Beijing (北京)

Greetings from Beijing! I finally got to come to Beijing, thanks to Brooke! Thank you sweetheart, I love you! I'm having a really great time, I love it here. Yesterday, I got in from Singapore in the late afternoon. After wandering around the airport for a while to get my bearings (and a map), I took a coach bus into the city. I decided to ride the subway to a place that I thought would be closer to my hotel. Thanks to a really nice guy named Ye YingQian, I found the subway station. He even bought a ticket for me! People here are so nice, and helpful. Then, I bought a SIM card for my phone, so that I could get a hold of Brooke and my friend Leo Hu. Finally, I took a taxi to my hotel. It was a good introduction to Chinese transportation. Later that night, I went out to eat my favorite Chinese noodles, zhajiang mian.

This morning I got up early and went to the Temple of Heaven park. I had a really good time there. There were all kinds of people doing really interesting stuff, like writing Chinese poems on the ground with huge paint brushes dipped in water, ballroom dancing, cracking bull whips, taiqi, and big groups of people singing. Here are a couple of pictures of my favorites:



I also went to the three separate temples in the garden. Here is a bit from Wikipedia and a few of my pictures to explain:

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿) is a magnificent triple-gabled circular building, 32 metres in diameter and 38 metres tall, built on three levels of marble stone base, where the Emperor prayed for good harvests. The building is completely wooden, with no nails. It had to be rebuilt after it burned down in 1889.



The Imperial Vault of Heaven (皇穹宇) is a single-gabled circular building, built on a single level of marble stone base. It is located south of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and resembles it, but is smaller. It is surrounded by a smooth circular wall, the Echo Wall, that can transmit sounds over large distances. The Imperial Vault is connected to the Hall of Prayer by the Vermilion Steps Bridge, a 360 meter long raised walkway that slowly ascends from the Vault to the Hall of Prayer.

The Circular Mound Altar (圜丘坛) is the altar proper, located south of the Imperial Vault of Heaven. It is an empty circular platform on three levels of marble stones, where the Emperor prayed for favorable weather. It was built in 1530 by the Jiajing Emperor and rebuilt in 1740.

I met Leo around lunch time. He was really nice to help me find a local hotel. I'm paying about the same price for the rest of my stay as I paid for my first night at Holiday Inn. He saved me a ton of money. So he showed me how to get to the new hotel, and then we went out for a walk. He showed me all sorts of places, including Tianan Men Square, the Forbidden City, and a whole bunch of government buildings. While I was out, I made some new friends. I think they might have had a sip or two of a certain type of beverage, but they were pretty funny. They all wanted to take pictures. The guy on my right in the green jacket is named "Lao Guo." That used to be my nickname, so I guess now I'm "Xiao Guo!" We were standing in front of the gate to the complex that houses the central government. Notably, there was no name or identifying sign on the building.

Leo really gave me a great tour today. He spent quite a long time with me. It was cool, because he knows all of the government and law buildings. I had a really good time. I don't have many pictures because I didn't want to hold him up too long, but I'm planning on going back to tour the Forbidden City in a couple of days. After we parted ways, I went to a shopping street called Wang Fujin. It's a walking street, and it was pretty fun. It was a local holiday today, so there were a ton of people out. It was like a big party.

On the way back to my hotel, I took a picture of "Chairman Mao's Porch" and had another photo shoot with some new friends. Their husbands were taking the pictures. Finally, I took a picture of this Western style mall, which was pretty posh.

I have really enjoyed my trip so far. I've taken to Beijing like a fish to water, it's awesome. I have my own cell phone, my own bus pass, and I've been speaking Chinese all day (except with Leo, because he's way better at English than I am at Chinese). On the way back to the hotel, I was standing there thinking about what a good time I had today, and I realized that I was thinking about it all in Chinese. That hasn't happened to me for a long time. It felt really good. I've been really worried about losing all of my Chinese, but it is slowly coming back. It's a big relief.

Thanks again for the great graduation trip Brooke. I wish you were with me. I'm having the best time ever! I love you so much.