Olympic Stadium at Beijing - China Tour VI

Jai Gurudev !!

Tea Making Demo at Tea Market

The One day trip was only a paid shopping visit , we can say. Because, they took us to the Tea Market after the Silk Market and Pearl Market before they showed us the first tourist spot,the Olympic Stadium .

The ambience of Tea Market

The ambience of the Tea Market was very impressive.They took our group into a cabin, wherein a lovely girl started demonstrating the tea making skills of 4 different types of tea . She was explaining in a good English with  sweet looks , no doubt it is  admirable and attractive enough for anyone to go for buying the tea powder , atleast it would  tempt us to buy.



The young lass started speaking , capturing our full attention , " There are many different types of tea available in China. Out of which, I shall take up selectively some 4 types of teas. First is the Jasmine Tea . Take up hot water and run through the tea powder and strain it." . She makes use of sepearte tea pot new to us . Then she poured in tiny cups and served us and asked us to slurp and drink .  The fragrance was that of the Jasmine flower and the taste was very strong that it stayed for long in our mouth .

The other tea she showed was Pu'er tea . She said that tea should be chewed and tasted unlike the Jasmine tea which should be slurped . The taste would be similar to that of Rice , she said. Indeed it tasted as she said.

Another tea was Chrsyanthum tea, made by running the hot water through the dried Chrysanthum flowers. But the tatse did not impress us.

The next tea was Fruit Tea. The fruit pieces are dehydrated and dried and used to make Tea.
She asked us to taste the Fruit tea just like that before making the tea. Was tasting sweet . Should be obviously good for health , as fruits are involved.

The Dragon changing color based on
the tempeartue of drink inside



Naughty Pee Pee Boy

The girl also showed a couple of interesting things in the midst of the demo. One is the "Pee Pee Boy !!" That's a toy of the small boy, made of clay , I suppose , which would pass Susu when hot water is poured on it's head. The kids would love to watch it , as we did , no doubt. Another one was the cup , in which the dragon picture inscribed on the cup would change its colour into red if hot tea is poured into it.


 


Not only that , she gave an attractive offer that  these two items would be given free , if we purchase all 4 types of tea , one package consisting of 4 packets  for 900 yuans , that is Rs .72000 INR . 
The Iran lady bargained and took 2 Pee Pee boys as free .



We were given a pamphlet , in which the medicinal values of each tea was listed out. Jasmine tea cools the body, relaxes and relieves us from  the headache . The Pu'er tea reduces Cholestral , reduces blood pressure itseems . None of the tea should be added with milk except for one specific type of tea.

Following this tea market visit, later we visited a Tea shop in the place where we stayed ,where we saw a hundred types of tea powders kept all over the shop with varying rates and qualities and types. We purchased few types of tea packets , but the price was cheaper when compared to that tea market price.

Olympic Stadium at Beijing

                                  


Next , we came to the Olympic stadium . The structure was unique . We need to walk about a KM to reach the stadium from the road. Some stalls were put up on sides selling toys and similar items.
Special Kites were being sold outside . Lots of chinese people from outside Beijing were part of the tourists , who were visiting along with their family. We were given only sufficient time to visit the entrance and return back . Hence , could not visit inside the stadium.

Exquisite Designs of cups

Crafted Porcelain Plates 

After the stadium, again the marketing spree continued. This time , it was the Porcelain Market. Though the prices were not affordable, it was really wonderful to watch the exquisite artistry showcased there in different forms as toys, bangles , Pots, Vases gigantic and tiny ones and various items , which are unique in nature. We could only capture the photographs there , as buying those things was not our cup of tea.

Giant Vases

Love & smiles...



One Day Trip at Beijing - China Tour V

Jai Gurudev !!

Since the place was new and due to the language problem , we just thought we would go a one day trip package for sightseeing organised by the local Chinese private trip organisers , during the weekend instead of us venturing to go out ourselves .
But, later on realised , that was not a wise idea !! Because , it was not organised as a sight seeing trip but more of a trip to trap us to buy the things marketed by the government supported industries.
Looks like a lot of commision oriented business going on in the back stage !!

The  Taxi which was supposed to pick us up on that saturday morning 9 AM , reached our hotel only by 10.30 AM.The lady who accompanied us were bargaining for some extra bugs , so that  she would cover few more other places too. After all such drama ,finally we started  off  with a group consisting of 9 people - an Iran lady & her bro' , a Bengali girl & her dad , two girls from Sweden apart from us three  and headed towards our first spot - The Silk Market !!.
 

Silk Market

Silk Worm Stages

Silk from cocoon

The entrance was like a House , to look at  . At the lobby was a demonstartion going on about the various growth stages of the silkworm  and they broke open a cocoon and pulled out the silk yarn out of it. China Silk is a very familiar name in our market even in those days.
 
 

Quilts

The Quilts ,very soft and of high quality were displayed and the prices were not less than Rs.16000 .
 
 
 
 
 
 


At Silk Market wondering if anything can be bought ?

It is needless to say , we just quit the place by just having a look at it.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The next stop was , as you guess , the next marketing trap ...the Pearl Shop or industry.
Similar to the silk worm industry , they grow the Oysters to get the pearls .I remembered our Hyderabad Pearls .

Oysters grown for pearls in the oyster pond

A Lady cuts open an oyster , which is about two years old and to our surprise ,we found around 5 to 6 small round pearls inside it . She said , with the age of the oyster , the size of the pearl obtained from it will be of bigger size.
   
Pearls in various sizes and colours were displayed for sale in form of different jewellery . But it looked very costly for us . They take the people in groups , according to the agent who bring them in seperate cabins and do the marketing. All ladies oriented business !!
The jewellery design division was also there . It's a  big market run by the Governement itself.
 


Attractive girls marketing

Also the pearl cream for youth complexion and  to remove wrinkles and other cosmetics using pearl were kept for sale and young ladies do vigorous marketing there. Like initially they say , one cream  bottle for 200 yuans and then they come down a little to 2 cream bottles for 200 yuans and finally we bargained with the help of the Iran Lady , as one cream bottle for 50 yuans plus a pearl pendant as compliment !! The Pearl cream looks like it consists of pearl shaped granules inside and we need to apply one such pearls to our face itseems. After bringing here , when I opened , the odour which emanates from that cream is very strong and my husband said , beware of the lead contents which might present in it. And I had kept it aside and am yet to try that cream ..
 
The next spot in the trip package was the famous Olympic stadium , which I shall continue in my next post ..

Love & smiles...

Breakfast at Beijing - China Tour IV

Jai Gurudev !!



Vegetable Salad varieties tasting more non veg & Fish Fry without oil (?!)

Thinking of the  Breakfast  we had at the hotel ..

Ah ! What a variety of  food served in the buffet style !! Though it's Lip smacking at the first glance of it , but it's not so ,if we have to taste .



BOILED EGGS WITH SHELL & MAIDA DISCS

Spread across the full length of 2 tables is numerous dishes . How I wish , I were a Chinese or atleast a non-vegetarian so that I can taste each dish and appreciate the recipe  !!
 

Actually one cannot resist the temptation  of tasting the colorful display of the food items !!

As in any other breakfast menu , the Bread, butter and Jam was included along with fruits like Watermelon , Oranges etc apart from the Boiled Egg  and thick warm Milk , Black Coffee and Black Tea and warm juices like apple extract juice , Lemon juice etc.



Initial days Breakfast menu - Baby Potatoes,
boiled sweet pumpkins, watermelons etc

The eggs were not removed off its shell , only we need to do it ourselves . The Egg yellow was not looking yellow in colour but green in colour !!

And Black tea served was of different variety , as one day Jasmine Tea, the other day Chrysanthum tea , Black Tea etc , but everything sugarless and milkless.
Also some plain boiled sweet pumpkin pieces and sweet potato pieces were also part of the breakfast buffet . Then there was Plum like fruit was kept and eagerly we took it and tasted , after which we came to know it's all Tomatoes ...Baby tomatoes looking like plums.

Our initial days of breakfast included only any of the above items except Egg . But , u see , we did not want to really give a try of the strange food , which we had already had the warning information in India before leaving to China ,ike the Chinese menu item would consist of snakes , reptiles, worms etc.. The very thought of those words created a sort of initial aversion towards the Chinese food items.

As days passed  , slightly I was drawn by the looks of the other stuffs placed there and took pains to know if it’s a vegetarian food . Learnt that “Tsu shei “  is the Chinese equivalent for vegetarian and used to point at the food stuff and ask the waitress , “Tsu shei ?!”

She used to nod her head and say  “Tsu Shei ..Tsu shei “ if it’s veg and if it’s not she used to nod in other direction. After confirmation, I was attempting to taste and started having a liking towards those food when we were approaching towards  the end of the trip !! Strange are our taste buds, I feel.



No idea about this food item not tasted

Somedays ,fried veg noodles , with only cabbage  was kept , which I liked and even went for a second serving at times !!

A chocolate cream stuffed tiny sweet puffs was there . The taste was not bad !!

 

Then the other stuffs namely ( The Chinese names I don’t know, so I had given my own names )

·         Ragi cones - steamed ragi flour mixed with slight sugar in conical shapes

·         Maida Discs – steamed maida flour mixed with slight sugar once again.

·         Onion coriander salad – White onion and coriander with Red Chilly

·         Momos ( Believed to be Chinese name here) – Steamed maida with stuffed beef

·         Fried Fish – Looks like fried fish with less or no oil , I guess



Chocalate cream stuffed Tiny samosas & Beef Momos

·        


 Varieties of vegetable salads (?!) – The question mark is because the taste is something strange ..tasted like non vegetarian, I believe the oil used for mixing is different perhaps non veg oil  , the smell is unbearable .

·         Egg Fried Rice

·         Rice Porridge – Plain Kanji with no sugar/salt

·         Porridge with Egg /Non veg stuff

·         2 to 3 types of Plum Cakes

·         Twisted Biscuits

·         Fried sticks of Urad Dhaal  - A stuff made of Urad Dhal , similar to our Ulunda Vada of Taminadu , but the shape is not round, but rectangular in shape like a stick . Good taste !!

·         Ragi and Maida Rolls – Colourful steamed Maida  mixed with ragi rolls with slight sugar !!



Cakes , Biscuits

·         And some items which cannot be described at all , because I don’t know how to describe it !!

People eat those Ragi Cones and maida discs plain and the taste is so bland !!

But one thing I noticed is the chinese food does not consist of oil at all and with only very less of sugar and salt. And literally no masala items at all !! No doubt it's a healthy food !!

That's the reason , hardly I can spot the people with big tummy or pot belly !!
The secret of their looks is their food recipe ?!!

Ragi & Maida mixed Roll , sweet potato pieces

  Love & smiles...



Beijing - A Home away from Bangalore !! - China Tour III

Jai Gurudev !!

Beijing Aiport

  

We were the odd ones out in China Dragon Airlines flight in the midst of  Chinese crowd. But, me and my colleague differed in one more way too. We got the special guest treatment .Guess what ? We were served the food first in flight. Because only ours was the only vegetarian food in the whole flight specially prepared .



Veg Food (?!) served at Dragon Airlines



The menu included the bread , butter , rice with some strange vegetables & mushrooms, Boiled Kabuli Channa Daal and  fruits & Tea etc.





Waiting at Immigration Cell at Beijing



The flight journey took about 4 hrs and when we reached Beijing airport, the first thing I noticed was more and more number of people . We can say that the airport is flooded with people everywhere .

 



Kids on Sports tour

 
Beijing is second highly populated city in China with a population exceeding 22 millions , records say.
Sports gain a major importance in China !! We can see may sports related scenes at many places .

Electric Train to reach exit at airport


  Beijing airport is  incredibly larger and so modern buildings and posh too. We ought to catch a bus , followed by escalators then an electric train followed by an elevator, within the airport to reach the exit door of the airport. With this , you can imagine, how big the airport is !! Amazing !!






An Elevator to move between the floors at airport



To me , the airport looked like a busy local Bus stand , except for the fact that it's all flying aeroplanes instead of the Buses. Every 5 minutes ,one aeroplane keeps taking off !!

A very cold evening at Beijing welcomed us and the car booked for us escorted us to the Hotel , Home Inn situated outside the fifth Ring Road. Beijing is so vast that it consists as many as Six Ring roads !! 



Lenova building opposite our hotel





Home Inn is a chain of restaurants spread all over Beijing. The hotel location was in the industrial area  similar to the Electrinics City location of Bangalore, full of industries. And the hotel is situated within about 5 minutes walkable distance to our office location. About 4 buildings belonging to famous Lenova  Company is sitauted adjacent to our hotel.  The room was quite accomodative  for us 2 ladies with facilities like a room heater/Air conditioner and 24 hrs hot water supplyand an electric kettle . Soon we started feeling at home there. For the next fortnight , it indeed was going to be our home , u see ...

Relaxing in room

Love & smiles...

China Tour II - Bangalore to HongKong

 

Jai Gurudev !!

Bangalore to HongKong Flight- Cathay Pacific

When all the hurry burry & tension of packing up subsided , soon we ought to undergo  various formalities like baggage weight check , ticket, Passport verification etc and got the boarding pass , only then we could sigh a big relief and relaxed ,waiting to aboard the flight . That time , happened to meet a college friend accidentally and had a nice chat , reliving our old memories & friends and sharing our present status . Infact my colleague got a bit irritated about our lengthy conversation.

The flight was to Honk Kong and we had to catch a connecting flight to Beijing from there.
It was a first time international flight experience for me and my colleague. We cannot deny , we had a pinch of fear during the flight take off  . The Air Hostesses were looking pretty and when I tried to capture a photograph , she sensed the Flash , immediately she came near me , picked the camera and deleted the capture.
Though their looks were stunning, their smile was only plastic , so artificial !!



Flight GPS

Watching the live status details of flight in the Flight GPS system relayed in the T.V placed in front of each seat was interesting as it continuously monitored the flight altitude, distance covered , the flight position , the prevaling temperature outside the flight , origin place time , destination place time etc.. When the flight was crossing the ocean  , I couldn't prevent the thought  from arising " What will happen if the flight falls into the sea ?!"
Alternately we can switch on to other channels to watch movies, cartons etc..




Bird's Eye View fromFlight

Once when the flight flew over Hong Kong , we were taken aback when we watched through the window - the over view or the bird's eye view of Hon Kong Island  in the night time , it is something very spectacular . The colourful lights illuminating Hong Kong and  different layouts like the decoarted land surrounding the beaches , the Harbor is a feast for the eyes , we can say !! It just seemed like a Sparkling  Jewellery with  a pendant crafted with precious Jems . Not just one type of jewel , but felt like entered a Big Jewellery Shop , wherein exquisite designs of diamonds studded jewellery is placed for the display . Amazing !!
Not only the Creator , but the Creation is amazing as well !!
One should never miss the opportunity of gazing through the aeroplane window , the HongKong view at night !! 




Hong Kong Airport

The Hong Kong airport was very big and a very busy one too . Literally we had to search for our counter to get the boarding pass for the connecting flight to Beijing and we were just in time to aboard the China Dragon Airlines flight . We were marvelled by the looks of shops at the Hong Kong Airport and even the prices of the items are also stunningly high . Not our cup of tea ,ofcourse !!

Love & smiles...
 

China Visit I - Guru's Grace !!

Jai Gurudev !!



Standing amazed at Honkong Airport

It is said , " When we are in the path ...spiritual path we can feel and experience Guru's Grace or God's Grace thoroughly in every moment of our life !!"

And one such moment , which I had come across recently and which I enjoyed and feel grateful for His Grace is my China tour , organised as official tour . Though I was completely busy managing office work with my house work , added to the unexpected commitments at my hometown due to my father's demise , somehow all the things came in place , giving way for the China tour for about 17 days.

Standing a bit far away from the shop which shows
 the warning signal as "No Photography here !"

 It's my first out of India trip and obviously my excitement level was high. I was arranging for the trip all alone by myself as my husband had gone out of station before starting off for the trip.
Right from wardrobes like purchase of thermal wares , dresses to preparing the food , it was really hectic. Because the instructions were pouring from all sides as ,

" It will be very cold in China ( I had google the weather forecast for the next 15 days in Beijing & confirm ), so get ready with thermal wears  "

Food will be a major problem in China, especially if you are a vegetarian, So carry the food !!
( I had to carry the Rice Cooker along with some packed groceries & food stuffs ).It was a great difficulty to bring down the weight of my baggage to less than 23 Kgs with all these stuffs.

You need to walk a lot , so take your shoes and socks ..

The Chinese do not know English , and in case if you fall sick ,you may need Emergency medicine kit to meet your needs. Else you might tell some problem to teh doctor , he might understand something and give some medicine for a different problem.

Also browsed about Chinese language , site seeing places to visit and got myself prepared mentally apart from the hell a lot of official things , which we were engaged.

One instant , which I 'd like to mention His Grace is , I was in need of a pretty good handbag to safguard my passport, dollars ,visa etc. Due to shoratge of time, I couldn't purchase one. But , it so happened that the previous day , a friend of mine asked me willingly if I 'm in need of a handbag by any chance , as she had one for sale .I  just grabbed it , as it was quite sturdy & robust .
Later on, it invited the comments from my colleagues as "The compunder bag"  ..that's a different issue altogether.

So with all the things, got set ready to take off to China via Hong Kong route. Myself along with 2 of my colleagues, one lady and one gentleman .

Add caption


  Jai Gurudev !!

Love & smiles...

I am there here and there !!

Jai Gurudev !!

Recently we have shifted our residence. A little girl in the opposite house addresses me as "Aththai (aunt) " to her grandma , even before I get myself introduce to her . Her grandma was surprised to hear this from the small 4 year old child and tells me in awe . I believe because of this , the grandma considers me as her kin and showers love on me .

In  our previous home , a street dog all of a sudden came from somewhere and sticked  herself to us. She used to  cutely wag her tail and looks at us with so much love. Though I was not much inclined to the dogs from my childhood, I was attracted to her.I used to feed her regularly in the mornings. She visits our home regularly in the early morning , eats the rice mixed with milk and moves away.Even she gave birth to babies twice near our house , during which time, she never left  her babies alone and never allowed anyone to go near that area  , but allowed me to go near it and feed her . And finally , on the day of shifting our residence to the new one, she smelt our shifting and was found to be seen very restless , barking continuously at all for no reason . I felt very sorry for her . And yesterday , when I happened to go near the old house, she saw me and she came near me and started licking my toe with so much love.

The neighbour  aunty in our old house , who considers Jesus as her Way & Life and speaks Malayalam , just considers me as her own relative and  used to shower so much love on me . I never can feel that she is a distant person and I always can say that she is mine.

Though we cannot explain the reasons for the above instances, I just simply remember Shirdi Sai Baba's words :

" I am there in each and every living being . The hunger of the dog is no different from the hunger of mine. "

And also He says ,

" Those who enthrones Me in their heart and sees Me in every living being , I an indebted to them !!"

Jai Sai Ram !!


Love & smiles...

Rama Vs Krishna !!

Jai Gurudev !!

What's the difference between Rama and Krishna ?

One can say , both are just different forms of the same God . But , if we dwelve deep into their lives and their mission thereon , more truths would start revealing in front of us !!

Rama taught the disciplines of Life !!

Krishna marks Total and unconditional Love !!

 

 Rama's life says , " How God performs His duties ? " by taking a human form !!
Whereas Krishna , being in the form of  Lord , soaked other people in Love and made them to perform their duties !!

In other words, Rama indicates, " As God , what I do ?"
Krishna says, " You, as humans do the same as what I do ? "

Infact Mahabharatha came next to Ramayana , ie, Krishnavataar came next to Ramavatar . Why ?
Because, till Ramavatar , God was the sole doer of heroic acts!! This brought all the people to His Feet !!
Whereas in Krishnavatar , Krishna made Arjuna to perform the Heroic act . He was behind Arjuna !!

Indirectly Krishna's motive was to show that "Man can perform the Heroic acts equally to Him , provided the man is equipped with the Courage to perform along  with the unconditional Love !!

How he gets the courage ?
By doing "Nama Japa!!" that is "Repeated chanting of Lord's names !!" . Infact this is a  meditation. This was shown in Ramavataar , by Hanuman !!

Unconditional Love can be practised by the man , if  he leaves the "Mamakara" or the "Mine " feeling  minus the Ego attached to it !!
This was shown in Krishnavatar , by Arjuna .

 Arjuna was couragoeus and also practised unconditional Love without any Ego feeling , whereas Duryodana has the Ego feeling leading to his downfall !!

Rama showed what role does Faith plays in our life , by instilling Devotion and Faith in Hanuman !! Hanuman was always chanting the Ram Naam and believed, "Ram Naam" is more powerful than Rama Himself for Ram Nama fetches Ram automatically.

Krishna marked the significance of Guru in one's life !! With Guru's blessings and guidance , one can reach the ultimate goal of life !!

But , why then Mahabharatha came later than Ramayana ?
Because, With the courage and Faith in God ( as in Ramavataar ) , the man moves on to the next level of existence ,  that is, with  Guru's Guidance or Blessings ,   he gets  unconditional Love devoid of  Ego   ( as seen in Krishnavataar ), which leads to  "Faith in Oneself "  !!

Following Krishnavatar, comes Kaliyuga, which calls the need for the above characteristics .This is mandatory for a man to remain unshaken , in the midst of n number of turbulences he has to encounter in Kaliyuga, which is inevitable !!

Love & smiles...