Kui's Blog #2: Exploring My Surroundings
So it’s been about a week since my last blog, but so much has happened since! For our class fieldtrip, we went to the Great Wall of China! Apparently, you haven’t seen China unless you’ve seen the Great Wall…It is very huge, and my study abroad group and I decided to walk up the steep side of the wall. I believe that my coach should be proud of me, because it was very steep for most of the way up. The sight was breathtaking… and the surroundings were as green as Oregon. My calves and my thighs were really sore by the time I hiked to the ending barrier and back to the entrance. My feet were very sore after that trek, but I was able to get a bunch of souvenirs from the venders on the Great Wall. We all went to Starbucks for some coffee after our hike…and yes everyone, it is the exact same prices as it is back home in the United States.
Our next trip was to the Ming Dynasty Underground Tombs, which were amazing. At the beginning, there was a map that showed where every Ming Emperor and his wives were buried. Their resting places were very scattered all over a vast amount of land. We were able to go underground and see examples of how their caskets looked like, along with their thrones and a few possessions. In the museum above, there were examples of their ‘crowns’ along with the Empress’ possessions of jade jewelry and silk. There were also a bunch of painted pictures of many of the Empresses, along with a long list of names of the Emperor’s wives and mistresses.
Next was the Beijing Zoo, and unfortunately I was only able to cover about half of the zoo. I was fortunate enough to see the guerillas, white tigers, camels, and the all important pandas I took over 400 hundred pictures of the many animals that I did see, and I have to go back to visit the penguin house along with all the reptiles. There were some random turkeys running around…it was pretty awesome. There also were some very entertaining brown bears who decided to pose and try to climb their concrete wall. Some of the visitors were trying to feed the bears soda. Apparently the bears like it and kept begging for more each time. Someone else tricked them with water, and after getting a small drop in their mouth, they moved away.
The next day, I went to visit Summer Palace. It was breathtaking, and the palace grounds are beautiful. One couldn’t help but think what it would have been like to live centuries ago in a palace that has a big lake and gorgeous greenery that surrounds it on all sides. There is a walkway between places, and on the beams above are painted pictures of Chinese history. I was able to walk around the whole lake, which took a while. 3 classmates and I also rented a boat to hangout on the lake. We each took turns peddling the boat and was able to maneuver around most of the lake, avoiding the big boats that were ferrying from the island in the middle of the lake to the palace. The view from the top of the palace will make you want to stay there forever.
Monday afternoon, our class met with the English class of BUAA and we were paired up with a Chinese student for the rest of the day. My partners name is ‘Betty’ and she is originally from Mongolia. She helped me with my Chinese assignment, and I helped her with her English. She is a very fun person to be with, and I learn a lot from her. After our meeting, of few of my classmates and I took a subway to downtown Beijing with a few of the Chinese students. This was my first time on a subway, and it cost 2 Yuan. It was much cheaper than a taxi! The Chinese students took us out for dinner, and the food was amazing. It was a mix of Arabic food and Chinese food. We had so much food, that none of us could eat it all!
Tuesday, we had a fieldtrip to a Medicine Shop in downtown Beijing. There were three floors of just Chinese medicine, and I was able to buy tiger balm. As a group, our class decided to walk down a few back allies to try and find a place to eat. We decided to go to a place where the duck was apparently the best in China…and yes, the duck we ate was amazing!!! The skin was very greasy, but the meat was to die for. I have never had cooked duck taste so good. It was also a very nice and expensive restaurant. The bathrooms have someone handing you the paper towels and turning on the faucet to wash your hands. I thought that was awesome.
So China is rocking my socks…but now I have to go to sleep. More updates to come soon from Beijing, Xi’an, and Qinhuangdao! 在建!