2010 Asian odyssey: Shanghai World Expo, Kuala Lumpur, and more! (Part 3)

This entry is part 3 of 12 in the series 2010 Asian odyssey: Shanghai World Expo, Kuala Lumpur, and more!

June 14, 2010

2010 Asian odyssey: Shanghai World Expo, Kuala Lumpur, and more! (Part 3)

By Simon J. Lau

Over the past two days I’ve visited Beihai Park, Jingshan Park, and the Temple of Heaven. Both Beihai and Jingshan are adjacent to the Forbidden City, but Jingshan offers an elevated view of the surrounding area. Unfortunately, there was so much smog that we could only see a few city blocks in front of us. After exploring the parks, I returned to the night market to take pictures and show a friend all the unusual foods available.

We encountered some difficulties finding the Temple of Heaven, and what should have been a 15-minute trip ended up taking an hour. However, the area surrounding the temple had nice open spaces with many small trails where we spent the morning strolling.

Beihai Park consists of several buildings surrounding a large pond. The pond itself was vast, and there were many people pedaling boats through the water and relaxing. It’s probably one of the nicest parks I’ve visited in Beijing.

Here’s another picture from Beihai Park. I particularly liked this walkway and how it provided a nice frame to focus your eyes on.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this guy with his ridiculous hairdo. He was super cute, but when I tried to pet him, he went for my fingers! Talk about unpredictably vicious!

This is the view of the Forbidden City from the top of Jingshan Park. After visiting six parks so far, I’d have to say that this park probably offers the best view in all of Beijing (not the nicest looking park, but the best views). Also, it was extremely humid that day, so no matter what I did to cool off, I continued to sweat profusely.

This picture might be a bit hard to see, but it’s me in a packed bus in China. Literally, I couldn’t move, and if they squeezed any more people in, I would have been hanging out of the window.

Here are the soldiers who provide security to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

Finally, I got a little adventurous at the night market and tried sheep testicles. I can’t say I was a huge fan. In fact, it tasted somewhat gamey and a bit bland, so I wasn’t really too enthusiastic about eating it. However, how often do I get to eat this in the states? Not often, so I had to give it a try!