China 2008: Traditions and Transformations

When it is light at 5:00 A.M. it is difficult to not get up to begin the day here in Beijing. By six, people are out walking their very small dogs, doing Tai Chi, and guards are performing drills. All of this is accompanied by sounds that are a bit foreign to us as visitors to Beijing.

Today we will visit Embassy Row and later Silk Street. We've been amazed at all of the sights and sounds in Beijing--from split pants on young children to the immense structures that are part of the Forbidden City. We are also moved by the history that surrounds the buildings and practices in Beijing. Traditions of the past continue to inform current practices even as China moves into a position of being a world power.

This afternoon we will travel by train to Jinan. Our time in Jinan will be a bit different than Beijing with its 17 million people and 5 million cars. Everything in Beijing is fast paced. Watch out when you are walking on the streets here!

This year I've observed many changes in this city, including more cars on the streets and expressways, fewer bicycles and carts in and amongst the cars, more flowers and plants, and completed restorations of temples and other historic buildings. There is a huge increase in the number of uniformed guards we see everywhere. Talk of the games is on everyone's lips, though we wonder how many of the locals will be able to attend the celebrations. The theme, "One world, one dream" stood out clearly to us as we climbed the Great Wall. It's truly a sign of all that is going on in Beijing and in China--mixing the old and the new--combining traditions and transformations in 2008.

We'll miss Beiijing and the wonderful people we have met here. We'll leave seeking to learn more about what we've observed and experienced in this capital city of China.

Posted by Pamela Solvie at 12:09 AM | Permalink

When it is light at 5:00 iA.M. it isdifficult to not get up to begin the day here in Beijing. By six, people are out walking their very small dogs, doing Tai Chi, and guards are performing drills. All of this is accompanied by sounds that are a bit foreign to us as visitors to Beijing.

Today we will visit Embassy Row and later Silk Street. We've been amazed at all of the sights and sounds in Beijing--from split pants on young children to the immense structures that are part of the Forbidden City. We are also moved by the history that surrounds the buildings and practices in Beijing. Traditions of the past continue to inform current practices even as China moves into a position of being a world power.

This afternoon we will travel by train to Jinan. Our time in Jinan will be a bit different than Beijing with its 17 million people and 5 million cars. Everything in Beijing is fast paced. Watch out when you are walking on the streets here!

This year I've observed many changes in this city, including more cars on the streets and expressways, fewer bicycles and carts in and amongst the cars, more flowers and plants, and completed restorations of temples and other historic buildings. There is a huge increase in the number of uniformed guards we see everywhere. Talk of the games is on everyone's lips, though we wonder how many of the locals will be able to attend the celebrations. The theme, "One world, one dream" stood out clearly to us as we climbed the Great Wall. It's truly a sign of all that is going on in Beijing and in China--mixing the old and the new--combining traditions and transformations in 2008.

We'll miss Beiijing and the wonderful people we have met here. We'll leave seeking to learn more about what we've observed and experienced in this capital city of China.

Posted by Pamela Solvie at 12:06 AM | Permalink

When it is light at 5:00 is it difficult to not get up to begin the day here in Beijing. By six, people are out walking their very small dogs, doing Tai Chi, and guards are performing drills. All of this is accompanied by sounds that are a bit foreign to us as visitors to Beijing.

Today we will visit Embassy Row and later Silk Street. We've been amazed at all of the sights and sounds in Beijing--from split pants on young children to the immense structures that are part of the Forbidden City. We are also moved by the history that surrounds the buildings and practices in Beijing. Traditions of the past continue to inform current practices even as China moves into a position of being a world power.

This afternoon we will travel by train to Jinan. Our time in Jinan will be a bit different than Beijing with its 17 million people and 5 million cars. Everything in Beijing is fast paced. Watch out when you are walking on the streets here!

This year I've observed many changes in this city, including more cars, fewer bicycles and carts in and amongst the cars, more flowers and plants, and completed restorations of temples and other historic buildings. Talk of the games is on everyone's lips, though we wonder how many of the locals will be able to attend the celebrations. The theme, "One world, one dream" stood out clearly to us as we climbed the Great Wall. It's truly a sign of all that is going on in Beijing and in China--mixing the old and the new--combining traditions and transformations in 2008.

We'll miss Beiijing and the wonderful people we have met here. We'll leave seeking to learn more about what we've observed and experienced in this capital city of China.

Posted by Pamela Solvie at 11:51 PM | Permalink

The first thing to start our day was go to the Coke factory in Beijing. We saw the production lines where they fill the bottles and cans with Sprite. Then the guide took us to a cool room with a lot of Coke decorations. After taking pictures, we sat down to watch a movie. Mostly, it was about Coke and the Olympics through out the years. They wanted to show us another one, but it didn’t work in English. We were all disappointed because we did not see as much as we wanted in the factory. By the way, the only to soda flavors they serve at lunch and dinner are Coke and Sprite.
Our next sop was the Jade Shop, which had a lot of Jade jewelry and artwork. They showed us how to tell from real and fake jade. Whenever you showed interested in one little thing, they workers (mainly women), bombard you with trying it on and selling it to you. Then they follow you around suggesting other things to buy. Can I just shop in peace?
Next, we want to lunch and ate and in the same building there was a huge store of Chinese things to buy, jade, pearls, statues, and so on.
After lunch, we want to the Gate Wall of China, which was massive. Its about 5000 miles long and took 200 years to build with 4 million people. The Wall was built in the mountains, so it very steep and curvy. I didn’t go very far up because I am sacred of heights but everyone else who did said it was spectacular. The one down fall for me at the Great Wall that every time you came to a little tower to rest, people were there trying to sale you something. You could not enjoy the view or relax without someone pushing postcards or hats in your face.
After the wonderful Great Wall, we went to the Ancient Market. It was inside and about four levels. It was a nice clean place but once you got into smelling distant of the bathrooms, it didn’t smell to nice. They had a lot of stuff to sale, some fake and some real; this experience was our first taste of bargaining. There were a lot of cool things there to buy. If you were thinking about decorating your house in a Chinese style, then come to the Ancient Market. There was tons of variety of artwork. It was not a good place to buy things for guys because there were not a whole lot of gifts for males.
After that we came back to the hotel, ate dinner and went to bed.

Posted by ingr0039 at 02:14 PM | Permalink

Well, where should I start? Today was a beautiful day. Why? The weather was lovely throughout the whole day. We predicted it would rain sometime during the time when we are touring, but luckily it did not rain. I did feel a few light raindrops. Anyway we went straight to the Tiananmen Square after breakfast.

For the first half of the day, everywhere we went, the place was flooded with domestic tours as well as foreigners. Then we crossed a huge highway over to the Forbidden City. The route that we used to cross to the Forbidden City was a underpass. The underpass was dark and dirty. There was a lot of construction while we were walking in the underpass. I didn’t like the smell of the underpass. Also, I was worrying that the fumes might be toxic because of the construction.

We arrived in the at the South Gate of the Forbidden City. Our plan was to go through the South Gate and exit North Gate. So far our group has done a good job keeping up with each other and no one has gotten lost yet.

We entered three gates in order to get to the inside of the Forbidden City. There were a few constructions in the Forbidden City. The palace is so old and yet so new at the same time. It is new because I have not seen something as beautiful as the palace. Even though our guide Kathy gave us many details about the palace, it makes me wonder what kind of life was lived there.

It felt like the palace was so sacred that I felt the palace is alive. I got to see two thrones from the Tang Dynasty: rehearsal throne and the throne of the Empress where the Dragon Lady told his son what to do and what not to do. Nobody was able to get inside any of the rooma to touch any of the thrones because, in the past, people carved their names on the throne.

Then we continued to walk into the heart of the palace where the emperor lived. The emperor's bedroom had the most distinct design on it but his bed was like a box. His blanket was a bright yellow, like gold, which is an imperial color. The color of his blanket stood out more than anything in the room. There were many dragon designs on his bed; dragons represent power.

Next was the empress’ s room. Her room is more delicate than the concubines. Concubines have similar rooms to each other. The majority of the rooms are small. In the palace there is also a garden for the emperor to take his walk. Many of the features in the garden are very beautiful. It is something that I cannot find in America. I took some pictures but no good shots.

At last we made it to the North Gate and went looking for our driver; then we went to lunch--exhausted but it was worth it. I wish every room in the palace could be opened up to the public. I was wondering what it would be like to live in the palace during a time where there were emperors and empresses living in it.

Posted by vangx619 at 01:33 PM | Permalink

I don't think I have ever seen a city quite this large in my life, New York may come close but Beijing just seems to be the city that never ends. Everywhere we drive there are new buildings and shops that I don't recognize as well as more unique skyscrapers and temples. We could be driving for twenty minutes in one direction and not actually leave the city, nor see the same things twice. It really is quite astounding, and a lot of the new architecture for the Olympics is still underway so things are pretty hectic on the roads when it is rush hour.

We covered a lot of ground today, and probably learned twice as much as we walked which is saying a lot. The day started off in Tian'anmen Square, which is the south side of the Forbidden City. We took photos at both places for quite some time and were exhausted after only three hours.

Our break came when we got to have our dumpling lunch, which I have always loved and this was no exception. Although there was only one sauce for dipping, it is probably an American custom to have many sauces to dip them in, I gave it my all and walked out with a box of them as well. It is a little strange for me to see our table continually full of half eaten plates of food, but this is aparently how tourists eat since they usually can't bring the food with them.

We made our way to a pearl market after that. Once we arrived we were wisked to a corner of the store and given a demonstration on the differance between fresh water oysters vs. salt water. Aparently fresh water oysters are much larger and they produce many more pearls which come is a wider variety of colors. The woman showed us how to open an oyster and remove the pearls, but before doing so asked us how many pearls we thought were inside. I guessed 14, there were clearly more than double that inside, but she gave me two of them as a souveiner for being the closest guess. I probably spent more money than I should have on the first day, but the pearls were so beautiful and came in so many variations that I couldn't help myself. The way I see it is that I can spend all my money in Beijing during our first few days here and then get in touch with my parents to pay my credit card bill so I can spend more for the next two weeks we are in China... Not exactly, well I could try but I would end up broke and without the chance for any food for the remainder of the trip. So I tried to contain myself while shopping, and did a pretty good job. I will just have to take a few days off from spending to compensate for this.

From there we stopped at the Summer Palace and learned about the grounds that surround the palace, the lake was man made and the dirt was used to make the mountain the palace resides on, as well as the Dragon Lady and what she did for the palace during her long stay there. We also were able to stop at a small artist shop, it was students that were looking to sell their work for low prices. I read an article in National Geographic about how students, as well as teachers, make copies of famous pictures to support themselves while in school or when they are just starting out and looking to make a name for themselves. They can make these pictures in a half day, depending on the subject, and they are quite amazing. Van Gogh is a popular artist in this area so he is usually a common artist to have his work duplicated, however, there were no copies at this store, at least I didn't recognize any of the artwork to be so. Some of the pieces were very detailed and had amazing textures to them, and all came with a sealed stamp from the artist. Most of the work was too big to even consider taking with, but we were shown a number of small silk and rice paper paintings that could be rolled up and boxed for us. This was popular for everyone, I think all of us bought something. Mine was a scroll painting of the lotus blossom, about one square foot but the roll takes up twice that space.

We had some time to kill so we stopped at a traditional Chinese tea house to learn about the traditions and varieties of tea that are popular in China. The ceremony was quite interesting and intricate, the woman spoke very good English and knew what she was talking about, and she was a great saleswoman. They had these special cups that had a picture on them and when hot water was added a new picture would take the place of the old one. I wanted to, but remembered what I said to myself not four hours ago and decided to split the cost of some oolong tea with my sister.

Dinner was at a Peking Duck restaurant, a speciality in Beijing. I could not eat it, since I am a vegetarian, but it smelled amazing and looked very appetizing. The chef wheels the duck out and slices it in front of us into about 100 small pieces which everyone ate wrapped up in a Chinese pancake with onions and a special sauce, I think it was barbeque.

And then we came back to the hotel by 7:30. I felt a little tired, but everyone else seemed exhausted and they all retired to their rooms. I will probably do the same soon, but I am still thinking a little jet lag is kicking in so I am going to keep reading my book and try to get on a normal sleeping schedule so I don't yawn quite as much as I have been.

Written by Matt Fischbein

Posted by Pamela Solvie at 01:00 PM | Permalink

Upon arriving in Beijing we flew into the brand new terminal--a beautiful facility which was not here one year ago! We went through immigration and customs, then took a tram to the older facility to collect our baggage and then a bus into the city of Beijing.

The flags are flying at half staff here in memory of the thousands of victims of the recent earthquake in Chengdu. The government has called for three days of mourning with no celebrations of any kind to take place during these three days. Because of this, our plans will change as there will be no performance of the Beijing Opera.

We had dinner last evening at a restaurant near our hotel and were able to experience donkey, fried eggplant, fried milk with sweet sauce, noodle and cabbage salad, potato salad, lamb, vegetable eggrolls and drinks including Sprite and Coke. Paying for our meal was interesting as we learned a small five is worth our fifty cents--not five yuan.

It's Tuesday morning and we are off to breakfast and will be on our way to the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace.

Posted by Pamela Solvie at 12:06 AM | Permalink

We met together at eight o'clock Sunday morning in Minneapolis for our flight to Chicago and on to Beijing. Our flights were both on time and things went very smoothly for us as we moved through the airports. We arrived in Beijing at 3:30 Monday afternoon (Beijing time).

We are at our hotel in Beijing and freshening up for dinner and a "walk-about". We'll enjoy our hotel rooms this evening as we're all quite exhausted from traveling. We are also a bit disoriented as we missed a night's sleep. Perhaps we'll make up for it tonight--if jet lag does not prevent us from falling asleep! We're excited about being in China. I'll write more after dinner, but we wanted to let you know we have arrived safely at our first destination!

Posted by Pamela Solvie at 10:26 AM | Permalink