Beijing

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Today, August 16, 2010, Monday...I beginning to get the days confused...but I think it's Monday. It's about midnight here in
Beijing so inNYC it's about noon. Yesterday I went to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. I took a tour through the hotel and the bus was full of Europeans so that was fun...there were several young men and women from Spain, a young man from France, with a young woman from Spainand another from Portugal. There was a man from Saudi Arabia and 2 couples from Germany. it was nice to speak with people from other countries. We left at around 8:15...I was the last person they picked up...drove to the Ming Tombs...we only went to see one of the tombs...and honestly I cannot tell you which one. I have to get the photos from my camera because as we were driving I was dozing so I missed some of the explanation. It's summer vacation here in China so there are hundreds of thousands of people touring the capital and all these historical sites...there were hundreds of people arriving on tour buses and all rushing in big tour groups to the tombs. We went through the gates and at the beginning there is the gate of ghosts...people traditionally do not enter the tomb via the gate but exit that way and when then exit they say, Wei lei lan la -- or something like that...I'll be back...and before coming out they stop and shake any evil spirits off...women step out with their left foot and men with the right (or vice versa) -- Inside the structure of thetombs is somewhat like the temples that we have visited. There is a huge great hall and on either side there are buildings...and one hall and courtyard is lined up with another. The treasures from the tombs have been excavated and housed in one of the great halls...there are beautiful crowns, jade objects of all types, including beautiful jade jewelry, and most of these artifacts are decorated with dragons and the phoenix...in this area of the Ming tombs there are several different tombs of the Ming emperors and they are in this particular area because of the feng shui of the area...it is a basin surrounded completely by mountains and there are several rivers that run through it. at the top of the tomb that we visited you can see several of the other tombs in the distance. We were told by the guide that the one tomb that houses the emperor who killed himself was put in a special place -- hidden from the view and that was because that emperor who committed suicide basically was faceless...and couldn't not be facing the others.

We didn't stay there very long and I was disappointed because I like to read the information and displays and it was much too quick and incredibly crowded so we couldn't enjoy the visit. that's the downside of a tour, I suppose.

We then went to a natural medicine factory where we were very briefly introduced to accupuncture and natural herbal medicine and then were given a brief examination by an herbal medicine 'doctor'...they checked our pulse, looked at the coating on our tongue and gave us a prognosis. I was told that my circulation is slow and that I may have reduced liver function. I know that my metabolism is low...also they said maybe I have a problem with sugar...high blood pressure and cholesterol...don't know if there is true and I should get it checked when I go home. I know that I have a slow metabolism ...have always had a very slow pulse...circulation is slow...don't know why or really what that means.

After that we went to a jade factory...where we were given a sales pitch about jade and how you can tell the difference between grade a and grade b...first if you hold either up to the light you'll see that it's cloudy...wisps of clouds or textures you can see...then there isthe differences in color and there is a difference in sound, depending on the quality...the higher quality seemed to have a higher pitch.

I tried on a jade bracelet which was beauiful...but expensive...supposedly the longer you wear the jade the deeper and richer it becomes in color...increasing in value with age.

After the sales pitch we were treated to lunch...a 'typical Chinese lunch' as they called it in the tour description...all of us talked at lunch and we got to know each other a bit more. there was also a young couple from Sweden who had just graduated from high school...wow! I felt so old.

We then drove to the great wall to Badaling...apparently this is the most crowded section of the Great Wall...it was packed with tourists and tour buses...hundreds of people all rushing up the stairs ... and the Great Wall is great...a truly amazing construction...it stretches for miles up and down the mountains...it is very steep in some places and the stones are quite smooth and slippery...the government has erected railings in those places but with all the crowds it was quite dangerous. Lots of young kids -- some even running -- and many older people as well...all struggling to hold on. The sun beat down on us and there were many who just stopped on the stairs and sait on the stairs under the rail, especially in midafternoon when the sun was so hot...that was really incredibly upsetting to me...I don't understand that at all...one woman sat at the bottom of a narrow stair that people were coming down in single file..opened her umbrella and jsut parked herself right in the path of the descending people...they all have to jump off the step onto another area....I am continually amazed at this behavior...people may argue that China is a collectivistic culture and that Americans are indivualistic and selfish but Americans are very civic minded like the Brits and we put a strong emphasis andvalue on our civic responsiblity. We have a responsibility not to stand in the walkway particularly in a dangerous situation like that...the Chinese didn't seem to share this idea at the Great Wall...it seemed to be every man/woman for him/herself.

I made it all the way up to several towers and then I decided I had better turn around because we had to be back down the hill at 3:45...I walked for about 2 hours so I think that I experienced this wonder of the world...

Going back the tour guide called Liulei, the liaison for Zigen and our teaching program, and got directions about where to leave me off...we were going past the suburb where the director and founder of Zigen, Pat Wang, lives and she had invited me and two of the other volunteers for dinner and to meet her so the tour guide, Mike, called Liulei to get direcctions from him...luckily for me, he agreed to come and meet me at a certain place...and I got off the bus in the middle of the street and waited at a telephone booth for him...he came bounding down the street and together we walked to get a taxi to Pat's...that saved a lot of time and money.

Pat lives in an incredible gated community -- designed like a French or Swiss or maybe the old English Tudor style homes...there is a small replica of the Arc de Triomphe and a garden that looks like the tuileries...incredible in the middle of Beijing...her apartment is quite beautiful...

When Victoria and Tonya arrived after we chatted for a while, we all went to a restaurant around the corner.. ON theway I was thinking that I had noticed a pan on the stove and seen something cooking...I was surprised when Pat suggested we all go out because I thought she was cooking something...but we all gathered our things and left and then it just occurred to me to ask her if she had turned off the stove...she said no...and I said that I thought I had seen something cooking ... maybe she should go back to check... Pat got us seated at the restaurant and hurried back to the house...and it was a good thing ... when she returned she said that the fire was on, the water had boiled down and the pan was red hot and burning up...

we had a great meal..very tasty...and talked about our experience in Shilou...I enjoyed the evening immensely. Luckily Tonya is staying here with her aunt..who looks young enough to be her sister...and they gave me a ride to the contemporary part of Beijing to a train station to the Number 1 line. Apparently that is a very wealthy part of fhe city with a lot of IT people living there...I got the Number 1 for a long train ride to transfer to the Number 5 to Tiannamen Sq East...from there I managed to figure out the street to take to head back to my hotel...I was exhausted and didn't know how far it would be so I hopped a pedicab and made sure the price was low -- only 20yuan before I got in. He took me to the hotel and I collapsed ...sleptuntil 10 am this morning..

I got up this am and dressed and started walking to the Forbidden city...walked downt he same street and came to the east entrance...on that street I found a cafe that sold coffee,...drank a cup and then walked over to the entrance..It turned out to be for staff only so I had to walk to the south entrance...thousands of people..it's a national holiday so there are hundreds of tourists. I was trying to decided where to go to buy the ticket and a man came up to me to ask if I wanted a guide. His English was pretty good and I thought for a minute...he wanted 200yuan and I kept thinking...in themeantime another woman came up to him and spoke with him in Chinese...he said what do you want...she wants me to guide a group...I said go on with her...but somehow I wound up following him and paying him...anyway it was well worth it...he took me through the middle section of the city...told me about the highlights...took me through the museums and then outside to the garden and to a tea house...we had a tea ceremony..and of course I bought some tea...by that time it was already around 2:30...I saw that I was not that far from the hotel so I walked back to the hotel, took a cold shower and washed my hair and set out again..this time I wanted to try to get to the Peking Opera so I asked the girl at the desk to find out the address of the Opera that was listed on the tour agency's brochure...she found the address and name of the place for me but she wouldn't or couldn't call to see if there were tickets available...I suppose she has instructions to only work through the ticket agency...I asked how to get there by bus since the bus only costs 1 yuan but she said it was complicated and I should take a taxi...I finally agreed and hopped a cab...it turned out to be 18 yuan...and when I got there I was able to get a ticket for 120 yuan for a show at 5:30 rather than 280 yuan for a show at 7:15...that was fine...as I sat there for the next 30 minutes another tourist -- a gentleman from Rotterdam Holland sat next to me and we talked about China's development...nice to chat with someone...

the show was a Chinese acrobatic show, not the opera but it was entertaining and I was happy...

I had kept my eyes open on the way so I remembered that we had come on Meishi Street and turned onto a larger expressway...so I walkedalong the expressway on the sideway until I saw the sign for Meishi Street and then crossed the xpressway on the over pass pedestrian way...I walked along Meishi street, which turns out to the be oldest street in Beijing...it was quite crowded with people -- both Chinese and foreigners...many shops and restaurants...I saw a place to get a pedicure so I decided to get one along with a foot massage...that was a great experience...over an hour...and my feet feel a lot better...I spoke with the girls ---trying to get some words in Chinese...it was a good time...then I stopped at an open restaurant...just a cheap place...for some noodles and stirfried broccoli...I wasa so happy because I had managed to walk all the way back and get the ticket to the show at such a cheap price and then have a cheap meal...I was quite satisfied...then what happened?

I was at Tiannanmen Sq and about to turn on the street that leads to my hotel. A young girl stops me and smiles and asks where are you from? and begins to speak to me in English...she's a university studnet with her friend and she is studying to be an interpreter...won't you have a drink wiht us? I want to go home but I think I'll do her a favor and give her a chance to speak English...we walk down the street to my hotel...then she says do you want to have coffee or tea and she stops in front of a tea shop and I say ok let's have tea...we go in and I look at the menu and there is 50yuan for each person for each tea...the tea shop in the afternoon let us sample the tea free and then we could buy or not...

the girl starts giving us different teas and then at the end she gives us a very small pot of the black tea with lichyee...then she comes with the bill...it's 600 yuan each...each tasting was 50 yuan per person..I was so upset...that was so much money and I couldn't believe it...I didn't know what to do because I was being so careful and I had no idea...

In the end I had to pay and I suppose that I have to learn from that experience but I am still very upset.
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