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北京 Day 2

China day in the life Friends NSLI-Y sightseeing 北京

After getting at least 10 wake up calls at 6:30, Sydney and I woke up to go eat breakfast and get ready for our first full day in 北京.  After having a wonderful, western styled breakfast with fried eggs, potatoes, and orange juice, we filled on the bus and headed for the 长城/ The Great Wall! We traveled through a small village before arriving at 慕田峪, a less-touristy part of the Great Wall.

It was absolutely beautiful with surrounding mountains and a clear sky. Generally, the pollution is very bad in 北京 but it had rained the night before, making the sky a perfect blue color. After a quick bathroom break at the welcome center, we walked to the bus stop that then took us up to the path that led to the Great Wall. We then were in the valley of the moun 

tains and when looking up, could faintly see the towers of the Great Wall. When given the option to either take the cable car or embark on the climb up to the Great Wall, I was 100% sure the hike would not be difficult. But I was wrong. Even though we were not on the actual Great Wall yet, the steps were still very uneven and steep. After 40 minutes of hiking practically straight up, we made it half way. We stopped for ice cream at a little shop before continuing. We turned a corner and saw the landing for the chair lift. My teacher immediately yelled, “快到了” meaning, “We will arrive quickly”. The breeze onto of the wall was heavenly, especially when you stuck your head in between the bricks. It was a natural AC unit. Every time you walked past one 

of the “peep holes” you could feel the cold air breeze coming from the surrounding mountains.

We were given 1 hour on top of the Great Wall before we had to meet back at the exit to go to lunch. I wish we were given more time, but I was still able to make it to the top tower when I ran. Climbing the Great Wall was so tiring because the steps were so uneven and unimaginably steep. We stopped every ten steps to take another picture of the amazing view and clouds. We stopped at the highest lookout point, and spent 10 minutes taking pictures and enjoying the cold breeze. At 12:15, with 30 minutes until we had to be back, we started headed back to the Great Wall entrance. I thought going up the Great Wall was hard, but going down was very frightening. By the time we made it back to the entrance, we were covered in sweat. The rest of the group was already there for just arriving. Of course, our lovely Director Chen, made us put on our cotton NSLI-Y t-shirts for a group picture. The picture probably did not look good considering we all looked like we just took a shower. Anyways, I was not about to walk down the path to the bus stop, so a couple of us NSLI-Y kids took the chair lift down. It was just like the ones at the ski resorts, except there was no snow because it is so hot in China. Sydney, being the gullible and clueless person she is, did not understand what we were riding. She had some image in her mind of a closed area that we would ride down in, not an open chair with only a bar to hold us in. Therefore, when we got into the seats, she started freaking out, claiming she was scared of heights. I told her it was too late and to smile for the picture I was taking. You should of seen her face when we got to the bottom; 100% relief.

After riding back down to the entrance, we were given 20 minutes to shop at the stands. I stuck with Skylar because he is known for being good at bargaining. And the rumors were true, we got pretty good deals.

We then left the Great Wall and went to a restaurant nearby. On the way to the restaurant, we passed a small village. Looking out the bus window, I got a quick glimpse of some of the people who live in the village. It made me think that although I have been in China for almost 6 weeks now, I haven’t gotten the opportunity to experience how the majority of Chinese people live. Since my host family was rich and we are staying in 4-5 star hotels, I have only tasted how the wealthy part of China live. It made my appreciate more of what my sister, Sarahann, thrives to do. One of her top goals and favorite thing to do is to travel. But when she travels, she does not stay in nice hotels. She chooses to stay in cheap hostels and eat at local restaurants, in order to fully experience and witness how the locals live. (For more information or to follow her adventures, check out her blog: pagesihaveread.blogspot.tm)

After eating at a fancy restaurant in poor town, we went to 互动, as very old and traditional part of town next to the city of 北京. We visited a family’s home that dates back 200 years ago. A 17 year old boy, son to a War Lord, bought the property for 65 tails of goat/  35,000 yin= 2 元 in 1936. Later during China’s reconstruction period, the government tried buying the property for 250,000 元 to build more skyscrapers, but the owners refused to sell this 1000 square meter house. The house/ complex was built according to the 5 elements: fire, water, metal, gold, and wind. The water element is represented by the living quarters, located on the North side welcoming wealth. The west house is where the daughter lived and was tutored. This represents the element of gold because the daughter “is as special as gold”. The south room which represents fire, no one lives in. It is dedicated to a living and studying area. The middle is a court yard, representing Earth and fertile lands full of flowers and trees. As the guide was talking to us, I learned that during the Qing dynasty, when many men did not work, a favored past time was listening to the birds sing. It became a tradition to bring the bird cages outside and open the doors to encourage the birds to sing beautiful songs. As we toured the house, the tour guide pointed out the many decorations shaped as fish. In China, fish is considered lucky because it has a similar pronunciation to the character for “left overs”. One of the biggest “fish” decorations was a giant fish tank in the middle of the court yard that brought abundance to the family. Now a days, there are only 20 homes with this design left. They are treasured by the people and government. The government also gives the residents a pension to pay for electricity and water since they generally live in poorer conditions than the common person in 北京.

After leaving the complex, we went to the 北京 opera. Once the bus pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the opera, I realized I had forgotten my bag at the house that had my wallet in it. I quickly told my teacher who had the tour guide wait with me at the McDonald’s as someone from the house brought it to us. After I got my bag back, the tour guide and I took a quick taxi ride to the opera. We actually beat the rest of the group because we went a different way.

The opera was not what I had expected. It had few to no props which made it difficult to understand. It also had no plot and was not a full story line. It was separated into 3 different traditional plays that are apparently commonly known by all Chinese people. Considering I am not a native Chinese, I was completely lost during the entire performance. But it was only an hour long so it went by quickly. After the opera, we went to dinner at the same restaurant we went to the night before. After eating another delicious dinner we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the next day.