Beijing beckons

China’s capital city has so much more to offer than food, shopping and historic places. I found this out when Philippine Airlines (PAL), Mabuhay Miles, Panda Travel and Marco Polo Hotels arranged a trip for us to this amazingly beautiful city.

We were all armed with our extra American Tourister trolleys as we knew this place would be a great place for shopping. The smooth PAL flight had us in Beijing in roughly four hours and 25 minutes. Panda Travel expertly arranged our schedule to have enough time for shopping, the Pinoy favorite pastime, and seeing all the important sights in three days. From the airport, our local guide and Philippine Panda representative Analiza Tan showed us around the city including Tiananmen Square before checking in to our conveniently located Marco Polo Beijing Hotel (www.marcopolohotel.com).

PAL Beijing district manager Ruth Chuaunsu joined us for dinner at Quanjude restaurant for the world famous Peking duck. Ruth said, "You haven’t done Beijing without seeing the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and eating Peking duck." After dinner, we insisted on a little shopping, ending up buying those juicy fresh Chinese peaches after dinner before heading back to the nearby hotel for an early morning trip.

We headed to Tiananmen Square the next morning as I marveled at the mile long queue to get into the mausoleum of Chairman Mao. After taking snapshots, we hurriedly went to the iconic Tiananmen gate, the entrance to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is something not to miss when in Beijing. It is the largest Imperial Palace in the world occupying 720,000 square meters in the center of Beijing. The 8,707-room palace has been in the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1987. The spectacular rooms and halls in the palace are as interesting as the quarters of the eunuchs and concubines.

Another Imperial Palace just outside Beijing is the Summer Palace, complete with its own private lake and temple. It is unfortunate that most of the structures here were destroyed but have been masterfully reproduced and renovated to give each visitor an idea of its former grandeur. Outside Beijing, too, is Badaling where the over 5,000-km. Great Wall of China can be explored. One may climb the Great Wall (also in the UNESCO World Heritage list) or take the cable car to a certain point and then walk it. There is a huge market selling trinkets and souvenirs by the entrance of the Great Wall, where our group went (again) into a shopping frenzy.

Something different was planned for one evening as we arrived in the Red Theater for a Kung Fu show. I reluctantly went thinking how little I enjoyed Kung Fu. The show was a combination of song, dance, theatrical magic and acrobatics. I would have preferred to go to the Beijing Opera (which has to be booked weeks before) but I thoroughly enjoyed this Kung Fu show and highly recommend it. Of course, the theater lobby had a souvenir shop which we fervently attacked.

Now to our favorite topic: shopping. Beijing has everything to offer. Food, designer clothes, electronics and anything one can think of. Highly recommended for Filipinos is Silk Street, a tiangge type market in an air-conditioned five- or six-story building, selling everything a Philippine flea market would carry and more.

Mabuhay Miles, PAL frequent flyer program, celebrates its fourth year of providing its loyal passengers with a wide array of rewards and privileges, particularly traveling free around the world. PAL’s EVP for commercial group and executive assistant to the chairman and CEO Henry So Uy said, "We are staying true to our commitment to offer nothing but the best service to our customers." Mabuhay Miles has expanded its rewards and privileges. PAL’s VP for marketing support Felix Cruz added, "Mabuhay Miles now boasts of elite group of partners in several industries." The Marco Polo Hotel Group is one of Mabuhay Miles’ biggest hotel partners with members earning 500 miles per qualifying stay in any of the Marco Polo Hotels in Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh, Xiamen, Davao, Cebu and Beijing. Members can also earn miles from their purchases of American Tourister products, earning 500 miles for every P5,000 purchase and additional 100 miles for every P1,000 purchase in excess of P5,000. Members can also earn as much as 5,000 Miles depending on the type of travel insurance plan they avail from PhilAm Insurance developed TravelPlans, a comprehensive insurance coverage exclusively packaged for Mabuhay Miles members.

It only takes 20,000 miles to get a round trip ticket to Beijing so become a member now and rake in those miles! Call Mabuhay Miles (www.mabuhaymiles.com) at 817-8000.

Philippine Airlines (www.philippineairlines.com) flies direct to Beijing from Manila four times weekly. Contact Panda Travel Services (www.pandatour.com) at 242-2585 or e-mail them at [email protected].

A night of extremes

The annual Cosmopolitan Bachelor Bash is always about going to the extreme and this year saw that again. From the scorching fashion show to the much anticipated centerfolds, girls sure did have an extremely fun night.

Making the event even more exciting were the treats and activities from Astring-O-Sol Ice Extreme, co-presentor of the event. These included a gargling booth, where guests refreshed for an extremely cool breath. Guests also had a chance to pose with some of the hot models at the photo booth where they received balloons and samples of Astring-O-Sol Ice Extreme.

One of the main highlights of the night was the Astring-O-Sol Ice Extreme Sexiest Kiss Game. Three lucky ladies got to kiss the Cosmo hunks in any part the girls found in them sexiest.

Astring-O-Sol Ice Extreme has a time-release antibacterial action that fights morning breath. Just gargle before bedtime and wake up with a fresh, clean feeling. Astring-O-Sol Ice Extreme has an extreme lemon lime flavor and intense cooling sensation.

(E-mail me at [email protected])