We left Nanjing on a bullet train and arrived in Shanghai two hours later. The bad weather had yet to hit Shanghai, which was a pleasant surprise. After getting off the train, we took cabs to our hostel.
If Beijing is the Washington, DC of China, then Shanghai is definitely the New York equivalent. Shanghai is also a huge and bustling city with tons of people, tons of noise, tons of skyscrapers, and a beautiful modern city. The analogy also works because there is a part of Shanghai that is called Times Square. Our hostel was actually located just a few blocks away from Times Square. Shanghai is located right on the river and the name of the city literally translates this way. Shang means on or above and hai means sea or water.
In Shanghai, we were staying at the Captain’s International Youth Hostel, which we were all very excited about because of its sailor theme. The outside of the hostel looked like a ship and the inside was decorated with all sorts of nautical pieces. The door to our room looked like a cabin door and the bunks in our room all had portholes in the headboards.
After checking in at our hostel, we walked around the area on our side of the river. We found some street food, which I think really grew on all of us over break. We really enjoyed eating “twar” as it’s called in Beijing, or “twan” as it’s called in southern China, which is meat on a stick.
On our walk around Shanghai, we found the Pearl Tower, which is one of the most famous buildings of the Shanghai skyline. We also found a really pretty park, which was a very unexpected green patch in the middle of the city. We also found an eight-story shopping mall, where we played in Toys R Us for a bit. Shanghai is relatively well-known for its shopping scene.
After walking around for a bit, we walked back to our hostel to get ready to go to dinner and go out. For dinner, we found the West Gate equivalent of Shanghai. West Gate is our favorite restaurant in Beijing. We had the most delicious jiaozi, or dumplings. Soup dumplings and friend dumplings a traditional part of Shanghai cuisine.
After dinner, we walked to the river promenade along the water right near the Pearl Tower and the International Convention center. The view was breathtaking. From our side of the river, we could see the Bund, one of the most famous parts of Shanghai all lit up at night. There were also a bunch of small cafes located along the river, which along with the warm weather, made for a really pleasant walk.
Later, Jenn and Sarah went back to the hostel to go to sleep and Molly, Jon, Aaron, and I caught a cab across the river to the bund to check out the nightlife scene for which Shanghai is so well known. As soon as we got out of the cab, it starting pouring probably harder than rain I have ever seen before. By the time we were able to run under the awning of the nightclub we had selected, we were all soaked! It was pretty funny though because we unexpectedly met up with some other guys from our program who had spent all of Spring Break in Shanghai. We all had an awesome time, so much fun in fact, that we didn’t get back to the hostel until nearly 5:00 AM on Sunday morning.
We had to check out of hostel by noon on Sunday and shortly thereafter, we went back to the restaurant where we had eaten dinner the night before and filled up on delicious jiaozi. We then took the ferry across the river to walk around the bund. There were lots of shopping areas. The one thing I will remember most about our walk around Shanghai was the terrible smell of stinky tofu, which is apparently a street food delicacy in Shanghai. Due to the pollution problem in China, we have become accustomed to walking through what we refer to as “air pockets,” but the smell of stinky tofu was by far worse!
In our travels, we happened to stumble upon a Dunkin Doughnuts, which was a terrific discovery! We were still tired from the night before, so we took the opportunity to relax, enjoy a real cup of coffee and some Boston Crème doughnuts.
After this pit stop, we walked along the river on the bund side of Shanghai on the water near a lot of the financial buildings and the architecture that looks relatively European. Later, after walking for hours and taking more pictures of the skyline, we took the Shanghai subway system back to the other side of the river and went to our hostel to pick up our bags and head back to the train station.
Our train left Shanghai around 8:30 PM. This time around, we had all top bunks in a row, which actually ended up being a good thing so we were all able to sleep because we were all pretty tired. The lights went off pretty early too, probably around 10:30 PM. I slept pretty well on the train and didn’t wake up until 9:00 AM. We arrived back in Beijing around 10:00 AM and then took the subway back to Beida.
We had an awesome break! I felt that I really made the most of my break because we saw a lot of really cool things, got to travel a lot, relaxed a bit, and spent some time with some awesome friends. We came home with tons of inside jokes, pictures, and memories that I know will last a lifetime! The best part is that all of the traveling, hostels, food, and entertainment over the course of break cost us all only about $200! You definitely can’t beat that!
Now that we are back from Spring Break, I really feel like I am coming down with a serious case of spring fever. The weather is getting warmer in Beijing and flowers are blooming everywhere! I know in just a few weeks campus is going to look absolutely stunning! We are also at the exact halfway point through the semester. As of yesterday, we have been in China for 55 days and now have 55 days remaining.
I am very lucky because I have a few weeks of down time before I really have to start worrying about finals and papers. I also got my Chinese midterm back on Wednesday and my teacher announced that I had gotten the highest grade of all the beginner Chinese students!
This weekend will be a lot of fun. On Saturday, we will be traveling a few hours to visit the Cuan Dixia Village, which is an old village from the Ming and Qing dynasties that had remained fairly well preserved. This weekend is also two of my close friend’s birthdays, so we will be doing a lot of celebrating. We are also working on planning a weekend trip to Qingdao for next weekend, which will be awesome if everything goes according to plan!
More to come soon!
I Climbed The Great Wall!
You are not physically fit until you can climb the Great Wall!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Spring Break Nanjing!
So we have been back from Spring Break for a few days, but I still feel like I’m stuck in Spring Break mode! I could definitely use a vacation from my vacation, since the entire time we were busy sightseeing! I could not have asked for a better Spring Break! We barely got any sleep, but we got to see everything we wanted to and then some! I also could not have asked for better friends to spend break with!
We left Beijing on Wednesday night. We took an overnight sleeper train from Beijing central station to Nanjing. Our train left around 11:30 PM. The train ride was very much like our train ride to TaiShan a few weeks ago. Since there were six of us traveling together, we were able to get a whole cubby of bunks all to ourselves, which ended up being incredibly convenient for the long ride. Shortly after the tickets were collected, the lights went out, which was around midnight. I woke up around 8:00 AM, when the Chinese people on the train started waking up and making noise. I woke up to the sounds of “Beijing Yuanying Ni,” or in English, “Beijing Welcomes You,” which was a song created right before the Olympics. It’s very popular all over China. They play it in KTV, they carry speakers around and play it on the streets, and it’s so catchy that it gets stuck in your head and you end up singing it yourself. I am glad I got up early, however so that I could look out the window for the part of our trip through southern China in the daytime. It was really cool to see the farms and rice paddies, which is so different from the city life of Beijing.
After about 14 hours on the train, we arrived in Nanjing. While Nanjing is a major city, with a population of about 3 million people, it has a very different feel from Beijing. It appears just as busy as Beijing, but a lot more laid back and slower paced. It’s definitely a southern city. The weather is warmer, there were tons of flowers, and it was a lot more humid since canals of the Yhangtze River flow all throughout the city. It was also a quieter city with a lot less honking than Beijing, which I really appreciated!
After arriving in Nanjing and buying our next set of train tickets to Shanghai, we checked into our hostel, which was located right on the water of Fuzi Mao. Fuzi Mao is the pedestrian only shopping area surrounding the Confucian Temple. The hostel felt a lot like a summer camp. The six of us stayed in one room with bunk beds and one western style bathroom for the six of us to share. It was a real bonding experience! This is the first time I have ever stayed in a hostel. I couldn’t believe that we had a place to stay for only $7 a night!
After checking in at the hostel, we walked around Fuzi Mao. We visited the Imperial Examination Rooms, where we jumped over the dragon door for good luck on our exams. We also got to visit the Confucian Temple, which was decorated specially for the spring festival. The Fuzi Mao area was very cool. There were tons of rickshaw drivers, shops, and street food. As it got dark out, all of Fuzi Mao was lit in colored lights, which were really neat to see!
Because all of the restaurants in the Fuzi Mao area were really fancy and expensive, we walked outside of Fuzi Mao to a “hole in the wall restaurant,” which in China is where you will usually find the best food for the cheapest prices! The restaurant owners were so welcoming. I thought it was funny that they were able to pick up on the fact that we live in Beijing because we all speak Chinese with a Beijing accent. In Beijing, a lot of words are pronounced with what is called a retroflex ending, which basically sounds like “argggh” at the end of every word. This type of pronunciation is very uncommon in southern China. Dinner was delicious! We tried the specialty of Nanjing duck, which was served cold. I have to confess though I like the Peking duck in Beijing better!
After dinner, because we were tired from traveling, we went back to our hostel. Our hostel had a pool table, so we actually ended up having a pool tournament, which was a lot of fun. Jon and I, the underdog team, came out on top to win the tournament! After pool, we went back to our room and played bullshit with two decks of cards, which is something I probably haven’t done since the lunch table in high school. It was so nice to just hang out all together and play games at the hostel.
We went to sleep relatively early. The comforters on our hostel beds were really funny because they seemed really juvenile and were some excellent displays of “Chinglish.” For example, Aaron’s comforter had puppies on it labeled as “xiao pengyou,” or “little friends,” and Jon’s blanket had teddy bears labeled as apples.
On Friday morning, we accidentally slept in because we accidentally set the alarm for PM instead of AM. It was 10:30 AM before someone woke up and noticed the time. It was not a big deal because the six of us were able to quickly get ready and head out to Purple Mountain. For all of us history nerds, Purple Mountain was a major highlight of Spring Break. Not only is the mountain picturesque, but you can also hike all around the mountain to a ton of different historical sites.
Our first stop on Purple Mountain was Dr. Sun Yet-Sen’s Mausoleum. Dr. Sun Yet-Sen was responsible for ending the traditional dynastic system in China and promoting democracy. It is also ironic because as a child, Dr. Sun Yet-Sen was sent to the United States to study and actually attended the same school as Barack Obama in Hawaii. When Sun Yet-Sen died of liver cancer, his body was kept in Beijing while the mausoleum was built and then moved to Nanjing. Unlike Mao’s mausoleum in Beijing, Sun Yet-Sen’s body is covered by a plaster mold. His mausoleum is also surrounded by beautiful gardens with an impeccable view of the city.
After seeing the mausoleum, we went to Sun Yet-Sen Memorial Hall, which was a museum all about Sun Yet-Sen. It was really cool because the museum had primary documents and writings of Sun Yet-Sen as well as the authentic furniture from his study. There were also pictures of famous world leaders coming to visit the mausoleum, including President George Bush Sr.
After seeing the Memorial Hall, we hiked to the Lingguo Pagoda and Temple. We climbed all the way up to the top of the pagoda where we had a beautiful view of several of the sights of Purple Mountain, as well as the Nanjing skyline in the distance. At the top of the pagoda, a tradition has been started that it is custom to write your name on the wall of the pagoda at the top. I was able to write my name in Chinese characters on the pagoda wall to prove that I had made it all the way to the top!
Our next stop on the Mountain was the Outdoor Music Venue, which was beautiful. There were fountain choreographed to music and plum trees blossoming all around the amphitheatre. The worst part about the Outdoor Music Venue was the pigeons everywhere. There were white pigeons, which in China were clearly dirty, who were just landing on people’s arms, heads, and shoulders. One pigeon got awfully close to me and I swatted it away, but I have to say that I was a little bit freaked out. Molly has a really funny picture of me swatting the pigeon, where the pigeon is just a big, white blur in the picture.
We then hiked to the Ming tombs housing the bodies of the royalty of the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, a lot of the tombs are undergoing renovation, but what we were able to see was pretty cool. What I thought was even cooler was the Ming Tombs spiritual walk where there are giant statues of mythical creatures intended to protect the tombs. Of course, we had a blast climbing these giant stone creatures and taking pictures!
By the time we left Purple Mountain, it was already 6 PM. I think we really took advantage of the day and got to see some really cool, historical things! We decided to take the bus back to Fuzi Mao from Purple Mountain, which ended up being a really good choice. It cost only two kuai, which is about 30 cents, for an hour bus ride that really allowed us to see the entire city. I’m always fascinated by how everything in China is always lit up and so colorful at night!
When we got back to our hostel, we freshened up and went out to dinner. The food we had was absolutely delicious. When we walked out of the restaurant, we saw some fire dancers with torches dancing in the distance and decided to go and check it out. The fire dancers were on the other side of this gate and there was a huge crowd of Chinese people watching. There was a huge performance going on inside the park on the other side of the gate in honor of the last day of the spring festival. All of a sudden the guard at the gate turns to us and says “nimen xiang jin lai ma?” which means do you want to come in? The guard snuck all six of us into the performance for free by letting us in through the backstage gate. We were literally on the stage with all of the lights and the actors. There were people dressed up like Huns that we ended up running from because we didn’t want to end up actually being a part of the show. We found some rocks to sit on by a Confucius statue and watched the rest of the show. There were sword fighters, and plate spinners, and boats, and dancers, and the most beautiful fireworks I have ever seen. It felt very much like a Disney Epcot show.
After the finale of the show, which ended with about 15 minutes of straight fireworks, we were able to walk around the garden and check on the canals, some pretty cool statutes, and another beautifully lit pagoda. Jenn and Sarah went back to the hostel to go to sleep and Molly, Jon, Aaron and I went to a video game arcade near Fuzi Mao, which was a great way to spend all of our jiao, which are coins that are worth even less than a penny. We then went back to the hostel and went to sleep.
The next morning we woke up really early so we could all be ready to be at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial as soon as it opened at 8:30 AM. We actually got ready so quickly that we were able to grab a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin before heading down to the Memorial. The weather was really overcast and it looked like it was about to rain.
Outside of the memorial, there were fountains and statues. The statues were of emaciated Chinese people carrying their dead children and wives. In both English and Chinese, the statues were captioned with slogans such as “Family Ruined.” Outside of the memorial, I made a Chinese friend. He was a young boy who came up to me and was so excited that we were at the memorial. He could not believe that I was able to speak to him in Chinese. He told me that I was very beautiful and that he liked my blonde hair and took a picture with me. The guards outside of the memorial actually did not allow people to enter the memorial until a little bit before 9:00 AM. When we entered the memorial, the guards had us, as foreigners, sign the guest book for the memorial. I assume they track the number of international visitors. I found it very odd that there were not more foreigners at the memorial.
To start the tour of the memorial, we went into the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Museum. When you first enter the museum, you walk into this dark room. All of the walls are black and reflective and there is a big screen hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. Every five seconds a bell was rung and the portrait of another victim flashed across the screen.
The museum was three or four floors and it was so well done that it completely blew the Smithsonian Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC out of the water. The museum housed so many primary documents, including a ton of Japanese propaganda and testimonials from survivors as well as Japanese soldiers reflecting on their involvement in the attack. The thing that gave me the chills however, were letters from Hitler to different activists, praising them for the work in helping the women and children who were wounded and raped in the attack. Note here that the Nanjing Massacre took the lives of 300,000 victims as a part of the War of Japanese Aggression Against China from 1937-1938, just a few short years before the start of World War II and the Holocaust in Germany. As we were going through the museum, the Chinese tourists came up to us and asked us how we knew about the Nanjing massacre. They were in disbelief that we had actually studied the Japanese War of Aggression in school because in Japan, this era of history in not ever discussed. I think several of the Chinese visitors really appreciated our presence and our respect. I could have spent the whole day in the museum. It was really unfortunate that our time was so limited.
When we came out of the museum, it was thundering and lightening, which really helped to set the tone for the memorial. We walked passed bells and a big wall displaying the number 300,000 to honor the victims. We then walked through a garden with stone walls, with scenes from the Rape of Nanjing carved into the garden’s walls. The next part of the memorial, the open mass grave, was the most moving and terrifying thing I think I have ever seen. The mass grave is so tastefully done, that it feels very much like a museum and it becomes difficult to believe that you are looking at the actual piles of skeletons of the innocent Chinese women and children killed during the Nanjing incident. When we came out of the mass grave, we walked into a reflection hall, where a single flame was burning in absolute silence. When we left the reflection hall, we reached the final section of the memorial, a huge outdoor reflecting pool with the statue of peace at the far end. As soon as we stepped outside, the clouds opened up and it started to rain, culminating are experience at the memorial. The memorial was definitely one the things I was most looking forward to seeing and it by far exceeded all of my expectations.
We then went back to Fuzi Mao, checked out of our hostel, and were on our way to the second half of our Spring Break adventure in Shanghai!
We left Beijing on Wednesday night. We took an overnight sleeper train from Beijing central station to Nanjing. Our train left around 11:30 PM. The train ride was very much like our train ride to TaiShan a few weeks ago. Since there were six of us traveling together, we were able to get a whole cubby of bunks all to ourselves, which ended up being incredibly convenient for the long ride. Shortly after the tickets were collected, the lights went out, which was around midnight. I woke up around 8:00 AM, when the Chinese people on the train started waking up and making noise. I woke up to the sounds of “Beijing Yuanying Ni,” or in English, “Beijing Welcomes You,” which was a song created right before the Olympics. It’s very popular all over China. They play it in KTV, they carry speakers around and play it on the streets, and it’s so catchy that it gets stuck in your head and you end up singing it yourself. I am glad I got up early, however so that I could look out the window for the part of our trip through southern China in the daytime. It was really cool to see the farms and rice paddies, which is so different from the city life of Beijing.
After about 14 hours on the train, we arrived in Nanjing. While Nanjing is a major city, with a population of about 3 million people, it has a very different feel from Beijing. It appears just as busy as Beijing, but a lot more laid back and slower paced. It’s definitely a southern city. The weather is warmer, there were tons of flowers, and it was a lot more humid since canals of the Yhangtze River flow all throughout the city. It was also a quieter city with a lot less honking than Beijing, which I really appreciated!
After arriving in Nanjing and buying our next set of train tickets to Shanghai, we checked into our hostel, which was located right on the water of Fuzi Mao. Fuzi Mao is the pedestrian only shopping area surrounding the Confucian Temple. The hostel felt a lot like a summer camp. The six of us stayed in one room with bunk beds and one western style bathroom for the six of us to share. It was a real bonding experience! This is the first time I have ever stayed in a hostel. I couldn’t believe that we had a place to stay for only $7 a night!
After checking in at the hostel, we walked around Fuzi Mao. We visited the Imperial Examination Rooms, where we jumped over the dragon door for good luck on our exams. We also got to visit the Confucian Temple, which was decorated specially for the spring festival. The Fuzi Mao area was very cool. There were tons of rickshaw drivers, shops, and street food. As it got dark out, all of Fuzi Mao was lit in colored lights, which were really neat to see!
Because all of the restaurants in the Fuzi Mao area were really fancy and expensive, we walked outside of Fuzi Mao to a “hole in the wall restaurant,” which in China is where you will usually find the best food for the cheapest prices! The restaurant owners were so welcoming. I thought it was funny that they were able to pick up on the fact that we live in Beijing because we all speak Chinese with a Beijing accent. In Beijing, a lot of words are pronounced with what is called a retroflex ending, which basically sounds like “argggh” at the end of every word. This type of pronunciation is very uncommon in southern China. Dinner was delicious! We tried the specialty of Nanjing duck, which was served cold. I have to confess though I like the Peking duck in Beijing better!
After dinner, because we were tired from traveling, we went back to our hostel. Our hostel had a pool table, so we actually ended up having a pool tournament, which was a lot of fun. Jon and I, the underdog team, came out on top to win the tournament! After pool, we went back to our room and played bullshit with two decks of cards, which is something I probably haven’t done since the lunch table in high school. It was so nice to just hang out all together and play games at the hostel.
We went to sleep relatively early. The comforters on our hostel beds were really funny because they seemed really juvenile and were some excellent displays of “Chinglish.” For example, Aaron’s comforter had puppies on it labeled as “xiao pengyou,” or “little friends,” and Jon’s blanket had teddy bears labeled as apples.
On Friday morning, we accidentally slept in because we accidentally set the alarm for PM instead of AM. It was 10:30 AM before someone woke up and noticed the time. It was not a big deal because the six of us were able to quickly get ready and head out to Purple Mountain. For all of us history nerds, Purple Mountain was a major highlight of Spring Break. Not only is the mountain picturesque, but you can also hike all around the mountain to a ton of different historical sites.
Our first stop on Purple Mountain was Dr. Sun Yet-Sen’s Mausoleum. Dr. Sun Yet-Sen was responsible for ending the traditional dynastic system in China and promoting democracy. It is also ironic because as a child, Dr. Sun Yet-Sen was sent to the United States to study and actually attended the same school as Barack Obama in Hawaii. When Sun Yet-Sen died of liver cancer, his body was kept in Beijing while the mausoleum was built and then moved to Nanjing. Unlike Mao’s mausoleum in Beijing, Sun Yet-Sen’s body is covered by a plaster mold. His mausoleum is also surrounded by beautiful gardens with an impeccable view of the city.
After seeing the mausoleum, we went to Sun Yet-Sen Memorial Hall, which was a museum all about Sun Yet-Sen. It was really cool because the museum had primary documents and writings of Sun Yet-Sen as well as the authentic furniture from his study. There were also pictures of famous world leaders coming to visit the mausoleum, including President George Bush Sr.
After seeing the Memorial Hall, we hiked to the Lingguo Pagoda and Temple. We climbed all the way up to the top of the pagoda where we had a beautiful view of several of the sights of Purple Mountain, as well as the Nanjing skyline in the distance. At the top of the pagoda, a tradition has been started that it is custom to write your name on the wall of the pagoda at the top. I was able to write my name in Chinese characters on the pagoda wall to prove that I had made it all the way to the top!
Our next stop on the Mountain was the Outdoor Music Venue, which was beautiful. There were fountain choreographed to music and plum trees blossoming all around the amphitheatre. The worst part about the Outdoor Music Venue was the pigeons everywhere. There were white pigeons, which in China were clearly dirty, who were just landing on people’s arms, heads, and shoulders. One pigeon got awfully close to me and I swatted it away, but I have to say that I was a little bit freaked out. Molly has a really funny picture of me swatting the pigeon, where the pigeon is just a big, white blur in the picture.
We then hiked to the Ming tombs housing the bodies of the royalty of the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, a lot of the tombs are undergoing renovation, but what we were able to see was pretty cool. What I thought was even cooler was the Ming Tombs spiritual walk where there are giant statues of mythical creatures intended to protect the tombs. Of course, we had a blast climbing these giant stone creatures and taking pictures!
By the time we left Purple Mountain, it was already 6 PM. I think we really took advantage of the day and got to see some really cool, historical things! We decided to take the bus back to Fuzi Mao from Purple Mountain, which ended up being a really good choice. It cost only two kuai, which is about 30 cents, for an hour bus ride that really allowed us to see the entire city. I’m always fascinated by how everything in China is always lit up and so colorful at night!
When we got back to our hostel, we freshened up and went out to dinner. The food we had was absolutely delicious. When we walked out of the restaurant, we saw some fire dancers with torches dancing in the distance and decided to go and check it out. The fire dancers were on the other side of this gate and there was a huge crowd of Chinese people watching. There was a huge performance going on inside the park on the other side of the gate in honor of the last day of the spring festival. All of a sudden the guard at the gate turns to us and says “nimen xiang jin lai ma?” which means do you want to come in? The guard snuck all six of us into the performance for free by letting us in through the backstage gate. We were literally on the stage with all of the lights and the actors. There were people dressed up like Huns that we ended up running from because we didn’t want to end up actually being a part of the show. We found some rocks to sit on by a Confucius statue and watched the rest of the show. There were sword fighters, and plate spinners, and boats, and dancers, and the most beautiful fireworks I have ever seen. It felt very much like a Disney Epcot show.
After the finale of the show, which ended with about 15 minutes of straight fireworks, we were able to walk around the garden and check on the canals, some pretty cool statutes, and another beautifully lit pagoda. Jenn and Sarah went back to the hostel to go to sleep and Molly, Jon, Aaron and I went to a video game arcade near Fuzi Mao, which was a great way to spend all of our jiao, which are coins that are worth even less than a penny. We then went back to the hostel and went to sleep.
The next morning we woke up really early so we could all be ready to be at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial as soon as it opened at 8:30 AM. We actually got ready so quickly that we were able to grab a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin before heading down to the Memorial. The weather was really overcast and it looked like it was about to rain.
Outside of the memorial, there were fountains and statues. The statues were of emaciated Chinese people carrying their dead children and wives. In both English and Chinese, the statues were captioned with slogans such as “Family Ruined.” Outside of the memorial, I made a Chinese friend. He was a young boy who came up to me and was so excited that we were at the memorial. He could not believe that I was able to speak to him in Chinese. He told me that I was very beautiful and that he liked my blonde hair and took a picture with me. The guards outside of the memorial actually did not allow people to enter the memorial until a little bit before 9:00 AM. When we entered the memorial, the guards had us, as foreigners, sign the guest book for the memorial. I assume they track the number of international visitors. I found it very odd that there were not more foreigners at the memorial.
To start the tour of the memorial, we went into the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Museum. When you first enter the museum, you walk into this dark room. All of the walls are black and reflective and there is a big screen hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. Every five seconds a bell was rung and the portrait of another victim flashed across the screen.
The museum was three or four floors and it was so well done that it completely blew the Smithsonian Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC out of the water. The museum housed so many primary documents, including a ton of Japanese propaganda and testimonials from survivors as well as Japanese soldiers reflecting on their involvement in the attack. The thing that gave me the chills however, were letters from Hitler to different activists, praising them for the work in helping the women and children who were wounded and raped in the attack. Note here that the Nanjing Massacre took the lives of 300,000 victims as a part of the War of Japanese Aggression Against China from 1937-1938, just a few short years before the start of World War II and the Holocaust in Germany. As we were going through the museum, the Chinese tourists came up to us and asked us how we knew about the Nanjing massacre. They were in disbelief that we had actually studied the Japanese War of Aggression in school because in Japan, this era of history in not ever discussed. I think several of the Chinese visitors really appreciated our presence and our respect. I could have spent the whole day in the museum. It was really unfortunate that our time was so limited.
When we came out of the museum, it was thundering and lightening, which really helped to set the tone for the memorial. We walked passed bells and a big wall displaying the number 300,000 to honor the victims. We then walked through a garden with stone walls, with scenes from the Rape of Nanjing carved into the garden’s walls. The next part of the memorial, the open mass grave, was the most moving and terrifying thing I think I have ever seen. The mass grave is so tastefully done, that it feels very much like a museum and it becomes difficult to believe that you are looking at the actual piles of skeletons of the innocent Chinese women and children killed during the Nanjing incident. When we came out of the mass grave, we walked into a reflection hall, where a single flame was burning in absolute silence. When we left the reflection hall, we reached the final section of the memorial, a huge outdoor reflecting pool with the statue of peace at the far end. As soon as we stepped outside, the clouds opened up and it started to rain, culminating are experience at the memorial. The memorial was definitely one the things I was most looking forward to seeing and it by far exceeded all of my expectations.
We then went back to Fuzi Mao, checked out of our hostel, and were on our way to the second half of our Spring Break adventure in Shanghai!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Forbidden City
The past few days in Beijing have been incredibly beautiful. It has felt like summer and the flowers are starting to bloom. I thought campus looked beautiful in the wintertime and now I am even more in awe of Beida’s beauty.
The past week has also been incredibly busy with schoolwork. Believe it or not, I have already finished half of my semester in China, which of course implies midterm papers and exams. Last Tuesday, I turned in a term paper proposal for China in the Global Economy. Last Friday, I turned in a 15-page literature review for my independent study on Chinese Media and Society. Today, I had a Chinese midterm in the morning and then had to turn in a 20-page paper for my independent study on Chinese Women’s Studies. Whoever said that classes abroad were supposed to be extremely lax has apparently never studied at Beida.
Despite the schoolwork that was piled on this week, I have still been able to enjoy a lot of Beijing. This past Saturday, we visited the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties and was built back in the 1400s. The Forbidden City is located along the northern boundary of Tiananmen Square and is surrounded by a huge moat.
Before touring the Forbidden City, we got to visit Tiananmen Square, which is were the major protests at the end of the Cultural Revolution occurred. In China, most of the time, the Tiananmen Square protests, which consisted mostly of Beida students, is frequently referred to as “the incident.” From Tiananmen Square we also saw Mao’s mausoleum, where you can view Mao’s body, the Great Hall of the people, the equivalent of our Capitol Hill, and the Tiananmen Gate to the Forbidden City.
Walking around the Forbidden City was very interesting. There are several gates within the city, several temples, and other recreational facilities for the emperors. We also got to see the Imperial Garden, which was absolutely beautiful. I definitely plan on visiting the Forbidden City again before I leave Beijing!
While we were at the Forbidden City, I definitely had a cultural experience. I don’t know if I mentioned it before in previous blog entries, but it is pretty typical in China for babies and toddlers to go to the bathroom on the street. As a matter of fact, most of the young children here wear outfits with a hole cut out in the butt area to make peeing and pooping on the street fairly convenient. Seeing a baby pop a squat on the steps of the Forbidden City was completely bizarre to me. I guess, in my mind, it’s kind of the equivalent of a baby pooping on the steps of the White House. I guess it’s just a huge cultural difference. Apparently, nothing is sacred in China.
Last night, I spent the whole night studying for Chinese. It was really cool because at one point, we took a study break and went up on the roof of our building and hung out while checking out the Beijing skyline. It was so warm out and the view was so beautiful. This is definitely something I will never be able to do in Washington, DC and something I am really going to miss about China.
So, we are leaving for Spring Break in about a half hour. We are all so excited! We are taking the overnight train to Nanjing tonight. We will arrive in Nanjing around noon tomorrow and spend a few days sightseeing there. On Saturday morning, we will head to Shanghai. We will take the overnight train back to Beijing on Sunday night and arrive back in Beijing on Monday morning. Fortunately, my class on Monday is cancelled so I will have all day to take a break from Spring Break! I will update more then!
The past week has also been incredibly busy with schoolwork. Believe it or not, I have already finished half of my semester in China, which of course implies midterm papers and exams. Last Tuesday, I turned in a term paper proposal for China in the Global Economy. Last Friday, I turned in a 15-page literature review for my independent study on Chinese Media and Society. Today, I had a Chinese midterm in the morning and then had to turn in a 20-page paper for my independent study on Chinese Women’s Studies. Whoever said that classes abroad were supposed to be extremely lax has apparently never studied at Beida.
Despite the schoolwork that was piled on this week, I have still been able to enjoy a lot of Beijing. This past Saturday, we visited the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties and was built back in the 1400s. The Forbidden City is located along the northern boundary of Tiananmen Square and is surrounded by a huge moat.
Before touring the Forbidden City, we got to visit Tiananmen Square, which is were the major protests at the end of the Cultural Revolution occurred. In China, most of the time, the Tiananmen Square protests, which consisted mostly of Beida students, is frequently referred to as “the incident.” From Tiananmen Square we also saw Mao’s mausoleum, where you can view Mao’s body, the Great Hall of the people, the equivalent of our Capitol Hill, and the Tiananmen Gate to the Forbidden City.
Walking around the Forbidden City was very interesting. There are several gates within the city, several temples, and other recreational facilities for the emperors. We also got to see the Imperial Garden, which was absolutely beautiful. I definitely plan on visiting the Forbidden City again before I leave Beijing!
While we were at the Forbidden City, I definitely had a cultural experience. I don’t know if I mentioned it before in previous blog entries, but it is pretty typical in China for babies and toddlers to go to the bathroom on the street. As a matter of fact, most of the young children here wear outfits with a hole cut out in the butt area to make peeing and pooping on the street fairly convenient. Seeing a baby pop a squat on the steps of the Forbidden City was completely bizarre to me. I guess, in my mind, it’s kind of the equivalent of a baby pooping on the steps of the White House. I guess it’s just a huge cultural difference. Apparently, nothing is sacred in China.
Last night, I spent the whole night studying for Chinese. It was really cool because at one point, we took a study break and went up on the roof of our building and hung out while checking out the Beijing skyline. It was so warm out and the view was so beautiful. This is definitely something I will never be able to do in Washington, DC and something I am really going to miss about China.
So, we are leaving for Spring Break in about a half hour. We are all so excited! We are taking the overnight train to Nanjing tonight. We will arrive in Nanjing around noon tomorrow and spend a few days sightseeing there. On Saturday morning, we will head to Shanghai. We will take the overnight train back to Beijing on Sunday night and arrive back in Beijing on Monday morning. Fortunately, my class on Monday is cancelled so I will have all day to take a break from Spring Break! I will update more then!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
TAISHAN: “And I Would Walk 500 Miles And I Would Walk 500 More…”
We just got back from TaiShan a little while ago and oh, boy what a weekend! I thought the Great Wall was a challenge, but climbing TaiShan was an even more physically taxing activity!
I’m really glad I went to TaiShan this weekend because I feel the whole trip was a little bit out of character for me. We basically jumped on a train on Friday night, with only what we could fit in a small backpack, with no idea what to expect once we arrived in Taian, no idea where we would spend Saturday night, and not a clue as to where and even if we might be able to shower. I have noticed that this “figure it out as you go” attitude is definitely a part of nearsighted Chinese culture and I think the spontaneity of it all is only going to change me for the better.
All together, twelve of us ventured to TaiShan this weekend. We had bunks all in a row on the train, which ended up being a lot of fun. I have never been on an overnight train before, so I had no idea what to expect. I was definitely pleasantly surprised. I was able to get a few hours of sleep on the train. After leaving the Beijing Railway Station, our tickets were collected so that the stewards could wake us up before our stop. We arrived in Jinan around 6:00 AM.
Our first real bonding experience of the weekend occurred in Jinan when we got off the train. We decided to go to the bathroom before getting on the bus to Taian. Not only was the bathroom a squatter, but perhaps more accurately described as a restroom watering hall without walls and stalls. I think I’m just about used to the whole squatter routine now. All of us girls pretty much chalked the experience up to “hey, we are in china” and bonded over it.
The bus to Taian took about an hour and a half. We were able to nap a bit on the bus, which was good, but it was definitely interesting to watch the scenery change as we left the urban area and drove towards the mountains. When we arrived in Taian, we took cabs to the Dai Temple at the base of the mountain, which was where our hike was to begin.
We took the central route up the mountain. This route is the most famous and scenic one because it has been traveled by Confucius and several emperors throughout Chinese history. The temple was beautiful. The irony, however, occurred when we exited the temple right into the TaiShan beer festival. We watched a bit of a dance performance to get a cultural feel for the village, and then continued up the main road, where we stopped for lunch and then made our way to the base of the mountain.
The hike was a lot harder than I thought it would be. We started off easy with just a few steps separated by long plateaus. As we climbed higher and higher, the steps appeared in greater quantities and the plateaus became shorter and eventually non-existent. We took our time going up, enjoying the breathtaking views and the small temples on the mountainside. We were really tired by the time we reached the halfway point, but opted to finish the hike rather than taking a cable car to the summit. The last stretch of the climb was the hardest, because it was completely vertical. The steps were also so narrow that you could not fit your whole foot on the step in front of you. We often had to take these steps slowly and sideways. Along the way, several Chinese visitors stopped to talk to us and take pictures with us. I’m pretty sure we were just about the only foreigners on the mountain.
Finally, after almost four hours of hiking and climbing, the end was in sight. Jenn, Sarah, Jon, Aaron, and I linked arms, started chanting the lyrics of 500 miles, and crossed the final step together. I was really proud of us for making it to the top under our own steam and for supporting each other the entire way.
It was so cold at the top of the mountain that there was snow and I had to bundle up and put on more layers. The other members of our group decided to stay on top of the mountain over night and hike down the mountain at 5AM on Sunday morning in order to make the train in Jinan at 10AM. After scoping out the village at the top of the mountain, we decided to hike down and stay in Taian for the night so that we could get to the village before it got too dark and so we wouldn’t be too stressed about missing the train the next morning.
The hike down was even more difficult than the hike up. The straight vertical descendant was both thrilling and terrifying. We had to take it really slowly. Even at a slow pace, I missed a step at one point and almost fell. Luckily, I caught myself. By the time we got to the halfway point my legs felt like Jello and were shaking and my back ached from lugging my backpack up the mountain. Fortunately, we were able to catch one of the last buses off the mountain to Jinan below. As we reached the halfway point, we were able to catch a beautiful sunset before boarding the bus.
By the time we got to the village, we were all completely pooped. We found a nice hotel that we were able to bargain for about 200 kuai for Jenn, Jon, Aaron, and I to share a room. That’s about seven American dollars for a hotel with a shower, hot water, heat, and comfy beds! The bathroom at our hotel was so interesting. It was basically a glass box and the center of the glass was cloudy. The shower-head stuck out of the wall, essentially making the whole glass box the shower.
After everyone freshened up, we walked about a block away to get something for dinner. This restaurant was very different from other restaurants we have tried in China. There was no menu. Instead we went into a room where all the ingredients were out and chose exactly what we wanted to eat. Everything was good, except for the chicken. We didn’t realize while ordering that we were essentially asking for the whole chicken (head, feet, and all) to be chopped up and served to us. It was a bit funny to watch Jon and Aaron struggle to try to eat the chicken feet.
After dinner we went back to the hotel, put on our sweats and relaxed. We were all in bed by 10PM because we were so tired!
On Sunday morning, we woke up at 7AM to change and head to the bus station. We caught the bus to Jinan where we met up with the rest of our group on the train. They had some problems getting down the mountain early in the morning, but fortunately we all just made the train.
The train we took back to Beijing was another fast train, like the one we took to Tianjin a few weeks ago. Because we were traveling at over 100 miles per hour, we were back in Beijing in about three hours.
Although I’m tired and a bit sore, I wouldn’t change the experience I had this weekend for anything. I stepped outside of my comfort zone a bit, tried something new, bonded even more with my friends here in Beijing, and overcame the challenges along the way to make it all the way to the top of TaiShan. I strongly feel this is what studying abroad is all about. It’s about pushing yourself, finding that you can do things you never thought you could do, and appreciating a lifestyle that seems foreign to you.
The sites at TaiShan were beautiful and I know I will definitely remember this weekend and all of my friends here for the rest of my life. Now… I am even more pumped for our Spring Break trip in a week and a half!
I’m really glad I went to TaiShan this weekend because I feel the whole trip was a little bit out of character for me. We basically jumped on a train on Friday night, with only what we could fit in a small backpack, with no idea what to expect once we arrived in Taian, no idea where we would spend Saturday night, and not a clue as to where and even if we might be able to shower. I have noticed that this “figure it out as you go” attitude is definitely a part of nearsighted Chinese culture and I think the spontaneity of it all is only going to change me for the better.
All together, twelve of us ventured to TaiShan this weekend. We had bunks all in a row on the train, which ended up being a lot of fun. I have never been on an overnight train before, so I had no idea what to expect. I was definitely pleasantly surprised. I was able to get a few hours of sleep on the train. After leaving the Beijing Railway Station, our tickets were collected so that the stewards could wake us up before our stop. We arrived in Jinan around 6:00 AM.
Our first real bonding experience of the weekend occurred in Jinan when we got off the train. We decided to go to the bathroom before getting on the bus to Taian. Not only was the bathroom a squatter, but perhaps more accurately described as a restroom watering hall without walls and stalls. I think I’m just about used to the whole squatter routine now. All of us girls pretty much chalked the experience up to “hey, we are in china” and bonded over it.
The bus to Taian took about an hour and a half. We were able to nap a bit on the bus, which was good, but it was definitely interesting to watch the scenery change as we left the urban area and drove towards the mountains. When we arrived in Taian, we took cabs to the Dai Temple at the base of the mountain, which was where our hike was to begin.
We took the central route up the mountain. This route is the most famous and scenic one because it has been traveled by Confucius and several emperors throughout Chinese history. The temple was beautiful. The irony, however, occurred when we exited the temple right into the TaiShan beer festival. We watched a bit of a dance performance to get a cultural feel for the village, and then continued up the main road, where we stopped for lunch and then made our way to the base of the mountain.
The hike was a lot harder than I thought it would be. We started off easy with just a few steps separated by long plateaus. As we climbed higher and higher, the steps appeared in greater quantities and the plateaus became shorter and eventually non-existent. We took our time going up, enjoying the breathtaking views and the small temples on the mountainside. We were really tired by the time we reached the halfway point, but opted to finish the hike rather than taking a cable car to the summit. The last stretch of the climb was the hardest, because it was completely vertical. The steps were also so narrow that you could not fit your whole foot on the step in front of you. We often had to take these steps slowly and sideways. Along the way, several Chinese visitors stopped to talk to us and take pictures with us. I’m pretty sure we were just about the only foreigners on the mountain.
Finally, after almost four hours of hiking and climbing, the end was in sight. Jenn, Sarah, Jon, Aaron, and I linked arms, started chanting the lyrics of 500 miles, and crossed the final step together. I was really proud of us for making it to the top under our own steam and for supporting each other the entire way.
It was so cold at the top of the mountain that there was snow and I had to bundle up and put on more layers. The other members of our group decided to stay on top of the mountain over night and hike down the mountain at 5AM on Sunday morning in order to make the train in Jinan at 10AM. After scoping out the village at the top of the mountain, we decided to hike down and stay in Taian for the night so that we could get to the village before it got too dark and so we wouldn’t be too stressed about missing the train the next morning.
The hike down was even more difficult than the hike up. The straight vertical descendant was both thrilling and terrifying. We had to take it really slowly. Even at a slow pace, I missed a step at one point and almost fell. Luckily, I caught myself. By the time we got to the halfway point my legs felt like Jello and were shaking and my back ached from lugging my backpack up the mountain. Fortunately, we were able to catch one of the last buses off the mountain to Jinan below. As we reached the halfway point, we were able to catch a beautiful sunset before boarding the bus.
By the time we got to the village, we were all completely pooped. We found a nice hotel that we were able to bargain for about 200 kuai for Jenn, Jon, Aaron, and I to share a room. That’s about seven American dollars for a hotel with a shower, hot water, heat, and comfy beds! The bathroom at our hotel was so interesting. It was basically a glass box and the center of the glass was cloudy. The shower-head stuck out of the wall, essentially making the whole glass box the shower.
After everyone freshened up, we walked about a block away to get something for dinner. This restaurant was very different from other restaurants we have tried in China. There was no menu. Instead we went into a room where all the ingredients were out and chose exactly what we wanted to eat. Everything was good, except for the chicken. We didn’t realize while ordering that we were essentially asking for the whole chicken (head, feet, and all) to be chopped up and served to us. It was a bit funny to watch Jon and Aaron struggle to try to eat the chicken feet.
After dinner we went back to the hotel, put on our sweats and relaxed. We were all in bed by 10PM because we were so tired!
On Sunday morning, we woke up at 7AM to change and head to the bus station. We caught the bus to Jinan where we met up with the rest of our group on the train. They had some problems getting down the mountain early in the morning, but fortunately we all just made the train.
The train we took back to Beijing was another fast train, like the one we took to Tianjin a few weeks ago. Because we were traveling at over 100 miles per hour, we were back in Beijing in about three hours.
Although I’m tired and a bit sore, I wouldn’t change the experience I had this weekend for anything. I stepped outside of my comfort zone a bit, tried something new, bonded even more with my friends here in Beijing, and overcame the challenges along the way to make it all the way to the top of TaiShan. I strongly feel this is what studying abroad is all about. It’s about pushing yourself, finding that you can do things you never thought you could do, and appreciating a lifestyle that seems foreign to you.
The sites at TaiShan were beautiful and I know I will definitely remember this weekend and all of my friends here for the rest of my life. Now… I am even more pumped for our Spring Break trip in a week and a half!
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