With a pretty packed day, my class mates and I arose to fuel up on the grand breakfast offered by the hotel. Upon entering breakfast, my eyes could not even take on the amount of food placed in front of me. I quickly learned that Chinese breakfasts were very similar to that which we see in the USA, but some foods were different. For example, Chinese eat for breakfast baked beans, fried rice, and fried noodles.
Completing breakfast, my group and I were quickly rounded up and given a daily itinerary for the day ahead of us! We loaded the bus and I began to understand what most of our guest speakers said was “organized chaos” about the modes of transportation and traffic in China. Yes, there are freeways, dividers, traffic lights, street signs, painted lines, and crosswalks. But if you’re one of those drive the exact speed limit, and always gives up the right-away at a stop sign drivers…you won’t make it in Beijing. Seriously, modest drivers get no where in Beijing.
Once we hit the freeway the traffic is upon us immediately. Apparently driving in the shoulder/emergency lane is as normal as rolling through an empty 4-way stop sign. It all makes sense, who has time to not use any and all available space when trying to get around 20 million other people.I figured out quickly, if you give an inch of space on the road other drivers are taking 3 feet and your place at a stoplight.
Honking horns, hundreds of near misses and too many to count almost fender-benders later, I knew I wasn’t built to be a driver in Beijing. When you decide to just close your eyes during your bus rides because you’re tired of flinching at all the cars that look like they are about to hit you but never do, you’ll finally succumb to the conclusion that through all the chaos, nobody ever hits each other. Somehow they all abide by the same law, which is there are no rules! Soon we were on our way to the northwest corner of town to visit the Summer Palace.
Summer Palace (颐和园)
The Summer Palace is not a place to rush. For one, it’s incredibly popular. The security personnel would generally have a line of police on the outside, each facing toward the crowds and effectively staving off anyone approaching them. A military honor guard was not far behind, with impressive impassivity. The next reason one should not rush is that the complex is simply enormous, spanning all the grounds bordering a large reservoir (Kunming Lake).
Historical Highlights
Before arriving at the Summer Palace, the Asia Institute provided an over enthusiastic tour guide: Henry, who provided our group with extremely awesome detailed history of each historical landmark.
As it’s name suggests, the Summer Palace was constructed in 1750 by the Qing Dynasty; it even served as a temporary palace for the royal family, where the ruling Chinese royalty of the day could go to put their feet up and soak up the serenity. The extravagant dynasty retreat was a gift from Emperor Qianlong to his mother, celebrating her 60th birthday.
The surrounding lake was created by moving quite a lot of earth to the eastern slopes of Longevity Hill and joining existing springs and moats. In 1860, however, an atrocity took place that might have taken this park from the world forever. The Second Opium War had pitted the English and French against the Chinese, with the Europeans wanting unrestricted trade and the Chinese working to restore their sovereignty. When European forces occupied Beijing, they burned much of the Summer Palace, particularly the structure that would have served as the royal residence. The government of the People’s Republic of China, however, prioritized the restoration of these grounds soon after coming to power seventy years ago.
Back to the Present
When we strolled in, I felt completely surrounded by culture. A historic building could be seen in any direction. With its pavilions, paddle boats and and a stunning pagoda topped on a sunny hillside, Beijing’s Old Summer Palace is undoubtedly charming. While the world’s third most populated city is not best known for it’s calming energy, here, tranquility surrounds. Soon, though, we began walking counter-clockwise around the lake. We wandered through courtyards of statues, sculpted rocks, and lovely greenery on our way. We passed a watery garden of sorts at the northeast corner of the lake. Although one cannot see the bottom of the lake through the murky water, it only averages 1.7 meters of depth. The huge water plants in the northeast corner seemed to be making the most of it! I was happy to see that one could rent paddle boats for a bit of an excursion on the water. As we reached the north side of the lake, we encountered a narrow covered walkway. We had reached the long corridor!
I had spotted the imposing Tower of the Fragrance of Buddha , and I wanted to see it up close.
Walking up a steep hill known as Longevity Hill was definitely worth the sweat, because from the top we were able to see another side of Beijing that just added to my mental map and vastness of the city.
Next Stop: The Great Wall
China was full of surprises and challenged my expectations.An example of this was The Great Wall of China. It was a place I knew I was going to visit, an icon of China.
Most of the tourist access points to the Great Wall are outside of the city of Beijing. After a few hours in the bus, we arrived to the Great Wall. The 125 flights of stairs up the mountain provided my first glimpse of the structure- there it was, on the top of the mountain, a long stone wall.
There seem to be discrepancies as to the exact length of this amazing construction, ranging from 4,000 miles to 13,000 miles, depending on whether or not all the branches, trenches, and fortifications are included in the calculations. Regardless, it is long. With my first steps onto the The Wall, with the first full circle rotation of my body, as my eyes took in the sight from all around, it was quickly apparent this was a long structure, an incredible construction. I could not even see the end.
I am not sure what I really pictured in my mind, having a mix of photographs and scenes from Disney’s Mulan in my head. But The Great Wall of China was longer and more complex than I imagined. I was surprised how steep many parts were, all the walking up and down, there were even some parts that included ladders and near vertical steps. It is beautifully set on top of the mountain range, so it follows the crest with steep slopes on both sides, making the Great Wall so hilly. It also provided me with stunning views of the surrounding mountains.
The construction of the Great Wall of China that we see today took place between the 14th and 17th Centuries AD, but bits and pieces were built over the course of 17 centuries, beginning all the way back in 900 B.C. It was built by hand, mainly by workers and criminals who carried stones up the mountain. Many died during the construction and were left there, buried under the wall and in the mountains. This makes The Great Wall of China the longest cemetery in the world.
Now, only some parts of The Wall are legally open to the public. For safety, only parts that have undergone restoration allow tourists.
Before I left The Great Wall, I took a moment to absorb how truly incredible the construction process must have been, how after the construction, soldiers walked the wall and stood in the fortresses protecting their land, and all the while, in my mind, some of it still looked like a scene out of Mulan, just more green. We then took the step to dismount the Great Wall Chinese style.
Conclusion of the Night!
Concluding the long day of exercise on some of the top tourist attractions in Beijing, we were prepared for a formal dinner with guest speaker, Mr. Robert Barrett. Finally, to finally end the night, my class mates and I were split into different groups depending on our home town locations. We had to preform a skit describing our hometown to other class mates and also introduce ourselves as individuals. This is where my non- Chinese skills came into play. Below, I have attached the script of what we said at the dinner that night!
你 好!: Hello!
Nǐ hǎo
我 叫 ____: My name is ____
Wǒ jiào ____
我 来 从 ____: I am from ____
Wǒ lái cóng ____
我 学 习 ____: I study ____
Wǒ xué xí
很 高 兴 认 识 你: Pleased to meet you
Hěn gāo xìng rèn shí nǐ
Tales of Traveling Sole Sisters 
Great post am pictures! I really like the Great Wall.
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