China
Happy Year of the Goat!
0The year of the Horse is now over. 2015 is a year of the “Goat” according to the Chinese 12-year animal zodiac.
Happy holidays to all my Chinese friends who enjoy this break with their families!
Note: My post was not published as scheduled by me on WordPress for the CNY… only 2 months later
慕田峪 Mutianyu, another visit to the Great Wall
0Winter is coming so I spent more time inside and I had a look at my old photo albums. I was impressed by the pictures of my latest visit to the Great Wall in 慕田峪 Mutianyu.
This site is one of the most visited after Badaling as it is not so far from Beijing City Centre. It is located on BJ North East (approximately 70km; 1h30 drive in car).
This part of the Wall was built in the middle of 6th century during the North Qi dynasty (older than Badaling section). The actual Wall, built mainly with granite, was constructed by the Ming Dynasty builders (14th century) on top of the previous wall.
It is 7-8 meters high and the top is 4–5 meters wide. (more…)
Silvermine, life of ordinary Chinese by Thomas Sauvin
0I take the opportunity to have bit of free time today to share a really nice reportage from a french artist based in Beijing. He wants to promote old chinese culture through their old images.
Beijing Silvermine – Thomas Sauvin from Emiland Guillerme on Vimeo.
You will have a unique photographic portrait of the capital and the life of its inhabitants following the Cultural Revolution.
Pandas in Sichuan…
0 Highlight today on an impossible to miss if you live or travel in China, Chengdu city and its over-the-world known pandas. I am bit late to publish this article as we traveled there last summer and I already share two initial posts on our trip: Leshan Buddha and Emei Shan.
When you speak about animals in China, you are directly referring to these big white and black teddy bears, the pandas, which seem to have a nice way of life. They are all day eating bamboos, playing with their friends or sleeping.
During our stay in Chengdu, we went to the Panda Breeding and Reseach Center (ticket – 58 yuans) to confirm this idea. This center is the most famous in the world to meet pandas. It opened in 1987 to study and especially to protect this endangered species.
Giant Pandas in their natural area are less than 1000 in the world. They are only found in 3 provinces across China, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. (more…)
My daily life in Sanyuanqiao and Phoenix City
0Focus today on my daily life environment with a short story about my neighborhood Sanyuanqiao or 三元桥 and my compound, Phoenix City or 凤凰城 (Feng Huang Cheng).
Sanyuanqiao is located in Chaoyang District, North East of Beijing. Public transports are well connected in this area with Subway Line 10, Airport Express Train (to go to the Airport in 30min) and several bus lines. (more…)
煎饼 JianBing, a traditional snack
1A quick zoom on local street food with one of the traditional Chinese snack, 煎饼 or JianBing.
This snack is regularly sold to locals for their breakfast. It is a fried crepe made of a batter of wheat and grain flour, a fried egg and some scallions. The cooker adds a small crunchy biscuit called Baocui, 薄脆, a bit of coriander and some sauces following the customers’ taste (thick soya, spicy…).
He finally folds the crepe several times and inserts it in a small plastic bag.
Beijing, a white city for Christmas…
0Snow is back in our lovely Beijing city, just in time for Christmas period. This is the second time that I can see snowfall after a quick storm early this year. It is been 2 days of snowfall without interruption. The temperature is more suitable than the previous freezing winter weeks (between -5 and 0 degrees).
The snow doesn’t melt so the streets start to be totally white. Moreover, the Chinese only use straw scrubbing brushes to clean the sidewalks…