| Touring Beijing day #1
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Today was a packed day! Early on we had great intentions of sharing loads of interesting information from our guide, DouDou, as well as random observations. However, at the end of this long day, it’s suddenly difficult to remember most of it. Here’s at least an attempt:
After a buffet style breakfast at our hotel - where they serve a combination of Western style breakfast food (eggs, cereal, crepes, waffles, pastries,…) and Chinese options (miso soup, steamed buns, noodles,…), we met DouDou in the lobby. Our first destination was the Forbidden City. Construction on the City began in 1404 and ended in 1420. Twenty-four different emperors, under two different dynasties (Ming & Qing), lived there until the last emperor left in 1924. It was opened to the public the next year. There are just under 10,000 rooms in the Forbidden City. Sorry that I (Julie) can’t tell you the area, but I don’t have the mental schema to register hectares. Guess we’ll look that up later. Today was International Women’s Day. Yeah women! All women entered the City at half price. It was quite crowded. We understood today’s crowd to be typical. A lot of shoving happens as everyone tries to peer inside the various temples and outbuildings. It’s not considered rude to shove your way in to get a better view. On the contrary, everyone seems very friendly. It was fascinating to learn the reasoning behind various design elements. For instance, there are no trees in the courtyard. In Chinese, there is a character which looks like a tree in a box. It is a symbol of bad luck. Thus, trees within the box created by the shape of the courtyard would bring bad luck. We’ve learned a lot about the symbolism of an assortment of animals in Chinese culture. The Forbidden City was located in the center of Beijing because the purple constellation was believed to be in the center of the cosmos. Purple was an important royal color. Lots more but we'll end with that.
After nearly 3 hours, we left to go have lunch. DouDou took us for a wonderful meal at a nearby restaurant. We were a little surprised to learn that she would order for us and then leave for about 30 minutes so that we could lunch alone. This is apparently how it is done with the deal we pre-arranged. She did return at the end to sit and talk with us for about 10 minutes before we hit the road again.
Next, we headed to the Summer Palace. The royal family would live there from April-October, during the hotter months of the year. It’s a beautiful place and is older and much larger (x3) than the Forbidden City. While crossing a small bridge over part of the large man-made lake on the grounds of the Summer Palace, I (Julie) had my first celebrity-like experience. A group of about 2 dozen Chinese women from elsewhere in China found us interesting. I posed for several pictures with a combination of groupings of these women. Most people from Beijing are accustomed to seeing Westerners, but DouDou had indicated that people traveling to Beijing from other parts of the country might want us to pose for photographs with them. These woman were exceedingly friendly. Too bad we didn't get this comical encounter or tape. Guess I shouldn't let it go to my head:) Dan’s photo op came in the evening as we strolled Tiananmen Square. Of course, he graciously posed with the gentleman making the request. I snapped that photo too. I then got to pose with the two women. Given that we’re fairly nondescript people (except that at 6’3” Dan is pretty tall), it was odd to have so many eyes on us. After visiting the Summer Palace and learning more about the Empress Dowager, I am eager to read the biography of her life that I have at home. She ruled for nearly 40 years (I think). Her son was the Emperor, however, he apparently only had the title while she wielded the power.
Today, we saw our first little one in split pants! Children do not wear diapers here. Instead, they wear pants that are split at the seam so that their little bottoms fall out when they bend over. It’s darned cute! A mother and son allowed me to snap their picture, but I couldn’t get the bottom half in the photo. I thought Mom might not like it if I asked to photograph her child's bottom. Apparently they wear split pants until 18 months to 2 years of age. DouDou told us that she is the 3rd daughter born to her parents. She was born in 1980 - two years after the one child policy was implemented - and described herself as "a very expensive child". Her parents were not wealthy people, but they did manage to pay the additional fees in order to have her.
Riding in the car is always eventful. Mr. Cui (pronounced like "Tree") seems quite skilled at it! It looks quite chaotic and as if each car is constantly on the verge of colliding with at least one other vehicle, yet it works. Vehicles just continue to flow. Cars are not clipped, horns are used to warn other cars of their presence (or to say hello) and no one gets angry. Bicycles and pedestrians move through it all unscathed. We sit calmly in the back (there is one seatbelt in the backseat) and don’t even flinch now. If we need to get around a congested area, Mr. Cui just crosses into oncoming traffic to get where he wants to be. To park, he maneuvers through what appear to be impassably small spaces between vehicles (or buildings and other structures) on the sidewalks to slip into tiny nooks with a glove-like fit. While we don’t think we could survive this system, the lack of frustration among drivers is refreshing! Oh yes, squat toilets! I (Julie) got to use my first one at the Forbidden City. I forgot to take a photo, but that might have drawn a little too much attention. While I prefer being seated, this wasn't a problem. It's important to carry your own toilet tissue with you.
Back to the chronology of the day –
After the Summer Palace, we visited a pearl factory and a silk factory (located in the old Olympic complex built for the 2000 Olympics bid). Neither was of great interest to us. The prices seemed high. The key difference between all of the stores we’ve visited here so far and those at home is that there seem to be far more salespeople than necessary. At the silk factory, however, they might have a larger staff to accommodate larger shopping groups. Perhaps it is more a function of needing to employee so many people. We’ll ask DouDou about this. I did buy one silk dress for Ruby for her first Chinese New Year celebration back home with us.
Next, it was off to dinner. This meal wasn’t as enjoyable as lunch. At this point we were both exhausted and not very hungry. DouDou again ordered for us and then left for about 30 minutes. The fish in a light tempura-like breading and the similarly prepared mushrooms were our favorites. Throughout nearly the entire meal, two or more servers stood nearby and watched us. Again, there seemed to be too little to do for too many people. As always, people were quite friendly. DouDou tells us that the Chinese eat a large quantity of food; however, the lack of fat (and cheese) probably explains why they tend to stay slim. The higher level of physical activity, relative to that of Americans, probably contributes a lot to their overall level of fitness.
After dinner we went out onto Tiananmen Square to walk around. It was a nice night out and with the lights and all the people milling about it seemed festive. The square is next to the Great Hall of the People, where the Chinese government meets. Chairman Mao's mausoleum is on the square, as is a monument to the People's Heroes. Across the street is the Tiananmen gate to the Forbidden city. The picture at the top of the page is of that gate. We've got to end there as it's time to go meet DouDou again for our trip to the Ming Tombs and The Great Wall.
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Here is Julie and our guide DouDou at the Forbidden city. |
| Dan at the Forbidden city. |  |
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Statue at the Forbidden city. |
| Family at the Forbidden city |  |
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Dan and DouDou taking a break at the Forbidden city |
| The Opera stage at the Summer Palace |
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One of the thrones at the Forbidden City. |