My Adventure to China Christine McCormic

First Stop- Korea While waiting for the connecting flight from Guam to Beijing we had 4 hours at the Korean airport- Luckily they had this cultural experience area where I could entertain myself by painting a fan and putting together a decorative kite It was about a 4 1/2 hour flight from Guam to Korea and about a 2 hour flight from Korea to Beijing

Our first stop- a Pedi cab ride through a Hutong neighborhood These are small neighborhoods with very narrow streets- many were demolished for development, but a few still remain and are being protected These neighborhoods used to be for the elite, now many are in disrepair and are used by the poor One extended family would share 4 buildings around a courtyard- the parents, grandparents and children- until the girl children married and left to live in their husband’s family’s home You could tell who lived in a house by their entryway- the number of stairs, paint color, type of doorway and decoration Marriage in China- your boss performs the ceremony- usually something very simple at a restaurant (Western ideas such as white gowns are becoming more popular)

Currently- In the city- couples are only allowed 1 child, UNLESS, they are both only children- then they may have 2 Away from the city you may have 2- but the more children you have, the more difficult life will be for you In communist China- the most important possession someone had was a list of what grocery items they were allowed to pick up each week- the more “elite” your job the better your list

Temple of Heaven This was the area where the Emperor performed worship and sacrificial ceremonies to the Gods. There are many buildings as well as enormous gardens that encompass this area The building in the top picture (the Hall of Prayer for a Good Harvest) is made entirely of wood- no nails This is one of the oldest trees in Beijing- If you get your picture with it, then you should have a good long life (they have a lot of superstitions)

Downtown Beijing at night and in the morning Yes- there are a ton of particles in the air- that is the sun in the bottom picture When it rained it actually rained mud- I had spots of dirt on my jacket!

Olympics 2008 There are “Countdown to the Olympics” clocks throughout the city They are doing a lot of restoration work at many of the historical sites (painting and such) making things look good for the Olympics This building behind the trees is Chairman Mao’s tomb- you can view his body in a glass casket

Tian’anmen Square Congress was in their yearly session in the government building “The Great Hall of the People”- hence the guards and red flags The obelisk in the picture is The “Monument to the People’s Heroes” Off to the right (north) of the square is the Forbidden City- the entryway is in bottom photo. Called the Gate of Heavenly Peace. The picture of Chairman Mao is replaced every year with a new painting- the Chinese have a real reverence for him (although most westerners do not think too highly of his methods of leadership) The Chinese students do not learn about the infamous Tian’anmen Square protests/massacre of my guide avoided my question when asked about it

Forbidden City Here is a restored building in the Forbidden city- the office and home of the Emperor and his family (and his concubines)- there are hundreds of buildings in this area- it is amazing to see It is the largest palace complex in the world- 74 hectares and it is also one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world The movie “The Last Emperor” was actually filmed here Bottom- one of the Emperor's golden thrones

The Summer Palace The vacation home of the Emperor and his family Located on a man made lake- the emperor could enjoy long walks in the gardens that exist here The entire area is 290 hectares including more than 3,000 buildings! Top photo- view of area from lake side Bottom photo- symbols for empress and emperor

The Great Wall The world’s largest cemetery- did you know that thousands, if not millions, of workers died while building the wall and it is believed that they were buried right into the wall itself?! There are a lot of stairs in the section we went to- right up a mountain! It is very steep and also very narrow at points- see the photo! Thank Goodness for the railing that was installed. The steps are all different heights, and some are very worn The higher you went up, the less people you saw- at the highest point of this section of the wall there were only a few of us It was snowing by the time we reached the top- the most snow my guide has ever seen at one time!

The Great Wall

INDOOR Skiing and Boarding Since Beijing is very dry- they do not get a lot of precipitation so they have built these indoor facilities. The conditions were a bit icy and the “steep” hill was comparable to the beginner areas at Ski Sundown

Food The best part of the trip was that the food was great! This was one meal I had- they kept bringing me more and more dishes!! Tea is served with every meal and each restaurant has their own type of tea that they use By the way- Fortune cookies- my tour guide says he has never had one and is not sure how they have become known as a Chinese thing! Dessert was usually fresh fruit (mandarin oranges) Breakfast- pretty much the same foods as other meals- rice and eggs was about as close to American breakfast food as you could get (Luckily the hotel we spent most nights in served toast and some pastry!)

Culture Shock The bathrooms were DIFFERENT!! Yep- just a hole in the ground for both the men and women (and they throw the TP in the little basket) Most of the bigger tourist spots had “western” toilets also

The End The photos were compressed in order to limit the file size- I hope you could see them clearly!