Beijing
Day 1
Beijing was the first city that we visited in China. With a population of 23 million, it is the third most populated city in the world and it was the city that had all of the political action. When we arrived, Dosin, our tour guide, pick us up in his tour bus at the Beijing airport. On our way to the hotel, we experienced rush hour which I thought was pretty significant for a Saturday until I learned that on average, 9 million people travel in and out of Beijing. So, as you can imagine, during week traffic gets quite heavy even with the large highways.
The hotel we stayed at was a five-star hotel and the manager of the hotel, Oliver was actually a Middlesex student and took a coarse that Priscilla taught. Oliver was a great host who gave us private dinner with our own room when we arrived at the hotel. He asked if we needed anything and recommended markets for anything that we need to buy. I felt very welcomed in China which to be honest was something I wasn’t really expecting.
Day 2
I’ve heard that the smog in Beijing was extremely heavy and that it was there every day but on our very first day out, we had one of the clearest days I have ever seen. There was literally not a cloud or smog in the sky. We started the day by going to the summer palace and saw the Kunming lake which was a training ground for the ancient Chinese navy. We climbed the Longevity Hill and had a view of the Kunming lake and a little part of Beijing. All of the buildings and courts were covered with artwork and statues.
We also saw the famous marble ship which is purely for art and doesn't even float. It was originally built in 1755 but was destroyed during the Second Opium War by the Anglo-French. It was then restored in 1893, but in addition, modifications were made that had a European influence.
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After the Summer Palace, we visited the Beijing Shijing community college and got to interact with the students there. We then went through a tea and calligraphy workshop. We tasted and smelled different types of tea and I failed in the calligraphy workshop but it was fun to interact with the students and teachers. Most of the students and professors at the college spoke english and insisted on speaking english which made me more comfortable and less shy especially since I didn't speak mandarin. After the workshop, they invited us to a dumpling dinner and we got to taste all different types of dumplings. And that was it for day 2.
Day 3
On Day 3 we visited the Great Wall. This was one of my favorite places that we visited. There wasn't too much smog so we could see the wall going along the mountains. I've read so much about the Great Wall in history books throughout all of my childhood and it felt somewhat strange to actually be climbing it. "I'm on the Great Wall!" was what I kept saying to myself as I looked at the view. It was an amazing experience. The section of the Great Wall that we visited was the Mutianyu Great Wall which was a steep part of the wall. At certain parts, it was almost a vertical climb as you can see in the pictures. It's amazing that they were able to build on what essentially was a sheer cliff at certain parts.
After lunch, we visited the art district. What makes this place unique for artist, is that the art is quite deverse and it is not flooded with tourist.
After the art district, we watched an acrobatic performance that intense to say the least. The most impressive part was when 7 motocyles were driven at high speed in a large ball as you can see in the pictures. It was incredible that they were able to keep formation. And after that performence we went back to the hotel tired but excited.
Day 4
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The first place that we visited was tiananmen square. Unforunately, tiananmen square was closed because of protests over tiananmen square massacre. Day 4 was the 31st of June only 4 days away from July 4th massacre. There was a heavy police presence but there wasn't any choas at all. Dosen (our tour guide) seemed comfortable talking about the massacre which surprised me. From what I had heard, the chinese didn't like to speak about these terrible events in recent Chinese history. But it probably depends on the person.
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The Forbidden City which is next to Tiananmen square, was incredable. The shear size is the impressive part. There are a total of 980 buildings all of which are for the emperor. To be honest I lost track of all the different buildings and what the purpose each of those buildings are. And the city was completely built in 1420 so it is releitively old but still in good condition.
After The Forbidden City we visited the Peking Union Medical School. The Peking Union Medical School is one of the top medical schools and has a uneek 8-year curriculum program and they work with Havard students.
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A Hutong is an ancient chinese house that represents ancient chinese arcitecture. But their existence was disapearing because the chinese government was destroying these houses and replacing them with modern infrustructure. However several movements were started to prevent the destruction of hutong houses. We visited a hutong house in the Houhai District. A hutong house is shared traditionally by several families with a courtyard in the middle. That was still the case in the one we visited but their were fewer people. The children that grew up moved out which is why in general they are fewer people.
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When we got back ate dinner with Oliver at the hotel. Right afterward I started to have stomach achs and I realized that I got food poisoning. I was out for the next few days and didn't recover until we left Beijing.
