Beijing Hotels
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Week Two
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WEEK TWO
SUNDAY
We hosted a church service for others in the area. These loving people graciously helped us make contacts who might aid us in our independent research projects. It was lovely getting to know each of them.
After lunch, we met as a group and headed to the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan). The Temple of Heaven is even larger than the Forbidden City... perhaps 3x as large? The emperor would come here once a year to perform ceremonies for around 4 days. These extensive rituals were performed by the emperor and a few priests in order to celebrate the solstice and pray for a good harvest. This was especially important for the emperor because he needed to assure the people that he still held the mandate of heaven, or the God-given right to rule. There are three large sectors of this temple, each signifying different things. Mainly, it is the journey from the earth (yin) to heaven (yang). In the first part (Yanqiu - Altar of Heaven), there is a large altar in the middle (circle inside the square to represent heaven and earth) where sacrifices were performed. In the very center, there is a dead zone where all the noise falls away. Lots of people like to have their picture taken there as they try to scream. The final complex (Qiniandian - Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests) was first constructed in 1420 but burned to the ground in 1889 when it was struck by lightening. Legend has it that a caterpillar inched his way to the very top (that audacious little critter...). As punishment for trying to be higher than the emperor, the caterpillar was struck by lightening. Though it was completely destroyed, it was rebuilt according to its original plans. In fact, the four large pillars inside the structure come from Oregon... This is only a brief introduction to Tiantan.
After Tiantan, we were free. John gave us directions to the Hongqiao Pearl Market, which was nearby. A group of us headed off that way. I stuck with Kenny and Wes most of the time trying to help them pick out gifts. It was great because they helped me land some pretty good bargains. The Pearl Market is somewhat like Silk Road, but less cluttered with tourists and filled with pearls. Other goods can be found there, too, such as scarves, electronics,
handicrafts, etc. Though it was fun, bargaining wore us out and we met up with Austin to try and find our way home before a meeting at 8:00 pm.
MONDAY
Back to class! Then lunch at First Restaurant. The afternoon was free because John's schedule was filled with meetings. I wrote in my journal and had some good group bonding time. I also tried to do a little work on my project.
TUESDAY
Class again, then lunch. It turned out that we had another free afternoon because of John's busy schedule. I headed back to the Pearl Market with Nate Sharp, Rachel, Christy, and Matt Ward. We had gotten more food money during lunch, so I had some to spend. I ended up getting a few things... it was hard to stop the urge to get more than I could carry, haha. I like that place. Group meeting at 9:00, so I was up way past my bedtime... but that was okay.
WEDNESDAY
Tai chi at 7:00 before class and lunch. Caligraphy class from 2:00 to 4:00. Tough stuff... but a lot of fun. My brother would enjoy that I think. Hopefully I get better (and I'll know not to wear a white shirt next time). Free until English Corner from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. There were several students there who were so happy to host us. A few gave presentations on the highlights of Beijing, which was wonderful. During our free talk time, I made some new friends and gathered some great research for my project. It was really great! One of the highlights so far :)
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
Mellow days. Not much to report.
SATURDAY
What an exhausting day! We met at 6:30 to set off to the Great Wall. Why so early? Well, we were going to the Mutianyu Gate, which is a quieter gate because usually only Chinese tourists can be found there. Foreigners tend to prefer other gates. Also, in getting there early, we beat some of the vendors to their posts and some of the tourists. This only made our experience more spectacular. The hike up to the Wall was intense. There are many many stairs (unless you take the cable car), and these stairs are not nice and even, which makes it difficult to get into a good rhythm. Additionally, the stairs were quite high at times, so my short little legs got quite the workout, haha. When we made it to the top (glistening), we made friends with a donkey! The donkey had carried items up the hill for a vendor. Some say our timing was impeccable, but I think he was eyeing us - he let us pet him :) The weather on the wall was interesting. First, there was still a bit of morning fog in the air, lessening visibility. Next, it was chilly. We went up in elevation, and the fog and overcast sky didn't let in much sunlight. Later on we heard a little rumble and it began to sprinkle as the wind picked up, biting any skin open to the elements. The weather didn't ruin our time, though! I ran around with Christy, Rachel, Megan, and Jordan mostly, though we met up with Ricardo, Evan, and John every so often. We enjoyed being tourists and took many crazy pictures as we ran up and down along the Great Wall. The part of the Great Wall I was most looking forward to was the long chute you can ride down on these little black roller things. Unfortunately, we were all pretty disappointed when we discovered it was closed and would open just after we needed to leave. Oh well. We took the chair lift down, which was not nearly as awesome but still sufficed. At the bottom, I shopped with Megan and bought the best dried fruit (strawberries, kiwis) and a banana that I've ever tasted. That's a hard one to beat, too, after the markets in France!
After the Great Wall, we drove for a bit longer until we found a restaurant. It was one of those places where they let you pick out your food before you eat it. However, John and our Chinese friends Maggie and Jolly took care of the menu for us. No dog meat this time! We could have had things like donkey, turtle, bullfrog, etc., though. The meal was pretty quiet because we were all tired from our morning's adventures.
Our last two stops were the airplane museum and the Spirit Way leading up to the Ming Tombs. Although I am not so knowledgeable on my aircraft terminology, I appreciated this museum because it was Mao's secret air base. All the planes were kept inside of a mountain (yes, a mountain), and the runway was just a bit larger than an average road here. Pretty amazing. There were lots of planes inside. It was interesting to see the planes with stars - ones that fought against the US. They also had machinery that was open for visitors to play on outside. There were a few younger boys (maybe around 6-8 years old) playing on them when we found them. Although these little Chinese guys were fun to watch, I found more entertainment in my classmates. The guys climbed up on this tank and started pretending they were in battle (complete with firing noises) and then complained about how the little kids were taking too long. Haha, fun stuff. I found Alyson and we found a nice bench that was perfect for a little break before climbing back into our coaster and heading to the Spirit Way. Our driver likes to stop in the middle of the road for cigarette breaks and other odd things, and we had been doing this all day. It's okay-we find it pretty funny sometimes. Anyway, because we'd gotten lost a few times in addition to these breaks, we were running late. We made it to the Spirit Way, which is a long outdoor path with large stone statues on either side of the path. It is curved so that evil spirits, which can only travel in straight lines close to the ground, will not reach the tombs. The statues on either side ranged from horses, elephants, and camels to mythical creatures to soldiers. These statues could be found either sitting or standing. I especially appreciated the green grass and trees - I've been missing foliage! We didn't make it to the Ming Tombs because we ran out of time. We were all exhausted anyway... it was a loooong day. You can bet we all slept well that night!
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