haokan shi ma?