Beijing 2024 - Muji Hotel and Miniature Exhibition

 

While making our way back from QianMent back to our hotel, we walked from the subway station towards Dashilan Street again, and came across a Muji Hotel which we've never noticed before in the early morning. To be frank, being a Japanese brand, the while place didn't really stand out like those shops in Dashilan St. Muji Hotel actually just blended in among the historical old buildings.  I was excited to go in and take a look because I've never seen a Muji Hotel before, even though I've read about it online.

The hotel did not disappoint. There was a lobby, and a check in area. There were restaurant and cafe, as well as a shop. There was also an exhibition area on the ground floor. Of course we couldn't visit any of the guest room to take a look at the aesthetics of the room to verify if it was also in Muji style, lol. Trust me, I would have love that! I felt that they should at least show some of the room photos to advertise it.

Anyway, we spend some time at the exhibition area, and it was a miniature exhibition with a twist. The twist was, each exhibition uses a Muji product in their display. So for example above is Muji biscuits! Cute right? I was also excited when I saw a similar exhibition back in Singapore when I was back, but it was displaying Singapore tourist attraction in miniature, and also utilising Muji products! 

Here are some Muji brush.

And this was my favourite, curry and naan! A popular Muji food product for the Japanese. What I love about this was, the miniature people inside were actually Indians! Like from India! Skin tone and dressing as well! Cause if you look very closely, you could see some of the ladies wearing saree! How cool is that! Love the details!

Lastly, took this souvenir shop of some Japanese looking drawing of Muji Hotel. Cool to the max!

Beijing 2024 - Night View of Qian Men (前门) Area

 

Since we managed to explore Dashilan and QianMen by late afternoon, I suggested that we took a walk after dinner to see how far Tiananmen Square was. Most of the main tourist attractions were clustered around here, hence that was one of the criteria for selecting our hotel too. We were supposed to visit the Forbidden City the next day, which was also a walking distance from there. I thought doing a recee of the area would be good as we needed to get there early in the morning.

Walking out of QianMen area, we found a few beautiful old buildings along some back alley ways. I always though such grand western style buildings can only be found in Shanghai. I was pleasantly surprised to see them here in Beijing. They were elegant and gave out such classic vibe.

Walking around the area, we also came across one of the old Beijing Railway Station. This was just a small one. The main Railway Station was huge when we went by it by bus one day. But the small station has such an elegant building structure that I just had to snap a photo of it.

The actual QianMen up close and personal. These 'men' or gates are typical features in Chinese, Korean and Japanese ancient cities. They are used as checkpoints and security post long time back. Since Beijing are separated into circular districts, with the Forbidden City at the center of it, there are a few gates to guard against people going in and out of the city.

Here is a night view of QianMen when it's all lighted up at night. I don't know why, but it reminded me of Seoul Korea, lol. Mainly cause my first encounter with such a structure was actually in Seoul when I was 23 years old. 

We also saw the People's Hall and Tiananmen Square area from a distance. There were so much security boundaries all over the place that it was almost impossible to walk there at all! On the map, it was a short 20 minutes walk to get to the square. But with all the security closed off, we couldn't get it. Too many detours and security check everywhere. Each security check point requires us to show our passport to get through. We later found out that there was actually a China-Africa Conference being held, hence the high security of the whole city. Yikes, I guess I have to find alternate route to get to where I need to be the next day!

But first, let me take a wefie! Us in front of QianMen before it got too dark. 

Beijing 2024 - Exploring Buildings and Shops

 

I've selected to stay near the QianMen area, and also near Dashilan Shopping Street as it was a more budget friendly area as compared to other more touristy and centric area. Also, I though it would be nice to be near a bustling shopping street to soak up the Chinatown vibe. I think I made an excellent choice, cause we walked through the shopping streets almost daily, either just to see the excitement of the tourist around, or just looking for snacks to eat, or just to feel that we were really in China. 

The shopping street itself did not disappoint. It took me a while to realised that some of the grand looking buildings were actually department stores, or tea merchant etc. Mainly because everything was just so elaborately decorated that I felt intimidated to even step into any stores. But after a few days there, we were more comfortable wandering into alleys and shops just to see what was sold there.

I also found a book store nearby which also sold tea. And above was the sign board that first drew me to it. Unfortunately the book selection wasn't that interesting, and the tea even less so. 

There were a few food court or food eating area at Dashilan which we wandered in a few times just to look around. I found the food prices rather expensive to be honest, and we never did end up dining in any of the food court there. We dine at other rather interesting places instead. Will slowly show you as I document out our daily adventures in Beijing. Oh, by the way, above is a giant hot pot in the main entrance of a restaurant. On my list of things to eat, Mutton Slice Hotpot was on it. So I took note whenever I came across such store.

I also forgot that pigs were allowed to be displayed everywhere! After spending most of my life in a muslim country growing up, I wasn't used to such blatant displayed of pork products for sale! Hence a few photos of these pocky everywhere. China does have a huge population of muslim, and visiting the muslim street was also part of my itinerary of this trip! And you might have guest it, it has more to do with the food than the culture or religion aspect of it. 

Pork jerkies for sale at the food court. I'm not a fan, but my husband is. I don't really get bak kwa at all unless they came soaking in sweet sauce and sandwiched between a bun outside a cinema, lol.

White Rabbit store was also a thing here. It was a sweet practically every chinese kids in the world has grown up with. There was a giant White Rabbit shop at the QianMen area. We did browse from the outside, but I'm actually not a fan of white rabbits with blood shot eyes. I do like the sweets growing up, mainly because of the rice paper wrapping that came with it which I though was so cool.

Lastly, I saw these super elaborated ice creams for sale, showing famous tourist sites in China. Wow. This was the first time I saw such thing. I didn't try any on my trip there as they were quite pricey and cheesy. I realised that even these days, you could find these ice creams selling at Singapore tourist attractions, showing Uniquely Singapore sites instead. To be frank, the ice cream looked cool, but not exactly appetising. 

Beijing 2024 - Exploring Qian Men (前门) Area

Besides Dashilan Shopping street, there was also QianMen area which was a short walking distance from our hotel. We went there on our first morning, and what a pleasant place it was! From the start where the QianMen could be seen here, you could walk down a super huge and green road to the other end.

Look at the greeneries on both side of the QianMen Road. I though this was such a lovely place for a morning walk. Yeah, so this was early morning. This place becomes crowded in the late morning till night, and especially so in the weekends! Plus, the shops at both side of the road seems to be of a more high end shops, so we didn't really eat and shop here. But it's a very pleasant place for a stroll.

If you get tired of walking, there is also an old tram that goes up and down the whole road, so that's an option for you to explore the place too. If you're walking there, do beware of the tram too!

The more concrete part of some part of the road.

There is also a three storey Starbucks at the start of the QianMen Road. Actually I don't really know if it's operational since it looked like it was under renovation. Since we walked pass it quite a lot during our stay, I recall that they did open, it's just that maybe because of how the building looked, it kinda blend into the background as one of the historical monument of the place, lol.

Along the road was also dotted with these bronze historical figurines, showing you what it was like long time back at the same location. Yeah, one thing about China is, when they say in the old days, it could be hundreds if not thousands of years ago! The yardstick measurement here is very different from most of the rest of the world. It's pretty mind blowing!

Merchants and customers shopping on this street long time back.....

Emperors being carried on their chair for their shopping trip and being served by their servants.

Chinese medicine doctors taking a patient's pulse and prescribing herbal medicine for their ailments.

And me, with my pot-hole collection wherever I go! 

Beijing 2024 - Exploring Dashilan (大栅栏) Area

With our bags 'safely' deposited at the hotel, they were just put in front of the lobby along with other people's bag. I didn't have much valuables inside anyway and didn't really care much if my bags were lost, lol. We ventured out to explore our surroundings. On my trip planning, the first day of checking in is always orientation day, where you go explore around the neighbourhood to get a feel of your surroundings. Find the nearest convenient store, subways, snack places, supermarkets etc. It was still early morning, maybe 8am or 9am.

At the other end of Dashilan, we found some cool alleys and decided to explore. I get it that the place might be under renovation, or was newly renovated, but to me it felt like it was kinda cheesy. Almost like a movie set. When a friend asked me how did I find China on my first day there, I told him I felt like I just landed on a Chinese movie set. I couldn't tell how authentic the place was since it looked so cheesy and new.

We later found out that this part of the street was actually like a high end hutong hotel. We were standing outside a vegetarian restaurant and once of the aunty there came and talk to us about the food there. She told us about the place a bit, and now we understood why it looked like it was built for tourist, lol. FYI, we also booked a hutong for our last leg of stay, and it didn't look anything like this! So I think they one we stayed at was more authentic! The one above looked like it was more for erm, AngMoh tourist! Hahahaha. 

Some part of the streets were rather empty, which caught me by surprise. My impression of China before I landed was, it was gonna be so freaking crowded! I was preparing myself mentally to encounter crowds and rude people and spitting! But wow, first morning here, pretty peaceful! Quiet! Totally unexpected.

Like a tourist spot, there were art on the floor. A full giant golden koi fish on the floor! Lol. 

The end of the shopping street lead to 'Fresh Fish Hole', literal translation. But it was basically where the big roads were, so we turned back, noting our walking boundaries. 

We started venturing into the side lanes, and wow, I love the emptiness of the place with the Chinese deco!

We also came across a theatre restaurant. Super huge, super red and super cheesy. So of course I had to take a photo! I have researched about this theatre. And I guess if you join a tour group, they would probably bring you here at night for dinner while you watch some Chinese performances. Nah, I wasn't here for those shenanigans. 

But I went around taking photos anyway. A young worker who was unloading  goods from a lorry to the shop chatted with me when he saw me taking photos. I was quite taken aback and replied back and smile. Wow, because he was a young guy that I don't normally get approached by. And his casual remarks was just casual, which made me felt seen and acknowledge. So yes, to this day I remember the people I came across when I travel who just made the place memorable.

A beautiful front of a shop or restaurant that was closed. Nobody in sight! I was beginning to really like China!

We walked pass a pottery shop, and the whole of the alley was just decorated with clay figures depicting all sorts of daily China live. Very nice! I didn't take much photo because there were just so many, and they were just kinda cartoony to look at. Still, it was so cool walking along the alley.

Another sight that I was surprised to see, Alishan Taiwan! I spotted the map of Taiwan from the other end of the road and told my husband I wanted to get a closer look. China and Taiwan wasn't something I had in mind when I visit China. Wasn't there political conflict between the two, erm, locations? But there it was, s whole concrete wall of it!

There were even alley ways that looked kinda like Ximending in Taiwan. Again, mind blown. Yeah, maybe I still have a very old fashion view of China. In my head, China was never fun or colourful. It was always traditional and serious, filled with culture and serious people. My mind was starting to change.....

Heck they even have Kakao Friends here! I saw Ryan and went over to take a photo with him. Why was he even here?

We also found a retro cinema and went inside to explore, as well as some retro shops. I was sadly not able to appreciate the old cinema's exhibition of old Chinese movies much. I grew up watching mainly Hong Kong cantonese movies....

Here is a wefie to end the first morning of exploration in QianMen Beijing.