Tuesday night we went to the Red Theatre to see Chun Yi: The Legend of Kung Fu.  This martial arts play/show tells the story of a young boy overcoming his fears and becoming a great warrior monk.  Prior to the show starting we went to a billiards hall with Ricky.  This was my first time playing billiards as I was only familiar with pool.  Pool has bigger pockets.  By the time I got used it, we had to leave for the show.  Anyway, the show was phenomenal and would highly recommend it if you are in the area. 

This morning was our excursion to The Great Wall of China.  There are several sections that you can visit and we went to the Mutianyu Great Wall.  This is certainly one of the more touristy sections and has undergone some major renovations.  As we ascended the mountain, the wall became visible.  This is an absolutely incredible site.  It was astonishing to think about how many people and years this took to build.  This has been one of my top things to see and I would love to walk most of it, but time just doesn’t allow for that right now.

Following The Great Wall we visited the Ming Tombs (specifically the Ding Ling tomb).  This is where the emperor, empress,  and his favorite concubines were buried here with several belongings for the afterlife.  This concluded our trips for the day and we went to the hotel for the evening.

Susan and I stayed and the Red Capital Ranch, which is on The Great Wall.  East Quest (the travel agent we used for this trip) often chooses boutique hotels.  This place is in a rustic setting but still has a sense of luxury.  The hotel is owned by an American but it is run entirely by a Tibetan Family.  Their service was uncanny and our dinner was great.  Another great choice by East Quest.

-Allen

Last night we went to a Chinese acrobat show.  There were some amazing stunts that were performed and we watched people bend in ways that should not be possible.  The show was about an hour long and we had a seat in the second row so we caught ALL of the action!  Unfortunately, the speakers for the theater were right in front so it was a little loud.  I think I can still hear ringing in my right ear.

After the show we were going to look for a bar for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, but I don’t think there are too may Chinese/Irish people around these parts.  We went back to the hotel instead and called it a night.

This morning started out with a trip to the Temple of Heaven, which was built in the 15th century.  This was a place in which only the emperor would pray for things like a good harvest at the rightfully named Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. (Pictured on the right)  Currently you can see several people practicing Tai Chi and ballroom dancing in the morning here.  Our visit to the Temple of Heaven was relatively short as there was a lot of dust this morning.  Throughout most of Beijing, there is a lot of pollution, most of which comes from dust and sand.  The desert between China and Mongolia kicks up a lot dust to the south and Beijing gets covered.  There used to be a forest blocking the dust, but most of this has been cut down to use the wood.  Before coming here, I always thought that the Chinese people were wearing the face masks to block the spread of the disease.  Now I know they are just protecting themselves from the dust.  Our clothes were covered and I only used the point and shoot camera today as I didn’t want to risk damage to the DSLR.  The dust did allow me to have some fun though, as I was able to slide down the side of some concrete steps.  Check out the video. 

Our next stop was at the Lama Temple (Yonghegong), a Lamasery for Tibetan Buddhism.  This was the first Tibetan Buddhist Temple that we have visited, all prior were Thai Buddhist.  This temple houses an 18m tall sandalwood Buddha image.  I think this might have been the second largest Buddha image that we have seen (behind the 46m reclinging Buddha image at Wat Po in Bangkok).  Being raised with no particular religion (but taught Catholicism and Judaism), I have a particular interest in Buddhism and the lifestyle.  This was spawned by our trip last year to Thailand.  I must say that every time I leave a Buddhist temple, I feel much calmer and my head feels clearer.

Other comments…

Most of the public toilets (stalls, not urinals) are nothing more than a hole in the floor.  This is something we have never seen in the US, but saw when we were in Malaysia and Thailand last year.  Also, there in no toilet paper in these stalls.  If you need some, you have to either buy it first, or grab some from a "community" roll outside.  There is also a toilet rating system here.  I am not sure how the ranking system works or if there is a list that you can select the "Best Bathroom in Beijing".

Driving here is much different.  People just seem to pull out into traffic and expect people to stop for you and let you in.  Most of the time it appears that they do.  They love to use their horns here though.

There are a lot of people that ride bikes.  I don’t understand why we just don’t get this concept in the US.  It is so much better for our health and the environment.  It is certainly more difficult in the suburbs to bike to work, but most cities have no excuse.

Censorship…not sure if this is coincidence, but I have been watching CNN and they continually repeat the same stories.  Every time the story about the protests in Tibet come on, it appears to cut out during one specific section.  This is right when a reporter is interviewing the Dalai Lama.  I wish I knew what it was about, but I suppose that it is a response to the accusation that the Dalai Lama is somehow behind all of this.  Also, on several connections, I can’t seem to access the wikipedia site.

-Allen

On Saturday March 15th we boarded our plane in Newark for a 13 hour direct flight to Beijing, China.  Sitting in cattle class for these long flights has gotten easier recently.  I love the planes that have power so I can work on my laptop during the flight.

After arriving, (at 1PM Sunday March 16th – exactly 12 hours difference from the east coast in the US) it took us less than an hour to get through immigration/customs, exchange money, and to get our luggage.  We were met by Ricky Le, our tour guide for the week.  He is our age and is very knowledgeable.  We were dropped at the Renaissance Beijing Hotel and upgraded to a suite that is bigger than the first floor of our house!  It’s good to be Platinum Elite!  We grabbed some afternoon snacks and drinks from the executive lounge and then decided to take a quick nap around 5pm.  14 hours later we woke up and grabbed breakfast!    Can you say jet lag?  This time it wasn’t even melatonin induced.    During breakfast in the lounge, I met some Microsoft people from Redmond and found out that the MS office here is RIGHT next door to our hotel.  I grabbed Internet access from the office to post this blog. 

We met Ricky to start our adventure around Beijing.  It began with a walk through Tiananmen Square and into the Forbidden City, which was the imperial palace for part of the Ming and Qing (pronounced Ching) Dynasties.  The details of the buildings was incredible.  The Forbidden City is now the home to the Palace Museum which houses many of the artifacts from the 2 dynasties.

For lunch, we went to a restaurant for some Chinese Food, I guess they just call it food here. 

We are meeting Ricky later tonight to go to an acrobatic show for some more Chinese culture.  Stay tuned!

-Allen