The Great Wall

Yesterday, we walked the Great Wall of china. We went to a section of the wall that a lot less touristy. Although we didn't get to spend the night like originally planned it was still quite the day. Actually I think "walked" isn't the right verb. It's more like I hiked, climbed, struggled and and nearly passed out on the Great Wall. The combination of rolling hills and loose stones make it quite the trek. Luckily I had a lot of support from some friends and Silvan gave me a bottle some sort of Chinese gatorade. I must be really out of shape though because I was exhausted by the end. I think we walked for about 4 hours but it was an amazing thing to do. At times I would find myself stopping and looking back in awe and just thinking WOW! I'm on the Great Wall. We zip-lined down to the bottom of the last hill we stopped at and took a little boat across back to the bus. What a surreal experience!

We passed  by the Nest and the Water Arena on the way back just as the ParaOlympics were beginning. Both stadiums were beautifully lit and when we got back to the hostel I could hear the fireworks from the opening ceremonies. What a great time to be in Beijing!

Temple of Heaven September 5th

The temple of Heaven was another amazing experience. The buildings are beautiful and the courtyards are filled with people exercising and socializing. Once again there was too much to see in a couple of hours but I saw all the important stuff I think. 

There were a few people practicing calligraphy which was really cool and some people waltzing while others were doing choreographed aerobics. Public exercise is very popular here especially with the older generations. It is also very common to see huge groups of people practicing Tai-Chi in the parks. There was also some great musicians and actors in the park, what an amazing place to be. 

Afterwards a group of us went to the counterfeit mall where I was physically pulled on by several Chinese girls wanted me to by something. Apparently they can tell I'm gullible. One girl held on so tight that I pulled her across three shops until she let go. I bought some sweet shoes from one of them finally and they're pretty awesome I think. I just wonder how people would react if the employees at Nordstrom's pulled on our arms and literally dragged you into their department.

Forbidden City

I got a little behind on my blog but here's the update. On September 4th we visited the Forbidden City. It's hard to explain the scale of this especially since we only saw a small percentage of it in about 3 hours. There's way too much to possibly see but I basically walked in a straight line from the entrance to Tiananmen Square. There was an exhibit with the Emperor's clothing that was really cool and we did some group photos in front of Mao's mausoleum that attracted alot of attention.

I think the most interesting part of the day was wandering through Beijing afterward. A small group of us went into a restaurant and ordered by pointing at the pictures. We got something really strange that we know we hadn't ordered so we sent it back for something else really strange. Since the menu was all in Chinese we had no idea what we were eating but we took pictures of the characters to have it translated. Ying later told us that the first dish was duck tongue and the dish that we replaced it with was duck heart. Yum!

Later we all met up at a Tea house to drink tea and watch some performances. It was a great experience. There was traditional Chinese opera, a couple of guys doing vocal sound effects, a painted face character that could switch faces in a split second and I still have no idea how, and some sweet kung-fu that completed the long day.

Art Districts

September 3rd was a big day in Beijing. It is now 11pm here and we left on our trek this morning at 9am. We toured several art districts which were phenomenal including Caochangdi, the 798 Factory, the Central Academy of Art and the Jiuchang art District. We finished the big day with an even bigger meal. Tomorrow is another big day as we are touring the Forbidden City! Many things to say about today but little time to say it. Maybe some pictures can do the talking. Zai jian!

We made it!

I'm back in China!!! It's about 6:30pm here on September 2nd and we're finally all settled into our hostel. We're about to go get some dumplings though and as I'm starving, despite all of the airplane food, I will have to continue this post later. Enjoy the new pictures and until later... Zai jian!

Introduction

In 2000 I travelled to Chengdu, China with a group of students from my high school in Snohomish, WA. Eight years later I have the rare opportunity to visit China again. This time the trip will be much different however, because I will be visiting three different cities and will also get to collaborate on art projects with students from the Universities. 

I'm very excited to return to China following the wake of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Having already  seen the transformation of the University of Oregon campus for the Olympic trials, I can only imagine the changes that Beijing has undergone in preparation for the Olympic Games. It is truly a special time in history to visit China and I believe that this experience will be even more culturally enlightening than the last.