古典與現代的北京 Ancient and Modern of Beijing

頤和園是一個非常美麗的地方。有一個巨大的湖泊，當我到那裡時，湖面結了冰。

還有人在湖上溜冰，景色令我很難忘。我覺得它是很獨特的！

The Summer Palace is a very beautiful place. There is a huge lake that had iced

over when I was there.  There were people skating on the lake and the scene to me

was quite unforgettable. I found it to be quite unique!

[ pix. 1 & 2 ]

頤和園 The Summer Palace

北京雍和宮 Beijing Lama Temple

雍和宮 - 在北京地鐵，我認識了一位熱情的大學生。他帶我到寺廟。

他說來這裡祈福非常有效，這就是為什麼他總是來到廟裡。

他告訴我，他報讀了澳洲一所大學，入學考試之後，他來到祈福和祈禱。

結果他成功了！於是，他經常來這裡。他簡要介紹後，他去了祈禱，

我只是四處參觀所有景點。我發現這裡的建築風格非常有趣，類似故宮的。

寺廟裡有許多佛像，有各種形狀和大小。在寺廟的深處，有一個巨大的佛像，

我感到和它有一種很強的精神交流，我也許了願。

Lama Temple – I met an enthusiastic college student, in the Beijing subway. He led me to the temple.

 He said that Chi-Fu (to make a wish) is very efficacious, and that was why he always comes to the Temple.

 He told me that after an entry exam he had done for a university in Australia, he came to Chi-Fu and prayed.

 He got in! So he comes here all the time now. After his brief introduction, he went off to pray

and I just walked around taking in all the sights. I found the architecture very interesting and the style,

 similar to that of the Forbidden City. There were many Buddha in the temple

and they were all shapes and sizes. Deep inside the complex, there was a huge Buddha.

I found a very strong spiritual connection to it and I made a wish.

[ pix. 1 & 2 ]

北京雍和宮 Beijing Lama Temple

故宮的夕陽 A sunset in the Forbidden City

明十三陵 – 這是於皇帝成祖朱棣和皇后徐氏的合葬陵寢。他們就埋葬在此。

我經常聽到別人說中國人的一個習慣，當進入陵墓，你需要說“我來了！”，

當你走時，你要說，“我回來了！ ”。如果你不這樣做，

你的靈魂就不會返回你身體，它仍然在陵墓裡。

如果你問我，我會覺得有點嚇人，所以我沒有花太久在這裡！

Ming Tombs – The tombs are mausoleums belonging to Emperor and Empress Xu Zu Zhu Di.

It’s where they’re buried. I have often heard that it is customary among the Chinese,

that when entering a tomb, you to need say "Here I come!” When you exit, you say,

 "I'm back! ". If you don’t, your soul won’t come back to you- it remains in the tomb.

 A bit scary if you ask me, so I didn’t spend too long here!

[ pix. 1 & 2 ]

明十三陵 Ming Tombs

北京的藝術 Art of Beijing

798藝術區 - 我從一本雜誌看到這個地方，然後我做了一些關於它的研究，

從互聯網上收集更多的信息。本來這地方是無線電設備廠。

建築大多數是在東德國包豪斯(Bauhaus)風格。現在，它成為一個北京藝術家的集中地。

我覺得這地方的佈局非常有吸引力和有趣。抵達之後，我有吃了一個美味的午餐，

然後在這四處走，細心走過多種多樣的藝術商店，每家店都展示了不同的藝術品。

在此之後我發現了一家紐西蘭土產(Kiwi)咖啡店，供應為建立良好健康的紐西蘭食品，

我發現這咖啡店的氣氛非常舒適和友好。顯然，店主在新西蘭有一家咖啡店，

他想分享這種氣氛給當地人。我真的沒有想到798會這樣，整個環境設立得很獨特！

798 Art Zone – I read about this place in a magazine and then I did a bit of research about it,

gathering more information from the Internet. Originally the place was a radio equipment factory.

 The construction is mostly done in an East Germany Bauhaus style.

Now, it’s become a concentration of Beijing’s artists. I find the layout of the place really attractive

 and interesting. After arriving, I had a delicious lunch and then walked around,

scouring through a wide variety of art shops showcasing the different works each shop had on display.

 After this I found a Kiwi café serving up good wholesome Kiwi food and I found the atmosphere in the café,

 really comfortable and friendly. Apparently the owner had a café in NZ and he wanted to share that

 ambience with the locals. I really didn’t expect 798 to be like this. The whole set up was really quite unique!

[ pix. 1 & 2 ]

北京的回憶 Beijing memories

在2008年12月27日我終於到了一個非常重要的旅遊目的地，

無論如何對我來說都是很難忘 - 北京。

也許中國人說：“不到長城非好漢”，使我感到內疚，

因為我一直在亞洲各地旅行，但我從來就沒到過北京。我一直想來，

但我並沒有真正作出努力行動。直至這一刻 ...

近年來，在某些部分，因為奧運會，這個古老的城市經歷了一些重大變化，

它已經成為一個非常現代化和有吸引力的城市！

在北京有很多的景點，古代和現代，每個這些地方留下長久的印象，

引起強烈的感情，都在我心內。我希望用照片描繪我的這些感受，與大家分享。

因為在北京有很多景點，我只能到我想要的地方參觀，

這些是我在的那裡拍的'照片故事'。

On the 27th of December 2008 I had finally arrived at a very important travel destination,

 unforgettable for me anyway – Beijing.

Perhaps the Chinese saying “You’re not a hero if you haven’t been to the Great Wall”,

 made me feel guilty because I had been traveling all over Asia but I never quite made it to Beijing.

 I’ve always wanted to come but I just hadn’t really made the effort to come. Until now…

In recent years and in some part, because of the Olympic games,

this ancient city has gone through some major transformations

and it’s become a very modern and attractive city!

In Beijing there are lots of attractions, both ancient and modern and

 each of these places have left lasting impressions and they evoked strong feelings within me.

 I hope to portray these feelings in my photos and share them with you all.

 Because there are many attractions in Beijing, I can only show the places I wanted to visit

and these are my ‘photo-stories’ of those places.

 

天壇 - 這是我見過最美麗的中國建築。

我一直想在這裡拍照。天壇是一個能代表的中國建築。

我拍的所有照片都把這個標誌性建築顯示在冬天蔚藍的天空框架中。

The Temple of Heaven – This is the most beautiful piece of Chinese architecture that I’ve ever seen.

 I have always wanted to take pictures here.

The Temple of Heaven is a symbolic representation of Chinese architecture.

 All the pictures I took here show this symbolic building framed by the brilliant blue winter sky.

[ pix. 1 & 2 ]

天壇 Temple of Heaven