ding ding hao Thanksgiving
Nihao! or Hello!
Rather than be homesick on a holiday, I decided to go with a couple of my friends to Beijing for Thanksgiving. We got a super cheap deal on a package tour with 50 other American tourists. As you can imagine, this method of travel had its ups and downs. The good part was having a tour guide tell us all the history, give us tips, and teach us some of the language. The bad part was being hustled through too many attractions in too little time. I have some great pictures though, and overall it was a ding ding hao (very very good) trip.
The first major stop we made was the Great Wall. It apparently spans more than 10,000Km, so we of course only saw a very small part of it, but it is awe-inspiring to see such a massive structure and to know that it was built by hand, not machines. Later that day we went to see the 13th Ming tomb. It belonged to the most corrupt emporer to rule during the Ming dynasty (he was also the last I think for that dynasty). The coolest part there was this huge gate that separates the spirit world from the living at the entrance to the grounds. They say that if you walk through it into the area of the tombs that you must walk back through it when you leave or your soul will remain behind.
Tianenmen square is enormous and surrounded by government buildings on two sides and beautiful old structures on the other two. It is vast and empty excecpt for an obelisk in the center. It seems every country must have its obelisk. It is completely paved and Mao still looks down on it from the far end. The history that makes it interesting to us makes it embarrassing to them so of course there is nothing indicating that a massacre occurred there. The forbidden city is located on one side of the square. This is a HUGE complex where the emporer used to horde his concubines. It is full of structures that are all very similar in name and look very similar to each other. While it was beautiful, it was also freezing and redundant, so I didn't come away with a very significant impression of it. I did take some cool photos though.
The last really big thing we saw was the Temple of Heaven. This is where all the retired people hang out and play hackey sack. I'm serious. There were probably thousands of retirees just kicking it on the temple grounds; singing, dancing, playing, talking, and generally enjoying themselves. This seems like an awesome improvement to me on our retirement villages. The temple itself is an impressive structure that is build like a weeble wobble. It can wiggle, but it won't fall down! ha.
We also had the pleasure of seeing a Chinese acrobatics show. The performers were all teens and younger who were performing feats that would put Olympic gymnasts to shame. They were unbelievably flexible and well balanced, and you wouldn't believe how well they can throw and stand on each other. We were told that their lives are fairly sad ones as they are taken from their families to train and perform full-time. Even their mistakes were impressive.
Of course we also spent time shopping, well, I mean bartering, okay getting fleeced. We were initially told that we should pay no more than a quarter of the original asking price, but I guess the locals figured this out because I ended up paying a seventh to a tenth, and I was later told that I still paid too much! Talk about inflation. :)
The main comment we made to each other was, "wow, I can't believe we're in China!" The main comment we made to the locals was "Bu!" which means no. I have never been physically dragged into stores before. Neither have I been prevented by beggars from getting into a taxi or shutting the door. Usually my favorite part of travel is interacting with the people....unfortunately, most of the people we ran into were trying to sell us something. That's the other problem with the package tour.
I spent some time with some really cool Americans though and one awesome Brit. We also managed to add an Irish cabby, an English father son combo, and an Australian embassy official to our group by committing debauchary on a massive scale. Boy were we fun. In addition to sightseeing, dancing is a required sport in my life. One of my friends commented that he's pretty sure we spent more time dancing than we did sleeping. When you add that to hiking around all the tourist sites, I'm a pretty tired puppy.
Shia Shia for reading all the way to the bottom of this! I'm adding in some pics below.
Rather than be homesick on a holiday, I decided to go with a couple of my friends to Beijing for Thanksgiving. We got a super cheap deal on a package tour with 50 other American tourists. As you can imagine, this method of travel had its ups and downs. The good part was having a tour guide tell us all the history, give us tips, and teach us some of the language. The bad part was being hustled through too many attractions in too little time. I have some great pictures though, and overall it was a ding ding hao (very very good) trip.
The first major stop we made was the Great Wall. It apparently spans more than 10,000Km, so we of course only saw a very small part of it, but it is awe-inspiring to see such a massive structure and to know that it was built by hand, not machines. Later that day we went to see the 13th Ming tomb. It belonged to the most corrupt emporer to rule during the Ming dynasty (he was also the last I think for that dynasty). The coolest part there was this huge gate that separates the spirit world from the living at the entrance to the grounds. They say that if you walk through it into the area of the tombs that you must walk back through it when you leave or your soul will remain behind.
Tianenmen square is enormous and surrounded by government buildings on two sides and beautiful old structures on the other two. It is vast and empty excecpt for an obelisk in the center. It seems every country must have its obelisk. It is completely paved and Mao still looks down on it from the far end. The history that makes it interesting to us makes it embarrassing to them so of course there is nothing indicating that a massacre occurred there. The forbidden city is located on one side of the square. This is a HUGE complex where the emporer used to horde his concubines. It is full of structures that are all very similar in name and look very similar to each other. While it was beautiful, it was also freezing and redundant, so I didn't come away with a very significant impression of it. I did take some cool photos though.
The last really big thing we saw was the Temple of Heaven. This is where all the retired people hang out and play hackey sack. I'm serious. There were probably thousands of retirees just kicking it on the temple grounds; singing, dancing, playing, talking, and generally enjoying themselves. This seems like an awesome improvement to me on our retirement villages. The temple itself is an impressive structure that is build like a weeble wobble. It can wiggle, but it won't fall down! ha.
We also had the pleasure of seeing a Chinese acrobatics show. The performers were all teens and younger who were performing feats that would put Olympic gymnasts to shame. They were unbelievably flexible and well balanced, and you wouldn't believe how well they can throw and stand on each other. We were told that their lives are fairly sad ones as they are taken from their families to train and perform full-time. Even their mistakes were impressive.
Of course we also spent time shopping, well, I mean bartering, okay getting fleeced. We were initially told that we should pay no more than a quarter of the original asking price, but I guess the locals figured this out because I ended up paying a seventh to a tenth, and I was later told that I still paid too much! Talk about inflation. :)
The main comment we made to each other was, "wow, I can't believe we're in China!" The main comment we made to the locals was "Bu!" which means no. I have never been physically dragged into stores before. Neither have I been prevented by beggars from getting into a taxi or shutting the door. Usually my favorite part of travel is interacting with the people....unfortunately, most of the people we ran into were trying to sell us something. That's the other problem with the package tour.
I spent some time with some really cool Americans though and one awesome Brit. We also managed to add an Irish cabby, an English father son combo, and an Australian embassy official to our group by committing debauchary on a massive scale. Boy were we fun. In addition to sightseeing, dancing is a required sport in my life. One of my friends commented that he's pretty sure we spent more time dancing than we did sleeping. When you add that to hiking around all the tourist sites, I'm a pretty tired puppy.
Shia Shia for reading all the way to the bottom of this! I'm adding in some pics below.
posted by Claire | 8:53 PM
|
2 comments
