The Places You'd See on the Travel Channel

June 22, 2008- Sunday

Today we had a field trip to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, two major icons of China and Beijing. This is basically the historical and governmental focal point of the country; much like Washington D.C. is to America. We traveled with the Chinese grad students to the area. First we walked over to the busy street nearby, used the walking overpass, and waited for a bus. We could tell then that it was going to be quite the adventure and that it was going to be one of the hottest days we’d ever experienced. It was partly smoggy, but the sun was still beating through the smog. After several other buses pulled up to the stop and pulled away, the correct one came and the Chinese grad students told us to get on. This was a double-decker bus so we climbed the stairs to the top floor. I sat with a Chinese grad student in the front pair of seats. The windows were open on the bus so the air was moving through, but it was thick, hot, and muggy air.

After about a half an hour or more of driving through the city, we arrived at Tiananmen Square and hopped off the bus. Although there were still people piling off the bus, the bus driver must not have noticed because he started to drive away. We got him stopped, got off, and the grad students led us to an underground tunnel to cross the street. We arrived to the other side of the street and started to look at the magnificent buildings. There were people all over the place. It was so crowded. Lots of Chinese women walked around with umbrellas, shielding themselves from the sun. We had split up into small groups so the Chinese students only had to keep track of a few of us. Paige and I were matched with two guide who we quickly figured out were boyfriend and girlfriend. The girl had an umbrella and started to use it and wanted me to stand under it and I said that I didn’t need it and that I liked the sun. Looking back, I feel bad because her boyfriend told her to put it away and I feel like she really wanted to use it. I think that as Americans we should try to do what they do as they work so diligently to welcome us to their city.

We walked and looked at several buildings. People from all over the world were there. The Chinese students kept offering to take our picture in front of building after building, they did this all day. We saw a big electronic countdown to the Olympics. We saw their Chinese national museum, the building where Mao was preserved and on display, their equivalency of the capitol building, and much more. We walked through a tunnel under another street to see the Forbidden City. According to my travel book, Tian’an Men Guangchang (the Square of the Gate of Heavenly Peace) is the place of Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum and the bloody climax of 1989’s pro-democracy demonstrations. Chairman Mao proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949 from the massive Ming-dynasty gate, where his portrait still hangs. Mao is encased in a crystal casket and raised from his refrigerator for twice-daily public viewings. There is a flag there that is raised each day at dawn and lowers again at sunset. There is a monument to fallen soldiers also. Our guides told us that it was like a “Tomb of the Unknown,” but the guide book doesn’t mention that.

After walking all around the square, we headed to the Forbidden City. We got pictures under Mao’s head milled around outside for a while and then walked in. There was building after building full of intricate detail. This complex is a grand monument o the 24 emperors who rule from its halls over a period of almost 500 years. The symbolic center of the Chinese universe, the place was the exclusive domain of the imperial court from its completion in 1420 until the last of the emperors was force to abdicate at the beginning of the 20th century. The modern world intruded in 1949, when the public were finally admitted through the palace gates. Just inside the first part, we had to get in line to buy entry tickets. They cost us 60 yuan which is about $10.00. I felt bad for the Chinese grad students who had to pay to get in also, and before we came we were informed that they make about $30.00 per month. It worked out a little better though because they had student ID’s so they were able to get in at a discounted rate. Still, this was even a big deal to our guides to come there as one of them had never been there before.

We walked through building after building and courtyard after courtyard taking in this empire. It is the largest and best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. We have been told many times that the Forbidden City should be at the top of ones to do list for Beijing. This walled compound in the was once the impenetrable heart of the empire. It was once so separated from mortals that those who worked there were rarely permitted to leave. Within the Forbidden City there are 980 buildings and over 9000 rooms. It was huge. It seemed like a person could spend several days there. It was extremely hot that day, so after a few hours we were worn out and sweaty. We wanted to go home. The guides could have stayed all day. He even told me that he plays basketball for two hours a day and so he is in healthy shape. There are many museums within the building such as clocks, ceramics, copper, and other items that were in the city when it was in use. We looked at rooms and houses of the many wives of the emperor. There was a gigantic courtyard said to hold 100,000 people in imperial times.

Eventually we decided to “have a rest” as the Chinese say it. We ran into Rob, Mark, and Deryck nearby and sat with them and their leaders. Their leaders brought them some crackers with lemon filling; the boys must not have got the memo to bring your own snacks. I had brought a six pack of peanut butter crackers and I ate that, but it was so hot, I hardly felt like eating. My leaders brought green tea to drink and got out a famous Chinese food called, “Thousand Year Old Eggs.” These are raw duck eggs that have been put into mud, chalk, and ammonia and left, not for a thousand years, but for more like two weeks. When retrieved the egg is hard boil and the white has turned to greenish black. Mind you, they were carrying this around in a plastic grocery bag in 95 degree heat. When they offered it to me, I politely declined. I felt bad for not trying it, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it in that kind of heat. We walked over to a small shop and we Americans bought bottles of water to drink. Later when we were walking, with sweat pouring down our backs, the girl leader got in their bag and got out a bag of liquid that had a screw top opening. She opening it and started drinking it. There was a picture of a cow on the side of it and I asked if it was milk and she confirmed that it was. Not only did she eat those oddly hard boiled eggs in the heat, but she drank milk that had been in that grocery bag and outside for over six hours. Later, we sat down again and they offered Paige and I a slice of bread. I did not want any just because it was almost too hot to eat outside, but looking back I feel bad for not taking one. I didn’t want to act like their food was not good enough for me, I just didn’t want any.

After a while more of milling around the Forbidden City, we headed out of the area and walked a short distance to the subway. We paid two yuan for a subway ticket which is about 30 cents. I had been warned that the subway would be crowded and that it would be important to watch your stuff while in there. We watched as one subway pulled up and just like you may have seen on the news, people pushed others into the car to get more in. Luckily, that was not the line we wanted. We got on the correct car, and although it was crowded, it wasn’t wall to wall people. I held my bag tightly over my shoulder and under my arm. After changing cars, we finally arrived at where we were to exit and find a bus. When we got above ground, we walked for a while before we found the bus stop we were supposed to be at. We were walking toward to bus stop when the bus we needed passed by. Our leader told us we needed to run so we ran to catch the bus, paid our 15 cent fare, and after a couple of stops, found a seat. We rode the bus for about five minutes before it dropped us off right near our campus.

While walking into the campus, Paige spotted a man wearing a Franklin Graham Crusade shirt. She asked him about it and asked him if there are any churches around here. He told her of a couple, so maybe we will go there sometimes. Walking away, our Chinese leaders asked us if church was free. Whoa! What an open door to tell about our religion. I asked the girl if she had any religious beliefs and she laughed and said no. I said that we believed in Jesus and that he died for us. She still kind of giggled. I wonder how people who are missionaries really reach out to these people. I can completely understand why they have English tutor schools to develop a relationship with them before a person could witness to them. Upon arrival at our hotel, we thanked them graciously for everything they did for us and headed up to our rooms.

We found that some people were already back and others were still out and about. People took showers and then we headed on a quest to find some pizza. We were going to go to Pizza Hut, but Dominos came first, so we ate there. They only served coke so we got that and four pepperoni pizzas. It tasted just like home, if not better. After dinner, I came back and took a shower. Our water heater, which is right in our room with us, wasn’t working, but it is back in action now. I then did a load of laundry. I’ll tell about the laundry system later, but it is something for you to look forward to. After a couple hours, we went back out and got ice cream at Dairy Queen. Yep, they have DQ here. Everyone was looking forward to a blizzard, but it turned out they only had a couple of kinds so some people got sundaes.