Beijing; November 18
We have been in Beijing for one week now and are adjusting to life in China. It took us a little time to adjust, especially since our Google is blocked much of the time. I knew I depended on Google, but I didn’t realize how much until I couldn’t access it anymore. The weather in Beijing is cold. I didn’t bring a winter coat with me but I had decided to purchase one in Korea, a decision I am especially grateful for now. The import tax in China is 100% so I know I got a better deal by buying it there.
We have been keeping ourselves very busy upon arriving in China. There is so much to see and do in Beijing.
The first thing we did was go visit the Underground City. This is a maze of tunnels that the government built from 1969-1979 when they feared a nuclear attack from Russia. The tunnels can hold up to 300,000 people. It was interesting to see, but it was more interesting to get there. We had just arrived in China and so the only thing we knew how to say in Chinese was hello (ni hau). We asked the hotel how to get to the Underground City and the explained the route via subway. We arrived near Tian’anmen Square and began our quest to find it. We weren’t having much luck and no one spoke English. Many of the people whom we tried to show our map would not even look our direction. Finally, we found a hotel and went inside to ask. They said it was very difficult to find, gave us vague directions, and then wrote down Underground City in Chinese characters for us. A man pedaling a bike with a carriage behind it offered us a ride. We showed him the paper from the hotel and he promptly cycled us through winding back roads before we arrived at the tiny entrance to our destination. The most interesting part of this ride was watching the passing scenery. It was not beautiful scenery and Dave and I saw much of the poverty that the Chinese people lived in. It was very sad to see the decrepit buildings and the tired, cold people.
The next day we went to Wangfujing Street, a popular shopping street in Beijing that has everything from street vendors to department stores. This was our first opportunity to experience the persistence with which the merchants would pursue the tourists. Although they were a bit more delicate with me, the people were tugging at Dave’s arms and one was trying to place a communist hat on his head. It was interesting and amusing to have such a unique shopping excursion. We also had our first opportunity to barter. I am not sure we were any good at it, but we tried.
On our third day we visited Lama Temple. This temple was enormous and was home to the largest Buddha statue I have ever seen. It was eighteen meters (approximately fifty feet) high and made out of one piece of sandalwood. It was quite impressive.
On Thursday, we took a whole day and went to the Ming Tombs and Great Wall. It was our first day to have the opportunity to speak to any Chinese person who spoke English. Our tour guide was kind and informative. All of the tourism in China is run by the Chinese government and we know the tour guides must be cautious about what they say. It was interesting to hear her speak about China and communism in such a positive light when we view communism so negatively in America. She seems happy about the eased restrictions on the people and claimed that she doesn’t mind the continued censorship of the internet and other media. She also mentioned that the people do not care that they don’t get to elect a leader. She believes that their form of government is stronger than the American government since it does not have to cater to the people. The desperation we have seen some of these people in and the human rights violations we know still exist today in China lead us to believe that people having a say is very good for the people. She says they have relaxed many of their policies. People no longer have to be Buddhist if they don’t want to believe (although she says they were never forced to believe in Buddha). This religious freedom was confirmed by other Chinese people with whom we spoke, but at the same time the United States released a list of countries which are of particular concern over religious freedom and China made the list. I am not sure what to believe. She told us that abortions are not forced upon women who become pregnant a second time (due to the One Child policy), but reading between the lines of her talk caused us to believe that women are strongly encouraged and nearly forced to abort second children. If a woman chooses to have a second child, the family loses all government support. Divorce is legal as is cohabitation but it is still frowned upon. The way she speaks, you would believe China has many liberties. And as for Tian’anmen Square? “You may ask me anything you want about Tian’anmen Square,” she told us. “Just don’t ask me what happened there in 1989.”
The first place we visited with our tour guide was the Ming Tombs. They were a bit anticlimactic. We had heard there were thirteen tombs belonging to various Chinese emperors. When we arrived, we were able to see only one of the tombs and were informed at that point that the tomb we were seeing would not be opened for another 200 years. We just walked around the outside of the building which was less than fascinating. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t a fifty minute drive to get there.
We headed to the Great Wall after lunch. What an amazing sight! I would recommend this to anyone of you. The wall is 4,000 kilometers long. We got to climb a bit of it and it was unfathomable how much more there was of the wall that we hadn’t seen. The only thing that detracted from this trip to one of the seven wonders of the world was the merchants that were camped out on the Wall waiting for tourists to pass by so they could try to sell their goods. It wouldn’t have been so terrible to pass them but they would literally follow you along the wall tossing their goods in your face so you couldn’t enjoy the moment. They would tug on your arm as you tried to take photos and were just generally very persistent. We were unsure why the government didn’t stop these people from taking over the tourist attraction. It was a difficult position to be in because you felt very bad that they were so poor and had to stand there but at the same time you wanted to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see the Great Wall. We walked along the wall until close to sunset and then headed back into Beijing.
Yesterday, we went to the Beijing Zoo where we saw the panda bears. They were fun to see. Neither Dave nor I had ever seen pandas before.
After visiting the pandas, we went to the Summer Palace, the home of the empress dowager (the mother of the emperor and the Dragon Lady mentioned in the photos). She was called the Dragon Lady because she ruled China from behind her son, the emperor. Although he put on the face that he was ruling, it was in fact her making the rules. In China, the dragon symbolized the emperor and I believe that is why she was called the Dragon Lady. The Summer Palace was so huge; our tour guide told us that it would take a week to go through all the buildings and see the surrounding land as well. After seeing how expansive the palace was, it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if that were true. There were lots of buildings, a lake, and a forest. It was very neat to see.
Before we leave Beijing, we still have plenty of sights we plan to visit.
We have been keeping ourselves very busy upon arriving in China. There is so much to see and do in Beijing.
The first thing we did was go visit the Underground City. This is a maze of tunnels that the government built from 1969-1979 when they feared a nuclear attack from Russia. The tunnels can hold up to 300,000 people. It was interesting to see, but it was more interesting to get there. We had just arrived in China and so the only thing we knew how to say in Chinese was hello (ni hau). We asked the hotel how to get to the Underground City and the explained the route via subway. We arrived near Tian’anmen Square and began our quest to find it. We weren’t having much luck and no one spoke English. Many of the people whom we tried to show our map would not even look our direction. Finally, we found a hotel and went inside to ask. They said it was very difficult to find, gave us vague directions, and then wrote down Underground City in Chinese characters for us. A man pedaling a bike with a carriage behind it offered us a ride. We showed him the paper from the hotel and he promptly cycled us through winding back roads before we arrived at the tiny entrance to our destination. The most interesting part of this ride was watching the passing scenery. It was not beautiful scenery and Dave and I saw much of the poverty that the Chinese people lived in. It was very sad to see the decrepit buildings and the tired, cold people.
The next day we went to Wangfujing Street, a popular shopping street in Beijing that has everything from street vendors to department stores. This was our first opportunity to experience the persistence with which the merchants would pursue the tourists. Although they were a bit more delicate with me, the people were tugging at Dave’s arms and one was trying to place a communist hat on his head. It was interesting and amusing to have such a unique shopping excursion. We also had our first opportunity to barter. I am not sure we were any good at it, but we tried.
On our third day we visited Lama Temple. This temple was enormous and was home to the largest Buddha statue I have ever seen. It was eighteen meters (approximately fifty feet) high and made out of one piece of sandalwood. It was quite impressive.
On Thursday, we took a whole day and went to the Ming Tombs and Great Wall. It was our first day to have the opportunity to speak to any Chinese person who spoke English. Our tour guide was kind and informative. All of the tourism in China is run by the Chinese government and we know the tour guides must be cautious about what they say. It was interesting to hear her speak about China and communism in such a positive light when we view communism so negatively in America. She seems happy about the eased restrictions on the people and claimed that she doesn’t mind the continued censorship of the internet and other media. She also mentioned that the people do not care that they don’t get to elect a leader. She believes that their form of government is stronger than the American government since it does not have to cater to the people. The desperation we have seen some of these people in and the human rights violations we know still exist today in China lead us to believe that people having a say is very good for the people. She says they have relaxed many of their policies. People no longer have to be Buddhist if they don’t want to believe (although she says they were never forced to believe in Buddha). This religious freedom was confirmed by other Chinese people with whom we spoke, but at the same time the United States released a list of countries which are of particular concern over religious freedom and China made the list. I am not sure what to believe. She told us that abortions are not forced upon women who become pregnant a second time (due to the One Child policy), but reading between the lines of her talk caused us to believe that women are strongly encouraged and nearly forced to abort second children. If a woman chooses to have a second child, the family loses all government support. Divorce is legal as is cohabitation but it is still frowned upon. The way she speaks, you would believe China has many liberties. And as for Tian’anmen Square? “You may ask me anything you want about Tian’anmen Square,” she told us. “Just don’t ask me what happened there in 1989.”
The first place we visited with our tour guide was the Ming Tombs. They were a bit anticlimactic. We had heard there were thirteen tombs belonging to various Chinese emperors. When we arrived, we were able to see only one of the tombs and were informed at that point that the tomb we were seeing would not be opened for another 200 years. We just walked around the outside of the building which was less than fascinating. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t a fifty minute drive to get there.
We headed to the Great Wall after lunch. What an amazing sight! I would recommend this to anyone of you. The wall is 4,000 kilometers long. We got to climb a bit of it and it was unfathomable how much more there was of the wall that we hadn’t seen. The only thing that detracted from this trip to one of the seven wonders of the world was the merchants that were camped out on the Wall waiting for tourists to pass by so they could try to sell their goods. It wouldn’t have been so terrible to pass them but they would literally follow you along the wall tossing their goods in your face so you couldn’t enjoy the moment. They would tug on your arm as you tried to take photos and were just generally very persistent. We were unsure why the government didn’t stop these people from taking over the tourist attraction. It was a difficult position to be in because you felt very bad that they were so poor and had to stand there but at the same time you wanted to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see the Great Wall. We walked along the wall until close to sunset and then headed back into Beijing.
Yesterday, we went to the Beijing Zoo where we saw the panda bears. They were fun to see. Neither Dave nor I had ever seen pandas before.
After visiting the pandas, we went to the Summer Palace, the home of the empress dowager (the mother of the emperor and the Dragon Lady mentioned in the photos). She was called the Dragon Lady because she ruled China from behind her son, the emperor. Although he put on the face that he was ruling, it was in fact her making the rules. In China, the dragon symbolized the emperor and I believe that is why she was called the Dragon Lady. The Summer Palace was so huge; our tour guide told us that it would take a week to go through all the buildings and see the surrounding land as well. After seeing how expansive the palace was, it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if that were true. There were lots of buildings, a lake, and a forest. It was very neat to see.
Before we leave Beijing, we still have plenty of sights we plan to visit.
posted by Lindsay | 10:00 AM
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