Day 1 and 2: Travel to China

 After a morning flight from St. Louis to Atlanta we took a flight from Atlanta to Tokyo to meet up with the rest of our group.  On the 13 hour flight I was able to watch The Artist, 3 tv shows, and read a book before finally falling asleep for a few hours.

Another 3 hour flight from Tokyo to Beijing and we were all ready to go to sleep.  First we had to find our tour guide.

Day 3: Beijing

Beijing we learned is a city of 24 million people.  To give you some perspective, New York City has about 8 million people.  That would be considered a medium size city in China.  After exchanging some dollars for Yuan in the hotel we left on a bus for Tienanmen Square. When we got off the bus I immediately learned the most important phrase for a tourist trying to get through Beijing: "Bu Yao". It means "don't want". This was important as people approached us from all angles trying to sell kites, hats, fans, and postcards. Tienanmen Square is most famous as the location for the protests against the government in 1989. It is the third largest city square in the world. It is located at the gate leading to the Forbidden City.

 

We passed underground to the Forbidden City. Built in the early 15th century it is called the Forbidden City because no one was allowed in unless the emperor allowed them in. One emperor was so concerned that people would try to enter that he ordered the bricks on the ground to be layered 9 times so no one could dig their way in.

Basketball hoops in the Forbidden City!

You may see these in front of your favorite Chinese restaurant.  The female always has a cub under her paw (as opposed to the globe the man has) and is on the right of the male.  You can remember because the woman is always right!!!

These little guys were meant to protect the home.

 After lunch at a local restaurant we headed to the Temple of Heaven. Also built during the early 15th century it is a group of religious buildings. In the middle is the Hall of Good Harvest where the emperor would pray for good harvests.

The Temple of Heaven. You may have seen a glowing version of 

this at the Missouri Botanical Gardens this summer.

A garbage bike!

  Tea is served with almost every meal in China. (Coca Cola didn't come to China until 1984) We got to see a tea demonstration and taste many types. We were also taught the proper way to hold a tea cup. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get my hand to look the way it should.

There were bike lanes everywhere in China. I wish that would catch on in St. Louis.

The food market in Beijing.

Scorpions on a stick!

 After dinner we went to see selections of the Beijing Opera. You can listen to it for yourself here.

Day 4: Beijing

The drive out of Beijing.

The next morning we got up early to take a bus to the MuTyan section of the Great Wall, one of the 7 wonders of the world.  Some now say there are 8 with the discovery of the Terra Cotta warriors but I'll get to that later.  They believe that the Great Wall is approximately 4,000 miles long.  It was built to keep out enemies to the north, perhaps most famously the Mongols.

The ride up to the wall.

The Great Wall is not an easy walk.  Even though the section we were on was more recently redone, it was not even and each step was a different height.  However there were some girls who managed to do it in heels!

 On the way back from the Great Wall I wanted to buy two t-shirts.  Almost everywhere you go in China you haggle for items.  I was terrible at this and it stressed me out, so more often than not I overpaid for what I bought.








 On the trip back to Beijing we stopped in a coussinet factory.

In the afternoon we went to the modern 798 Art District.  Here you could find all kinds of strange and cutting edge art and many things were very critical of the government.  This surprised us since typically in the U.S. you hear that the Chinese government has harsh policies against this.  The best part of this district is that most of the shops had set prices and we didn't have to haggle!

A Chinese woman modeling a western style wedding dress.

Day 5: Beijing

We started the day at the Daoist Temple. The temple had trees and plants all over the place which was reflective of the Daoist connection with nature.  There were many rooms where people could go to donate to the gods based on what problems they were having.  Some rooms were: "rewarding those who do good""for those with illnesses" and "good harvest".  Visitors could also hang prayers from a wall which reminded me of the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Prayer for mammal birth

Prayer Wall

Daoist Temple with modern Beijing in the background

Hutong is a Mongolian word that means alleyway.  We went on a Hutong tour.  This particular allway had been preserved by the government as historical housing.  Here we took a pedicab to visit a family.  Their house was very tiny compared to what Americans are used to.  The husband and wife were getting ready to take a trip to the United States.  They were planning on visiting New York, Colorado, and Las Vegas.

Pedicabs ready to go

Home in the Hutong.

Our hosts

At the Summer Palace we walked through the longest corridor in the world. We also took a boat ride across a lake. It was gorgeous.

We visited the site of the 2008 summer Olympic Village.  The area was filled with Chinese tourists who come to visit the famous buildings as well.

A musician in the Olympic Village

Bird's Nest

After a dinner of Peking Duck we boarded an overnight train to Taiyuan (capital of the Shanxi Province).  While it was quite an experience, it is not something I would want to do again!

Watermelon was served at the end of every meal.

Lacoste in China

Stores in a mall near the train station

Beijing Train Station. We were rushing which explains the blur.

Our bunk for the night.