A royally good time

Like most big cities, Sydney, too, has its very own Chinatown. Situated next to Darling Harbour, the area is full of markets, shops, and restaurants where you can buy everything from dumplings to knock-off Dolce and Gabana. It is also home to the Chinese Garden of Friendship. The Garden was designed and built by Chinese landscape architects and gardeners to celebrate Australia's 1988 Bicentenary and is a symbol of the friendship between Sydney and it's sister city Guangzhou in Guangdong Province, China.
Back when I first arrived in Australia, Michelle mentioned that for $10 visitors to the Chinese Garden could dress up in traditional Imperial costumes and take their own pictures all around the garden. It took us nearly two months, but three days ago we finally managed to find a time when we were all available and headed into the city to have a go at being Chinese royalty.
The garden itself is gorgeous. Full of pavilions, waterfalls, and Chinese flora, it's a remarkably serene spot located smack in the middle of the harbour--above its walls, you can see the apartment buildings and highrises towering over it. But within it, its like traveling to a little corner of China. The entire garden is governed by the Taoist principles of 'Yin-Yang' and the five opposite elements--earth, fire, water, metal and wood. So everything in the garden has been hand-picked and placed to "capture" those five elements. The lakes and ponds in the garden are also home to brightly colored koi. Speckled black, orange, and white, they look like little islands of floating marble (and can apparently leap out of the water and scare poor, unsuspecting tourists).
Once we reached the costume hire shop, we were quickly transformed into the royal family. Myself and Kathyrn became Imperial princesses; Sarah, the emperor; and Michelle, the empress. And then we were off, strolling around the gardens, trying our best to look regal, and garnering strange looks from other visitors along the way. We were actually stopped twice by other tourists who asked to have their pictures taken with us.
I've created an album with our costume pictures and scenic shots of the garden so be sure to check it out: Chinese Garden.

And take a peek at this video to see what it was like to be royalty for the day.
Enjoy!