Thoughts that cross my mind...: Autumn in Beijing

My work has brought me to many places here in Malaysia as well as overseas... and last 22-25 Oct 2010, it brought me to China... Tianjin and Beijing to be specific...

I went there to accompany 59 students to complete their final project for their subjects Cross Cultural Management and Global Strategic Management.

(this post is still in draft actually... when i have time i will edit... bz sangat sekarang ni...)

Tianjin-Binhai International Airport

It was autumn in Beijing, thus the panorama along the road on the bus ride from Tianjin to Beijing that took almost 2 hours reminded me so much of my student days in New England, US, in the 1980s... Autumn has always been my favourite season of the year... Cool and soft wind, golden leaves... syahdu...

Bus ride from Tianjin to Beijing took about 2 hours...

Our first stop - Niu Jie (Ox Street) Mosque, to perform Asar (jamak with Zuhr) and Maghrib (jamak with Isya'). When we arrived there it was after 5pm, and the bell (no azan) to announce the Maghrib time rang just as we finished performing Zuhr and Asr... Maghrib time was 5.33pm if I am not mistaken.

Niu Jie Mosque is the oldest and the largest mosque in Beijing, it was built in year 996 during the Liao Dynasty and was rebuilt, expanded and renovated many times after that, the most recent was 15 years ago. The architecture of the mosque is a mixture of both Islamic and Chinese cultures, which is not unexpected at all - the bulding shows strong Chinese influence while the interior is decorated with Islamic decorations and Arabic scriptures/Quranic verses. As I walked from the front gate to the solat hall for women, I felt like I was walking inside an ancient Chinese palace...

Nui Jie literally means Ox Street and according to the our guide, the street was named as such because Muslims mainly eat beef and there are many restaurants and shops in the area selling food made of beef. And these halal shops and restaurants are easy to identify - the colour of the front door or signage is green. The front door or signage for muslim schools are also painted in green.

There are about 200,000 Muslims in Beijing and some 10,000 (ten thousand) of them are residing and working in this area. Total population of Beijing is 16 million, by the way. And total population of China is 1.4 billion... phuh...

The chinese lady on my right (in the photo below) is the care taker of the mosque...

Outside of the solat hall for women...

By that time, our stomachs were beginning to sing some keroncong songs already... the last meal we had was breakfast on Air Asia X... the guide wanted to bring us to watch the famous Beijing Acrobat Show as the show was scheduled to begin at 7.30pm. But the students were so hungry, I had to request from the guide to take us to dinner first.

The Beijing Acrobat Show...

I was informed by the guide, the youngest performer was 5 years old, and the oldest was 19.

The highlight of the tour was on the second day where we scheduled to visit one of the 7 wonders of the world and the only man-made structure that can be seen from space - the Great Wall...

Day 3 - fresh water pearl culture center - Freesky Pearls Beijing.

I have already had a good collection of pearls from Sabah... and I thought that these pearls would not tempt me... hah!! was I wrong... I just couldnt resist those dangling ear rings and sparkling bracelets... oh well... takkan tak beli souvinirs kan... hahaha... nak rationalise konon...

Pasu... pasu and pasu..... sigh....