 |
| Xian City Wall from early AD |
When I was in Beijing I was able to use the computer in the room one time and then it would not let me back on the AT&T web site. So I will try to start where I left off. In Beijing I stayed at the Beijing Administrative Institute,which is a sister to the organization in Nanchang. However, the campus in Beijing is much larger than the one in Nanchang and somewhat nicer. The hotel room was spacious, but had twin beds. My feet did hang off of this bed. Beijing is a city of over 20 million people. The people who live there must be of more means than in Nanchang because there were far fewer bicycles and mopeds and a lot more cars. From what I was told just to get a license tag in Beijing costs 35000 US dollars, which is hard to believe. They have so many cars they want to limit the number so they give a financial disincentive. However, i will say that traffic in Beijing is more like New York City than Nanchang. Traffic in Nanchang is downright crazy.
After we arrived Saturday in Beijing we went straight to the BAI, had lunch then were whisked away in a taxi to the Forbidden City. Kristy, Bubba and I went together and since John had been here before he served as our unofficial tour guide. The Forbidden City served as the home for 24 emperors. From around 1400 AD to 1911. It has very much the Imperial feel to it and consists if several hundred acres. The emperor lived there with his wife, several hundred concubines and thousands of eunuchs. If you are not sure of what a eunuch is ask me when you see me and I will tell you. It was very hot on Saturday while we were out and we had a lot of sun. Although the sun was shielded some by all of the smog. The air quality in China is terrible. I drank three bottles of water walking through the place. The buildings within the Forbidden City were very large and numerous. It is amazing at how precise the building methods were so long ago. I am also amazed at how they possibly moved such large boulders and other material.
Right across the street from the north end of the Forbidden City is Tienanmen Square. The square is huge and in the middle is the mausoleum of Mao. His body is embalmed and they raise him up at certain times each day. For a fee one can see him. I decided to take a rain check on seeing Mao. I hope he doesn't mind! We left this area and went to the "silk market". It is basically a place with u hundreds of vendors selling all kinds of clothes, shoes, etc. and my guess is most of it is counterfeit. It was wild. The vendors pulled on you and begged you to buy from them. It was one of the biggest rackets I have ever seen. We left this once in a lifetime experience (I hope) and went to a Indian Restaurant that John used to go to when he lived in Beijing and wanted to have another opportunity to go back. The food was good and I had two cold diet cokes. They were not on ice because you do not drink the water here. No one drinks the water here. Even the Chinese have to boil their water. I would think as progressive as China has become that they would have figured out a way to have clean drinking water. I have even brushed my teeth with bottled water. I do not trust it. So far I have managed to escape any stomach problems and by God's grace I hope it stays that way. I did have a little stomach issue after we had Indian food. In was told afterward that you never eat another countries food while in a different country.
Sunday we left at 8:00 am to drive to the Great Wall of China. Indeed it was great. It took us a couple of hours to drive there. Since it is built in the mountains, once we arrived at the base we still had a ways to go. Fortunately we rode the gondola to the top. It is hard to describe the awesome feeling standing on the Great Wall. I have always read about it, but I never imagined that I would be standing on top of it one day. I was told that it is 2000 miles long. The Wall follows the ridge of the mountain so as the mountain goes up the Wall does and so it goes down. You have to have some physical ability to walk on the Wall. Although we were there in the morning it was still very hot and humid. Unfortunately you could not see a long way because of the smog from Beijing. The steps up and down were not meant for Americans,like me, with big feet. At the end our route our student guides bought tickets to ride a toboggan back down to the base. I can tell you that I was more than a little apprehensive, but it turned out to be very fun and I wish I could do it again. John was in front of me and there were two Chinese dudes in front of him that were going slow and messed it up for the rest of us. At the base we had lunch at Subway. Yes, hard to believe but there is a Subway at the base of the Great Wall. It was nice to have a sandwich. On our way back from the Wall we stopped at the Birds Nest, the home of the 2008 Olympics. It is an awesome place and it was surreal being in the place that the opening ceremonies of the Olympics took place.
 |
| My route down from the Great Wall |
 |
The Bird's Nest- 2008 Olympic Stadium |
 |
| The Bird's Nest- 2008 Olympic Stadium |
After arriving back at the BAI we all freshened up and then headed out for dinner at a place called Hi Ho, which was about 4 miles away from the Institute. It was beautiful and consists of a lake surrounded by coffee shops, bars, shops and restaurants. The lake had beautiful flowers and attractive lights. It reminds me a lot of River Walk in San Antonio, but has a lake instead of a river. We had a very nice dinner with Kristy, John, Paul Burks and his wife Vanessa and a student of Johns from a few years ago that has been an exchange student in Beijing for the last four months. Paul is Kristy's teaching partner this week in Beijing and is teaching performance measurement. It was nice spending a few days with Paul and his wife. They are a very nice couple and very enjoyable to be with.
Monday came quick and I was now on my home stretch. Still being in China at this point was bittersweet for me as I wanted to be back home with my family and also back at work. There is never a good time to be away from the office, but this time was especially not good due to so many important issues being discussed. However, since this may be my one and only time to be in China I still had some more places to visit. I had to go for it while I was in this far away place! Monday morning a student escorted Paul, Vanessa and I to the Beijing pearl market. It was a very interesting place and my family will find out on my return if I looked at pearls, touched pearls or bought pearls :) Monday afternoon, while Paul was teaching, Kristy and I were escorted by two students to the Summer Palace, which is located outside of the city. The summer palace was built for the emperors mother and is a very expansive place. It is actually larger than the Forbidden City and has a very large lake, many palaces and buildings all of a royal feel. Lots and lots of trees and gardens. In fact, before I forget to mention this the City of Beijing could also be called the city of flowers. There are flowers everywhere and all are very beautiful. The corridors and all of the main street are lined with gorgeous flowers. It certainly inspires me to find a way to beautify our main thoroughfares in Glynn County. If China can do it we should certainly be able to find a way. Beauty adds to a community's quality of life and sets it apart from other places! One of the things that most impressed me about the Summer Palace was a covered walkway along the side of the lake that was at least a mile long. Underneath the ceiling it had beautiful paintings that were numerous and all very beautiful. I am curious at how long it took the guy to paint all of the pictures.
Beijing has numerous tall buildings a lot of new construction and a very modern airport. However, as America has done they have over built in China and there is a lot of bad debt on the books of most every bank in China.
Monday evening I was invited to attend the opening dinner for Paul and Kristy with the President of BAI, which I thought was nice since I was not teaching there this week, but just staying on campus this week. It was a wonderful dinner with great conversation, great fellowship and good humor. The food in Beijing is not as spicy as Nanchang and the eating mannerisms seemed more western than in Nanchang. I did not feel quite right spitting bones on the table although I had gotten pretty good at it. They also did not seem to slurp their soup like they did in Nanchang. All of my new eating habits had to change while in Beijing. If my Mom was still alive she would give me a good talking to for my poor manners while in China. It would be hard for her to understand that while in China you do as the Chinese do!
After a good rest Monday night I packed my bags and headed to the airport for a flight to the city of Xian. Xian is a very historic city and was once the capital of China dating back to around 100 BC. Although our flight was delayed it was a fairly good flight with some bumps along the way. I am convinced that due to the poor air quality in China all flights have some bumps. I was met at the airport by my tour guide while I am in Xian. His English is very poor, but he seems like a nice young man and has gone out of his way to help me. I am glad that I had already had some time in China before I arrived in Xian. Since I am basically by myself it is good to have been exposed to the culture before I ventured out on my own. On the way to the hotel we stopped by a tomb of some emperor. Here in Xian there were at least two emperors that created underground cities out of clay concubines, eunuchs and buried live animals with them. They all believed they would come back to life after death and they created thousands of these clay figurines to be there for a new city once they came back to life. The "new city" was created before the emperor died and then the emperor was buried with all of the thousands of figurines. The figurines at the site I visited on Tuesday were very small. On Thursday, which is tomorrow morning for me (it is now Wednesday evening for me) I will visit the most famous site of all that has the "Terracotta Warriors". It should be interesting.
In Xian I am staying at a hotel that is somewhat dated. 30 years ago, by US standards it would be a four star hotel, but definitely needs an update. At least the bed is a king size, although all of the beds in China are very hard. It will be very nice to sleep on my pillow top mattress when i return home.
Today or Wednesday I visited the 2011 Horticultural Exhibition. At first i was I was not sure if it was something I really wanted to see, but it turned out to be good as the grounds and flowers were stunning and beautiful. I even saw panda bears that were housed there as well as monkeys. There was also a large sand sculpting exhibit that was very cool. I wonder if SSI ever considered hosting a sand sculpting contest. On our return to the hotel we stopped by the original city wall that was built in early AD and is about 75' high and 30' wide, surrounded by a large moat and and had a draw bridge as the only way in centuries ago. Due to steady rain I did not walk far on the top of the wall but it would have been fun to walk all the way around the city. Not a short walk though at 9 miles. It has been rainy here and a little cooler than Nanchang, but still hot and sticky. China beds to work on their ac systems. Even most places inside are warm and humid. I am looking forward to going to see the tomb of the emperor with the terracotta soldiers tomorrow. Hopefully, the now two pots of coffee won't keep me awake. I think I may have try an ice cream before I leave the coffee shop to cool me off. Yum!
 |
| Fountain at the Horticultural Exhibit |
 |
| Sand scuplture exhibit in Xian |
 |
| Horticulture Exhibit |
 |
| Me at the Great Wall of China |
 |
Statue to scare away evil spirits at the Forbidden City |
No comments:
Post a Comment