Liaoning University and Imperial Palace of Shenyang
Oh golly, first time blogger here – bare with me!
The dorm room (everyone gets their own room) was pretty nice for a single accommodation, especially since we are not spending that much money to stay here. The morning started off wonderfully sunny and we were all very excited to hear the lecture by Ding Zuxin on Chinese traditional culture; however, I was not expecting the lecture to last as long as it did. Ding was a friendly man and he gave a lot of insight into Confucianism, Daoism, past Military Strategies, and the Peking Opera. At the end of his lecture there was time for questions and a short video to show us what the Peking Opera looks like. I was sad that we did not get to see the Opera in Beijing, but from watching the short video on it I think it was a good thing (for my sake). The outfits were colorful and eye-catching, but I do not know how the actors could see or breathe out of their masks! The singing and music was very different. I have never heard music like that before. At first I thought it was unique, but I do not think I have the ear for it because after about one minute of it I was ready for a break. I think I would enjoy seeing the Opera to gain a better understand of Chinese art and theater, but I also think ear plugs would be a requirement for me. I asked Ding a question regarding the Tibetan freedom riots in relation to China trying to retain its power, while also trying to maintain a peaceful country, but he said he could not answer that for me. I was sad that he could not give any insight into my question (from a Chinese person’s perspective), but I also figured that this question may not be tolerated or answerable at this place and time.
After the lecture, we had an amazing lunch and then headed off to see the new undergraduate buildings of Liaoning University. These building and the whole landscaping was wonderfully done. The library alone put the Morris library to shame…and this was just their tech library, which interestingly enough had more computers on the first level alone then there are students at UMM!!! From the university tour we went to the Imperial Palace of Shenyang. It was much smaller than the Imperial Palace of Beijing, and was constructed 200 years after the IP in Beijing. Some other things that were neat at this Palace were the symbols on some of the structures and the fact that there were trees in the courtyard entering the Palace (there are none in the front of the Forbidden City—IP of Beijing). ST first glance the symbols on some of the structures look like swastikas, but they were not… they are turned in the opposite direction and stand for happiness (very different)! Overall, this was a great day –except it rained –and now it is time to go off and explore Shenyang at night (dinner time)!!!