Monday, March 27, 2017

Beautiful & Trendy Book Stores

We are very fond of books and my wife has many shelves of book collections at home which she loves dearly. I am sure everyone loves to read books too, be it for leisure or educational references. Let me brag a bit about my history of books again for those who have not heard. Many years ago, our local chain M P H did not have any Chinese books in their collection as this PooPULAR was controlling in the Chinese books monopoly. I was there at the right place and time, when I met the top publisher from Taipei who was at the book fair at The Mines. One thing led to another and my wife took me to Taipei several times to sign the distributorship deal. With the help from a tycoon, we ordered several big containers of the best books of all titles and topics from this guy in Taipei to be sold at the M P H throughout our country. The rest is history now.

So you could see how excited each time we found beautiful and unique book stores in overseas. They often come with cafes, good cakes & coffee plus cozy corners to read books. Here is one good place to share which we stumbled during our visit to Xi'an.


WanBook Store - Xi'an, China 



We were walking all over the shopping mall in search of a
SIM card for internet but found this lovely book store instead.



Forget about the SIM card, as my wife had to go inside.
She must search for good books like a hungry wolf.




This whole entrance area has very neat sitting benches and tall stools
for book lovers to Eat, Drink & Read.





Here is where the barista and cashiers work behind
the counters.



 Look at how they display books from the floor to ceilings!
So canggih & pandai!




Many shelves with displays. 




Some smokers prefered to sit outside.




They have many useful and unique items like
souvenirs, water decanters, Chinese tea and others.




Smart see-through shelves act as partitions.




There are many divided areas for private readings.
The folks in China, Taiwan & Japan read a lot
everywhere on the streets, trains and cafes.




 More books & more shelves.




The pine wood interior decors have homely feel with lamp shades,
side boards, and comfortable chairs.



Ahem!


****


Thursday, March 9, 2017

City Wall @ Xi'an - China

It was our second trip to this ancient capital of China which has the most interesting historical sites and mountains. The last trip in 2012, we barely had enough time to visit this famous City Wall of Xian which is the most complete city wall that has survived all the fierce battles in China.

So we made sure we allocated one full day to visit the whole city wall and enjoy the panoramic view! We truly enjoyed riding bicycles around the whole city wall.

Come let's tour the walls now....




1. I was told many times that my past lives were in China &
once fought in many battles alongside the Chinese Emperor's army.




2. This beautiful City Wall's fort was built during the reign 
of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty 
(Year : 1368-1644)




3. The map covers 13.7 kilometers (8.5 miles) in length 
with a deep moat surrounding it.  




4. The City Gates stand with grandeur and look very majestic 
as a prominent landmark in Xi'an especially when lighted up
at night fall.



5. This solid looking ancient steps of the city wall , 
is ranked as one of the largest ancient military defensive 
systems in the world.




 6. It is very wide and spacious all around. You need to pay
a fee to get inside to enjoy the panoramic skyline of Xi'an city.




 7. There is a booth to rent bicycles and a shop that sells
many types of interesting souvenirs. You can buy from them
at fixed & very reasonable prices.



  
 8. Look at the cute letter box!



9. There are almost a thousand bicycles for grabs!
In Summer the whole place is very hot with big crowds.
That's why we chose winter when the crowd is smallest
and the wind is cold.


10. That's my wife with wrapped face. She cycled very fast
as she has 2 expensive bikes at home and has joined
the inter state cycling in Malaysia!


11. Some outer walls are higher and this side is the inner wall.



 12. This is another City Gate.



  
13. Many bridal couple would come here for photo shoots.




14. All tourists stopped to look at their photography
session with a nice spectacular backdrop.


15. There are several buildings inside the City Wall.


 16. I loved these very old Chinese houses that stood outside the walls. 



17. This is one of the many viewing posts for
looking out at intruders.


18. We stopped a few times to 'Wefie' for remembrance.

  
19. More benches to relax and browse their smartphones.



 20. I spotted this magnificent looking Tibetan Buddhist Temple.




21. The same temple looks huge and lengthy in area size.


22. This is another side of the City Gate.


23. My wife who is a Tai Chi gold medallist, stopped
and did a warm up exercise in this ancient site.


24. It is almost 2 hours and they are still shooting
the wedding photos in the grey weather.


25. These are real solid ancient walls where the soldiers hid to
peek at the enemies.


26. I could see the entire Railway Station Of Xi'an where
we boarded the 24 hour train ride to Dunhuang.


27. It was a victory for me to race across the huge City Wall on a bicycle.
I have prayed in a temple that I will visit Xi'an again.


***



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