Extremely luxurious and extremely simple Brunei

Most people would think of Brunei, the richest country in Asia; a very Mini, polygamous country. But as long as they don’t have an in-depth understanding, people who don’t travel don’t actually know the other side of Brunei: the simple folk customs, the lack of intimacy between men and women, and the lack of gambling, theft and nightlife. Let’s use the magic of the wedding editor to show you Find out.

1: Gold toilet, brand-name tableware, stewardess wearing turban

Brunei Airlines is quite unique, which shows the wealth of this country. In order to receive the royal family and relatives, the airline provides first-class passengers with a toilet with an area of ??about seven square meters. As long as the golden space is used in the cabin, it will not be sparing, and it will shine with dazzling light everywhere. From the gold seat belt buckles to the gold toilet and gold faucets in the bathroom, as long as there is metal, everything is plated with a layer of gold, which is very generous. The tableware used in the first-class cabin is also very particular. They are all made of exquisite ancient porcelain, crystal and silverware from famous brands to set off the dazzling golden cabin.

The costumes of Brunei flight attendants are also unique. They all wear headscarves and are 100% Islamic. Many tourists have asked to take photos with them. There is also an arrow on the plane. No matter how the plane turns, it will always point to the holy city of Mecca, which facilitates passengers' regular pilgrimage. Before the plane takes off, there will also be a prayer to ask Allah to bless everyone.

Three hours later, the plane was already hovering over the azure sea. Looking down from the air, the long coastline was dotted with two- and three-story bungalows, mixed in with the greenery. The independent colorful villas among the trees are like colorful and beautiful building blocks. This is the destination of our trip - Brunei.

2: The Imperial Hotel is so dazzling that you can’t even open your eyes

As soon as we walked into the lobby of the Imperial Hotel, the most luxurious hotel in Brunei where we stayed, it felt like an accident. Stepping into the palace of the princes and nobles, this resort hotel has been rated as a six-star hotel. The lobby is heavily gilded and extremely luxurious. Although the term "golden wall brilliance" has almost been overused, today it is more appropriate to use it to describe the Empire Hotel in Brunei. Some people joke that you must wear sunglasses when entering the Brunei Empire Hotel, otherwise the splendor of the lobby will blind you.

Art decorations can be seen everywhere in the lobby. Although you may not notice them at first glance, they are all priceless treasures. The crystal camel facing the gate is worth 250,000 Wen Yuan each, which is equivalent to 1.25 million RMB (one Wen Yuan is equivalent to five RMB). There are only four in the world, and there are two collected here.

This hotel, built by the Sultan’s younger brother, cost more than 7 billion yuan. The suites are not only comfortable, but also very technological. The mattresses, windows and other facilities inside can be used electronically. control.

The next day, people from the hotel took us to visit the most luxurious presidential suite here. This presidential suite has hosted presidents of many countries. It is said that Clinton liked it very much. The design of the suite is very unique. It is rich in the traditional characteristics of Brunei and also incorporates Western European decoration factors. It also seems to contain the style of Chinese architectural art. It is roughly divided into six entrances. The first entrance is the entrance hall, the second entrance is a small living room, the third entrance is a round table conference room, the fourth entrance is a reception room, and the fifth entrance is the master bedroom. The master bedroom has an ensuite There is a top-notch luxury surf tub and three shower rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides facing the sea. The sixth entrance is a standard indoor heated swimming pool with a bar and other facilities. Staying here for one night is naturally expensive. Let's put it this way, staying in the presidential suite of the Imperial Hotel for one night is equivalent to buying a domestic Bora car.

3: The capital with few pedestrians

On the second day, we visited Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. Brunei is a very small country, with a total population of only 360,000. Bandar Seri Begawan has a population of about 100,000. It is the capital and largest city of Brunei. The urban area is very small. You can walk around the city in an hour. Circle, there are neither super high-rise buildings nor commercial streets here. Various buildings such as mosques, royal archives, and parliament buildings are in various shapes.

Walking on the streets of Brunei, you rarely see pedestrians. In the quiet city, there is only the rustling sound of passing vehicles. It turns out that Bruneians are rich, with an average of 1.5 people owning a car. Bruneians have long been accustomed to traveling by car, so no matter where they go, they drive and rarely walk. Driving in Brunei is indeed very cost-effective, with a liter of gasoline only costing 0.45 cents. I heard from the tour guide that if there are still people walking on the street at dusk, especially women, all the people driving by will stop their cars and come down to ask you what happened? Did you quarrel with your family and run away from home? The police will also come to help you, thinking that something big must have happened at your home, haha!

4: "Just dig out a piece of gold and take it away!"

It is such a small Mini country, but it is extremely rich, or it can be said that it is extremely rich. With its advantages in oil and natural gas, Brunei's per capita GDP reached US$20,000 at the end of the 20th century.

This account is easy to calculate. This country has only more than 300,000 people, but it can produce 200,000 barrels of oil every day, and each barrel sells for 30 US dollars!

Gold is an important decorative material in Brunei. In order to show status, luxury buildings in Brunei must use gold in every possible way. You can often see circles with gold on the streets of Brunei. The top building must be the residence of the royal family. In Brunei, the most common thing you see are mosques with different architectural styles, many of which are magnificent, and the tops are all made of gold foil. Therefore, a favorite joke among tourists is: "What souvenirs should I buy when traveling in Brunei? Just pick up a piece of gold and take it away! "There are mosques all over Brunei, and we visited the most distinctive one, the Jamie Mosque. Jami Mosque, known as the "King's Mosque", was built by the current Sultan. It is very large. The two male and female worship rooms can accommodate 3,500 and 1,000 people respectively. The facilities inside are all electronic, including the most basic automatic sensor faucet - which is installed in the spacious front hall outside the worship room. The faucets are installed on marble and are clearly distinguished for washing hands and feet. Chu——Before worshiping, believers must bathe completely and wash their hands, feet and face before entering the worship room.

5: A surprising encounter with Mini

Brunei’s roads extend in all directions, and Brunei people are very wealthy, so it is not surprising that there are many luxury cars in Brunei.

For example, this time in Brunei, I had a good time. In all of Guangzhou, I have only seen one yellow and silver-gray Mini, both of which are modern MiniCooper models. But this time in Brunei, I suddenly saw many modern and classic Minis of different colors, styles, and designs from different eras, which made me addicted.

Since Bruneians drive very fast, it is difficult to appreciate each car in detail, but there were four times that left a deep impression. The first time was when I just walked out of the airport and saw a beautiful Bruneian girl wearing a headscarf driving a yellow Mini parked in the driveway waiting for someone. The people and the car were a beautiful sight; the second time was when I went to visit On the road to the Sudan Memorial Hall, a sky blue Mini antique car with a white roof suddenly appeared in front of me. It seemed that God wanted me to see it clearly. At that moment, the red light at the intersection turned on, and this car stopped right next to our bus. In front of me on the left, I admired it up and down; the third time was at the beach, a black Mini whizzed past, leaving me with only a proud back, like a flash in a movie A classic shot; the fourth shot is of an old out-of-print red Mini parked in the hotel parking lot. It is a typical classic car. Although it is very old, it still retains its elegant and noble character. I am Guess whether its owner is a young and beautiful Bruneian girl or an old gentleman with a boyish personality? And who is she or he as the owner of this Mini that is full of vicissitudes of life?

In the beautiful island kingdom, in the quietest and most leisurely capital in the world, meeting so many cute Minis in just one day really made me feel impulsive——This It is a program arranged by God.

6: King, Queen and Princess

In Brunei, no matter where you go, you can see photos of their king and queen everywhere, in hotels, restaurants, teahouses, etc. Station, ferry waiting room

There are many princes in the Brunei royal family. The one that Brunei people like crazy is a fourth prince. This fourth prince is very rich and loves cars and beautiful women. It is said that only BMW There are dozens of them. The fourth prince also had a unique way of courting beautiful women. Without saying a word, he asked his entourage to bring large boxes of U.S. dollars in front of the beautiful woman until she fell in love with him. It is said that Hong Kong entertainment stars like to vacation in Brunei. Does anyone want to have a romantic encounter with one of the rich Brunei princes in an exotic country?

The Royal Palace of Brunei is the largest palace in the world. It is not open to the public at ordinary times. We can only look outside the palace. According to the tour guide, according to the tradition of heirs to the throne, the king first married his cousin to become the queen, and then fell in love with a commoner woman who was a stewardess, and married her back to become the princess. The king loved the princess very much, and the princess gave birth to the king. Had two children. The princess later misbehaved and was demoted to a commoner, but she was still the richest woman in Brunei. In the Sultan Memorial Hall, I saw many photos of the princess and the queen standing side by side next to the king for the ceremony. The princess did not look very beautiful. According to Bruneian people's speculation, the princess must have used witchcraft. Only then did she win the love of the king with her mediocre appearance, but it was a pity

7: The largest floating village in the world

In Brunei, there is also a very peculiar landscape, which is the floating village. This is also the largest traditional floating village in the world. Various floating houses supported by stone pillars and built with wooden planks are dotted on both sides of the Brunei River, with about 30,000 residents. There are schools, clinics, police stations and temples in the water village.

We took a speedboat and visited the "water houses". The outsides of every house were decorated with green plants and brightly colored flowers. Don't mistakenly think that this is a slum. In fact, the living conditions of the people here are quite good. You can vaguely see the home furnishings inside through the gaps in the hanging indoor curtains. Some families are quite wealthy.

After landing, we came to a floating house. The enthusiastic host brought out plates of colorful Malay cakes to entertain us. One of them was steamed wrapped in the skin of a local green broad-leaf plant. What came out was extremely sticky, soft and sweet. When you peeled off the skin, a burst of fragrance came out. I couldn't help but eat several in a row. I later saw this kind of pastry in a supermarket in Brunei and bought several large bags at once, planning to take it back to share with family and friends.

8: Drive your car to a neighboring country to have a drink

Although Brunei is very rich, its people are simple. Bruneians do not drink, do not allow gambling, and do not allow opposite-sex massages. Therefore, Bruneians who love drinking are keen to go abroad on weekends - drive to the adjacent border, then cross the border to a neighboring country to drink, and then drive across the border. Go home and sleep. The public security order in Brunei is very good. It is said that you can feel safe without locking the door when going out to do errands. We do not see any anti-theft doors and windows in Brunei.

Men and women in Brunei are not intimate with each other. In barber shops, male customers can only have their hair cut by male barbers, while female barbers serve female customers. If a woman dresses too revealingly, the police will definitely investigate her. But it is precisely these rules and regulations that enable Brunei to maintain its rare and simple folk customs while having extremely superior and developed material conditions. Although Bruneian men can marry up to four wives, Bruneian men are very traditional. They go home to spend time with their families after work and there is no nightlife.

9: It’s so happy to be a Bruneian

Our Bruneian tour guide is a middle-aged lady who was born and raised in Brunei. She is very proud of Brunei. It came out spontaneously from her mouth. Bruneians enjoy free medical care from birth, and free education from kindergarten to university; Bruneians buy houses, open factories, and do business tax-free; in Brunei, locals who want to build a house only need to ask the government Pay one penny to buy the land! Approximately equivalent to RMB five yuan.

It sounds like Tianfang Night Lake! But it is a real reality in Brunei. It costs nothing to build a villa, there is no tax to buy a car, and gasoline only costs 45 cents per liter. My God, compared to those of us who work hard every day to pay for a house and maintain a car, being a Bruneian is so happy!

Brunei people are more comfortable at work! The pace of their work and life is slow. Civil servants go to work very much like civil servants in small cities in mainland China. They go to work at 9 o'clock, drink tea at 10 o'clock, get off work at 11 o'clock, go to work at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, drink tea at 3 o'clock, continue to work at 4 o'clock, and then go to get off work at 5 o'clock. Get off work on time. Even if you have unfinished business, the big things will be done tomorrow. Wealth, leisure, peace, orderliness, and piety are the Bruneians that have left the deepest impression on me.

Little information about Brunei

Language: Malay is the national language, and English and Chinese are commonly used.

Currency: Wen Yuan is used. Usually there are currency exchange offices in hotels and city centers. Generally, 1 U.S. dollar is exchanged for 1.7 Wen Yuan, which is about 5 yuan.

Transportation: Currently there are no direct flights from Guangzhou to Brunei. You need to transfer to Hong Kong and take a Royal Brunei Airlines flight. The flight takes about 3 hours.

Tip: Brunei is a country that prohibits alcohol. There are no shops selling alcohol in Brunei. Tourists can only bring 275 ml of alcohol into the country for their own use, but they are not allowed to drink in public places. Drinking is only allowed in specialized bars.