北京这个地方... BEIJING

Two pictures of the 硬卧 "hard sleeper" we took from Shanghai to Beijing (北京) and back. The ride was about 12 hours long, departing around 8pm and arriving 9ish am. There was not even enough space to take a successful picture of the crowded environment, hah. But we had a great time in these tiny six-bed compartments--no door, no privacy, no shame. Goodluck to Mike, who will be spending three years in similar conditions on a submarine !

But yes, last Tuesday through Saturday evening my fellow students and I were in Beijing--seeing the sites with the help of a tour guide. Five days truly wasn't enough, though. And sadly several parts of the city are currently closed for renovations. I was especially disappointed that Chairman Mao's Mausoleum was closed. The story behind that building is pretty hilarious. The Chinese destroyed numerous ancient city walls to build this massive monument devoted to tourism--err, to remembering Mao and his accomplishments. He lays in a glass casket which is raised each day from the frosty depths of the preservation room. My friend saw his body in 2005 and told me that while tourists wait in the approximately one-hour long line to see the Great Helmsman, flowers (plastic) are for sale to be used as a sign of gratitude and remembrance. These flowers must be placed on a cart 30 feet from Mao's casket (the closest tourists can get). Apparently after a certain number of fake flowers have been sacrificed/handed over to that strangely fresh-looking body of Mao, Mausoleum workers will wheel the cart full of flowers back outside to the line, where eagerly waiting tourists will purchase them once again. Oh those Chinese, so practical.

But I suppose I should talk about the things I actually saw myself. Tian'anmen Square, The Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, The Summer Palace, The Ming Tombs, The Temple of Heaven, a Hutong (small alleyway with traditional style architecture of houses--courtyard, etc). And, of course, the Great Wall.

Here is a picture taken in the Forbidden City. As you can see, this building is being renovated, so instead of letting us look at those hideous scaffolds, a screen is placed in front depicting what it will look like eventually. I was actually quite surprised that many of the locations will not be renovated by next summer. [Ok for some reason this type just turned blue and underlined. I wish I knew how blogs worked. Though maybe it doesn't actually look this way for you. eh]


All of the locations were really beautiful. It's just so amazing that these monuments were built three hundred-ish years before Europeans came to America (which our tour guide reminded us of several times). The history of China is so vast and complex... although visits to touristy locations such as all of the above do not promise any sort of deeper understanding, they still are worth seeing for the seer magnitude and ingenuity of Chinese architects. Our tourguide also referred to the below temple, the Hall for the Prayer of Good Harvests, as the symbol of Beijing tourism. She really tried to get us to understand that. This monument constructed during the Ming Dynasty is probably misrepresented and very distorted from the original design, but it is still very important to the Chinese as it creates a source of income for and fascination with Chinese society.








My favorite tourist location we visited was the Great Wall (长城 : literally "long wall"). There are three sections of the Great Wall that are open to tourists in Beijing's vicinity. We all opted to go to the one farthest from the city as we were hoping to escape some of the smog and maybe, just maybe, see the blue sky. Well, we still weren't that successful but the good news was that there were very few other tourists there, so I got a lot of great pictures. Here are some of them:

look at that second picture--you might be able to make out a beach umbrella on the wall. This is where Chinese salesmen/women relentlessly shoved water, beer, postcards, and vacuum packed hot-dogs in my face.


This section was quite high, and really cut through some steep mountains. The hike up there was not easy, and the heat certainly did not help. To make it easier on tourists like me, this section offered a gondola, a chair lift (just like at a ski resort--look at the picture to the left), and even a toboggan ride down from one section. I am uncertain how I feel about these recently constructed add-ons, as they are only there to make this spectacular accomplishment of 3rd century BCE (completed in 221 BCE) more accessible for tourists who think that the other side is Mongolia (a woman asked me that...). I am not doubting that a toboggan ride in, say, California is much different than the toboggan experience in Beijing, China, but I do think it is somewhat peculiar that some historical sites only appear to capture the interest of travelers to a point--and that point is usually very familiar to the tourist.


But then I stop taking myself so seriously, and realize the most important thing is to actually see the Great Wall--by whatever means possible. It really is breathtaking, the hills, the trees, and Grand stone wall that stragely does not feel out of place.

And don't worry, Sunmi, I came back to Shanghai with a slightly heavier bag.

I'll hopefully write again soon. Our second semester (Chinese 302) began on Monday, and it is actually integrated with a different class, Chinese Society Through Film. So tomorrow we will discuss 《洗澡》 "A Bath", a movie I am about to watch in a few minutes. It's really amazing how much I have improved... just earlier I called a travel agency using all Chinese. Here's to hoping I didn't agree to something I'm not aware of...