Beijing
What does it mean to say "I've been to Beijing", when the city of Beijing is the same size as Belgium! Surely we only scratched the surface... but here's the "news in brief" from our whirlwind tour.
First, the great wall of China! And my, it sure is great! All 6000kms of it, built on the TOP of mountain peaks, and visible into the far distance. It was spectacular, and also a little creepy to think of the hundreds of thousands of bodies buried in the wall of those who died in construction. I felt as if we had climbed to the top of the world - only to find more stairs! Seriously, there is no such thing as 'walking' on the Great Wall. It could easily be called the Great Ladder of China :-) And the best part? To get down we took a taboggan ride - like a giant kid's slide from the top of a mountain!
From there we made our way to the famous silk market, a 6 story building filled with everything from north fake jackets to the finest of pearls. Everything requires bargaining to fetch a price, and foreigners are notoriously ripped off. I was with my friend Jen, who speaks Chinese... and more than once she rescued me from a 200% markup by simply talking to the vendor in Chinese. Thank you Jen!
That evening we sampled the famous buffet in our luxurious 5 star hotel - including delicacies such as stuffed steam breads (which I loved), and chickens' feet (which I avoided). Kudos to Will, though, who sucked the juices from the knuckles and lived to tell the tale!
The following morning took us into the city to Tian'anmen Square: a MASSIVE open square in the heart of the city. Our tour guide told us that the most famous event to take place there was the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct 1st, 1949. I asked him about the 1989 massacre, which is probably the most famous event to the Western mind, and it was most interesting to hear his take on it. Unlike most of the Chinese, he had actually heard about the event, but said that ultimately "he thought the government was right". On the left is me at Tian'anmen Gate, sporting its picture of Chairman Mao above the entrance to the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City was a 8704-roomed complex which, for centuries, was closed to the 'common people'. We roamed from building to building (which are all currently being prettified in anticipation of the Olympic-sized crowds for next year). Each building is named something deeply philosophical and profound, but to
me - they all seemed to have similar names (the Hall of Ultimate Tranquility, standing next to the Room of Unity and Serenity, next to the Hall of Heavenly Unity....) It is hard to imagine what is must have been like in the day. It is said that the emperor was served 200 dishes for each meal, but could never express a preference or favorite dish, for fear of causing dissension in the kitchen... Strange how the person with the most 'choice' in the Kingdom in fact had so little choice in the end.
The afternoon took us on rickshaw rides through the Hutong district. Hutongs are the old
traditional one-story 'commune' houses which remain in the center of Beijing. The last empress of China was born in such a little Hutong: a very humble home! A local family hosted us for lunch and fed us dish after dish after dish after dish... oh my. So much hospitality. One of the family friends is currently studying dance, and she showed us one of the Eastern Chinese traditional dances: a girl in jeans and a T-shirt transformed into the most graceful of creatures.
To finish off our Beijing tour, we saw a Chinese Acrobatics show... and words can barely describe the contortions and fantastical things we saw: men jumping through hoops 3 metres off the ground, and making towers 6 people tall (which they tumbled around in as they "switched"
positions in their human pyramids). 12 girls riding on a single bike. A man climbing a flight of stairs doing a single-handed handstand... and then using both hands, but carrying a man doing a single handed handstand balancing on the first man's neck (!?!? Try to imagine, if you can...) One of the few pictures I could take was on a girl who balanced a tray of glasses on each of her feet, hands, and head... and then managed to flip herself from lying on her back to her front... while keeping all those glasses pointing vertically. Oh Wow!
Our final night in Peking had to include eating Peking duck - a massive bird yielding very little, but very tasty flesh. Actually, it's hard to imagine how ducks can fly given how big they are, how much fat they have, and how little 'muscle' they have... It was the perfect end to our Beijing experience, and the next morning saw us hastily off to the airport to fly home.
So I am home: tired, safe, happy. China was a wonderful experience: the people are beautiful and the culture is fascinating. It is a world apart from that which I'd known before. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have been able to see not only friends and former students (and oh! what joy it gives my heart to see them loving God and making disciples of their own!)... but to do so in such a fantastic country!
First, the great wall of China! And my, it sure is great! All 6000kms of it, built on the TOP of mountain peaks, and visible into the far distance. It was spectacular, and also a little creepy to think of the hundreds of thousands of bodies buried in the wall of those who died in construction. I felt as if we had climbed to the top of the world - only to find more stairs! Seriously, there is no such thing as 'walking' on the Great Wall. It could easily be called the Great Ladder of China :-) And the best part? To get down we took a taboggan ride - like a giant kid's slide from the top of a mountain!
From there we made our way to the famous silk market, a 6 story building filled with everything from north fake jackets to the finest of pearls. Everything requires bargaining to fetch a price, and foreigners are notoriously ripped off. I was with my friend Jen, who speaks Chinese... and more than once she rescued me from a 200% markup by simply talking to the vendor in Chinese. Thank you Jen!
That evening we sampled the famous buffet in our luxurious 5 star hotel - including delicacies such as stuffed steam breads (which I loved), and chickens' feet (which I avoided). Kudos to Will, though, who sucked the juices from the knuckles and lived to tell the tale!
The following morning took us into the city to Tian'anmen Square: a MASSIVE open square in the heart of the city. Our tour guide told us that the most famous event to take place there was the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct 1st, 1949. I asked him about the 1989 massacre, which is probably the most famous event to the Western mind, and it was most interesting to hear his take on it. Unlike most of the Chinese, he had actually heard about the event, but said that ultimately "he thought the government was right". On the left is me at Tian'anmen Gate, sporting its picture of Chairman Mao above the entrance to the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City was a 8704-roomed complex which, for centuries, was closed to the 'common people'. We roamed from building to building (which are all currently being prettified in anticipation of the Olympic-sized crowds for next year). Each building is named something deeply philosophical and profound, but to
me - they all seemed to have similar names (the Hall of Ultimate Tranquility, standing next to the Room of Unity and Serenity, next to the Hall of Heavenly Unity....) It is hard to imagine what is must have been like in the day. It is said that the emperor was served 200 dishes for each meal, but could never express a preference or favorite dish, for fear of causing dissension in the kitchen... Strange how the person with the most 'choice' in the Kingdom in fact had so little choice in the end.The afternoon took us on rickshaw rides through the Hutong district. Hutongs are the old
traditional one-story 'commune' houses which remain in the center of Beijing. The last empress of China was born in such a little Hutong: a very humble home! A local family hosted us for lunch and fed us dish after dish after dish after dish... oh my. So much hospitality. One of the family friends is currently studying dance, and she showed us one of the Eastern Chinese traditional dances: a girl in jeans and a T-shirt transformed into the most graceful of creatures.To finish off our Beijing tour, we saw a Chinese Acrobatics show... and words can barely describe the contortions and fantastical things we saw: men jumping through hoops 3 metres off the ground, and making towers 6 people tall (which they tumbled around in as they "switched"
positions in their human pyramids). 12 girls riding on a single bike. A man climbing a flight of stairs doing a single-handed handstand... and then using both hands, but carrying a man doing a single handed handstand balancing on the first man's neck (!?!? Try to imagine, if you can...) One of the few pictures I could take was on a girl who balanced a tray of glasses on each of her feet, hands, and head... and then managed to flip herself from lying on her back to her front... while keeping all those glasses pointing vertically. Oh Wow!Our final night in Peking had to include eating Peking duck - a massive bird yielding very little, but very tasty flesh. Actually, it's hard to imagine how ducks can fly given how big they are, how much fat they have, and how little 'muscle' they have... It was the perfect end to our Beijing experience, and the next morning saw us hastily off to the airport to fly home.
So I am home: tired, safe, happy. China was a wonderful experience: the people are beautiful and the culture is fascinating. It is a world apart from that which I'd known before. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have been able to see not only friends and former students (and oh! what joy it gives my heart to see them loving God and making disciples of their own!)... but to do so in such a fantastic country!
posted by Bronwyn at 10:23 am
2 Comments:
So enjoyed your China-blogs, I can't wait for you to wake up from jetlag in Davis so we can Skype!
Dad
Me as well. 10/10 descriptions as always. Well done, sounds just wonderful. Rest up well and maybe a conference call so you don't say it all twice. x Mom.
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