Beijing Hotels
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Beijing 2
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Dear Family, Friends, and Colleagues:
Today was another exciting day in Beijing. In the morning and for some of the afternoon we visited a middle school consisting of grades 7-8-9. In China, compulsory education is only to grade 9. Students may then opt to go to some kind of vocational/training school or go to work. Examinations at the end of grade 9 determine who gets to go to high school. The Principal at this school was very proud of the fact that 90% of his students go on to high school and 80% of those students go on to college.
When we arrived all the students were on the athletic field being led in exercises by a very young girl who had been designated "student of the week" Students were in rows and exercised in concert with a recording being blasted as the young girl led them all. We then were given a brief tour of the school, a snack in their awards room, a presentation by the Principal, and finally lunch. After lunch their were warm good byes, hand-shakes of friendship, and pictures on the steps before we boarded the bus for our next adventure: The Great Wall.
At about 2 p.m. we arrived at the gate of the Great Wall. After some discussion, we decided to take a gondola up to the top so our limited time could be spent enjoying the magnificent scenery. As we approached the gate, there are many kiosks set up with local villagers selling their wares. Our tour guide calls them "hello" people because as you walk buy they get your attention this way. They are aggressive and will even grab your arm and drag to their tent. We negotiated ourselves past the "hello" people and made it to the gondola and to the top of the Great Wall. It was so beautiful to see with 60 foot walls and observation areas that looked like what you would see at a castle during midieval times. The mountains were spectacular and you wonder how they got all those giant rocks in place that high up in the mountains. It was constructed by the emperor of the Gin dynasty to try and keep the Huns and the Mongols from invading the original Han people. 90% of the people today are descendants of the Han people of ancient China. It stretches 3,000 miles through the mountains, which would be compared to having it start in New York City and then having it stop in Los Angeles. When we finished our scenic climb it was time to come down and meet the bus. This also meant another trip past the "hello" people. I'm not ashamed to say that I did pick up several items for souvenirs, but until we bargained back and forth for a long time. Knowing the Chinese phrases "Tai gui le" (too expensive) "Ban jia" (half price) Bu mei, kan kan (I'm just looking) "Bu yao, xie xie" ( I don't want it, thank you) gave me a big advantage in the negotiations. I thank LiMing for her expert teaching for this.
After the Great Wall were privileged to meet a woman from Shelbourne Falls, MA, who is married to a Chinese gentelman. Her husband has a business in China and she works at the International School in Beijing occasionally teaching English and Chinese. They live in a small village (350) where they just built an unbelievable house worth over a half million dollars in China at the base of the Great Wall. We were introduced to the Mayor (who is elected to a three year term, as is his Vice-Chairman) and they showed us their listing of all the people in the village and what responsibilities they all shared. I used some easy Chinese phrases with him when I was introduced so he naturally thought I spoke Chinese. He and the Vice-Chairman start talking to me as if I was a native and I couldn't respond. Embarassing! Our next activity was to tour the village and the new house the woman and her Chinese husband had just had constructed. Very impressive! Finally, she took us to an outlet business for some shopping and across the street we were treated to a huge banquet in our honor. What a full day and night!
Tomorrow we head to the the Forbidden City, Tienament Square, and the Temple of Heaven. Then on Sunday, Principal Zhang will pick me up at the hotel and take me to Tianjin, where my visit to his school will begin.
That's all for tonight
Larry
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