• Sandra Carmen Bippus
  • Sandra Carmen Bippus

🇨🇳 CHINA

Our journey starts soon…. We will fly from Johannesburg via Singapore to Beijing, then we travel with the train to the different cities like; Xian, Chengdu, Guilin, from Shanghai back to Johannesburg. Read more
  • Trip start
    April 21, 2026
  • Beijing

    April 23 in China ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    After a good night sleep.. we started our first tour with a guide.
    It was extremely interesting to hear about the history and the different dynasties.

    To the north stands the Forbidden City, probably the most famous neighbour of Tiananmen. The Forbidden City was the former residence of the Ming and Qing Emperors and named so as it was forbidden for non-members of the Royal Court to enter.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square

    The Tiananmen ("Gate of Heavenly Peace"), a gate in the wall of the Imperial City, was built in 1417 during the Ming dynasty. During the 17th century, fighting between Li Zicheng's rebel forces and the forces of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty caused heavy damage to, or even destroyed, the gate. Tiananmen Square was designed and built in 1651 and was enlarged fourfold in the 1950s.[8][9]

    The gate historically known as the "Great Ming Gate", the southern gate to the Imperial City stands near the center of the square. It was renamed the "Great Qing Gate" during the Qing dynasty, and the "Gate of China" during the Republican era. Unlike the other gates in Beijing, such as the Tiananmen and the Zhengyang Gate, this was a purely ceremonial gateway, with three arches but no ramparts, similar in style to the ceremonial gateways found in the Ming tombs. This gate had a special status as the "Gate of the Nation", as can be seen from its successive names. It normally remained closed, except when the emperor passed through. Commoner traffic was diverted to side gates at the western and eastern ends of the square, respectively. Because of this diversion in traffic, a busy marketplace, called "Chess Grid Streets", was developed in the large fenced square to the south of this gate.[citation needed]

    QUESTION 🙋‍♀️ GUYS; what is the difference between the lions…. can you see it??
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  • Great Wall of China and Summer Palace

    April 24 in China ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Yesterday we did 18’000 steps..
    we left the hotel at 7:00 and came back at 19:00 ..
    We did a guided tour which was perfect.. lots of information and no waiting in the lines.. make sure go early in the morning to go see the Great Wall.. otherwise to many people!!
    Good to know.. the Great Wall is about 20’000 km long unbelievable… we walked maybe 3 km… 🤣😅 it’s very impressive.. during the building process lots of people died… because of the hard work 😓 We did put on a 3D mask that took you back in does times it was really cool to be in the middle of the happening.. we even had to fight the Mongolians.. 🤺🥷🤺🤺🤺🤣😅
    After the wall we drove to the Summer Palace… we did hear the story about the Dragon 🐉 lady (real name Cixi) which was crazy… it’s really interesting to read it.. if you guys are interested, she was in power for 47 years, power behind the curtain.
    https://www.thoughtco.com/cixi-empress-dowager-…
    Have fun reading…
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  • Chilling Sunday ..,

    April 25 in China ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Today is our last day in Beijing (population 22.5 million)
    We enjoyed just strolling around and relax. Lots of very nice looking sweets everywhere.. To delicious 😋
    Tomorrow we will travel with the train to Xian population 12.95 million 😅 small town 🤣🙋‍♀️😜
    We are ready….
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  • The story of the Terra cotta soldiers

    April 28 in China ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    How many terra cotta soldiers have been found?
    8,000 warriors
    Referred to as the eighth Wonder of the World, the original Terracotta Warriors date back to 209 B.C. and were found in 1974 by a worker digging a well. It is believed as many as 8,000 warriors exist, nestled in the grave among chariots, animals, entertainers and other clay representations of afterlife needs.
    What is the story;
    Driven to conquer death itself, the eventual First Emperor ascended to the throne of the Qin state at age of 13 and immediately began to plan his burial, and more importantly, his underground palace, a mausoleum attended by an army including over 7,000 terracotta warriors horses, chariots, and weaponry intended to ...
    What happened to the farmers who discovered the Terracotta Warriors?
    Three other farmers would later join him, and their pay was tripled. But all complained they were never rewarded properly for their find, and in fact had their land seized to make way for the museum. Three of the original group of seven farmers died in terrible circumstances.
    Restores piece together;
    https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202010/21/WS5f8…
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  • Chengdu Panda research Base

    May 1 in China ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Our day started early this morning at 06:00 breakfast and off to the Panda Base. We were so lucky, the weather was fresh and rainy so the pandas were very active. Our guide was great he knew a lot because he works with the pandas since 8 years. Thank you Charles 🙏🏻🐼Read more

  • Longji Rice Terraces

    May 4 in China ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    On the way to the Longji Rice Terraces we had a traditional dance from the local people from the village. The lunch was very special and local.. Bamboo Rice cooked in the fire 🔥 delicious very tasty..
    The terraces are in a 600-800 m altitude. The terraced fields were mostly built about 650 years ago.
    In early June, water is pumped over the rice paddies, and young plants are transferred to the main terraces.
    The yield is 40kg rice 🌾 on 650qm
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  • Some fun pictures..

    May 4 in China ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Young people like to cosplay different characters of the video games.
    According to Youku, the series, rated 8.1 out of 10 on Chinese site Douban, has been streamed in over 200 countries and regions worldwide in eight languages, including English, Spanish and Thai.
    Together with its overseas popularity, young overseas audiences show great interest in traditional Chinese culture such as kung fu, yin and yang and architectural landscapes.
    It was such fun to watch does young people, their are high-rise buildings (stores) that sell everything in there, eyelashes, eye lenses, makeup, wig and so much more…
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  • On the way to Shanghai

    May 7 in China ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

    Niha everyone ..
    after a beautiful time (4nights) in Guilin we are on the way to Shanghai in the high speed train 1520km in 7.40 hours maximum speed 340km per hour.
    From traditional chinese „folklore „
    to Longji rice platforms, tea tasting at a biological institute for tee research then to Lijiang river on a bamboo boat which was very impressive to see the lime stone mountains 🏔️. Dumplings cooking class yesterday afternoon… and tasting 😜🙋‍♀️🥰
    Beautiful area… the guest house we stayed in very nice people 🙋‍♀️goodbye… thank you Melody
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  • SHANGHAI 🙏🏻

    May 8 in China ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Wenn man denkt, dass die einwohnerzahl auf über 30 millionen liegt… ist die stadt sehr angenehm zu erleben und begehen.. da wir alles zu fuss und bei metro machen klappt alles einwandfrei und die menschen menge geht auch noch 🙏🏻🙋‍♀️ ich habe es mir schlimmer vorgestellt. Es hat in der stadt überall schöne grüne oasen.. toll gemacht. Heute ist unser 2. letzter tag am Mittwoch morgen geht es nach Singapur 🇸🇬 für 2 nächte und dann zurück nach Südafrika 🇿🇦
    Wir freuen uns.. auf das ruhige entspannte Plett ❤️🥰🙏🏻
    Peter hat seine ex arbeits kollegen getroffen wo er über 15 jahre nicht mehr gesehen hat. War toll 😊
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  • Natural History Museum Shanghai

    May 10 in China ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After a long day.. a great haircut and some special food from turkey 🇹🇷 😜

  • Trip end
    May 15, 2026