Daily Archives: 27 May, 2010

Olympic Park and Pangu 7 Star Hotel (Beijing, People’s Republic of China)

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After our Badaling Great Wall visit, we decided to capped this rainy day with a short visit, though not part of our itinerary, to the Beijing Olympic Park, its structures built for the 2008 Summer Olympics.  Brittany dropped us off at the Ruyi Bridge (over the Pangu Gardens) where, from this vantage point, we had a great view of the “Bird’s Nest” National Indoor Stadium and “Water Cube” Aquatic Center of the Olympic Park on one side and the Pangu 7 Star Hotel on the other.

Beijing National Indoor Stadium

The 18,000-pax Beijing National Indoor Stadium, also known as the National Indoor Stadium, is an indoor arena nicknamed as the Fan due to its design resembling a traditional Chinese folding fan. Opened on November 26, 2007, it hosted, at the 2008 Olympics, the artistic gymnastics, trampolining and handball events. After the Olympics, the stadium was used for sports competition, cultural and entertaining purposes, and as a multi-functional exercise center for local residents.

Bird’s Nest – Beijing National Stadium

The US$423 million Beijing National Stadium, also known as the National Stadium or, colloquially, as the “Bird’s Nest,” was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Its design was awarded to a submission from the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in April 2003, after a bidding process that included 13 final submissions. The design, which originated from the study of Chinese ceramics, implemented steel beams in order to hide supports for the retractable roof; giving the stadium the appearance of a “bird’s nest.” Leading Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was the artistic consultant on the project. The retractable roof was later removed from the design after inspiring the stadium’s most recognizable aspect. Ground was broken in December 2003 and the stadium officially opened in June 2008.

Water Cube – Beijing National Aquatics Center

The Beijing National Aquatics Center, also known as the National Aquatics Center and nicknamed the “Water Cube,” is an aquatics center that was built alongside Beijing National Stadium in the Olympic Green for the swimming competitions of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Despite its nickname, the building is not an actual cube, but a cuboid (a rectangular box). Ground was broken on December 24, 2003, and the Center was completed and handed over for use on January 28, 2008. During the Olympics, swimmers here broke 25 world records.  After the Olympics, the building underwent a RMB 200 million revamp to turn the inside into a water park.

Pangu 7-Star Hotel

The Pangu 7 Star Hotel,  with its jaw-dropping views of the “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium and “Water Cube” Aquatic Centre, offers 234 guest rooms, including 140 suites. Ten room categories range in size from 45 to 488 sq. m. and all have 3.5-m. high ceilings. It is the only hotel to have been granted permission from the Palace Museum to reproduce priceless artworks from the Forbidden City. The masterworks were recreated on burnished copper panels in Italy.

Ruyi Bridge

On our last night in Beijing, we decided to go shopping at the San Li Tun Commercial Complex.  Our last day was uneventful as our flight left Beijing for Manila at 12 noon.  What an end to summer and a welcome for the rainy season.

The Badaling Great Wall (Beijing, People’s Republic of China)

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After this short stopover at the Bona Jade Store, we all returned to our coach in anticipation of a great Great Wall tour.  Then it started to rain.  Upon arrival at the Badaling Great Wall, we found out that our cable car ride was cancelled, bad news for chubby Alex and his senior citizen mom.  Carmen opted to stay behind while Alex gamely joined us.  With the time allotted to us by our guide Brittany, we traversed the snaking portions of the wall as far as we could, donning our jackets for rain protection.  Some of the sections were quite steep.

The Great Wall of China

The entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 kms. (5,500.3 miles), 6,259.6 kms. (3,889.5 miles) of which are sections of actual wall while the rest are 359.7 km (223.5 mi) of trenches and 2,232.5 kms. (1,387.2 miles) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

The carefully restored, 4.8-km. long Badaling Great Wall, 70 kms. (42 miles) northwest of Beijing, one of 4 places that is accessible to tourist,is its most visited section (opened to tourists in 1957).  On February 24, 1972, the late U.S. Pres. Richard M. Nixon and his wife, accompanied by Vice Premier Li Xiannian, visited this part of the wall during his historic visit to China. On the day of our visit it was filled with tourists, in spite of the rain.  The immediate area around the Badaling Wall has a number of hotels, restaurants and a cable car.

The Great Wall of China, stretching from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia, is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups such as the Xiongnu from the north and rebuilt and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century.

Since the 5th century BC, several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority of the existing wall was built during the Ming Dynasty.

Prior to our return to our assembly area at Badaling Hotel, we took some time out to do some pasalubong shopping at a souvenir shop where I bought some marble letterhead stamps etched, on the spot, with the names of Jandy and my daughter Cheska, both in Chinese characters.  I also bought a pair of granite tiles stippled with images of the Great Wall.  Back at the Badaling Hotel, we had a late buffet lunch at its coffee shop.  At the men’s comfort room, we were amused by life-size replicas of the terra cotta warriors of Xian.

Badaling Hotel Coffee Shop

Bona Jade Store (Beijing, People’s Republic of China)

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On our third day, after breakfast at the hotel, we were to proceed to our tour’s piece de resistance, the Great Wall of China.  Along the way we dropped by Bona Jade Store, one of the largest jade stores in China, taking the seventh exit of BaDaLing Expressway.

Bona Jade Store

Bona Jade Store manufactures and sells more than a thousand kinds of gorgeous jade ware and jewelry (necklaces, rings, earrings, pendants) that embodies thousands of years of Chinese culturing. Its 2-storey sales hall covers about 6,000 sq. m. and can accommodate several thousand customers. Its big parking lot covers about 8,000 sq. m..

Bona Jade Store Sales Area

Upon entering the store, we were assigned a store guide who briefed us on everything you need to know about Chinese jade.  Jade was prized by the Chinese for its durability; its musical qualities; its subtle, translucent colors, and its alleged protective powers (it was thought to prevent fatigue and delay the decomposition of the body). Chinese jade, renowned throughout the world, is classified according to their beauty, hardness, mellow color, soft feel and pleasant sound. At the sales area, we all bought some jade pixiu necklaces, said to bring good luck, while  Gil bought a ring.

A Display of Jade Ware

Bona Jade Store: Er Bo Zi Road East, Huilongguan, Changping District, Beijing 102208, People’s Republic of China. Tel: 0086-010-80796761. Fax: 0086-010-80796762. Website: www.bonajadestore.com.cn.