Of course like all posts I have to include the weird things about China that I noticed. 1) Instead of diapers, the Chinese just cut a hole in the crotch of babies/toddlers clothes, and when the child has to use the restroom they just go....ANYWHERE!!! It's gross.
2) Where Korea has hole in the floor toilets in MANY restrooms, China has hole in the floor toilets in EVERY restroom...AND you're lucky if there is a stall. (That's what I get for complaining so much.) 3) I was just as much a tourist attraction as the Great Wall of China. I am going to have pictures of myself with random Asians all over the world. It was funny because they would follow you around for a while until they got the courage up to ask for a picture and then follow you around taking EVERY picture with you (me) in it. One man got a picture with me and then tried to kiss me. I was mortified, but everyone else got a big kick out of it.
So here is how and why the China trip came into play. May 5th is Children's Day in Korea. It's basically where everyone tells the kids thanks for being born, gives them presents, takes them on trips, and they have no school. (Wish I had that in America growing up.) We ended up getting that Mon. and Tues. (May 4-5) off from school, and my 2nd paycheck was burning a hole in my pocket....so I decided to blow it all on a trip to China. We got a package through a Korean travel agency that was a guide led trip to all the important places in Beijing. Don't get confused though, it wasn't like a normal tour. It was just me and Brett, Sara and Jonah (our coworkers), and two other young teachers from Korea (Karel and Briggitta...they are from South Africa....LOVE THEM.) We were on a small bus with a really nice tour guide named Sarah (her English name.)
DAY 1
Eating breakfast at Burger King before our flight.
I'm gonna start with our flight. About the time we left, the swine flu scare was in full swing. That meant that when we landed in China we had to have our temperatures taken and fill out a small health questionnaire. Sounds like no big deal right?? WRONG!!! When we landed everyone stood up and tried to get their luggage. About 10 minutes later someone came on the intercom and told everyone to please take their seat. All of a sudden a group of men came on the plane in what looked like a full haz-mat get-up. They walked to each individual and shot a laser beam behind their ear. (I probably have some kind of Chinese tracking device stuck in my head now...who knows? They acted like they were just taking our temperature though.) Up until this point I was only a little worried. Panic didn't set in until they let Jonah and Sara off the plane, and they made Brett and I stay on with a group of other people because 3 people near us had high temperatures. Everything turned out all right, but maybe if they had left the air on there would have been less of a delay. Whew!!!! No swine flu!!
When we landed in China, Sarah was there to greet us and escorted us to our little bus which would be our transportation for the next four days.
Our driver - Master Dong
The weather there was warm, and a nice change from the cooler weather in Korea. We had to drive about an hour and a half to get to Beijing, but it was the first time in 3 months that I felt like I was back in America. Obviously if I looked at the cars and signs I would know that I was in China, but we were driving through the open country and I hadn't seen so much space in 3 months.
When we arrived in Beijing, we went directly to the Temple of Heaven.
Brett was pretty pumped about seeing our first relic in China.
It was really a nice place to see, but we were kind of rushed because it was about to close. Our plane had been delayed so it through the schedule off a bit. The Temple of Heaven is basically a big altar/temple where Emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasty would go to pray to the Heavens for a good harvest.
This was the altar where the Emporers prayed
I was in shock by the amount of people that were there. I would soon find out that that is how it is everywhere in Beijing.
After the Temple of Heaven, Sarah took us to a pearl factory (1st out of 3 tourist traps we would be shown,) and dinner with a show. The pearl factory was very informative and unfortunately I fell prey to savvy salespeople.
No complaints though...my necklace and earrings are worth every penny/yuan. I feel that dinner was a little disappointing, and I wouldn't even bring it up except I have to mention that because of it, poor Brett would later experience the dreaded "Beijing Belly." He was also the only one brave enough to eat certain things. Lesson learned!!
The last thing on our list for that day was a Chinese Acrobatics show.
Not much to say except AMAZING!!!! There is no way I would let my kids go to acrobatics school. I can't explain how awesome it was, it was just something you have to see to believe!!! When we finally got to our 5 star hotel, I was completely exhausted. Good thing the bed was like a cloud and it was not the shabby-scared-to-sleep-on-the-pillow-hotel I was expecting. Too bad Brett had a sleepless night (thanks to whatever it was he ate.)
Our hotel.
The picture and drum were in the hotel and both were used in the opening of the 2008 Olympics.
DAY 2
Wake up call at 7 am and meet downstairs at 8 am. Being the "anti-morning" person that I am, I was downstairs by 7:55 and only had 5 minutes to cram as much breakfast down that I could. That would become the ritual for me! First on the itinerary was the Summer Palace. This was a BEAUTIFUL "garden," (that looked more like a bunch of small palaces everywhere.)
I can't remember all the details of the place, but I'm pretty sure this is where the Emperor and his wives and daughters would come in the summer. I also remember hearing the word "longevity" alot. The place was absolutely stunning, but extremely crowded as well.
After the Summer Palace, we ate lunch and moved on to the Forbidden City. Huge doesn't even begin to describe that place. It was borderline obscene. Those emperors were way too into themselves. According to Sarah, 9 is a very lucky number in China. So I guess the Emperor who built the Forbidden City thought he needed some luck because there were 9,999 rooms in that place. Broken into terms we can understand, it goes something like this: If you are born in one room and you sleep in a different room every night, you will be 27 years old by the time you have been to each room. HOLY COW!!
Brett with Sarah's tour guide flag.
Dressed up at the Forbidden City (not sure why though.)
Jonah and Brett with their new purchase
We went from one end of the Forbidden City to the other (took FOREVER and I got sunburned,) and it dumped us out into Tiananmen Square. There was not alot to see, but it was so incredible to be there just considering its historical significance. Tiananmen Square was built during one of the famous dynasties (can't remember which,) but it is really famous for the 1989 massacre of protestors. On June 4, 1989 the Chinese military opened fire on a bunch of people protesting at T. Square. Apparently it was pretty gory, but if you need more information...WIKIPEDIA.COM.
Umbrella: the next best thing to sunscreen.
Say "kimchi"
When we left Tiananmen Square, Sarah took us to the 2nd tourist trap on our list....the Silk Factory. Let me just point out that none of the "factories" had even the slightest hint of a factory aura about them. This was the place that Sarah needed to take those who are retired and don't know what to do with their money. Not the people who just graduated from college and took a low paying teaching job in hopes of paying off loans. The silk factory had a brief walk through of how they harvest silk from the silkworm. It was informative, but I soon found myself dumped into a huge room of overpriced silk products waiting for the tour guide to take us to the next place. Turns out they use every part of the silkworm. They use it's cocoon for the actual silk, eat the larvae, and they sell aromatherapy pillows that are filled with silkworm poop (decided I would pass on that one.)
Silkworm cocoon with a dead silkworm in it. (When you shake it it rattles...yuck!)
Machine that spins the silk from the cocoon.
"Stations, the tourists are coming." Women stretching silk for a silk comforter.
The overpriced gift store we had to walk around in for 45 minutes.
Next we went to a "hutong." Hutongs are narrow alleys/streets/neighborhoods that used to be all over Beijing. Apparently there are only about 8 now (don't quote me on that number...I couldn't always understand what Sarah was saying.) We paid a ridiculous price to get pulled by a bicycle through the thing, but it was really nice to sit down for a while.
We pretty much just walked through, and I got some good pictures.
cute!
hahahaha...gross!! There were a bunch of old men swimming in the canal/river thing.
The name of the hutong we were at.
I also got some really good people pictures.
This was at an outdoor gym.
Some woman had opened up her house to the public, so we got to see the inside of a typical house as well.
After the hutong, we went to dinner. Item of the day: Peking Duck. YUMMY!!! This is a duck dish that was created in Beijing, but it is one of China's national dishes now. I was a little afraid at first, and when they brought it out with the head and everything, I thought I was going to vomit.
The waitress took a piece of the duck and dipped it in sauce and then wrapped it a crepe looking thing. Then she gave it to me to be the first to try it. Lucky me!!! Turns out I LOVED it. The entire dinner was pretty entertaining. Karel and Briggitta kept using their newly picked up word..."y'all," and Jonah kept "quacking" every time someone was about to eat the duck!! Quack Quack!!
The last thing on our list that day was the Chinese Opera. I guess I had mentally prepared myself for something like a Italian opera (or whatever kind it was that I saw on Pretty Woman.) Just a word to the wise...if you ever go to a Chinese opera, make sure to take a full bottle of Excedrin!! Maybe if I had earplugs I would have enjoyed it more, but the woman had the most shrill and obnoxious voice, and there was one instrument that kept going off continuously. Brett and I kept giving each other the "when's it going to be over with" look. The costumes and makeup were awesome though.
I was ready to hit the sack when it was all said and done.
DAY 3
Wake up call at 7 am and meet downstairs at 8 am. Of course, at 7:55 I was cramming whatever food I could get down in 5 minutes. I did not realize it at the time, but this was the most important meal of the 4 days for me. In about 45 minutes I was going to be CLIMBING the Great Wall. In all the pictures I had seen, and even the pictures I took, the Great Wall doesn't look like it would be to hard to hike. HAHAHA...glad I went when I was 22. There were a few times I thought I was going to have to crawl up the stairs (and maybe a few times I actually did.) I am terrified of heights, therefore I couldn't look behind me in a few spots. I think the Great Wall was the most incredible thing I have ever experienced in my life. It really hits you when you are on it, and you realize what a treasure it is. This is huge "fence" that was built before Jesus was born, in order to protect the Chinese Empire from invasion. It stretches about 4,000 miles long....WOW!!! The stairs were all uneven and worn from all the walking that has been done on it over the years. I don't even want to imagine having to be a guard on that thing and walking it everyday to work. It was a workout for sure...and truly enjoyable.
Looking up at our hike.
People carved things on locks and left them on the Great Wall.
"The Crew"
WE'RE ON THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!!!
Look at the worn steps!
Texas...in China?!?!
REPRESENT!!
With my chingu (friend): Sara
More people showed up as we were leaving.
After the Great Wall we went to the last of the 3 tourist traps...the Jade factory...and then lunch. Like all the tourist traps this was just a building full of overpriced rocks and people behind glass that were pretending they carved jade for a living.
An overpriced rock.
I did learn how to tell if Jade is real or not though. Also, I have decided that I LOVE jade bracelets and rings...so if anyone ever needs a gift idea for me don't say that I haven't told you.
The Ming Tombs were next. This is where 13 out of the 16 Emperors of the Ming Dynasty were buried. It wasn't really that big of a deal to me. I was hoping to see a mummified Emperor, but we just saw some big casket things...everything inside had disintegrated. BUMMER! People had thrown money all around the tombs. I thought throwing money was kind of a waste.
He was buried with his throne. Comfortable...I think not!
Next on the list: Dr. Tea. This was a little tea house (that was probably a tourist trap as well.) On the way there, Sarah kept telling us that we would get to see "pee pee boy." We spent the next 15 minutes in the car trying to explain that in America "pee pee" means urinate. We assumed that she was referring to something different. Turns out "pee pee" means the same in Chinese. "Pee pee boy" ended up being a little naked terra cotta boy that you place in cold water for a while, and then you take him out and pour hot water on him and he will shoot out a stream of cold "pee." It's a way they test the temperature of the tea water. Brett ended up answering a question right and he won "pee pee boy." Lucky him...now he has a little naked terra cotta boy on his shelf!!! We had a little tea tasting at the tea house, and we learned the benefits of different types of teas, and how to drink/prepare them. Apparently at tea tastings the men and the women are supposed to hold their cup differently. Women have to stick their pinkies out and men have to keep their hands closed. It represents something about a dragon and a bird or something...can't really remember the specifics.
Sarah...our tour guide.
The lady teaching us about tea.
After the tea house, per our request, Sarah took us to the Olympic Park. I got to see in person what I watched on TV last year. It was amazing.
Brett doing his best Michael Phelps in front of the water cube.
The big tower in the middle is where someone important sat. Maybe the President of the Olympics or something...not sure.
Where the gymnastics were held.
The Bird's Nest.
Next was dinner and then the Chinese market. Sarah took us to a dumpling house (which I didn't find too appetizing,) and then she took us to the subway and showed us how to get to the market.
The market was what I expected to see in China. Weird food on sticks (most of it still alive) and people trying to sell you dinky little trinkets (which I loved.)
We walked around for about an hour, and then we all went back to the hutongs for a coupla drinks and a little discussion about what we had just experienced.
DAY 4
Wake up call at 5 am, meet downstairs at 6. (Our flight left at 8:30 am.) Of course being downstairs on time wouldn't have been as fun for Brett and I, so we decided to sleep until 6:05. We got a call from Jonah a 6:05, and Brett answered the phone and then calmly informed me that it was 6:05. About 30 seconds later when it registered, all I could think was S***. I hadn't packed or anything and my stuff was all over the place. So in true Home Alone fashion, Brett and I raced around throwing on clothes and throwing stuff in our suitcases. Brett had to sit on my suitcase just so I could close it. We made it downstairs at 6:15 am. By the way, the airport we flew out of in Beijing was built for the 2008 Olympics. Pretty cool!
Trip to China: SUCCESS!!!!
