Travelog for: Slowly-Slowly

I took these pictures at Fuxingmen, men means Gate.
But I can't see any gate around there, it's been removed already.
On the third picture you can see the buildings of Beijing Financial Street. 

I'm on the Beijing subway and heading to Xizhimen.

The 1st picture below is Beijing Railway Station. Wow..that building looks unique, 3 egg shapes in a row.
When I got inside I found myself in a shopping mall. It still has some Chinese New Year decorations.
Oh little fish fellas. I'm not sure about the last picture, it was so close and that big guy gave me nightmares.

I woke up this morning and looked out the window. The sky was so blue! We decided to take a walk outside. But before that we needed to find a place to have breakfast.
Well it was actually a brunch, cause it was almost 11:00 when we got to the restaurant.
After the brunch we got to the higher place to see further. "Look! There is a bus stop down there. Why don't we have a bus trip?" MooseS suggested. We finally got on the bus No.1 which is running along the Changan Ave...

We drove to the 11th International Conference on Green and Energy-Efficient Building & New Technologies and Products Expo. How long the title is..Lol
We passed by many bridges on the road and one of them is Xizhimen Bridge. I recognized those 3 eggs in a row.

The Expo was held at China National Convention Center, very close to the Olympic Park. The presenter was giving a lecture on how to build an environmental friendly city. Umm..interesting but a bit too professional.
Why don't we go out to see the Bird's Nest?

Here I finally got to the Olympic Park. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was held there.
It was so much fun to take a walk at the Olympic Park.
Especially with my friends Simão IV Rocky Raccoon Eliott Anton Bär Cherry Lola and MooseS.
Besides Birds' Nest and Water Cube, there are some lovely sculptures are waiting to be found at the park. 
Many people were doing exercise, like roller skating.

Wow look at these buildings! They're so astonishing..
Haha did you see the cute tiny moon in the last picture?

Quote:

Wangjing SOHO is a complex of three curvilinear asymmetric skyscrapers in Wangjing, a suburb of Beijing, China between central Beijing and Beijing Capital International Airport. According to Zaha Hadid, the project's architect, it is a "welcome and farewell to Beijing".The towers contain both office and retail space. Originally the SOHO was designed as a two-tower complex but due to height concerns it was redesigned as a three-tower project featuring towers of lower maximum height.The complex officially opened on 20 September 2014.

We had lunch at Huguosi Snack. Wow this is a giant Fried Dough Twists!
Here is the recipe, I'd like to make one someday

Quote:

2 cups flour 2 eggs 2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for frying 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 cup water Mix together all ingredients to form a smooth, hard dough. This is important so that the dough twists maintain their shape and don't stick together before frying. Working with about a third of the dough at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface into a circle that is a little less than a quarter of an inch thick. Slice horizontally into strips. Cut those strips into two inch rectangles where possible, but not wasting any of the leftover pieces. With all pieces, including irregular ones, slice slit lengthwise down middle of dough about a quarter of an inch from either end. Working with one piece of dough at a time, pull one end through the center so that a twist forms. Pull that same end through again so that the strip is more twisted. Set aside on a tray. Repeat with rest of the dough. Drop batches of twists into a pot of hot oil and fry until golden brown on each side. This will happen quickly so be sure to flip diligently. Remove onto a paper towel-lined plate and serve. *After cooling completely, twists will last weeks in an airtight container.

Hello there, recently I was wondering if I could update my travelog using separated photos.
I noticed some of the voyagers did it. Well, I found an online album, not sure if it's suitable.
You can see the national flag, a skyscraper and the bluest sky...



Ummm..the link is quite long. Hope I coped the right link.
Here we go, the next photo..I was supposed to stand at the crossroads on the photo.



I also captured a bicycler passing by. He looks like a high school student. 



Oh no..I just previewed this update, the photos are far too big. Hold on.....hmm much better.
I'm watching TV at home, please don't call me a couch potato. Oh look, a turtle on the screen!



Oh my turtle! He's going to FIGHT WITH A SHARK! Bite the bloody shark my bro!!!



Yayyyy! The turtle won the fight!! Oh my bro, take a break. It was a really intense fight.



He finally got a bit relieved on the beach.



What is that!!! Shark again? A huge shark!?



oh..It was a whale. The gentle creature, seems harmless to our turtle.



I imagine I'm swimming with the whale in the ocean..bluer than the sky....

Hooray!!! We finally made it to Suzhou, I mean 18 hours train was okay for me, I'm a slowly slowly you know...but it was going to kill Mia and Rocky Raccoon! Well MooseS was sleeping all the way. Mia noticed the train would take so long when she was booking the tickets for us, she was curious if she can survive. Then she went back home told us with a smile on her face,
" Surprise surprise! We are going to Suzhou! Umm..and we will spend about 18 hours together on the train. Trust me, it's gonna be an unforgettable holiday..ever!!!"
Interesting...

We arrived in Suzhou in one piece, Mia apologized and promised to take the fastest bullet train back home, ummm..It'll only take 5 hours.
The first picture below is Beisi Pagoda, the very first attraction I've seen on tour. 
It is a Chinese pagoda located at Bao'en Temple , the base of the pagoda has an octagonal frame, and the tower rises nine stories in a total height of 76 m (249 ft). The pagoda was once eleven stories tall, but was damaged and reduced to nine stories. its double eaves and flying corners are similar to that of the Liuhe Pagoda found in Hangzhou. Its base and outside walls are made of brick, the balustrades made of stone, and the eaves and banisters encircling the structure are made of wood.

Quote:

Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou has over 2,500 years of history, with an abundant display of relics and sites of historical interest. At around 100 AD, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, it became one of the ten largest cities in the world mostly due to emigration from North China. Since the 10th-century Song Dynasty, it has been an important commercial center of China. During the Ming and Qing Dynasty, Suzhou was a national economic, cultural and commercial center, as well as the largest non-capital city in the world, until the 1860 Taiping Rebellion. When Li Hongzhang and Charles George Gordon recaptured the city three years later, Shanghai had already taken its predominant place in the nation. Since major economic reforms began in 1978, Suzhou has become one of the fastest growing major cities in the world, with GDP growth rates of about 14% in past 35 years. With high per capita incomes, Suzhou's Human Development Index ratings is roughly comparable to a moderately developed country, making it one of the most highly developed and prosperous cities in China. The city's canals, stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens have contributed to its status as one of the top tourist attractions in China. The classical gardens in Suzhou were added to the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997 and 2000. Suzhou is often dubbed the "Venice of the East" or "Venice of China".

The last photo shows the typical guide-board of Suzhou, they generally introduce tourists the spots.

Although we were really tired, pretty sure I would fall asleep in a second if I had a pillow. We actually felt more excited to explore this new place.
THIS IS SLOWLY-SLOWLY AT SOOCHOW UNIVERSITY.
We took a stroll in the campus, thanks to the student ID of Mia's friend, we are not allowed to visit without it.
It's such a beautiful campus! Very impressive. The trees the pavilions, everything there just like from the fairytale.
The first photo is me in front of the old university gate. And the last photo is the north gate of the campus nowadays.

Quote:

The original Soochow University was founded by Methodists in Suzhou, Jiangsu, Qing Dynasty in 1900 as a merger of three existing institutions: the Buffington Institute and the Kung Hang School in the city of Soochow (now spelled Suzhou), in Jiangsu Province, and the Anglo-Chinese College in Shanghai. After the Chinese Civil War, members of the Soochow Alumni Association who moved to Taiwan established a new institution in Taiwan in 1951 to make up for the Soochow University lost in mainland China. A law school was opened in 1954, and a full university was certified in 1971. After the establishment of the PRC, the institution in Suzhou merged with the Southern Jiangsu College of Culture and Education and the Department of Mathematics and Physics at Jiangnan University to form the Jiangsu Teacher's College in 1952. The English name Soochow University was revived in 1982; however, the original Chinese name Dongwu was not adopted, and the institution was given the name Suzhou .

Today is our 2nd day in Suzhou, we were going to take a walk on Guanqian Street.
The street is located in Suzhou city centre, the commercial part of the city.
Haha, sounds a bit like Qianmen Street of Beijing, doesn't it?
There is a really beautiful historic site on the street which is Xuanmiao Temple, very pretty.

Quote:

Xuanmiao Temple was founded in Xianning 2nd year (AD 276), Western Jin Dynasty, and was initially named "Zhen Qing Dao Yuan". It was destroyed by wars in Southern Song Dynasty. It was rebuilt in the Chunxi era (1174–1189) of the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Song, and was renamed Xuanmiao Guan in 1264. During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing Dynasty, the temple was renamed Yuanmiao Guan to avoid naming taboo because the emperor's personal name, Xuanye, contained the Chinese character xuan.

There are so many different type of restaurant on Guanqian Street, we finally made a deal to have lunch at Zhuhongxing which is recommended by the Lonely Planet Travel Guide.
Zhuhongxing is one of the Suzhou's most popular noodle joints, this long-standing canteen style place serves some scrummy and filling noodles.
I think I love noodles.
Mia said she's trying hard to be a vegetarian but she can't give up duck and lamb, look she ordered duck rice with sweet sour sauce this time.

This place is awesome!!! I came to this lovely block during the sunset.
It's a secret place cause I didn't see any tourist. I also met a friendly cat when I was wandering along the canal.

I felt a bit cold walking along the lakeside. I think Suzhou is much more windy than Beijing, at least in these days. But look at this beautiful night view, no rush to go...

Quote:

Jinji Lake (literally Golden Rooster Lake) is a small fresh water lake located in the central part of Suzhou Industrial Park. It occupies an area of 7.18 square kilometers and its average depth is about 2.5 to 3 meters. There are two man-made islands in the lake.