Day 1: Monday, June 16th
Amanda and I landed in China. We had someone picking us up at the airport to take us to the Far East Youth Hotel. The man picking us up couldn’t believe how many bags we had. We sure weren’t traveling light. The road leading to our hotel was definitely under construction. They were pouring cement, digging holes etc. But the hotel itself was very nice. They spoke English and were very friendly and helpful. We booked our tours here because we realized with the lack of English we weren’t going to get very far. We decided to take the subway right away. It was fast, easy to use and cheap!
We decided to go shopping to Silk Alley and to the Olympic Gardens. We got on the subway…and might have gotten off 1 stop to early. Oops so we had to get a taxi to take us the rest of the way. Hmm nobody could speak English finally I found a young girl who thought she new the Olympic Gardens, so we trusted her. We ended up at the Birds nest Stadium. (Close enough..it was something to do with the Olympics!)
We walked around this area for a bit and saw where the Olympic flame would be and then decided it was time to go shopping. Taxi #2…no English. Okay..we showed the man where we wanted to go in Chinese words but he didn’t understand. (most only know Chinese symbols I guess). He stopped a car driving by who happened to have a man speak English who told him where we wanted to go.
We arrived at Silk Alley Market and went shopping. Everyone was yelling at you to come in their shop, buy from them etc. They started with really really high prices and you felt bad when you said a price. They often felt insulted…even though it was a good deal. They knew which strings to pull in order to make you feel bad. They were making lots of $$ off us tourists. I learned this trip to be strong, and firm with my prices. Don’t settle for theirs…even though its hard to walk out of a store when you want something. If they didn’t call you back then you knew you had to go a tad bit higher with your price.
The first Chinese meal we ate was really good. It was sweet and sour chicken and stir fried veggies. Oh and of course beer and sprite! Finally we took the subway back home and didn’t get lost!
Day 2: Tuesday, June 17th
Today we woke up bright and early for our tour of the Great Wall and Ming Tombs. There was only 1 other girl joining us on this tour. How nice, it was almost a private tour!
Our first stop was at a Jade Factory. Our tour guide said that if we said we were from US we only had to stay 45minutes! If we from somewhere else we had to stay longer! Weird, but ok. We watched how to carve Jade. The coolest part was learning that the Olympic Games Medals were going to be made of Jade.
The next factory we went to was a metal handicraft store. We watched women paint vases and how they are made. I bought a bracelet here hoping that I wouldn’t see it somewhere else that was cheaper. (and I didn’t, so I am glad that I bought it).
Finally we were going to eat. I was very hungry. The first dish they put on our table was not very appetizing and I was worried that I was not going to have enough energy to climb the great wall, but luckily more food was on the way. We had a few dishes of meat and veggies. It was very tasty.
Then we were off to the Ming Tombs. Our tour guide explained how 13 of the 15 Ming Emperors were buried here with their wives and favorite concubines. He also explained to us how the animals on the corners of the building roofs signify the importance of the building in those times. There is a specific order to the animals, number 1 being the dragon, number 2 being the lion, and 3 through whatever, I can't remember. Each animal signifies something about the Emperor, so the dragon signified his power and the lion signified his justice and integrity. The tomb we visited had a maximum number of 7 animals, but most buildings had between 3 and 5. We also learned that there was only one building in all of China that has 11 animals - this is a building within the Forbidden City. We walked up a pathway in which men had to use their left foot first (through the door) and women have to use their right foot first. Basically it was Chinese superstition that if you didn't enter and exit the right way you would stay in the dimension of the tombs (death/underworld.) The reason the Ming tombs were built is that a Ming Emperor lost his wife early in his reign and so because of that she could not be buried in the normal Royal burial place so he asked the scribes and temple priests where he should bury her that would have the best fung shui and their answer was in this vast valley surrounded by mountains, which I must say is incredibly beautiful. Subsequently, it became the new royal burial place for the next 15 Emperors, but two of them were not buried here - one went MIA after a battle and the other they believe ran off to become a monk, never to be seen again. Anyways, on our way out we passed through the same door and had to say three specific words in Chinese Wo hui lai le. Loosely translated means "I’m backing out", which was to signify the end of our visit to the tomb and the realm of the underworld.
It was finally time to go to the Great Wall. They say He who does not reach the great wall is not a true man. We went to the Juyongguan Section of the Wall. There was 2 parts you could climb. The steep or not so steep part. We climbed the steep one. Our tour guide said he could climb it in 2 hours, so that was my goal. We climbed to the top of the wall in 1.5 hours…and it took 30 minutes to climb down. At times I wasn’t sure I could make it. I was definitely out of shape and it was steep looking up. The higher you climbed the nicer the view. I was only a bit disappointed that the wall was rebuilt. It had hand railings, new pavement etc. To me this was NOT the Great Wall that I had pictured in my mind. Amanda and I both agreed that we needed to walk a different part of the wall as we had seen pictures of broken rock pathways etc. So we decided that when we got back to the hotel we would go on another tour.
Thoroughly exhausted, we figured we were on our way home. No such luck. Our next stop was the government run tea house. We had no say in the matter, but fortunately it turned out to be a pretty cool stop. They sat us down in a special room for a tea-tasting - similar to a wine tasting, and we tried 4 different types of "super high quality" Chinese tea. They also had a “pee-pee” boy” to make sure that the water was hot. Pour water on the pee-pee boy and if he peed then the water is hot enough to use.
Next stop (surprise, one more stop), was the government run Silk Factory. We saw the lifespan of the silk worm and how they take its cocoon and stretch it to make silk products. The coolest thing they make there are the comforters, all of silk on the inside. They were extremely lightweight but very warm and soft. Apparently silk does not absorb water, so you can lay the comforter on water, take it out, and the other side will be completely dry. Pretty neat. The way to clean it is just to leave it outside in the sun and let the air breathe through it - kind of like "sun cleaning".
Our guide asked us if we wanted to go to a Kung Fu Show. Why yes I did! So instead of dropping us off at the hotel he dropped us off at the show. We had some time before the show and we were hungry so we walked around the block and found a small restaurant. Our waitress couldn’t speak English so I looked at the table beside us and pointed and said 1, 1 and that’s what we had. It was okay. It looked better than it tasted. We hurried off to The Legend of KungFu. It was incredible. It was very theatrical and had a good story line. Afterwards we walked to the nearest subway station and went back to the hotel. It had been a LONG day!
Amanda and I landed in China. We had someone picking us up at the airport to take us to the Far East Youth Hotel. The man picking us up couldn’t believe how many bags we had. We sure weren’t traveling light. The road leading to our hotel was definitely under construction. They were pouring cement, digging holes etc. But the hotel itself was very nice. They spoke English and were very friendly and helpful. We booked our tours here because we realized with the lack of English we weren’t going to get very far. We decided to take the subway right away. It was fast, easy to use and cheap!
We decided to go shopping to Silk Alley and to the Olympic Gardens. We got on the subway…and might have gotten off 1 stop to early. Oops so we had to get a taxi to take us the rest of the way. Hmm nobody could speak English finally I found a young girl who thought she new the Olympic Gardens, so we trusted her. We ended up at the Birds nest Stadium. (Close enough..it was something to do with the Olympics!)
We walked around this area for a bit and saw where the Olympic flame would be and then decided it was time to go shopping. Taxi #2…no English. Okay..we showed the man where we wanted to go in Chinese words but he didn’t understand. (most only know Chinese symbols I guess). He stopped a car driving by who happened to have a man speak English who told him where we wanted to go.We arrived at Silk Alley Market and went shopping. Everyone was yelling at you to come in their shop, buy from them etc. They started with really really high prices and you felt bad when you said a price. They often felt insulted…even though it was a good deal. They knew which strings to pull in order to make you feel bad. They were making lots of $$ off us tourists. I learned this trip to be strong, and firm with my prices. Don’t settle for theirs…even though its hard to walk out of a store when you want something. If they didn’t call you back then you knew you had to go a tad bit higher with your price.
The first Chinese meal we ate was really good. It was sweet and sour chicken and stir fried veggies. Oh and of course beer and sprite! Finally we took the subway back home and didn’t get lost!
Day 2: Tuesday, June 17th
Today we woke up bright and early for our tour of the Great Wall and Ming Tombs. There was only 1 other girl joining us on this tour. How nice, it was almost a private tour!
Our first stop was at a Jade Factory. Our tour guide said that if we said we were from US we only had to stay 45minutes! If we from somewhere else we had to stay longer! Weird, but ok. We watched how to carve Jade. The coolest part was learning that the Olympic Games Medals were going to be made of Jade.
The next factory we went to was a metal handicraft store. We watched women paint vases and how they are made. I bought a bracelet here hoping that I wouldn’t see it somewhere else that was cheaper. (and I didn’t, so I am glad that I bought it).
Finally we were going to eat. I was very hungry. The first dish they put on our table was not very appetizing and I was worried that I was not going to have enough energy to climb the great wall, but luckily more food was on the way. We had a few dishes of meat and veggies. It was very tasty.
Then we were off to the Ming Tombs. Our tour guide explained how 13 of the 15 Ming Emperors were buried here with their wives and favorite concubines. He also explained to us how the animals on the corners of the building roofs signify the importance of the building in those times. There is a specific order to the animals, number 1 being the dragon, number 2 being the lion, and 3 through whatever, I can't remember. Each animal signifies something about the Emperor, so the dragon signified his power and the lion signified his justice and integrity. The tomb we visited had a maximum number of 7 animals, but most buildings had between 3 and 5. We also learned that there was only one building in all of China that has 11 animals - this is a building within the Forbidden City. We walked up a pathway in which men had to use their left foot first (through the door) and women have to use their right foot first. Basically it was Chinese superstition that if you didn't enter and exit the right way you would stay in the dimension of the tombs (death/underworld.) The reason the Ming tombs were built is that a Ming Emperor lost his wife early in his reign and so because of that she could not be buried in the normal Royal burial place so he asked the scribes and temple priests where he should bury her that would have the best fung shui and their answer was in this vast valley surrounded by mountains, which I must say is incredibly beautiful. Subsequently, it became the new royal burial place for the next 15 Emperors, but two of them were not buried here - one went MIA after a battle and the other they believe ran off to become a monk, never to be seen again. Anyways, on our way out we passed through the same door and had to say three specific words in Chinese Wo hui lai le. Loosely translated means "I’m backing out", which was to signify the end of our visit to the tomb and the realm of the underworld.
It was finally time to go to the Great Wall. They say He who does not reach the great wall is not a true man. We went to the Juyongguan Section of the Wall. There was 2 parts you could climb. The steep or not so steep part. We climbed the steep one. Our tour guide said he could climb it in 2 hours, so that was my goal. We climbed to the top of the wall in 1.5 hours…and it took 30 minutes to climb down. At times I wasn’t sure I could make it. I was definitely out of shape and it was steep looking up. The higher you climbed the nicer the view. I was only a bit disappointed that the wall was rebuilt. It had hand railings, new pavement etc. To me this was NOT the Great Wall that I had pictured in my mind. Amanda and I both agreed that we needed to walk a different part of the wall as we had seen pictures of broken rock pathways etc. So we decided that when we got back to the hotel we would go on another tour.
Thoroughly exhausted, we figured we were on our way home. No such luck. Our next stop was the government run tea house. We had no say in the matter, but fortunately it turned out to be a pretty cool stop. They sat us down in a special room for a tea-tasting - similar to a wine tasting, and we tried 4 different types of "super high quality" Chinese tea. They also had a “pee-pee” boy” to make sure that the water was hot. Pour water on the pee-pee boy and if he peed then the water is hot enough to use.
Next stop (surprise, one more stop), was the government run Silk Factory. We saw the lifespan of the silk worm and how they take its cocoon and stretch it to make silk products. The coolest thing they make there are the comforters, all of silk on the inside. They were extremely lightweight but very warm and soft. Apparently silk does not absorb water, so you can lay the comforter on water, take it out, and the other side will be completely dry. Pretty neat. The way to clean it is just to leave it outside in the sun and let the air breathe through it - kind of like "sun cleaning".
Our guide asked us if we wanted to go to a Kung Fu Show. Why yes I did! So instead of dropping us off at the hotel he dropped us off at the show. We had some time before the show and we were hungry so we walked around the block and found a small restaurant. Our waitress couldn’t speak English so I looked at the table beside us and pointed and said 1, 1 and that’s what we had. It was okay. It looked better than it tasted. We hurried off to The Legend of KungFu. It was incredible. It was very theatrical and had a good story line. Afterwards we walked to the nearest subway station and went back to the hotel. It had been a LONG day!
Day 3: Wednesday, June 18th
We decided to not go on a tour today. We found out our hotel was close enough to Tiananmen square to walk to. (bad idea..I was quite sore from climbing the great wall, I thought my legs were going to fall off!...but I made it and only complained a bit!)
Tiananmen square is the large plaze near the center of Beijing. We saw the Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall. We knew there was a flag raising ceremony but we didn’t get to see it. .
We walked across the street to take our picture beside the Olympic Countdown sign.
Tiananmen square is the large plaze near the center of Beijing. We saw the Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall. We knew there was a flag raising ceremony but we didn’t get to see it. .
We walked across the street to take our picture beside the Olympic Countdown sign.
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Then went to the Forbidden City and bought electronic guides that would tell us more about the City. For your information: The Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Since yellow is the symbol of the royal family, it is the dominant color in the Forbidden City. Roofs are built with yellow glazed tiles; decorations in the palace are painted yellow. I saw the largest stone carving, sat near the loyal love tree "The brank-interlocked cypresses symbolize loyal love.Next on our list to do was The Temple of Heaven. This is a series of areas that were used by the emperors to pray for good harvest and such. The buildings include the Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar.
The Altar of Prayer for Good Harvest stands on a round foundation built with three levels of marble stones. It is a cone-shaped glaze-tile roof that is blue. As we walked we came to the Echo Wall. You could communicate with someone further along the wall if it was quiet enough. Amanda and I stood on the center of a round stone called the Center of Heaven Stone. They say it echoes when a visitor speaks loudly when standing on the stone.
We were hungry and decided to eat at the first place we saw. To our surprise it was Hot Pot. This is where they give you a pot of hot water that continues to boil. You put in several meats and veggies to cook and use chop sticks to eat from it. The cooked food is usually eaten with dipping sauces. It was our favorite meal!
We were sore from walking but both of us still wanted to see the Summer Palace. We jumped in a taxi who could speak fairly good English and he took us there. It was a long drive from the Temple of Heaven. When we got there it was getting late so we were unable to buy the see everything pass. We went in and could see the water and the palace, gardens etc. We went back to the hotel and checked our e-mail to see that Amanda’s cousin who is teaching in Beijing was able to meet us. We also signed up for the 10km tour of the Great Wall….however Krista is bad at math and didn’t realize that 10km was far. Oops.
I was still on the look out for the hat my dad requested and Amanda took us on a long route to the store…I was not happy because my legs really did hurt from all the walking. Finally we realized there was no Olympic store and jumped in a taxi to take us to a shopping center where we met Jon (Amanda’s cousin), his friends Lindsay and Simon who were also teaching in Beijing. We went out for Pizza and Beer and had a great time.
Day 4: Thursday, June 19th
We started at the JinShanLing Great Wall and Ended at the Simatai Great Wall. There were 7 of us total in the tour. All guys and 1 other girl. We were scared that we were going to be too sore to finish the hike. When we got there Amanda and I cheated and took the Gondola ride to the top…that cut off 4 castles out of 30 and also a head start!
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The wall was exactly what I pictured…old, and falling apart. The view was absolutely breath taking. I loved being able to see the wall go on forever. Both Amanda and I had a little lady each follow us and in their broken English told us to watch our step. We couldn’t tell them we didn’t need help, so after 2 hours of fanning us along the way we went our separate ways. I bought the fan that kept me cool in the hottest day that we had so far on the trip. The 5 others caught up to us…I like to think it was because Amanda and I stopped to take lots of pictures…not that we were slow. We hiked the rest of the wall together as a group. It was really fun and my legs didn’t hurt at all!! At the end of the wall you could either walk to the van or take the zip line…I wanted to walk..but nobody else did so I was peer pressured into taking the zip lin across the water to our van. I was scared at first but at the end wanted to do it all over again!!
We texted Lindsay on our way back to the hotel to see if she wanted to come to the Opera with us. Lindsay met us at our hotel and a group of us went to the Opera. We sat and drank tea and some nuts. The Opera was good except they didn’t translate it into English for us, they wanted us to buy the headsets and I refused, so I didn’t understand the whole story line. Lindsay knew lots of Chinese and translated for us. Which was nice.
After the show we called Jon and he met us at his favorite place to eat. Meat on a stick and Beer. It was pretty good. Amanda and I stayed the night at Jon’s and convinced Lindsay to take the day off of school to go shopping with us.
Day 5: Friday, June 20th
We woke up and took a taxi to Linsday’s apartment because we didn’t feel like walking. (it wasn’t that far). Then she took us to a place where she shops often and knows who to buy from. We bought lots of mac makeup for cheap, knock off purses, shoes, jeans, shirts etc. We bought lots! We only had so much time because we had to catch our flight in the afternoon. Lindsay was the perfect person to take us shopping because she could barter in Chinese and say I thought we were friends. Friends wouldn’t give me tourist prices. I am not a tourist. Etc. She was awesome. Our flight to X’ian was delayed due to rain. When we got to X’ian we went to sleep as we had a long day ahead of us.
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