It was an incredibly rushed trip let’s start with that, I
was only in Hong Kong for 1 night and not even 2 full days. The thing was that
I didn’t find out I was going to the tournament until just 4 days before the
tournament was to start. So that didn’t leave me much time to book my flight
and hotel and let’s say that it wasn’t that easy seeing how little time and how
expensive everything was working out to be. Lucky I found a flight directly
from Beijing to Hong Kong for around $400 with air china so thankfully it was a
star alliance airline. The hardest part was the hotel though, the official
hotel was the Harbour Plaza Metropolis Hotel in Kowloon and it was crazy
expensive at about $204 US a night which was even more Canadian around $260 for
one night which is super hard to justify for a struggling athlete but at the
same time it was such a unique experience to play in the event so was justified
that way.
Hotel room doesn't look to bad
Now that all that was taken care of it was just time to
prepare, the tournament started on Tuesday morning with the qualifications
draws at 9am. My flight was Monday morning and I would get there Monday
afternoon just in time to attend the team managers meeting at the hotel.
Thankfully nothing was delayed and I made the connection to the bus to get to
the hotel in time and was able to attend the managers meeting at 6pm on the
Monday. I got to the hotel and lots of players were arriving and around so I
checked in and got to my room which for the price was incredibly small but then
again it’s the location and the hotel that made it so expensive for such a
small room.
Until you realize exactly how small it is foe what it costs
That same night they had a welcome dinner, something that
the china super series didn’t have despite being a higher level tournament. But
let’s talk about the dinner itself, it was a buffet but the quality of the food
was amazing and they didn’t skimp out at all on anything. There was an
orchestra there playing live for everybody as well as some live singers
throughout the night. The food was plentiful and abundant but the taste and
variety was amazing from Alaskan king crab to caviar and some top cuts of meat.
Then there was dessert, oh my gosh the dessert section was out of this world,
cakes, pastries, anything and everything sweet that you can think of and
everything that does not fit into an athletes diet.
Some of the food from the buffet, there was so much
So many desserts they were amazing
Live orchestra and singers
So I spent some time at the dinner but I was alone for it as
I didn’t know anybody there very well, I recognized a few faces but nobody who
I was close friends with and had hung out with before. After a few platefuls of
food (I hadn’t eaten much at this point, the last time was the lounge in the
Beijing airport) I headed back to my room for the night to rest and prepare for
my match the following morning. Now keep in mind I got into Hong Kong at 4pm
and to the hotel at 5pm then the managers meeting at 6pm then the welcome
dinner at 7pm. That means I actually didn’t get to practice in the venue at all
or even go over and see the venue period so I had no idea what to expect other
than what I have seen from pictures of the event in the year past. My match was
one of the first few up and there was nobody to warm up with let alone any room
on the warm up courts to even have a hit. This meant I just had to warm up very
well and get ready to adapt to the courts during the warm up.
We got a nice invasion to dinner and my player tag and program
Tournament venue, very cool set up
My opponent was from Hong Kong, Lee Chak Wai and like the
greater majority of my opponents he was younger than me, not quite a junior but
still younger 20’s. There was 4 courts in the venue and it was a very intimate
venue, the courts were in very close proximity to the crowd and for a Tuesday
morning the stands were completely packed with people watching the event. I was
on court 4 which was on the far side of the stadium right next to the stands.
Hong Kong super series is always known for its giant banner, this is the promotional
banner that is behind the courts and serves as an amazing backdrop but very
colorful and somewhat distracting at time. The venue dynamics itself weren’t
horrible, the lights while bright wasn’t blinding and there weren’t horrible
drafts it was just the case that one side played faster than the other with not
much wind movement side to side. Once again the match started good, as always
I’m able to rally and keep up with my opponent but then there’s that moment
when I try and force it to much and make too many mistakes or they push more
and put more pressure on me. Overall given the situation of not practicing at
all or having a hit in the venue other than the warm up I’m pretty happy with
how thing went, of course I hate to lose but I was fortunate enough to qualify
and play a second super series even being the first Trinidad player to play one
let alone two. So that was my super series experience in Asia none the less
where badminton is at its greatest. These tournaments would also technically
help for my world championships qualifications for men’s singles but not by
much as I didn’t get to many points because I was qualifications, more points
than first round of some of the lower level tournaments.
Since I was out of the tournament and my flight back to
Beijing wasn’t until 8pm that night I had some time to kill. I had been to Hong
Kong a few time before and seen the city more so the harbour front at night
which is a beautiful sight with all the lights and the light show. This time it
was in the middle of the day but the weather was not favorable and raining but
that wouldn’t stop me. I ventured outside and headed to the walk of stars but
it was actually closed this was a bummer but they moved the statues to a garden
close by now calling it the garden of the stars. The Bruce Lee statue was there
and that I of course what I wanted to see and got my chance.
Harbour front on a slightly gloomy day
I do love me some panoramas
Bruce Lee statue
After walking around that area I headed down to the harbour
front and spent some time there getting pictures during the day this time as
well as enjoying the view and avoiding the rain. I have been to Hong Kong quite
a few time before but always ended up at the harbour front in the night, not
really the day. That killed a decent amount of time so I headed back to the
tournament hall to get through the rest of the time before leaving to the
airport and to eat as well. I had already packed up everything and left my bag
at the hotel storage. Since this trip was so last minute and so expensive
already I didn’t bring or take out any Hong Kong currency and was actually able
to get away with not spending any money on food or anything else.
Outside the Tournament venue
Outside the tournament venue
Back at the venue spent my time in the players’ lounge which
was outfitted with players’ Wi-Fi and of course the most important part food.
After spending some time eating and browsing through the web it was getting
close to head to the airport or well more so I was ready to head there early
and spend some time in the lounge before my flight. I was happy to be heading
back to Beijing even if just for a day as my flight home was the next day but
that meant since I would arrive back to Beijing after midnight and my flight
home was not for another day so I booked a cheap hotel for the rest of the
night. The flight leaving Hong Kong was delayed a little but what happened when
we landed in Beijing wasn’t the most fun experience. When we landed the
hydraulics on the airplane failed and the front landing gear gave out. We ended up stopped on the runway just
waiting there to be towed into the gate, but this took a long time and was
slightly nerve-wracking. Eventually we did get towed in be in very slowly but
got through custom and claimed my bag then got a taxi to the hotel which was
very close to the airport.
Gotta love lounge food
Security and all coming to our rescue while stranded on the runway in Beijing
This would mark the end of the super series tour and at this
point it had been about 2 weeks and a bit that I was away from home so it would
definitely be nice to get home for a little while. I was happy to go on the
trip and finally play my first super series tournaments, they are the highest
in the world and it was an honour to collect some player’s badges from them to
add to the ever-growing collection. I just had to sit through the 12 hour
flight back home and that would be it for this long trip. One last tournament
for the year and that was the 2016 USA international challenge down in Orange
County at OCBC. A tournament I had played many times and also a venue I have
played at even more times.
I hadn’t played a tournament in a month at this point which
for me was a weird thing after playing 4 in a row. But this would be a special
trip, this would be my first super series tournament, and a premier super
series at that. Let me give you a little breakdown of the levels of badminton
tournaments in the world, I’ll do that with a helpful little chart. Not to long
of a read but gives some context to how special of an opportunity this was.
BWF tournaments
Olympics – top of the top, highest level tournament and
requires players to qualify over a 1 year period
World Championships – same as Olympics just a level down,
still need to qualify over 1 year period (64 players in men’s singles, 48
players/pairs in all other draws)
Team tournaments – Surdiman cup, Thomas cup, Uber cup
Super Series Premier – top 40 in the world regularly attend,
top 10 always present (32 in main draw, 16 in qualifications)
Super Series – top 50 in the world regularly attend, top 10
always present (32 in main draw, 16 in qualifications)
Grand Prix Gold – usually players ranked top 100 in the
world will play (64 in main draw, 16 in qualifications)
Grand Prix – usually players ranked top 150 players in the
world will play (64 in main draw, 16 in qualifications)
International Challenge – low level and ranges by region for
strength (32 or 64 in men’s singles and 32 in all other draws, 16 in
qualifications)
International Series – low level tournament (32 or 64 in
men’s singles and 32 in all other draws, 32 to 64 in qualifications)
Future Series – lowest level tournament and does not have
any prize money, minimal world ranking points as well
Now in order to get into any tournaments listed below the
team ones it is all based on your current world ranking at the time of entry (1
month before the tournament). This ranking will be used to make the main and
qualifying report which lists all the players present in the tournament
accordingly on theory world ranking. A super series of either level has a 32
size main draw meaning there are 28 spots guaranteed and 4 spots for qualifiers
from the qualification. Super series of either level have 4 qualifiers and a 16
size qualification, meaning you have to win 2 matches to make it to the main
draw. On top of that there are players who simply won’t be ranked high enough
to make either of those lists so they have what’s called the reserve list,
listing players in descending rider of world ranking. This is in case a player
from the main draw or qualifications withdraws before the draw or even after,
then players from the reserve list can be used to fill their spots.
So based on all this information for me to actually make it
into the qualifications was a decently big deal. Be it that I was only in the
qualifications it was still a Super Series Premier event and I was thrilled. I
was also on the reserve list for the Hong Kong Super Series that was happening
the week after China. China Super Series has always been notorious for not
being well attended despite being the week before Hong Kong, so this was my
best chance to play one and I wouldn’t be passing up the opportunity again.
Earlier in the year I had been on the reserve list for the Australia Open Super
Series but did not find out until 3 days before the event that I had been
promoted into the qualifications. Because of the short notice and how long it
would take to fly to Australia I was unable to attend the event. This time
would be different as I already knew I was in the qualifications draw when the
draws came out so I booked my flight. I did not know for sure about Hong Kong
though so I booked my flight to stay in China past Hong Kong just in case I did
get into play.
Lounge in Beijing, I am no stranger there
Lounge food in Asia is easily the best period
That time again to head to the airport, a place I hadn’t
been in a whole month. Boarded and started the route with a flight to LA, then
to Beijing and finally to Fuzhou where I would be meeting up with Yuko and Tuck
who were playing mixed. The flights were long and it had been a long time since
I went to Asia so that 13 hour flight from LA was a little long but nothing I
hadn’t done multiple time before. Arriving in Fuzhou it was late at night and I
made it to the room to see Yuko there and get some well needed rest after all
the travel, Tuck would arrive the next morning. Let’s start with the breakfast
at the hotel...the buffet was simply amazing so much variety and choice. After
eating for what must have been an hour just trying all the different food
mostly the Asian items, we went back to the room and waited for Tuck.
Breakfast at the tournament hotel, yes all that is just for me
We had practice in the main hall that day as well as in the
practice courts which words cannot describe. The venue was amazing and not to
mention had some intense security outside to go through. We were given our
players accreditation which had a special chip inside that would be scanned
when we passed through scanners. The arena though let’s start with the area
shall we. This tournament was being held in a sports park and it was huge it
had everything from a swimming center, tennis center, stadium and many other
buildings for sports and other activities. One of the later days Yuko and I
wanted to see what there really was around so we did a walk through the park
and saw it all. There were not many people using the facilities at the time
though but that might be due to the tournament taking place. So we toured
around and saw the giant stadium as well as all the other buildings, amazing
for a sport park and something that you would never really see in North
America.
The main stadium
Practice hall
Now getting onto the venue, this was a super series after
all and the set up was nothing short of amazing. Macau Grand Prix Gold was the
best set up tournament that I had attended up until this point but seeing this
venue blew that out of the water. Maybe because it was a super series that’s
what made it that much more amazing but it was huge. That also meant that it
was very hard to play in the main hall, the practice court area itself was huge
too and you could easily hold an international tournament just in there. We
spent quite a bit of time in there as we didn’t have a court in the main hall
as of yet. That is when we saw the majority of the top international players,
super casually we were surrounded by players ranked top 10 in the world. Famous
names like Chen Long, Rathanot Inatanon, Jan Jorgensen, and many more. This is
when we took the opportunity to get a picture with Chen Long, another top
player to add to the collection (Taufik, Lee Chong Wei, Peter Gade, were
already in the book) and later on would be fortunate to get one with Viktor Axelsen
but we will save that story. After some time of hitting in the practice hall we
finally had a court in the main hall and moved into there to practice with 2
other USA players, Beiwen Zhang and Maya Chen.
Playing in the main hall was so different than the practice
courts for sure. It was easily 3 times as large not to mention a few drafts and
you can’t hear your shot at all. Despite all this we were able to get a great
session in before qualifying started the next day for Tuck and I in single and
first round mixed doubles was also after qualifying for Tuck and Yuko. As that
was it for training we headed back to the hotel and went in search of food for
the night. Luckily there was a mall across the street with an abundant supply
of restaurants and a grocery store. This was the first time Yuko went to China
so everything was very new and shocking but to me it was pretty straight
forward and I had been to China many time before. Later that night came the
second picture with a big player of the trip. Yuko is very close friends with
Viktor Axelsen and long story short his room was next to ours in the hotel and
on top of that he brought his bronze medal from the 2016 Olympics to show Yuko.
So to sum it up I got to meet Viktor and hold his medal while getting a picture
with him. That means that at this point the only picture left that I wanted to
get was with Lin Dan (he wasn’t at this tournament despite it being in China).
Thanks to Yuko I got to know Viktor and hold his bronze medal from the 2016 Olympics
Also got fortunate enough to get a picture with Chen Long, Olympic gold medalist
Now it was time for my match, due to this being a
Superseries it started on Monday with qualifications for all events in the
morning and first round of mixed. The matches came around, Tuck was up first
for men’s singles qualifications first and we all watched that one. I was up
next with my match and it was definitely a fun experience. I was fortunate
enough to play on court one, show court, and on top of that I had one of the
best badminton photographers to take pictures of me during the match. I was
playing against a Chinese backup national team athlete, Wu Xin and that was a
tough one to begin with. The match started off pretty good we had some long
rallies and then he stepped it up a gear taking the lead. I was able to rally
with him though and through the match was able to control him around the court.
He wasn’t always able to just overpower me or hit straight up winners which was
a nice feeling. The hall wasn’t a bad one to play in and didn’t have a crazy
draft the day of matches, it was almost ideal situation for such a huge venue.
Ultimately in the end though it was my mistake that ended up costing me the
match. Just like that my superseries experience was over but we had a few days
left in Fuzhou to experience the city and culture.
First up Yuko wanted to really get a cupping session done as
well as a massage so that was the first thing for us to find. We (each country)
were given a certain number of volunteers based on the amount of players that
the country had. I was given 1 because it just me but Tuck and Yuko being part
of team USA were given 2. So we went to our respective volunteers and asked if
they would be able to help us find a place. Low and behold they were able to
and we soon jumped into a taxi and were off to our destination. The place
provided massages (lower body, upper body, whole body) as well as cupping on
top of that. Tuck and Yuko choose the lower body massage while I picked upper
body, then we all got cupping done on our backs. Going into the room we were
given these retro looking clothing to put on and then lay on these chairs/beds
waiting for the ladies giving the massage to come in. The massages started with
screams from Tuck and Yuko as their feet were being massaged not only by hands
but also by wooden dowels and various other instruments in addition to scolding
hot water. I, on the other hand had a very relaxing time as the lady worked
over my shoulders, arms, back and the rest of my upper body. Now that all that
was over and the screaming had stopped it was time to bring out the cups for
use. If you have never seen or had cupping done then it is when there are glass
cups which are heated up and placed on the skin in strategic places. At this
point the skin is then sucked up into the cup because of the pressure
differential and it is left on the skin for 10 minutes or more. At this point
all the blood has been drawn to the surface and then the circle I a different
shade of red, the shade represents the amount of “toxins” in the blood and the
darker the circle the more bad stuff that has been removed. Overall it was a
great experience and a fantastic bonding experience for us all to have
together.
It was very relaxing
Somebody say fire
During
The aftermath
Once that was done and we were beaten up but built a new it
was time for a walk and to find some food. There was a street market outside
which we took a few walks up and down, checking out all the local goods,
counterfeit items, street food and various other things present. This marked
our second last day in the city and the following day was the last we would
have together as Tuck and Yuko were heading back to the states and I would go
into Beijing and stay with my friend for a little as I awaited to hear about
the Hong Kong superseries. So the Wednesday came and we started with Yuko and
me going to the tournament venue to watch matches while Tuck rested at the
hotel. We watched some matches and checked out the shops outside then headed
back to the hotel and walked around the mall a little bit more. I ended up
going for a workout later in the day which was nice even despite the small and
limited gym that the hotel had. We all went out for dinner together and then
settled in for the night, packing bags and getting ready for departure the
following day as we were all on the same flight back to Beijing.
The stadium from the outside
Giant Soccer stadium
Up bright and early we headed to the airport and checked in,
we weren’t the only players heading back home as a few of the Europeans whom
had lost were also on the flight. The flight itself was a nice quick one and
definitely not too hard to handle like the 12 hour flight to Beijing. Now it
was just a waiting game for Hong Kong, I sent an email to the HKBA (Hong Kong
badminton Association) and was just awaiting their reply to see if I had been
promoted to the qualifications draw of the tournament. Until then it was time
to relax in China and have some awesome food as well as experience the culture.
It was time to fly out again, this time I would be gone for
almost 4 weeks in a row with a packed tournament schedule. Aruba, Brazil, and
Mexico back to back then a week break and off to Columbia. This time I was
heading to the Caribbean for the CAREBACO championships which happen every
year, last year it was in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and we got a bronze
medal in the team championships. This year we would see what we could fight to
get. I was also the first seed in the individual BWF singles event.
2016 Trinidad and Tobago Senior CAREBACO team (L to R: Me, Solangel, Leanne, Kerian, Will, missing Alistair)
Flying to Aruba proved a little longer and harder than
expected but nothing terrible just an overnight layover. For all the upcoming
trips I would be flying through Houston international airport in Texas as it is
a united hub for South America and the Caribbean. It was substantially cheaper
to book all my flights as round trips than trying to go from one location to
the other, weird yes I know. Unfortunately didn’t have status yet so I wouldn’t
be able to enjoy the lounges or anything for the next few trips, I was just
star alliance silver which doesn’t get the perks of lounge access but got
priority check in and boarding. The last time I went to Aruba was when I was
very small and we went island hopping one summer with my mom, aunt, and cousins
so I didn’t remember it to well from back then.
Who could pass up these beautiful beaches on the island?
Arriving in Aruba was nice, the weather was hot and sun
shining bright. It was still summer in Calgary, well ending, but the weather
was good there however winter was looming around the corner. Upon arrival I was
unfortunately not picked up from the airport which is something I am quiet use
to despite submitting my arrival information. After some time and using the
wifi I was able to contact somebody from the Trinidad team and the tournament
organizers came and took me to the tournament hall where the junior team
tournament was happening. I stayed there for a while to support the juniors.
The rest of the senior team was to arrive the next day. The venue didn’t look
terrible, definitely not the worst place that I have been to before. That night
I got a decent rest and the following day me and Rahul (President of the TTBA),
Navin (TTBA position), and one of the juniors Renaldo went to have an early
morning practice at the hall. It was a good first hit in the venue and
something well needed as the Senior Team tournament would start the following
day.
The tournament venue, practice day
I headed back to the hotel and rested for the majority of
the day, venturing out for food and to explore a bit but didn’t stay out long
due to the heat. That night the rest of the team thankfully arrived and we were
relieved to see them. Team matches would start the following day and was in the
format of men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and
mixed doubles. To win the tie you had to win 3 out of 5 but they would play out
the entire tie for completeness sake. There was only 4 countries entered this
year; Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, Barbados, and Suriname. Every
team was strong and it would be a fight right to the end. We played Suriname
first and unfortunately lost 1-4. I played singles against Suriname for that
tie. While Dom Rep played Barbados and won their tie. Next tie was playing
against Dom Rep and we lost 1-4 yet again. This time I played both doubles and
mixed doubles having 2 close matches. Suriname played Barbados and won their
tie. This meant that playing for first and second place would be Suriname and
Dominican Republic. Playing for third and fourth place would be Barbados and
Trinidad and Tobago. There was only 3 medals; gold, silver, and bronze nothing
for fourth place.
Tournament venue during the competition, it was actually a good venue for an island
Game day. It all came down to this tie against Barbados,
either we would be going home with a medal or we would be going home empty
handed. I played first singles and it was national champion against national
champion. I was able to beat the Barbados player but it went 3 games because of
my nerves and safe play at times. Next up we won women’s singles with Solangel
winning in 2 straight. Then came doubles, if we won this match then we would
win the tie and be bronze medalists at CAREBACO. Alistair and Will were able to
beat out the other 2 players winning us the tie and taking it home 3-0. That
was a good feeling to have gotten a bronze medal at least from the tournament
which was a big moment for national pride and made me feel good about being
Trinidadian.
2016 CAREBACO Team Event Bronze Medal, award ceremonies
The medals that we got, they are actually pretty cool
That however was not all that took place in Aruba, I was
there for just over a week due to the amount of events I was participating in.
there was a day where I did have no badminton due to the team tournament
finishing and the international starting the following day. What better use of
a day than to explore the island or as much as possible and within walking
distance of the hotel. There were 2 shopping malls down the road which we
checked out earlier in the week to find food but this was the first time that
actually spent time walking through them and seeing what was what. There was a
dock where the cruise ships came in and then just retail all along the strip
since it was a very tourist heavy area. Located there was also a giant “I love
Aruba” sigh which of course is the perfect photo opportunity and a must have
picture. The walk to the mall/shopping area wasn’t terribly far maybe about 15
minutes but the heat is what was really the killer, it was also deathly dry
there so not a good combination. The view however could not be beat, blue clear
water just tropical paradise status, and was always a welcome sight. Not to
mention very tempting to just jump in and go for a swim.
Climbing up on the Aruba sign
Another Aruba sign and of course I needed to climb it again
Talking about going for a swim and the ocean this was yet
another trip where I was not fortunate enough to actually go into the water.
Despite our hotel literally being across the street from the beach the most
that I went into the water was up to my knees for a picture…but it was a good
picture and the water was so warm. We did however spend some time hanging out
on the beach both during the day and at night. During the night there was a
food truck which came out and the food that they served was delicious. What
better thing to do than grab some food and walk down to the beach. Listen to
the calming of the sea and stare into the abyss of space seeing the sky lit up
with the stars of our galaxy…alright if you couldn’t tell I enjoy space a lot.
Couldn't leave without getting a picture in that perfect looking water
We spent a lot of nights eating at this food truck, it got lots of business
With the team tournament over it was time for the senior BWF
individual event to start as well as there was a junior international event
happening too. The draws were late to be posted and we only found out the draw
2 days before the tournament was to start which is almost unheard of for
international standards. This international was only a future series which is
the lowest level offering no prize money, and very limited points. I had a
decent draw playing against a Suriname player first round and then that took me
into quarterfinals where I played a Jamaican player and unfortunately lost.
This loss would cause me to leave Aruba the next day and focus on my tournament
in Brazil which was a much higher level and offered a lot more points. Because
of the tournament in Brazil I did not play men’s doubles or mixed doubles due
to the time constraints of getting to Brazil on time. It would also be the next
step in my new partnership with Matt for world championships qualifications so
was important to get to and adjust to the venue. All that was left was to leave
Aruba and fly back to Calgary for believe it or not a 5 hour layover before
flying straight to Brazil. I know what you are thinking that is a major
backtrack but it was insanely cheaper (over $1000 cheaper) to do it this way,
also I would get a lot of qualifying miles for my United reward status so not a
total loss. Just meant that I would be spending a lot of time flying and in
airports, something that I have become accustomed to over the past few years.
So now onto Foz Du Iguassu, Brazil for the 2016 Brazil Grand Prix.
2016 CAREBACO team event men's singles, me vs. Barbados
*Warning this is my longest blog post to date…its long and
has lots of pictures hence why it’s in 2 parts*
Manhattan Beach International had just finished and I found
myself at LAX but not on a flight home to Calgary, rather on a flight to San
Francisco where I would catch my connection to Beijing, China. Belinda had
invited me to go to China with her and meet her parents/family and I said that
I would. I would also try and get in some training as well while there, it is
China after all and home to badminton. I was already planning the trip when I
thought I would be in Thailand the week before and it would be easy to fly over
from there but when that got cancelled I still decided to go to China anyways.
I would be there during Chinese New Year which is something that I haven’t
experienced in Asia as of yet.
Day 1 – Arrival
The flight to China is nothing new to me, I have gone there
and to Asia many times before so the 10-12 hour flights isn’t something I
dislike or stay away from. The flight over was standard as usual in terms of my
routine, sleep half of it and watch movies for the rest according to the time in
China. Once I arrived I was greeted by a driver that Belinda’s family had hired
to pick me up and take me to the hotel. The family and she would arrive the
next day as they were in Lingshui, Hinan province for Chinese New Year. I had
just gone to Lingshui January 2015 for the China international challenge. So I
had a day and a half to kill before they arrived back to Beijing and I was in
luck with the location I was at.
Across the street from the hotel was the second largest mall
in the world called the Golden Resources Mall, funny enough the first largest
mall was also located in China just in another city. It was true this thing was
huge and it barely fit into a panorama, nothing compared to any mall in Canada
or anywhere else in the world. So I spent quite a few hours exploring that as
well as getting my food and groceries too. After all that walking it was time
to call it a night and prepare for the following days activities. Located a
little walk from the hotel was a park or rather palace park. It was the
emperor’s summer palace and highly recommended by Belinda to check out so I
planned to spend the following day there. I would be greatly surprised by the
sheer size of the area when I got there.
GR Mall... huge thing just barely fits in the whole panorama
Day 2 – Self tour of the Summer Palace
Day broke and the weather wasn’t terrible, despite all the
fireworks going off the night before the air was pretty clear and the sky
wasn’t overcast. Being February it was still winter in China and I thankfully
brought my winter jacket which I definitely needed that day as well as one more
layer underneath. So I started the walk down the canal towards the Summer
Palace and it was just a few kilometers away nothing to bad and I love to walk
so it’s always a pleasure for me. Boy was I in for a full day of walking, climbing
up and down stairs and walking through ancient buildings/temples. The river was
still partially frozen but getting closer to the park there were people
swimming in it. I paid my entry which allowed me to see everything in the park
and then walked in, at first I didn’t grasp the size of the area. Walking in
and seeing the emperor’s palace all the way at the other end of the lake I was
just thinking wow the royal family was incredibly lucky to have all this to run
away to. I could just think how lucky the kids of the royal family would be to
have all this space and so many cool things to explore and play around.
The river while walking to the summer palace
The place had amazing buildings and all the details mind blowing
I had a lot of ground to cover, thankfully I had almost the
whole day as the park or well access to the buildings closed at 5pm and it was
only 11am in the morning. Start walking I did and did I ever walk, I ended up
taking the “shortcut” which cut through the lake and that a lone was filled
with many little buildings and bridges along the way. Some of which were turned
into restaurants for people to eat at. Despite it being Chinese New Year and
lots of people left Beijing to go back to their home provinces the park was
still packed and there was lots of tourists…Chinese tourists not so much
foreign ones (I saw less than 10 foreign tourists the whole 6 hours I spent in
the park). I brought my DSLR with me and started taking pictures of everything,
there was just so many intricate details on everything and such beauty in the
architecture. I always liked Chinese history and Japanese history as they are
so rich in cultural experiences, events that took place and the physical sites
still around, we don’t have the same kind of history or historical sites in
North America.
I decided to save the palace for last or well almost last
instead of just going straight to the main attraction. So I walked around back
where there was a sort of shopping area set up down on the water, it was cool
to walk around the narrow edge and see all that was there. Following that I
went up the back way of the palace and saw some of the beauty in the artistic
detail on the buildings, each roof piece had the same carving in it. All the
artwork on every beam of the ceiling it was amazing and must have taken a long
time to do all of that. I came to the palace from behind and made my way down
the hill seeing all the auxiliary structures and temples/statues. Now time for
the main attraction, walking up there was a lot of stairs that needed to be
climbed but these didn’t feel like normal stairs they were steep. Making the
way to the top was a statue of Guanyin and in all its glory in front of us. Of
course it said no photographs but every single person was taking pictures so I
snapped a few as well. Making my way back down I visited all the various other
rooms seeing how they were set up and the history behind what they were used
for. The view from the top was amazing you could see over the entire lake all
the way to the entrance and that’s when I truly appreciated the size of the
park and the palace itself.
The weather had warmed up a bit and the sun was shining in
an almost cloudless sky. I began walking back towards the entrance on the
opposite side of the lake this time when it happened. I turned to see the
palace looking at me across the lake with some boats in the water. I thought it
would be a cool shot and I snapped a few pictures not thinking too much of it.
Later when I was sorting through all the pictures there it was the picture that
I had taken and I just couldn’t stop staring at it. Instantly it was my
favorite picture of the trip and just the way that I captured the scene blew my
own mind.
My favorite picture that I have taken to date
I still had one more little island to visit before heading
out and it was a peaceful little place, sitting in the lake you could have a
view of everything in the park. I was just thinking about taking a swim in the
water come summer haha it looked like it would be such a nice thing to do. Alas
the time in the park had come to an end, I spent roughly 6 hours in there
walking around and seeing everything that I could. Time flew by and I couldn’t
believe how long I spent let alone how many kilometres I must have walked
within the park that day. Time to walk the canal back to my hotel, it was still
light out but getting slightly colder again so I put some gloves on and started
the trek back to my temporary home…with a stop at the mall for some food first.
Belinda and her family flew back in that night and of course I was able to see
her that night, it was so nice and she also told me about the plan for the
following day what we would go do and see.
Day 3 – Tea in Beijing
We awoke that morning and got ready to head out bright and
early, there were more fireworks the previous night as it seems people were
still celebrating. First on the agenda was to go to see the Forbidden City so
we figured its best to go early as there was only a limited number of tickets
available for the day. We jumped on the subway and headed towards the center of
Beijing, switching lines a few times in order to arrive. Once getting there and
stepping outside there was a lot of smog and fog in the air, it was really hazy
and limited visibility. There was also a ton of people with the same idea of
going in to view the city. Again it is one of those things that you can’t fully
comprehend the size until you are standing there and can see the size of things
with your own eyes. There was a lot of walking and once you are past the iconic
front wall of the Forbidden City you get into the bowels of the area,
unfortunately for us the tickets were all sold out for the day so we would be
unable to go inside the city. That was alright at least I got close enough to
it and gives me another reason to come back to China in the future.
We left the Forbidden City and walked out past Tienamin
Square as well as one of the national museum’s which had a line wrapped around
it of people waiting to get in. We kept walking towards a small little area
that was filled with shops and more importantly places to eat food, I had
worked up quite the appetite at this point. So we walked around the area and
saw lots of goodies for dessert afterwards but food first. There were a few
places but the lines were crazy long so we eventually found a quiet little spot
which had amazing food. It was at that moment the reality sunk in that I was in
China after being in North America. But this time it was different, I have
always traveled for tournaments and although I just played a tournament this
was kind of like a vacation and a nice time away from badminton for a few days.
After we had late lunch we walked around some more and got dessert and headed
to see some shopping before meeting up with Belinda’s parents later that night
for dinner and a show at a famous tea house.
Tienamin square, famous for many things
Nom nom nom all the desserts
The darkness crept over the city and with it came some rain
but the bright lights of Beijing and amount of people out would have you think
otherwise that it wasn’t nighttime. We met Belinda’s parents at a little
restaurant and had some nice traditional Chinese dishes. After dinner we walked
over to a famous tea house where they display a bunch of different performances
from Chinese culture for foreigners. Many famous people have passed through
those doors from former USA presidents to actors/celebrities from all over the
world. The show started and they of course gave us some tea and various snacks
to munch on throughout the show. We sat and watched the variety of performances
and what would be somewhat spectacles. They were very impressive but all did
tell a part of Chinese history which has happened for generations and
generations, some of which still are practiced today. Upon the end of the show
we got some pictures and looked around the little museum like house which was
the theatre. There were lots of historical items present as well as many kinds
of tea for purchase. The rain had more or less passed at this point and we went
for a little drive before Belinda’s parents dropped us off at the hotel.
Inside the tea house
Performances at the tea house
Three days had passed just like that, I had done so much
already and see so many things. Not to mention eat a lot of delicious authentic
Chinese food, yum. It was time to call it a night and then the adventure would
continue the next day…or well in the next blog post for you.
