Monthly Archives: May 2010

National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing, People’s Republic of China)

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The next day, after breakfast at the hotel’s Amazing Thailand Coffee Shop, we now proceeded with our walking tour of nearby Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City.  Along the way, we made short photo ops stops at the futuristic 12,000 sq. m. National Centre for the Performing Arts, a recognizable opera house colloquially described as “The Egg.” It’s iconic, titanium-accented and 46 m. high ellipsoid glass dome is completely surrounded by a man-made lake, said to look like an egg floating on water.

National Centre for the Performing Arts

Started in December 2001, it was finished on July 2007 and its inaugural concert was held in December that same year.  The glass dome measures 212 m. in the east-west direction and 144 m. in the north-south direction.  Its main entrance is at the north side and visitors can walk through a hallway that goes underneath the lake.  The titanium shell is broken by a glass curtain in the north-south direction that gradually widens from top to bottom.

The Man-made Lake

French architect Paul Andreau designed the center with large open space, water and trees.  It was specially designed to complement the red walls of ancient buildings and the nearby Great Hall of the People in order to melt into the surroundings as opposed to standing out against them. The center seats 5,452 people; 2,416 at the Opera Hall (used for operas, ballet, and dances), 2,017 at the Music Hall and  1,040 at the Theater Hall (used for plays and the Beijing Opera).

Entrance of National Center for the Performing Arts

National Centre for the Performing Arts: No.2 West Chang’an Ave.,Xicheng District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Red Theatre: The Legend of Kung Fu – Chun Yi (Beijing, People’s Republic of China)

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After our tour of the Temple of Heaven, we again boarded our coach and proceeded to the nearby Beijing Red Theater which specializes in traditional Chinese performances.  Here, we were to watch the 5:15 PM (the next was 7:30 PM), 1 hour and 20 min. showing of “The Legend of Kung Fu,” a unique and spectacular fusion of modern dance with Chinese traditional arts performed here since 2006. The Red Theater, originally known as the Chongwen Worker’s Cultural Palace Theater, was renovated and its stage facilities has been dramatically improved.

Beijing Red Theater

This show is all kung fu, dance and acrobatics and the actors, the best kung fu practitioners from all over China, do not speak (English subtitles shown above the stage keep you informed of the story line).  Their average age is 17 years.  The costumes, set design and special effects (complete with requisite lights, fog and bombastic music), all up to international standards, were created by some of the best stage directors and designers in China.

Beijing Red Theater Lobby

This Las Vegas-style show, produced by China Heaven Creation International Performing Arts, China’s leading performance art production company, follows the story of a young boy named Chun Yi who, like every boy in China, dreams of becoming a kung fu master.  He was brought by his mother to an ancient Buddhist temple to train to become a monk in the kung fu tradition. On the road to enlightenment, the young monk slowly grows, through kung fu training and encounters with difficulties and temptations, into the next leader of the temple.

Chun Yi

During the show, we weren’t allowed to take photographs or do videotaping during the performance as the theater makes most of its money selling DVDs and trinkets after the show.

Red Theater: No. 44 Xingfu Da Jie., Chongwen District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China.  Tel: 86-10-67103671. Ticket Prices: RMB180 (Yellow Zone), 280 (Blue Zone), 380 (Green Zone) and 680 (Red VIP Zone). E-mail: thebeijingtickets@gmail.com

The Temple of Heaven (Beijing, People’s Republic of China)

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After our buffet lunch at the Sunshine Café at He Ping Li Hotel, we all returned to our airconditioned coach and proceeded, to the Temple of Heaven (literally the Altar of Heaven).  This 273-hectare, magnificent, grand and colorful complex of sacrificial buildings (the largest in the world), a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1998), was built from 1406-1420 AD and is situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing.  During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the complex was visited by the emperor for annual ceremonies of prayer to the God of Heaven for good harvest.

The Temple of Heaven

Upon alighting our coach, we entered the complex via the South Gate then walked along the Long Corridor (Chang Lang).  Walking along this covered walkway, with its 72 bays, took us past the Sacred Kitchen, Butcher House (Zaisheng Ting) and the Sacred Warehouse (ShenKu), where sacrificial animals (slaughtered at least 200 steps away from the altar) were kept and prepared before the rituals.

The Long Corridor

The temple’s most recognizable building, at the north end, was the majestic Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, an impressive 38-m. high and 30-m. diameter wooden building that sits on a large, circular 3-tiered white marble plinth (called the Altar for Grain Prayers). Its cone-shaped, blue roof is crowned with a gilded knob.  The magnificently decorated hall itself was built without using a single nail, truly a feat that required a high level of craftsmanship.

The Magnificent Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

Inside the hall, with its large south facing ceremonial throne, are 28 tall pillars, each made from a single tree trunk.  The 4 pillars along the inner circle represent the 4 seasons, the 12 pillars along the middle circle the 12 months, and the other 12 pillars along the outer circle represent the 12 shichen, the ancient Chinese counting standard (1 shichen equals 2 hours, 1 day being divided into 12 shichen). The black, yellow and green colors of the inner roof represent, like everything in the altar, the Earth and the Heaven.

Interior of Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

We exited the park via the East Gate.

Summer in Beijing (People’s Republic of China)

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Summer was about to end (and classes soon to begin) and I didn’t want to end this window of opportunity without satisfying my yearning to visit some place new and far away. It just so happened that my billiard pals Alexander “Alex” Ong and Gilberto “Gil” Bilog were planning a trip to Beijing (People’s Republic of China) and I decided to join them. Joining us were my son Jandy and Ms. Corazon “Azon” Varias (Gil’s sister-in-law) with her son Gibson Santos. Alex was accompanied by his wife Chona and his mother Carmen but Gil was all by his lonesome.

L-R: Chona, Alex, Carmen, Gil, Gibson, Azon, Jandy and the author

Our trip required us to get a one-time visa (processed by our travel agent after submission of requirements, no interview needed) and NBI clearance (a first for me and Jandy).  Our tour package included, aside from plane fare and hotel accommodation, all our tours and meals.  Weather in Beijing, according to internet weather reports, was now sunny and bright, Beijing’s very cold winter just having ended.

Arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport

We all left Manila’s NAIA Terminal II very early in the morning via the 7:20 AM Philippine Airlines flight. The trip from Manila to Beijing took all of 4.5 hours and we arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA), the world’s second busiest airport (in terms of passenger throughput), by noon. At the airport, we were welcomed by our Chinese tour guide, the diminutive but affable Ms. Brittany Jiang.

Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal Building

Instead of checking ourselves into our hotels as was usually the case,  we were, instead, slated to start our first tour: the Temple of Heaven (a UNESCO World Heritage Site).  But, before anything else, we had a late buffet lunch of authentic Chinese and Cantonese delicacies at the Sunshine Café at the ground floor of the 9-storey, 3-star He Ping Li Hotel Beijing near the Beijing International Exhibition Center.  The 23-km. trip from the airport to the hotel, via our tourist shuttle, took all of 35 mins.

Buffet Lunch at Sunshine Cafe

He Ping Li Hotel Beijing: No. 16 He Ping Li North Street,Dongcheng District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China.

Winchsurfing at Virgin Beach Resort (San Juan, Batangas)

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Joey winchsurfing

Mr. Joey Cuerdo of Powerup Gym invited me and fellow travel writer Joselito”Lito” Cinco to join him and his kids (daughters Frankie and Kitkat and son Kobe) as guests of Mr. Butch Campos, owner of Virgin Beach Resort along Laiya Beach in San Juan, Batangas.  To record the moment, I brought along my daughter Cheska, a photography buff.   Laiya Beach is located along the coast of Sigayan Bay (one of the cleanest bays in the country) and Verde Island Passage.

The resort’s white sand beach

Normally, the trip, via South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and Star Tollway, even on a Saturday (the day we left) was just 2.5 to 3 hrs. but hey it was the eve of the May 10 elections and last-ditch efforts by candidates to woo voters, via rallies and miting de avance, was the rule and not the exception, causing long traffic waits.  We left early in the morning but only arrived at the resort just in time for lunch.  Still, we were lucky.  Other invited guests, skim boarders from Nasugbu who left after lunch, arrived at the resort at 7 PM.

The Balinese-style restaurant

It being noon, the more than 7 km,. long, slightly coarse sand beach at the resort was at its whitest and, as lunch was still being prepared, we took time to explore the place. Very noticeable was its high level of cleanliness which sets it apart from the others. Mr. Campos, our host, sees to it that it remains such, personally picking up trash and cigarette butts and depositing them at ashtrays and trash receptacles provided specifically for food, and non-food items.  This 40-hectare (6 hectares developed) Class “A” resort, opened in 2005, is also noted for the oversized proportions and sprawled layout of its facilities.  The majestic Mt. Lobo serves as a tranquil backdrop to its beautiful beachfront area, truly a combination of land, sea and sky.

The Parasols

After this guided tour by Mr. Campos, we all walked back to the huge Balinese-style restaurant/pavilion were a scrumptious set lunch of salad, soup, main course (with a choice of chicken, beef or pork and seafood) and dessert awaited us.

After lunch, Joey then proceeded to set up the resort’s newest attraction: winchskating.  This is not new to the country as Camarines Watersports (Naga City, Camarines Sur) and Lago de Oro (Calatagan, Batangas)  offer cable wakeboarding, wake skating and water skiing in manmade, freshwater lakes.  However, this will the first time that that cable wakeboarding and wake skating is being done along a seashore and this resort will be the first to offer such.
Joey instructing Cheska

This recent concept is simpler but safer and more affordable, using a U.S. made, 9 HP, 4-stroke portable, lightweight wakeboard winch (manufactured by Ridiculous Winches and distributed here in the country by Outward Bound Gear), anchored and held stationary by stakes on a sand spit, to pull, using variable speeds, a wakeboarder via a sturdy, 200-ft. long rope along the shallow seashore.  Joey, a professional surfer, took first crack at it initially using his own surf board and, finally, a wakeboard (more suitable because of its shorter fins).  Soon, he riding the waves of the shore like the professional that he is.  Mr. Campos, Frankie and Cheska took unsuccessful cracks at it.  Joey hopes, that with the introduction of this winch, the wakeboarding domain will be revolutionized to some extent and more venues will be opened as wakeboard winches have made wake skating accessible to a large number of spectators as one can fix them anywhere.

Virgin Beach Resort: Brgy. Hugom, San Juan, Batangas.  Tel: (632) 815-2584, 815-2587, 759-2020 and 759-2828. Fax: (632)817-6334 Mobile number: (0917) 813-1301. Email: sunkisd@pldtdsl.net.  Website: www.virginbeachresort.com.