Feb. 26, 2015
As soon as the doors opened to the outside, I smelled smoke, and quickly checked the corner to the right of the doorway for a smoker, who was non-existent. I quickly scanned the area as we walked to our bus and I didn't see a single person smoking anywhere. I immediately wondered if this smell was the smog of Beijing. (After traveling a few days I either became acclimated to the smell or it really wasn't as strong at it first seemed)
Most of the buildings I saw on the way to the hotel, which was a relatively short drive, looked very modern. I saw guards outside of what appeared to be government buildings, many of which also had lion statues out front as well. I would continue to see these statues all over China, a symbol of power.
There were two things I saw on our ride that really stood out to me. The first was the large collections of apartment buildings under construction, often more than a dozen identical buildings adjacent to each other. This is something I witnessed all over the city during the next few days, and even on the way to Fuxin.
The second thing that stood out to me even more than the first was the seemingly endless plots of land dedicated to rows upon rows of trees that the government is trying to go. My professor's husband informed me that Beijing suffers from desertification and that all of these patches of trees, which I saw literally all over Beijing, even outside of the city near other monuments, are an effort to fight the desertification of the region.
Our dinner this first night was mounds of Chinese food, of course. It was very tasty like nearly all of the Chinese food I have on the day to day now. We also got to partake in the world's most consumed spirit - a Chinese drink called baijiu. It's a very strong drink with upwards of 40% alcohol, sometimes as high as 60%. The Chinese love to toast as well, so we had to take care not to have too much of this powerful drink. After our dinner we finally got to retire to our rooms after a long time traveling, and since I didn't sleep on the plane, I was happy to try to get some shuteye.
Feb. 27
After waking up a few times during the night, the rice and noodles for breakfast were delicious. I drank yogurt through a straw because I didn't feel like stabbing it with chopsticks and there were no spoons.
After breakfast we headed out for the Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City, and after our bus driving being in reverse in the middle of the street once, driving the complete opposite direction, and making a few u-turns, we were on our way. On our way there it was explained to me that all of the apartment buildings under construction in the area are part of a government project for large housing and commercial needs.
As we got deeper into the heart of Beijing, I started seeing people doing Tai Chi in nearly every available park in the city. It was very interesting to see. On the same note, nearly every last bit of space in Beijing is used for something, there were even small parks build under some of the city's numerous overpasses.
Finally departing the bus we headed down a large walkway that took us towards Tienanmen Square. Some of the trees were wearing multicolored, knitted sweaters, which I found hilarious. The square itself was interesting to visit, but I was now noticing the behavior of the Chinese people around me, and how warmly they seemed to act towards each other. Even as I write this today, I can't say that one Chinese person has been rude to me in the slightest, they are all very welcoming. Something else rather funny, however, is that a lot of Chinese people are fascinated by those in my group and often want to take pictures of us or with us. I noticed many people taking pictures of us as we walked by without saying anything to us. Even more wanted to get pictures with us, though.
On another note, Beijing is a very westernized city, as are many aspects of China I have seen so far. Surely there are things that set it apart like its architecture, language, and diet, but there are many things that make us not so different. The Chinese are making just as much of an effort to take part in 21st century global society as anyone else.
Very cold but even more excited, we arrived at the Forbidden City for a quick run-through of some Chinese history.
It's a very pretty place, all of the statues and stone and metalwork was intricate and amazing.
After our run through of the Forbidden City we headed to lunch where we had quite the feast. I had Peking duck, which was exceptionally tasty. We ate in one of the many private rooms on the third floor of a restaurant. As we walked by the other rooms, I saw the Chinese people laughing, talking over each other, smoking; just enjoying themselves. A few of them waved at us as we walked by.
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| Some of the dishes were very well presented. |
Next we visited the Summer Palace, a collection of imperial gardens next to a lake. It was very visually pleasing.
