On June 4, we woke early to travel to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. That was a significant day -- it was the thirteenth anniversary of protests and devastating military action that left many dead right there on the square. We were scheduled to fly to Xian later that day, so we reached Tiananmen Square early, maybe around 7:30 or 8. We saw the few remaining guard towers from the original city wall, which was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. As we walked toward the square, we passed Chairman Mao's mausoleum, where his preserved body lays on display for people to visit. Standing in the middle of the square, seeing memorials created to honor those who gave their lives for the Chinese people and culture, seeing their national museum and governmental buildings, knowing that during my life-time people lost their lives on the very place where we were standing...it was a breathtaking experience.
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| TV screens with videos of other Chinese cities |
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| Chairman Mao's Mausoleum |
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| Monument to the People's Heros |
Our tour director, Yoko, told us quite a lot about the buildings and monuments and the history related to them. After a description of Chairman Mao, she encouraged us all to read more about him and the changes that surrounded his rise to power, and she emphasized reading pieces written from many vantage points and forming our own conclusions about it all. I bet my mouth dropped open when she described her understanding of their government as, "by the people and for the people," an oft-heard phrase here in the Land of Lincoln to describe our government, not one like China's. Now, I am not posting this to launch a political discussion (for those who know me, I rarely wander into such discussions, for several reasons); instead, I want to draw attention to Yoko's insistence on understanding all sides of the situation before passing judgement on it.How often have I written in this blog about how I thrive on literature that provides multiple perspectives, because it is through such stories that I can better understand what really happened? Isn't that what traveling and learning is all about? For me, the timing of her lecture was perfect; just remembering how I grappled with all of those ideas and perspectives, and grappling with them again right now, makes my head spin in a way that words fail to describe effectively.
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| Click for panoramic of Tiananmen Square |
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| Tiananmen Gate |
From the Square, we walked through the Tiananmen Gate, under a meters-high portrait of Chairman Mao, into the Forbidden City. Surrounded by a moat and a wall, dozens of buildings make up the Forbidden City, once the location of the Emperor's home and governmental offices.
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| Click for full panoramic of First Gate of Forbidden City |
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| Click for full panoramic of the Emperor's Governing Palace |
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| The Emperor's Governing Palace |
The most impressive building was the palace where the Emperor made decrees, and amid hundreds of other tourists we somehow landed in a place with a perfectly centered view of the palace and courtyard. We passed palace upon palace, each with a specific function and all with elaborate paintings and sculptures. Many of the most important palaces were recently restored in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, so we were able to see the difference between the buildings that have been restored and those that will be in the future. It helped me better understand the age of the buildings, so I was glad to visit midway through the restoration process. We ended this visit with a walk through the Imperial Garden, once again filled with ancient trees and places for prayer.
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| Renovated behind vs. unrenovated |
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| Imperial Garden |
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| Leaving the Forbidden City |
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| Driving into Xian |
After lunch at a Chinese version of Subway, sitting on the tarmac for
just over an hour, and then a nearly two hour flight, we arrived in
Xian, the original capital of China. The history of the city stretches
back to the first Chinese Emperor, Qin, whose dynasty lasted from 221 BC
to 206 BC. Driving into the city, the view seemed drastically different
from Beijing. Initially we saw more farmland, tiny fields compared to
the many-acre ones at home and people working with hand tools like reap
hooks instead of the huge tractors our neighbors here use. Compared to
Beijing, more of the city seemed either under construction into
skyscrapers or in severe poverty; there was very little in between.
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| Driving into Xian |
Our first stop was a bike ride on the original city wall. I'm not sure what was the better sight, the city from atop the wall or Paul and I in our helmets and on our bikes; our students took as many pictures of the former as the latter. Because our flight was delayed, we only had about a half an hour to ride along the wall. I stopped for several pictures along the way and didn't even make it to the first corner of the wall before I turned around to head back to our meeting place.
For dinner that evening, we had a traditional Chinese hot pot meal. Our tour guide, Arnie, compared it to fondue; many different foods are placed on the table, and we each cook them in our personal pots, pre-filled with what I assume was broth and seasonings like garlic and onions and set atop an open flame. Everyone walked through a buffet-style line to create our individualized dipping sauces. I made mine with sesame oil, lots of garlic, bean paste, crushed peanuts, and scallions. We could then choose to cook egg and flour noodles, wide noodles, potatoes, beef, lamb, leaks, cabbage, rice noodles, mushrooms, eggs, and rice. It was delicious and like nothing I've had before. By this time, I was getting much better at eating with chopsticks, but using them to fish floating rice noodles out of my hot pot was not easy. It took a while for everyone to finish, but it was well worth it.
We finished our day with an excursion to a reflexology parlor, where we all had reflexology foot massages. We separated into groups of two or three for each room, and the masseuses met us there with jasmine tea. After walking and walking and more walking in Beijing, the foot massage was exactly what I needed. I slept very soundly in our Xian Hotel room that night.
Just a quick FYI: Since returning home, I've found a few websites that seem to describe the cities and places we visited very well. So far I've found the official sites for both
Beijing and
Xian in case you're interested.
On June 4, we woke early to travel to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. That was a significant day -- it was the thirteenth anniversary of protests and devastating military action that left many dead right there on the square. We were scheduled to fly to Xian later that day, so we reached Tiananmen Square early, maybe around 7:30 or 8. We saw the few remaining guard towers from the original city wall, which was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. As we walked toward the square, we passed Chairman Mao's mausoleum, where his preserved body lays on display for people to visit. Standing in the middle of the square, seeing memorials created to honor those who gave their lives for the Chinese people and culture, seeing their national museum and governmental buildings, knowing that during my life-time people lost their lives on the very place where we were standing...it was a breathtaking experience.
The most impressive building was the palace where the Emperor made decrees, and amid hundreds of other tourists we somehow landed in a place with a perfectly centered view of the palace and courtyard. We passed palace upon palace, each with a specific function and all with elaborate paintings and sculptures. Many of the most important palaces were recently restored in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, so we were able to see the difference between the buildings that have been restored and those that will be in the future. It helped me better understand the age of the buildings, so I was glad to visit midway through the restoration process. We ended this visit with a walk through the Imperial Garden, once again filled with ancient trees and places for prayer.
Our first stop was a bike ride on the original city wall. I'm not sure what was the better sight, the city from atop the wall or Paul and I in our helmets and on our bikes; our students took as many pictures of the former as the latter. Because our flight was delayed, we only had about a half an hour to ride along the wall. I stopped for several pictures along the way and didn't even make it to the first corner of the wall before I turned around to head back to our meeting place.
For dinner that evening, we had a traditional Chinese hot pot meal. Our tour guide, Arnie, compared it to fondue; many different foods are placed on the table, and we each cook them in our personal pots, pre-filled with what I assume was broth and seasonings like garlic and onions and set atop an open flame. Everyone walked through a buffet-style line to create our individualized dipping sauces. I made mine with sesame oil, lots of garlic, bean paste, crushed peanuts, and scallions. We could then choose to cook egg and flour noodles, wide noodles, potatoes, beef, lamb, leaks, cabbage, rice noodles, mushrooms, eggs, and rice. It was delicious and like nothing I've had before. By this time, I was getting much better at eating with chopsticks, but using them to fish floating rice noodles out of my hot pot was not easy. It took a while for everyone to finish, but it was well worth it.
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